WordPress has evolved from a blogging platform to a solid CMS. I am interested in seeing higher-ed sites that implemented WordPress as a CMS. Here’s a list I gather:
More showcase can be viewed at WordPress.org.
We eat out at least once a week and more if our sister-in-law doesn’t invite us over for dinner. These days we get home from work around seven in the evening and it is too late to cook and to clean up as well. Here are some of our recommended spots.
Cee Fine Thai Dining is roomy but cozy. One of my favorite dishes is the deep-fried pompano. Love the crunchiness and savory, sour and spice sauce. Its drunken noodle is very tasty as well. Even Dao enjoys eating here. The service is also very nice.
Vespucci Fine Italian Dining has excellent service. Loved the prime rib and the old screen theater that played Charlie Chaplin.
Havabite is a small, friendly family eatery. The folks are really nice. I had a nice, juicy burger with fries. The price is affordable; therefore, it is a perfect spot for a quick bite.
Eastwind is a new Vietnamese restaurant just opened up for business early this month. While the name is Eastwind, the banner on the front uses Western, cowboy typeface. At first I thought it was an old sign from the previous owner of the place. It really needs some help with selecting the typeface. Eastwind is started by a young Vietnamese business major. He seemed to make quite a bit of investment into the place. The place is surprisingly large. We had a short conversation with him and I wanted to make sure that he didn’t Americanized the taste for none-Vietnamese customers. We had Mi Xao Don Do Bien (Vietnamese Crispy Chow Mein with Seafood) and very pleased with it, but Com Tay Cam Do Bien (Seafood in Clay Pot) was just average. Dao was treated with fried banana with ice cream for free. The owner was very nice and I really do wish him success. Since this place is a bit closer to our house, it will be a perfect spot if we want Vietnamese food and too lazy too cook or to drive to Eden center.
As I am cleaning up my MacBook Pro, I realize that I need to make a list of the programs that I will need to purchase in the near future. It turns out that I don’t use too many. In addition to the applications that comes with Mac, here is the list of tools that I use to do my job:
I have accepted the position of web services developer at George Mason University School of Law. I will be responsible for its external and internal web sites. My roles will include front-end design, backend development and server administration. The position will be a new challenge and I am ready for it because I will gain so much experience in the backend world.
My first goal once I start working is to give the external site a fresh new look with HTML5 and CSS3. My interview was a couple days after the Boston Globe relaunched its new, responsive design. As a result, I focused my presentation on responsive web design, which is my latest passion and the direction I am heading, and provided some of my own responsive design I have done. I would love to be able to apply responsive approach to the Law school web site.
I am very excited about the new opportunity, but what attracted me to the Law school is the people. I only get to meet about a dozen of them, but everyone seems to be professional, very nice and friendly. My future supervisor who I have the pleasure of working with on freelance projects for about two years is the type of boss that encourages her staff to push themselves. When your supervisor has more confidant in you than you have in yourself then that’s the one that you should work for. She’s also a very caring person. I am looking forward to joining the staff at the Law school.
I resigned my position with the George Washington Univeristy School of Business effective October 5, 2011. I have been with GWSB for almost four years. The job has been an eye-opening experience for me. I have learned a great deal and met many talented individuals. I took on more roles than being a web developer, like videographer, graphic designer, social media administrator and online marketing strategist. I also started classes this fall to pursue a degree in master of science in information systems technology.
When the new opportunity came knocking, however, I simply could’t pass it on even though I have to drop out of the program and classes. I might revisit that path later, but the new job will further my career development. For me, nothing is better than learning on the job and getting the hand-on experience. I’ll talk about my new exciting direction in the next post.
As for GW, I will definitely miss the people I have met and worked with not only within the School of Business, but also the entire University.
I think about you the day that we knew you will be coming, but you have been on my mind a lot as the days are getting closer. Your brother, your mother and I are very eager to welcome you into this world and our family. Your mom has been telling me that you have been very well behaved. I am glad to hear.
