Web Standards, Accessibility and Other Stuff

Playoff basketball and hockey is here again. And I’m liking it.

I like many NBA teams, but the team from my hometown is my favorite–the Detroit Pistons. They’re up 2-0 on the Orlando Magic, and playing game 3 this evening. Also, today, Pistons guard Chauncey Billups won the Kennedy Award (for sportsmanship).

I’m not as much a hockey fan, but I usually get playoff Red Wings fever. They’re starting the next playoff series against Dallas tomorrow after destroying Colorado last week. The Red Wings will be well rested, hopefully not too rusty.

Go Pistons and Red Wings!

Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons

For almost a year now, I’ve been away from my hometown of Detroit, Michigan, but my fellow podcasters there (see the Detroit Podcasters Network) are certainly still going strong. Four of the guys are getting a display table at the Motor City Comic Convention, May 16-18, and they will be promoting their individual shows and podcasting in general. They are:

• Chris, Collected Comics Library
• Derek, Comic Book Noise
• Mike, Most People Are DJs
• Jasper, Plan Nine Rock Show

Here’s more about the participation of the event from Chris:

If you would like to participate feel free to send us your promotional materials (postcards, flyers or other such items). All we are asking in return is a donation of $5 to help us pay for our costs.

The four of us, and a few others involved, are going to have a great time hanging out taking about comics, podcasting (audio and video), and conducting interviews, But most of all, promoting all of our shows. We expect many of you to take part in this cool endeavor.

The Motor City Comic Con is a fun and enjoyable event–a small town atmosphere with big city flavor. We hope you will join in on the fun.

CSS Naked Day is this Wednesday, April 9. Promote web standards by removing the CSS (the style) from your web site! This is your chance to show off your proper use of (x)html, semantic markup, a good hierarchy structure. Thanks for Dustin Diaz for putting on this web event.

I’ve listed some open job positions previously, but here are the top 3 5 jobs for which we are recruiting at my day job employer, Yodlee. We also need some Java/Web Programmers. The location is Redwood City, California (Silicon Valley). Anyone interested please use my name as a reference or contact me directly at “dlembree at NOSPAM yodlee dot NOSPAM com. View all open positions/details

• Director/Senior Director of Usability and Design
• Director, Client Advocacy
• Senior General Ledger Accountant
• User Interface Manager/Java Programmer (Added April 4)
• Marketing Consulting Director (Added April 7)

jQuery is a great JavaScript library for fast, easy development. I met the creator John Resig at a conference last year. He’s a great guy, and I even “won” a nice jQuery book.

jQuery is a fast, concise, JavaScript Library that simplifies how you traverse HTML documents, handle events, perform animations, and add Ajax interactions to your web pages

Here’s a good overview slide show on jQuery:

| View | Upload your own

Wal-Mart is selling a computer for $199. It’s called the Everex TC2502 and I like it.

Why is it so great? First of all, it uses less energy than a typical desktop computer so it’s friendly to the environment. Second, the price is right; it doesn’t come with a monitor, but monitors are so inexpensive now, and you may even have an extra lying around somewhere…I do.

Last, but not least, it’s not Windows! The Everex TC2502 runs on the gOS operationg sytem, a Linux system that’s based on Ubuntu and Enlightenment). This is a great alternative to that crap OS and obviously much more affordable than the pricey Macintosh.

Some of the specs:

• 80GB hard drive
• 512 MB RAM (2 GB max)
• CD burner and DVD player
• OpenOffice software
• Ethernet port
• Keyboard, mouse, and stereo speakers

So I’m finally on Twitter, the social network that informs users of what each other is doing. The web site and service is excellent; it’s very easy, fast, and it just works! There’s an excellent Twitter API for developers to have fun with. My Twitter account is dennisl.

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Last week, my wife Carey and I went to a Cirque du Soleil show, KOOZA, in downtown San Jose. I gotta say, it was well worth the $90 per seat we paid! Incredible performances, great stage set, and great music. It’s just so spectacular and entertaining, and the clown acts are hilarious. It was longer than I expected too; about 2 1/2 hours including the 1/2 hour intermission. If you ever get a chance, go see Cirque du Soleil. This year the KOOZA show is coming to Hartford, Philly, Chicago, and Boston.

So at my day job at Yodlee, Inc., we’re hiring professionals for a variety of open job positions. If you or someone you know wants a good job at a solid company, please take a serious look. Basically, the company develops an online personal finance application, and it’s very cool to work in Silicon Valley, between San Francisco and San Jose (California, USA, of course). Anyone interested please use my name as a reference or contact me directly at “dlembree at NOSPAM yodlee dot NOSPAM com”.

• Senior Helpdesk Administrator
• Product Manager- Personal Finance
• Accounts Payable and GL Generalist
• Product Marketing Manager
• Professional Services Sales Manager

The fourth annual Internet User Experience (IUE 2008) conference will be held at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan the week of March 31, 2008-April 3, 2008.

Organized by the Michigan Usability Professionals Association in collaboration with Washtenaw Community College’s Internet Professional Program, the User Experience Network (UXnet), Refresh Detroit, and other sponsors, the conference provides four days of presentations,panels, training sessions, and workshops on optimizing web sites so they are effective, compelling, and profitable for businesses.

Experts in search engine optimization, online communities, and user experience management will lead sessions at the conference. Tutorials and training are also available to attendees with 1/2 day and full-day workshops before and after the main conference days.

Discounts are available for Usability Professionals Association members and several other organizations, as well as full-time non-working students.

For more information and details on registration, visit the Michigan Usability Professionals Association or the IUE Conference web sites.