Welcome to the New Frontier!
When I first "reloaded" this personal space of mine on the
information super-highway, it was a drastic change from the old "MacLeoid's
Highlander Page" which mainly focused on my active role within the SCA (Society
for Creative Anachronism).
As usual, I had (have) high hopes for the continuing
contributions to the site, adding items of interest to myself and those few
who may stumble upon it.
Things have occurred in the past and present which has
prevented me from doing as much with this site as I wanted to. Mainly, the
loss of my son, followed by loss of my job, and the opening of my store (New
Moon Comics)...
As the universe conspires against us all, the lack of
updates to this site are a bit irrelevant (more than a bit, I assure you).
If you enjoy my site, for whatever reason, I ask you to
let me know! Tell me what you would like to see
updated, and I will do my best to comply. Or, just say "Hello!".
Yes, this page is my little spot on the web, so the world
will know I'm alive, a way for others to read about a real person - albeit a
weird one. ;)
I will continue to do my best to keep this site updated -
But if I fail in that task, I ask you forgive me for awhile at least. ;)
Good Journey...
Some information about how this all works...
With the creation of this new layout, comes questions on how
it all works, so if you have questions, here are your answers. The site is
broken up into Major Sections, those sections have branches that will link
to other sections. Plus, the MYSTERY PAGE is here as well, for those that
have not found it yet. ;)
THE MAJOR SECTIONS:
Home:
Current page (this one, the one you're reading right now!), and the page that will most likely remain unchanged; Unless I can
come up with some major update/changes that will cause this page to alter.
News:
This is the same general layout as the previous sites NEWS section, and will contain news and
goings on in my life. This page will, in most cases have the most updates.
And a complete history is there for your viewing pleasure (meaning I don't
change the HISTORY much). I have also broken down the "past" updates
into sub-sections since I've been doing this so long, the original page is getting
too big. Every two-years is broken into Archive files to make reading much
easier. So, if you care what's going on in my day-to-day life, take a look. ;)
Interests:
This page contains a listing of what I'm interested in. If you care, go
there. If not, well, don't. However this is the first of the pages with
"links" to those "scattered sections" I was telling you about.
This page also has a link to my "Online Auction Sales Policy Page" for those
that purchase items I'm selling on Yahoo! Auctions or eBay.
Favorite Links:
This page contains links to other sites broken down into categories. You'll
notice that the categories are the same as they were on the old site,
however, converted to this new format. Plus some new links will be added,
and older links will be removed.
The Photo Shop:
This page contains more links to several galleries of photos for your
viewing pleasure.
The Creative Zone:
This page links to different works (either written, illustrated, or
recorded) of mine. Keeping in mind that this one section will take the
longest to create, mainly due to fear of some low-life stealing my work, but
mostly because I'm always searching for what will work best.
However, you'll be happy to know that I've placed some new
content on the Creative Zone... So let me know what you think!
Feedback:
The Feedback page was removed due to an enormous amount of spam I was
receiving because of it.
What else is new?
MUSIC:
Well, as before (on MacLeoid's Highlander Page) I've attempted to put music
on most of the pages. The MIDI files will play ONCE (per visit or reload)
and you can download the music using the link at the bottom of the page it
plays from. As before I suggest setting your sound font to GENERAL MIDI/GENERAL
SOUND to
get the most of the music.
ARTWORK:
The artwork, overall, is cut down substantially, however the pages are
enhanced for those using broadband, high resolution/color, and updated
browsers. As before I suggest HIGH COLOR, at least 800x600 resolution, and
the latest version of Internet Explorer or Netscape. Also, UPDATE your O/S
and I.E. with the latest service packs/patches! Keep your system safe!
STANDARD FORMAT:
Throughout (almost) every page (The exception being those original
semi-altered pages from "MacLeoid's Highlander Page") has a similar look,
feel, and color scheme. The new format fits more with my personality, and my
interests. And takes the focus off of the SCA.
