Web Standards, Accessibility and Other Stuff

A song “Internet Wasteland” from Eddy Boston about web programming and coding. He and a friend dreamed it up over Fish ‘n’ Chips. Some of it is pretty funny, especially the lines about AOL and Adwords. You can read the lyrics in addition to listening to the song.

Eddy Boston is a musician out of Massachusetts. I like the quote from his bio:

If it weren’t for my stupidity, I’d be some kind of genius.

When I was planning on moving to Northern California, my cousin told me to check out Fry’s Electronics. Man, he wasn’t kidding when he said it was big. It’s like a super Wal-Mart but for just computers and electronics! It’s a computer nerd’s dream! What’s amazing is that there’s enough business for four of these stores in the area, which actually makes sense since this is Silicon Valley.

Fry’s has everything from computer and electronics-related–Macs, PCs, hard drives, flash drives, PDAs, DVDs, blenders, TVs, cameras, air purifiers, blenders, office furniture, and much more (including snacks and cold drinks).

I guess there are Fry’s store locations in Southern California, Texas, and a few other states. I hear the store in San Jose, CA is decorated like a Tiki Hut or Polynesian pyramid or something, and the store in Burbank, CA has a big flying saucer spaceship crashed into the front. Here’s picture of a “normal” Fry’s store:

OK, I admit it. I am a judge show junkie. When possible, I watch a lot of those cheesy courtroom TV shows. They usually feature a charismatic judge (almost always a minority) and many times some pretty weird and stupid people. Anyhow, here are my favorites:

1. Judge Judy - She rocks. She’s stern. She doesn’t give a break to these morons in her courtroom. Gotta love her.
2. Judge Mathis - Judge Mathis is a cool dude. He went from a troubled childhood to becoming a lawyer then judge.
3. The People’s Court - The show that started it all! In the new version, Judge Marilyn Milian is a nice judge. Sometimes almost too nice. But she’s fun and fair. More about The People’s Court

So I’ve been in the Bay area (south of San Francisco, California, a.k.a. Silicon Valley) for almost two weeks now. It’s pretty awesome, and I’m discovering some interesting things about the difference between living here and in the midwest–some bad, some good.

• Motorcycles can legally ride between lanes/cars in California. Personally, I think this is pretty stupid.
• To rent a house in this area, move fast! Use Craig’s List. And be ready to get a cashier’s check. And it’s very expensive of course.
• Garbage/recycling pickup is treated as an extra utility, you pay monthly to the city. This is pretty silly; it should just be included with property taxes like other places.
• Wireless internet at Starbucks in Mountain View is free–because wireless internet is free in the whole city! Thanks to Google.
• The cost of living is obviously higher here than most American cities, but gasoline prices are relatively not too bad.
• The weather’s real nice as expected. Temperatures are not too hot in the day; pretty cool at night. But the sun is much stronger than I thought. I’ll have to get my car windows tinted, man.
• There’s no White Castle!
• Cruising along the coast is as fun and beautiful as I’d hoped. Santa Cruz is especially cool.

This is a great time of year for sports fans. The NHL playoffs are entering the second round (go Red Wings!); the NBA playoffs just started (go Pistons!); and baseball is in full swing, (pardon the pun).

I tried going to a Detroit Tigers baseball game last Friday, but the weather was actually nice and there were only standing room tickets left! So my mom, wife and I (don’t laugh at me!) went to Greektown to eat, hit the Casino for a few, and even made it to the Old Shillelagh for a brew (yes, another great pub!).

Here’s a cool slideshow of some strange characters I created quite a while ago:
View my old, funny digital artwork on Flickr!

So like many Americans, we watch a fair amount of television in my household. And that means a lot of commercials. Some good, but many bad. And some overplayed to the extent that I change the channel to anything during the 30-seconds.

Here are some really bad and overplayed TV commercials:

• Jessica Simpson’s DirectTV (satellite television) - I haven’t seen the movie “Dukes of Hazzard”, but I’m assuming Jessica Simpson is acting like her role as Daisy in this commercial for DirectTV. Either way, I can’t stand it–it’s so corny! Why would I pay attention to what a dumb blond has to say about high-tech television service?
• Geico Caveman (auto insurance) - talk about overplay; I’m so sick of the “cavemen” and the “gecko”. At first these commercials were new and hip, now they’re just completely obnoxious. The “caveman” should just start a blog to keep the marketing going with those actually interested.
• Disaronno (liquor) - I don’t think that anyone stupid enough to fall for this sexually blatant commercial has enough money to purchase this liquor. (But I must be wrong as these ads are still running.) The woman in the ad is not even attractive.
• Rock Financial/Quicken Loans (Michigan) - These commercials for mortgages are so overplayed it’s not cool. Yes, I like the Detroit Pistons NBA basketball team, but man, are they ruining it for me with their partnership. And it’s not just TV, it’s radio, billboards, etc. If I hear or see David Hall and that terrible rock jingle one more time I’ll puke! Don’t do business with this Rock Financial either (that includes parent company Quicken Loans)–they’re terribly expensive, then they pass your mortgage on to a completely different company.

Good TV Commercials>