commented out

The next project is a full redesign for a church web site. The overall aim of this project isn’t so much a visual update as much as a code update. There are several goals with the new design:

• Update markup to a standards-based design
• Construct a new backend allowing for easy updates of hosted media
• Uniform layout and interface for a simpler user experience

Updating the code structure is the first priority. After that comes content organization and an administrative interface to allow for media uploads and quick news updates. A skeletal version of the site is up and running at http://www.firstbaptistunion.org.

In other news, I’ve also been persuing some Unreal engine mapping. The current work in progress is dubbed “The Learning Process,” since it’s the project through which I’m reaquainting myself with the Unreal toolset. Screenshots? All right, fine. Here are a couple work-in-progress shots:

More shots as I make gradual progress.

It was a minor adventure, but the laptop is up and running happily. Having never cracked open a laptop before (at least not with the intentions of having it run flawlessly when I was done) I approached the project with a bit of trepidation. Luckily, it’s almost easier than building a desktop machine.

• Asus chassis with a 15.4″ SXGA screen
• Intel Pentium M clocked at 2.0ghz
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
• 60 gig IBM/Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm hard drive.
• 1 gig of Mushkin 333mhz PC2700 RAM
• Interchangeable 24X/24X/8X/24X DVD+CD-RW Combo

The part list is basically the same as I posted earlier, but here are the details.

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I’ve toyed with the idea before, and after looking around for the past couple of months I’ve decided it’s time to just give in to temptation and put together a laptop. Here are the current specs:

• Asus chassis with a 15.4″ WXGA screen
• Intel Pentium M clocked at 2.0ghz
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
• 60 gig Hitachi 7200rpm hard drive. Considering a 5400rpm drive to spare battery life.
• 1 gig of Mushkin 333mhz PC2700 RAM
• Interchangeable 24X/24X/8X/24X DVD+CD-RW Combo
• Asus WL-100G 802.11b/g Wireless PCMCIA Card, because I like to be sure I’m not connected when I don’t want to be.

Total price so far: $1,841
Almost as powerful Dell laptop: $2,193

I think I’m making the right choice in my methods of acquisition.