Photos from my summer vacation have been posted in the site's photo gallery. New albums include Congaree National Park (SC), Fort Sumter (SC), Myrtle Beach (SC), and Mammoth Cave National Park (KY).

The photo gallery now has a total of 900 pictures.

The brand new single 'Human,' the first track from the band's third studio album "Day & Age," hits radio today. Take a listen at http://www.thekillersmusic.com.

'Human' will be released on September 30.

"Day and Age" will be released on November 25.

The Photo Gallery now has pictures from my first Killers concert. They were the feature act at the LiveNation Download festival at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ (August 2, 2008).

On Monday, March 3, 2008, I will be starting a new position as a Business Systems Analyst with PNC in downtown Pittsburgh. The employment section of the website has been updated (and will continued to be updated) to show information about this new position.

My last day at MSA was on February 22, 2008. Although I will miss working with everyone at MSA and their products, I am looking forward to tackling the new challenges that await me, too.

The Employment section of the website has been edited/updated along with a general style update (background, banner, email picture, etc.). More minor releases will be out soon, which will include improvements to the Introduction and Education pages. The plan for the next major release includes this blog and the photo gallery to become incorporated into new pages that will follow the master style sheet.

The Killers will release their B-sides/rarities collection tomorrow. Sawdust (ironically) has 17-tracks and includes songs that were developed or covered in both the Hot Fuss years and post Sam's Town years. Each track is listed below with a quick summary:

1. Tranquilize: New song; ft. Lou Reed.
2. Shadowplay: Joy Division Cover.
3. All The Pretty Faces: Sam's Town B-Side.
4. Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf: Rare! From Hot Fuss days; completes murder trilogy of Jenny (Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf, Midnight Show, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine).
5. Sweet Talk: Rare. Hot Fuss days.
6. Under The Gun: Hot Fuss B-Side (Released on Hot Fuss Limited).
7. Where The White Boys Dance: Sam's Town B-Side.
8. Show You How: Rare. Hot Fuss days.
9. Move Away: From Spiderman 3 OST.
10. Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll: Hot Fuss B-Side (Released on Hot Fuss Limited).
11. Who Let You Go?: Rare. Hot Fuss days.
12. The Ballad Of Michael Valentine: Hot Fuss B-Side (Released on Hot Fuss Limited).
13. Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town: Rare. Hot Fuss days.
14. Daddy's Eyes: Sam's Town B-Side.
15. Sam's Town (Abbey Road version): Acoustic version of Sam's Town.
16. Romeo And Juliet: Dire Straits Cover.
17. Mr Brightside (Thin White Duke remix): ~9:00 remix of their most-popular track (Lindberg Palace Remix is a bit better).

This collection will probably only be enjoyed by fans who have appreciated both Hot Fuss and Sam's Town. Because of the varying degrees of style the Killers have used over the past couple of years, this CD may have a flow issue. For people who did not like Sam's Town as much as Hot Fuss, it is probably best if they skip this CD and wait to make judgment on the Killers third full album.

I uploaded 185 pictures from my trip to the Smoky Mountains (TN), Outer Banks (NC), and Shenandoah (VA) to the photo gallery. I'll be looking into upgrading the gallery application, so stay tuned for some changes.

I posted pictures from my trip to Dead Man's Hollow this past June. The park is located right past the Boston Bridge in McKeesport, and my family, on my Mom's side, has a lot of history there.

I've added pictures taken of my new 2007 Ford Mustang as well as from a day trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. These pictures were all taken with my new Canon SD900 10MP camera.

About the Mustang: 2007 Premium Edition with the Pony Package & Interior Upgrade Option.

Over the past week, this blog was attacked by hundreds of spam trackbacks and comments. I've stepped up the security on the site with hopes that this won't happen again. I've disabled trackbacks for the time being as well as installed a new Spam Protector plugin that should help moderate the good from the bad. The previous blocker stopped 145 spam messages since March, but allowed 552 spam messages in the past week or so. Serendipity does not have a UI way of deleting massive amounts of spam; rather, each message has to be deleted individually. I logged into the database today and cleared out all of the garbage. Sorry for any offensive spam posts; this should not happen again.

J.K. Rowling's seventh and final installment of Harry Potter's epic adventure was released today. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off to destroy Voldemort's only weakness, which will conclude in a fantastic duel of magic. Multiple media sources have been leaking spoilers of the book's ending and the fate of several characters. Fans are strongly urged to avoid any type of media including radio, TV, Internet, etc. until completing the book.

The fifth movie installment of the Harry Potter series was released today. This film is based on the longest book of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, but it is the shortest of the movies. The fifth movie is the most mature of the films with deeper secrets, darker powers, and stronger magic. It currently has a 74/100 (Favorable Reviews) on metacritic's website.

http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/harrypotterandtheorderofthephoenix

Interpol released their third album today, Our Love To Admire. This album has received decent scores amongst critics; the most common complaint is that the style has not progressed much over the course of three albums. Their song, The Heinrich Maneuver, has been as high as #13 on the Billboard Rock Charts.

Smashing Pumpkins released their seventh album today, Zeitgeist. This album is their first after breaking up some years ago. Their style has progressed nicely, and the guitar work is again superior. Tarantula is working its way up the Billboard Rock Charts at #2 this week.

After about three months since the launch of NathanPolnyj.com, I have completed the first update of the site:

What's New?

1. Updated information on the Introduction page (age, music, modified date).
2. Posted final Penn State grade results.
3. Much more information on the Employment page (*New* About the Company & updated Duties/Skills sections).
4. Added URLs to schools/employers that opens in a new window.
5. Changed main logo seen on each HTML page.
6. Changed titles of pages, so search engines can find the site easier.


What's Coming Soon?

1. A new Introduction page.
2. Penn State Portfolio Projects/Assignments.
3. A new look to the Photo Gallery (improved accessibility).
4. Additional photos taken with my new Canon SD900 10MP camera.
5. Changes with style, such as a new logo/color scheme.

I'm always open to suggestions! Enjoy the site.

The Smashing Pumpkins have released the first single, Tarantula, from their NEW album called Zeitgeist about a week ago. The single is now available on iTunes as well as at the site below for free streaming. New Pumpkins music will bring high anticipation for Zeitgeist expected to release July 10, 2007 (Amazon.com).

http://www.spinner.com/2007/05/18/new-music-tarantula-by-smashing-pumpkins/