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First the top seems too muted and the bottom seems to loud, I think if you combine elements of the two and work in some of the blue you've got a winner. I like the two different background images on each side in the bottom image also.
The main site navigation needs some clarification like the bottom image to make it stand out, and I'm not too sure about the black horizontal bars. Try integrating the links and login into the rest of the page maybe?
Aside from that, the changes you made are awesome.
