The Harbaughs :: Amanda & Josh

We would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas from our family to yours. This time of year is so wonderful with all the time spent with friends and family. We've been a bit lax lately with the duty of sending out Christmas cards and gifts. For some reason or another Christmas has a tendency to sneak up on most people. You're having a great time in the July sunlight and before you know it - BAM - sleighbells and reindeer. We love Christmas very much and enjoy the time spent with friends and family, and do not mind the relative speed with which it arrive each year. We hope you are all having a wonderful time and offer our best wishes to all, and to all a goodnight. I apologize - just couldn't resist.

I am currently reading Eragon. It is a fantastic book. The first 100 pages are a little slow, but after that it is so wonderful. I suggest reading it if you like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, or The Neverending Story. It is about a boy named Eragon, who finds a Dragon's egg and becomes a Dragonrider (like a Jedi, but with a dragon). As with Jedis, the Dragonriders are extinct, and Eragon is the only member of a once great order. Eragon is a wonderful blend of all things fantasy. The author, Christopher Paolini, adds elements from each aforementioned book/movie seamlessly without the feel of plagiarism. It is refreshing.

VDOSS. Video Digital Observation Security System. That is quite the mouthful. VDOSS is a system offered by SOTA Technologies that allows businesses, big and small, the opportunity to monitor their premises with high-tech security cameras. The current website, VDOSS.com, is looking a bit dated. I was asked by Jeffery Schmidt, the owner of SOTA Technologies, to give it a new look which would showcase the features and "jazz up" the site. I am all about redesigning websites, because I have a basis to work from. It is much easier to take an existing site, and create a completely different look, as opposed to creating something from scratch.

Keeping with the same information, and basic elements of the existing website, I created a new layout, color scheme, and branding image for VDOSS. A functioning site can be viewed here. Enjoy.

I am almost never completely satisfied with anything I design. The sense of, “What if I try this or that. Maybe a new color ? perhaps green” is always in the back of my mind. I am sure it makes it annoying to live with me sometimes. Because of this I have decided to redesign “The Old Portfolio”. It is always nice to start a new project, especially when it is a personal one.

The sky’s the limit. Anything goes. The design is still in the “Concept” stage of the Design Process (which I may go into at a later time), but the basic elements are all there. I have not decided on colors just yet, as that is the one thing that drives me banana-sandwich about design. Getting the colors just right is something I can literally spend hours doing. Without further ado I present Pixelhaven, my newest design venture. Don’t be concerned with the Latin. The site will be in English, I promise.

The title for Book 7 came out today. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sounds scary. The "fans" are all wondering what it will mean for the book. There is speculation that Hallows derive from the Four Hallows (four holies) of the Arthurian Romances, thus being the 4 Horcruxes Harry has to find. No release date for the book yet though.