Somewhere, I unfortunately don’t remember where, I found a link to the FullertonWireless website. Much to my surprise, Fullerton offers free wireless internet throughout much of downtown Fullerton. Other cities have done similar things, with much fanfare and controversy. Fullerton, it seems, snuck this one under the radar and even its residents don’t know about it (or maybe I’m just slow and this wireless network is common knowledge.)

Having free wifi in Fullerton, or any city, is a great thing. In this months Wired magazine Larry Lessig has an article about the benefit of municipal wifi. For years, the broadband market has been failing US customers. Many people, even in metropolitan areas, can’t get high speed internet. When the market fails, it is the responsibility of the government to step in and do the things the market won’t. Some cities are starting to realize that the market for high speed internet has failed and are stepping in to fix the problem. I’m glad to see Fullerton is one of those cities.

Tonight you might have noticed our new banner, tomorrow you will notice another new one. The images come from the Orange County Metblogs Flickr group and is automatically generated each day. If you have pictures of OC that you would like to include, join Flickr. I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody’s pictures up there.

Next Saturday is the next Orange County Meetup. If you would like to come out with us, sign up for Meetup.com and join group. We are getting together at the Earth Cafe in Irvine at 1pm. Last time we enjoyed the food and company at Gypsy Den, and I look forward to seeing even more people next weekend.

Last night for dinner, my family, Grant and I had a taste for Thai food. Right across the street from our house is the relatively-new Spice Delight Thai Cuisine (next to Hibachi) so we gave it a try.

It’s really good. We ordered two Pad Thais – one shrimp, one chicken – owing to the fact that we don’t yet have a menu. Those were plenty for four hungry adults, and were fresh and flavorful. I’m sure there are tons of other choices, and I highly, highly recommend trying it out this local restaurant. They have dine-in or take-out.

My mom (who picked up the food on the way home from work) said that there wasn’t anyone else in there at the time, but that the owners were trying to advertise and get the name out there. So, I thought I’d do my part:

*Eat at Spice Delight Thai Cuisine!*

The other day I dropped into Pescado Mojado (1640 E 1st St., Santa Ana), a local Mexican seafood restaurant, and was surprised to find the place nearly full! I usually work north of the border (L.A. County), but, when possible, I work in our Santa Ana office. And when I do, I lunch at Pescado Mojado. As a creature of habit, I usually have grilled fish brochettes with the big choice being whether to have one brochette or two. Nine times out of ten, I opt for two.
I can

Just caught this on Yahoo Movies. The Tralier for the movie “A Scanner Darkly,” based on the famous OC Author Phillip K. Dick (Who is also behind “Minority Report” and “Total Recall” (based on the short story “We can Dream it for you Wholesale”) has hit the Internet.

The movie is using a new Rotoscoping technique to give it that quasi-animated/live action look. The story itself is based in Orange County.

The trailer is pretty trippy!

Dear Lucky Strike Bowling Alley,

When I first heard that my friend was having his 30th birthday party at your bowling lanes, I was very excited. I’d seen your location open many months before, glitzy and glamy, full of beautiful people, a great looking lounge-style bar, souped-up bowling lanes, and pretty colors all around. While your prices were a bit on the high side, I still thought it’d be a fun place to go some time.

On first entering the your facility, I wasn’t disappointed. Everything screams “good times to be had!”. The aforementioned bar/lounge, the pool tables, the music playing, the changing artwork and pop culture scenes on the wall above the bowling lanes. We got to the lanes with our balls and shoes, our host having already paid for our lanes for the evening. This meant we didn’t have to stop by the desk – and apparently this was a mistake.
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I can’t remember when Orange County ever suffered from the effects of this much rain. The streets are flooded, houses are sliding, and the roof of my car is leaking (and it’s not the type of leak you can stop with plastic sheeting). Normally, I love the rain, I like drizzles instead of downpours. You can drive in a drizzle, but you have to hang on for dear life when you drive in a downpour. Not only that but you also have to suffer with fellow drivers on the freeway who will still drive 75-80 mph on the freeway and cut you off without a signal!

The rain is going to stick with us until Wednesday, so don’t forget you umbrellas when you go to the beach.

For the past week or so, I’ve been seeing stories in the news about the homes collapsing in Anaheim Hills. Homes? Mansions, actually. Story after story. This morning, I saw it twice.

The people on the treadmills next to me talked about what a damn shame it was. Terrible shame.

But I can’t help wonder, when I think about the homeless, begging for food on the street, all around Orange County, why this is such an important story. In all likelihood, these people were insured. And even if they weren’t, odds are they make enough money not to end up in the same situation as our many homeless are in. And yet, we never see stories in the news about the poor any more and it’s rare you hear people talking about them, other than to complain.

Sure, there’s a journalistic rule that applies here. The homeless are so plentiful that they’re no longer news, but how often do you see mansions falling down hillsides. But I thought I’d take a moment and speak up, because to lose your mansion isn’t the worst tragedy that can befall you.

And what am I doing? I’m sitting here at work, waiting for something to be delivered to my girlfriend, Vicky, at her work. (I’d tell you but then Vicky’d know, so

Down at Crystal Court (across from South Coast Plaza), the 25th Annual Fascination of Orchids International Show & Sale has set up camp with nearly a hundred booths and thousands of orchids. The 2nd and 3rd levels of Crystal Court are packed with the flowers, in all shapes, sizes, colors and price ranges. Most are for sale, though there are some that are for display only. There were some beautiful single-stem/multi-flower ones for under 20 bucks. ::Hint::Valentine’s Day::Hint:: Though today is the last day, it’s worth taking a bit of time to stroll amidst the flowering orchids