Your grandpa has given us some names for you, but I not settled on any yet. Do you know what you want to be named? Please make up your mind and let me know before you arrived. I am just kidding. Just kick back and relax while you can. Enjoy being in your own little word because that will change completely in another 90 days or so. But don’t you worried. We will be there for you every step of the way and that is my promise to you.
I love you very much. Be good to your mother.
Daddy
The Boston Globe relaunched with responsive design, as noted on New York Observer:
The spare Globe website has a responsive design that adapts to different window sizes, browsers and devices.
Take a tour of the new BostonGlobe.com to see it in action.
ASU Online is the first higher-ed web site that I know has a responsive design. If you come across more examples of responsive higher-ed sites, please send them my way.
For responsive design inspirations, check out Media Queries. Jeremy Keith’s talk on “One Web” is also highly recommended.
After publishing the post about my lovely boy, I went upstairs and lay next to him. I was having trouble settling down because I still had many things on my mind. Around 1am, he got up and vomited all over the bed. We cleaned up and put on new sheets.
I went to the basement to do the laundry. Dao stayed with his mom, but didn’t fall back to sleep. He dozed off a bit, but then wanted milk. At first we didn’t let him because he was just vomited, but then we gave in just so he could go back to sleep. As I was pouring milk downstairs, I heard Dana through the walkie talkie saying that he threw up again. We cleaned up once again and moved to another bedroom because we ran out of sheets.
I went to the basement again to do laundry at 3 something in the morning. I called off work the next day because Dao was not ready to go back to daycare. Yesterday I also stayed him with him half of a day and then Dana stayed with him the second half. Poor fellow. I am hoping that he could return to daycare today. We’ll see.
Some funny Vietlish he said:
“so hot dao an khong duoc (so hot Dao cannot eat)”
“Dao khong want roi (Dao doesn’t want it anymore)”
I notice that he uses third person a lot. He hardly uses I, me or “con.” Not sure why that is.
With classes, I get home two hours later than working schedule, but I still can spend some time with Dao. We have dinner together then I get to give him a bath. We watch a bit of Bob the Builder before brushing his teeth. In bed, we read a few books before I turn out the lights. We hold on to each other and then we would go to sleep.
I have a light cough for a couple of days now. While I was changing him, I started to cough. Then our conversation began:
Dao: “Are you ok, daddy?” He ran to the table, picked up the cup of water and said to me, “Drink some water daddy.”
Me: “Thank you Dao. Daddy bi ho (Daddy has a cough).”
Dao: “Daddy bi ho, daddy di bac si (daddy go to the doctor).”
Me:: “Ba khong sao, cam on Dao (I am ok, thank you).”
These are some of the best moments being a father.
Dao gets to stand against the wall quite often nowadays for his misbehaving. I usually give him three chances to cooperate. If he refused I would make him stand against the wall. Seeing him standing and crying breaks my heart, but I have to do it. At two he needs to be disciplined. In the past two years, I have failed getting him to listen without making him standing against the wall. I tried to talk to him and also tried to minimize the punishment, but it was been really hard.
Once I got him to get still against the wall, I tried to explain to him what he had done wrong. He seemed to be responsive. Here’s how the conversation went recently:
Me: “Dao co ngoan khong (Are you going to be good)?”
Dao: “Yeah”
Me: “Dao xin loi mommy (Say sorry to your mom)”
Dao: “Sorry mommy.” Still crying and went on, “Dao muon di (I want to go).”
Me: “Dao muon di dau (Where do you want to go)?”
Dao: “Di vong vong (go around).” Before I could dismiss him, he stepped toward me and gave me a hug. He got me.
Labor Day weekend, we were at my sister’s house and Dao acted him when we tried to brush his teeth in the morning. He was kicking and biting hard on the brush. I made him stand against the wall while Eric stood and watched. Ten minutes later after I let Dao go, Eric came up to me with two plastic knives in his hands. He looked at me with his red, teary eyes and said, “I saw what you did.” He was about to fight me for what I did to his cousin.