Hi,
The problem is easy to fix. Just change pix_url to image_url in this line...
$OUTPUT->pix_url('logo', 'theme')?>" alt="Logo" />
That is assuming you have access to the Simple theme files? I would not worry too much about changing themes unless there are major problems that cannot be fixed.
Hope that helps?
Mary
POSTSCRIPT
https://github.com/freshbreeze/Moodle_Themes_Simple_2.7/blob/master/layout/columns3.php?L87
The changes you need to make in 4 files at line 87
collumns1/2/3 & mydashboard