UPDATES:
I will endeavor to maintain the page more frequently. Adding more, and
correcting errors quicker. Also I hope to add more content based on my
interests. This is, after all, a personal page first and foremost.
;)
Website FAQ
I've been hit with a few questions (thus far) so I figured,
what I'd do is answer them (or most of them anyway) here. So, here are my
answers to the few I've received so far...
Why the change?
Although I'm not completely OUT of the SCA, I also am not completely IN the
SCA enough to justify having a website based on my SCAdian persona. I had
some great (or in my mind they were great) ideas for what I could do with
Uilleam MacLeoid, and his place on the web, but I honestly could not get
excited about DOING it. So, the change was made, in all honesty, to get me
excited once again on having a person website, and making the most of it.
What's with all the counters on all
the pages?
The best way to explain this is as follows: Each page within this website
has been around (in one form or another) since I first started a personal
website when I was with AOL. Then, it was simple, and the counter (you could
only use one) I used when I LEFT AOL was over 1200 hits. However, when I
moved everything to Monmouth, those counters were no more. and I "lost" the
records of those visits. Upon the availability of the FastCounter, I was
able to place these wonderful counters on every page to determine what was
"working" and what was failing. The LE FastCounter on this, and every other
page you'll find it, reflect the ACTUAL (unaltered, or edited) total of hits
since the birth of my personal web site on AOL all those years ago. This
page's FastCounter reflects the total hits received on the original AOL,
Monmouth, and @HOME page INDEX page. The others are "carry-overs", meaning
the NEWS page here is using the exact same counter as the NEWS page on
MacLeoid's highlander page. Miscellaneous Photo's page is using the same as
Personal Photo's page from MHP. All the same content.
What did you use to make this new
format?
Rather then just say "Microsoft FrontPage 2002 (with newer material in
FrontPage 2003" and leave it at that, I
figured I'd answer this question in my usual way, long and painful. So if
you have your answer, you can stop reading, if you want more... Here you go!
COMPUTER: (Most
data, not all)
Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz on an Intel D845BG Motherboard
1Gb DDR RAM
200Gb+ Hard Drive space over 2-Drives (125/80) (IBM 7200RPM)
Pioneer 16x
DVD ROM
Plextor PlexWriter 48/24/48
CD-RW Drive
nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4600 128Mb DDR Video Card
SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Office 2003 Professional
Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Pro v2 (Mouse and Keyboard)
DISPLAY:
NEC MultiSync LCD 1860NX
ACCESSORIES: (Some, not all)
Creative Inspire T7700 7.1 Speaker System
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5 w/Duplexer
Hewlett-Packard Photosmart 1215
Canon CanoScan N670U scanner
APC SmartUPS 1400
INTERNET CONNECTION:
Cable Modem!
(Dialup to Monmouth Internet is a backup only)
Why is (the above graphic) shown on several pages?
I found this graphic awhile ago, and in my opinion, it's fantastic! Plus it
shows, in essence, the "work in progress" that is going on. It's just an
artistic way of saying that the page you're looking at is under
construction.
Why can't I hear any music on the pages?
That's a good question, let's find out. Do you have a soundcard in your PC?
Does/did it work? Are your speakers on? Are your speakers plugged into the
proper jack on your soundcard? Are you hearing any EVENT sounds (I was going
to say "Are you hearing any sounds from your PC, but then I'll get some
smart-aleck answer like "my fan"). Are you using Netscape? If you answered
"yes" to the last question, I suggest using Internet Explorer. ;)
Why can't you set it up so the music will only play
if selected?
That's a good question, anyone know of an ZERO-COST plug-in that will work
with FrontPage that will allow that? I'm a former Desktop Support Tech. I have this
page for fun, I let FrontPage do all the work. ;)
More questions will be answered when they are received, and
are of general interest.
I hope you enjoy your stay, and please let me know what you
think about the site. I'll never be able to improve it if I'm not told what
needs to be done to make it better for you. :)
