As you can obviously see I have updated the look of my site. I was getting tired of the old one and I felt it required too much “digging” for a person to find everything. You see, I think it’s quite important for people to spend entire lunch hours (or work hours, I don’t really care which) reading through all the stuff I’ve ever written on here. Therefore it’s my duty to make this as easy and painless as possible, kind of like web-enabled Novocain. Plus the site looks, um, SO professional now if your boss walks by they’ll obviously think you’re just downloading printer drivers or something.
 In other news… Break out the cake mix and candles leftover in the cupboard – it’s the 5 year anniversary of this site being online! (Well, accurate to within about a week or two) It actually seems like it’s been a lot longer than that since I started doing this stuff, but oh well. I’m still doing it and that’s the important thing! Now back to this site re-design…Â
What has changed / Impromptu Tour:
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The side frames are gone, but top header frame still linger… It takes up less screen space and uses icons (just like above) for quick navigation and coming back here to the homepage.
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White text on a dark background has been been 86’d, torpedoed and sent to Davy Jones’s locker. Now it’s black on white text, just like a book or something!
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Better-looking “Quick Link” buttons are now found at the top right of the page. Granted you can get to the same features from the sidebars (more on those in a moment) but it’s always good to have colorful, iconic links somewhere on your page. Here’s what they do:
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This Pac-Man looking dude spewing binary is the link to the benheck.com Forums. This is becoming an ever-increasingly popular section so now there’s a quick way to get in there and have your videogame discussion fix.
 Get this – clicking the envelope lets you send me email! (Please do not ask if your Game Gear can be used for anything other than a doorstop – it can’t) Also check the “What’s For Sale” section (on the sidebar to the lower left) before emailing me about buying stuff. If it’s not on that list it’s not for sale. (This list can and will change however)
Wow this icon looks like my book cover! (Remember don’t purchase books without covers) Click this icon to visit my book’s website.
 I also have the insane hobby of making independent films. You can click this camera icon (which of course looks nothing like the actual cameras I use) to read about the films, downloads trailers and even order them on DVD if you are so inclined.
 A bit redundant, I’ll admit. Clicking this icon brings up a page of all the portable game systems I’ve worked on thus far. (Pretty much the same as the sidebar)
When you go anywhere on this site you’ll see this icon at the top. Clicking it returns you here, to the homepage. Press it once you’re done reading or bored with an article so you can come back here for more!
Other changes:
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Check out the side bars! (On the sides 😉 They won’t provide you with a gin and tonic but it does have links to every article, movie information page and videogame project on this entire site. Note how it has fake blue transparency, pretty futuristic, eh?
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Site Search link added to top of right-hand sidebar. Sure my old site design had a “search” feature but this one has a magnifying glass icon as well! You simply cannot get any more high-tech than that.
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Paragraph indents and left justification will now be used on pages instead of the “center justified 1994-era nOOb web” crap. My high-school English teacher would be proud (I’m sure she checks this site every day) On that same note it’s now black text on light backgrounds instead of vice-versa.
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One day I woke up and realized not everyone runs their monitor at 1600×1200 like me. So I modified the site to look the same in all resolutions (It must be an OK practice, Yahoo does it… right?) If you DO run higher-res you’ll doubtlessly have empty space on the sides. Think of it as extra Post-It note room!
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 Alright, well I hope this new layout is agreeable on everyone’s stomachs. Let me know what you think! Have fun…
-Ben (Site Director / Guy Who Does all this Stuff)
