Last Saturday (Sept 26), I attended the OpenWebCamp at Stanford University. Much thanks goes to John Foliot for organizing the event and to Opera which was the main sponsor. It was a really nice time (except the hot weather). Learned a few things and met some great people, and the food and drink was great, too! Guy Kawasaki and Molly Holzschlag were the featured speakers. I spoke on Accessible Twitter which went pretty well. There was some excellent discussion on HTML5, open source software, usability, and the browser wars.
I’m proud to announce that my project Accessible Twitter has been honored with the the 2009 Access IT @web2.0 Award! The award is in recognition of a project, product or service that advances accessibility on web 2.0. It is endorsed by the International Webmasters Association (IWA). The selection process assesses the relevance for the award, its impact, its affordability and openness, and its validation level. The awards event was held in central London.
My Twitter friend Meera Tank was kind enough to represent me and Accessible Twitter at the award event. A nice, heavy, glass trophy was given, which currently resides with Meera in London. She accepted the award and gave the presentation that I wrote a couple days prior. You can view the presentation on SlideShare (or view the fully accessible HTML version). The day after it was posted, SlideShare chose this to be a Featured Presentation on their home page!
The other categories and winners are:
ACCESS-IT@Web2.0: project, product or service that advances accessibility on web 2.0.
ACCESS-IT @Work: project, product or service that facilitates persons with disability to work independently.
Winner: ECDL Hallas
ACCESS-IT@Learning: project, product or service that facilitates persons with disability or elderly to get educated in an affordable, accessible, usable and efficient manner.
Contact me if you’re interested in a great techie job in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley, California). Most open positions are in San Jose. I’ll send you more information and details if I find that you qualify for the position (smiley). Most require 3-5+ years experience.
TCL Test Automation Engineer
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
PHP Developer
Senior Visual Designer
Linux Systems Administrator
Senior Technical Security Project Manager
Senior Product Development Engineer with prior search engine experience
I was asked to write an article for Even Grounds, so I did! It’s called Accessible Experts: Dennis Lembree Talks About Accessible Twitter. Thought it’s valuable to note that the working title of the article was “The Awful Truth About Most Web Sites”. The main idea is to connect the perception of “wrong vs right”, Twitter and web accessibility, and modern coding practices.
Please give me a Digg if you have an account. My Digg description is as follows:
The first in a series of articles from Even Grounds featuring accessibility experts. In this article, guest author Dennis Lembree links “wrong vs right’, Twitter and web accessibility, and modern coding practices.
Yesterday I posted my first “live” HTML5 page, hoorah! It’s DennisLembree.com, my personal home page. It look virtually identical in all newer browsers (with rounded corners the exception). And the code validates, of course. I even made a couple enhancement to the code thanks for Twitter buddy @icaaq. It only took about one full hour’s work; not too bad, mostly because it was XHTML Strict previously.
Also, I’ve been working on an article about HTML5 and CSS3 which should be done soon.
Prohibition has failed to control the use and domestic production of marijuana.
Arrests for marijuana possession disproportionately affect blacks and Hispanics and reinforce the perception that law enforcement is biased and prejudiced against minorities
A regulated, legal market in marijuana would reduce marijuana sales and use among teenagers, as well as reduce their exposure to other drugs in the illegal market.
Legalized marijuana would reduce the flow of money from the American economy to international criminal gangs. Marijuana’s illegality makes foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development.
Marijuana’s legalization would simplify the development of hemp as a valuable and diverse agricultural crop in the United States, including its development as a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions.
Prohibition is based on lies and disinformation. Justification of marijuana’s illegality increasingly requires distortions and selective uses of the scientific record, causing harm to the credibility of teachers, law enforcement officials, and scientists throughout the country.
Marijuana is not a lethal drug and is safer than alcohol. It is established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans; marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco.
Marijuana is too expensive for our justice system and should instead be taxed to support beneficial government programs. Law enforcement has more important responsibilities than arresting 750,000 individuals a year for marijuana possession, especially given the additional justice costs of disposing of each of these cases.
Marijuana use has positive attributes, such as its medical value and use as a recreational drug with relatively mild side effects. Many people use marijuana because they have made an informed decision that it is good for them.
Marijuana users are determined to stand up to the injustice of marijuana probation and accomplish legalization, no matter how long or what it takes to succeed.
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