This judge is what's wrong with users and how IT staff are treated

Amen, I actually worked IT for a time and sometimes it put me in courtrooms, we were very different from this guy. You have to treat this like you are called in to the C suite at a business. I kept a dress shirt and tie in my office, I wore Dockers (that style of pant) most days and my dress boots (Texas). Sometime we had to talk to the judge, if you are speaking to a judge in open court, you use honorifics, like you said, decorum still exists in courtrooms but only because it is enforced. Just addressing them as "judge" will usually suffice just fine, I never had one object to that, just like the CEO is Mr. or Ms. (unless they tell you otherwise). I think had this guys said, "I'm not sure what was wrong judge but it works now, get back with us if it happens again and I'll be right back up", rather than "false alarm" this would have been just fine. The judge had a problem, maybe it was PEBKAC but it was real to him. All that being said I know very well some judges are assholes with big ego issues because they are a judge and this one is one of them. I also had fantastic relationships with some judges with problem child courtrooms, upgrading the courtroom tech has never been a high priority. I've moved in to anther field now where I testify in court frequently and until you have been inside that system, you just can't realize how formal, even ritualized court is. Judges wear robes (most of the time), attorneys wear suits, as do smart defendants, experts (what I do) wear suits, officers testifying wear their class A uniforms, detectives wear suits. Seriously if you are fighting even just a speeding ticket, dressing the part and using the right honorifics (judge, but if I was a defendant I'd use "your honor", officer, deputy, etc.) is serious points in your favor, it may not get you off but reduced fines, deferred adjudications that weren't available to the guy in jeans and a tshirt may become available to you.