Entries from March 2006 ↓

I have just recently been thrown into the position of webmaster for a university college of 23 academic departments. Obviously this is a daunting task, as many of our departments’ web sites are sadly out of date (circa 1996 style), and are not at all compliant with ADA/508/504 requirements (that will make sense if you’re a corporate or educational webmaster type person).

Anyway, I just got out of a meeting with our campus webmaster, our college dean, and a few other higher-up types. We did discuss my role as webmaster, and what it means for me and for the college, but we also talked about content on the web. The main point discussed however, was that the focus of web sites now has to shifted from cool design to actual content.

A company’s or school’s web site is now the first place most people will go for information. As cool as it was back in the beginning to create a cool looking web site, now the really important part of a site is the content. Look at WritingUp for example. It’s not like its overall look is anything amazing. There’s no Flash, no video, nothing eye-catching really at all. Of course the back-end programming is pretty sophisticated, but visually the site is not stunning by any means. But we’re all here, aren’t we? And why are we here? Content.

So, would-be and professional web designers, keep that in mind. In 2006, the WWW is all about content.

On Saturday I attended my first “12-Hour Belgian Beer Party” at Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA. Some friends of mine are way into the Belgian beers, and have taken me along on is Belgian beer adventure for the past year or so. This was truly the culmination of the past year and a half or so of Belgian beer education, and I tasted many different excellent brews.

For $25, I received admission to the party, a tasting glass, and five four-once tastes. Additional tastes were available for $1, a true bargain for beer of this quality.

I think my favorite was the Cantillon Fou Fonne, a sour Flemish beer (I think…my more beer-smart friends are cringing right now). It has a different taste than any other beer I have ever had before. Normally I like a more dry brew, but in this case the sweetness and sourness really blended together and made for a refreshing and eye-opening experience. Other beers I tried and recommend include the Chimay Cinq Cents and New Belgium’s Blue Paddle Ale. Both were excellent, and are actually fairly easy to come by, unlike may of the other beers featured at the party.

I will definitely make a point of attending this fine party next year, and will hopefully be a bit more knowledgable and able to better appreciate the greatness of the beers featured. Either way though, this was a great experience and I truly thank my good friends Pat and Bob for dragging me along on this Grand Cru…I mean grand adventure.

I just came across this article on RedHerring discussing how BellSouth is trying to force the city of New Orleans to stop providing free wi-fi Internet service. I just can’t believe that corporate greed has become so bad (and acceptable) that BellSouth can get away with this.

New Orleans has been beaten up enough already. First they got nailed by a bitch of a hurricane. Then they got neglected and provided with pathetic and incompetent “relief efforts” after the hurricane. Our delightful government is still spending insanely huge amounts of money in Iraq and insanely tiny amounts of money on New Orleans. And since the fine people of the Big Easy haven’t been dicked around enough yet, BellSouth comes in and threatens to shut down the city-provided wireless access.

This free wi-fi access is essential to the success of many New Orleans businesses, and to those brave few who have dared to return to their devastated city. According to the article, “about a third of the city is still without even basic phone service,” which is absolutely insane. It seems to me that BellSouth’s time, money, and energy would be better spent restoring basic phone service to those without rather than trying to deprive the city of high speed wi-fi.

I have no problem with corporations making money. That’s what they do, and that’s fine with me. But when the line between corporate profit and corporate greed is crossed so blatantly, as we see here, I just can’t stand it.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share the exciting news that my third article has been published on Associated Content. It’s a 50,000 mile review of my 2003 Mini Cooper. Give it a read if you’re interested, otherwise I’m just sharing the exciting news with my fellow writers.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/23336/2003_mini_cooper_50000_mile_review.html

If you’re interested in getting paid for writing web content, check out AssociatedContent!

Thanks! :^)