Every time I think of taking a break, I ended up blogging more than usual. Yesterday was the proof. School will start in two weeks and I am very excited. Next Tuesday I will be taking a full day workup learning InDesign. The workshop is free and will be taught by two graphic design students. I peaked at their work and very impress. Hope I can learn something from them. I never thought that I would InDesign, but I better get myself prepared since I am going to learn about graphic design.

My goal before attending school is to focus on getting my freelance project finish and catching up on readings. The freelance gig is coming along well. I am very excited and can’t wait to share it with everyone. My list just keep getting longer and longer, but here’s are the books that I hope get through:

• The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman: This is recommended read for my seminar class.
• Inventing the Medium: Principles of Interaction Design as a Cultural Practice by Janet H. Murray: This is a required reading for the seminar class.
• Net Work: Ethics and Values in Web Design by Helen Kennedy: I picked this one up at Mason Library. Didn’t realize it costs $95. Wow.
• Active Literature: Jan Tschichold and New Typography by Christopher Burke
• The New Typography (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism) by Jan Tschichold
• Anatomy of a Typeface by Anatomy of a Typeface (94) by Alexander Lawson
• Bibliographic: 100 Classic Graphic Design Books by Jason Godfrey.

I still haven’t gotten a response from my professor for the books I need for the Advanced Typography class. Well, hope you all are having a great summer. Enjoy it while you can.

Last Friday, I spent forty-five minutes at Staples playing around with the Nexus 7. I like it. The interface is very initiative. Unlike the Kindle Fire, the touch response is quite accurate. The size seems to be perfect for reading. Then I decided to make the purchase, but it all sold out. I went to Office Max, but they only carried an 8gig, not 16gig. The salesman told me it would be cheaper to get an 8gig and then get a SanDisk card to upgrade to a 16gig. I thought to myself, “Is this guy for real?” I hope he’s not saying that to other customers.

On Sunday we were at the mall and I dropped by GameStop to see if they have one. The cashier told me they had one with 10% discount special. I copped it immediately. Since I already have a gmail account, setting up the Nexus was very easy. As I played with the device, however, I noticed the latency in the feedback. The response started to act weird like I was taking to a screen I didn’t touch on. It gave me a flashback of the horrendous experience on the Kindle Fire. Something was not right because I didn’t have that experience at Staples. Then I recalled when I first opened the box there was no wrap. So I called GameStop and asked if the device had been used. They said yes and that was the reason I got 10% off. I was furious. No one told me that when I bought the device. I don’t want to pay $25 less for a freaking used device.

I took Nexus back to the store, but my wife didn’t put the charger back to the box. The guy told me I could go to any GameStop to return it. So I went home, grabbed the charger and went to a GameStop closer to my house and guess what? They didn’t take it because the store is too small. I had to go back to the original store and that had to be my last stop at GameStop ever again.

Now I am still debating whether I should get the Nexus 7 or the new iPad. I love the retina display on the new iPad, but it’s a bit too big for reading, especially when lying down in bed. I guess I should wait for the iPad Mini to drop.

Tôi không lạnh lùng hoặc thờ ơ mà chỉ tự kiềm chế bản thân. Có thứ không thể miễn cưỡng được. Tôi phải đối diện với sự thật và không còn mơ tưởng nữa. Không biết nên vui hay buồn. Giờ đây tôi không có quyền lựa chọn vì tôi không muốn đánh đổi hết tất cả để thỏa mãn cá nhân. Điều tôi có thể làm được làm sao cho điều đó không còn cần thiết nữa. Nhất định sẽ được. Tôi sẽ làm được. I know I can. I know I can.

When redesigning Mason Law web site early this year, I knew that I had to have all the navigational links at the top. For the desktop version, I fulfilled that requirement, but my real preference is not to have them all at the top. I wanted the contents to be more prominent and that was how I structured my markups: content first, navigation second. This is one of the things that responsive design is so appealing to me.

Once I met the desktop requirements, I get much more creative freedom for the smaller screens. This is the reason mobile-first approach is important. For the Law web site, the best, or my preferred, experience is when the browser is at 739px or lower. That’s when the navigation gets out of the way and you can get to it by hitting on the menu button.

In the next design, which I have already been thinking a bit, I will go for a minimal set of links at the top. Yes, the new site is only up for six months and I am already planning on a new design. I feel as if I have adopted this baby.

James Surowiecki on “Downsizing Supersize:”

Currently, on a per-ounce basis, large drinks are much cheaper than smaller ones—which encourages people to supersize. The soda ban should shift this. Two sixteen-ounce servings are bound to be more expensive than one thirty-two-ounce serving, which creates another disincentive to drink more.

I am guilty as charged on this one. I used to get Starbuck’s venti ice coffee. Now I am getting the trenta cup. It’s ridiculous. I rarely get the frappacino, but I go all out whenever I do because it is so expensive for a tall size comparing to a venti size.

Six months after moving into our home, my wife and I wanted to cut down all the trees around our house. We just don’t like them, but we weren’t really motivated to do so until the thunderstorm uprooted a black walnut in our backyard. The tree didn’t fall down completely because the branches were caught on two other trees. We were lucky that the tree didn’t fall onto our house like the one a few blocks from us, which damaged the garage and two cars.

With two little kids in the house, I am little bit paranoid about the incident so I called five different services in the area for an estimate. At first, we just wanted to cut the uprooted black walnut and a lotus, which is closer to our house. The estimates ranged from $1,200 to $2,500, which included removing the trees, grinding the stumps and hauling away the woods. The company that quoted $2,500 was out. Then we saw a couple of guys cutting down a tree a few miles down the street so we called them in for an estimate.

Roberto Solorzano, estimator and the owner of R.S. Tree & Landscape Service, came by to gave us an estimate on Friday. We agreed on the price and he said they would do the job on Monday. Then we decided to just go ahead and remove two more in our backyard so he came back and gave us another price. All four trees came out to $2,200.

I came home from work today and everything was done. They even pruned some branches for the tree infront of the house with no cost. I am very satisfied with their service as well as their price. I recommend them for anyone in the area would like to remove their trees.

Sau trận mưa bão vừa rồi chúng tôi mướn thợ đến chặt hết bốn cây sau nhà. Ban đầu chỉ định chặt đi cây bị gió bão nhổ gốc đứng nghiên ngã. Cũng mai là chưa bổ vô nhà như một hàng xóm bị cây đập vào nhà đậu xe làm xụp nhà và hư hai chiếc xe. Cũng mai không ai bị thương cả. Thấy vậy thôi thì cho thợ đốn cái sắp ngã và cây gần nhà. Nhưng cuối cùng quyết định chặt hết bốn cây với chi phí $2,200. Đã kiêu năm sáu người đến để xem. Có người cho giá đến $1,400 một cây. Không ngờ đốn cây mà cũng đắc giá đến thế. Tôi nói với người đó, giá của ông cao quá. Người khác cho toi giá là $1,200 cho hai cây. Ông ấy bỏ đi và nói ổng không thể nào làm giá đó được.

Tôi không hiểu rỏ là tại sao số tiền lại trên lệch khác nhau đến thế. Chặt cây thì chỉ cần chặt cây xuống. Miễn sao không thấy cây nữa thì thôi cần gì phải mướn chổ đắc tiền. Đâu có gì khác biệt nhau?

Tôi nghỉ đến công việc của mình. Tại sao phải mướn tôi làm một trang web với giá cao mà không mướn người khác rẻ hơn nhiều? Quả thật thì việc chặt cây và việc của tôi không thể so sánh được. Người ta mướn tôi có thể là gì người ta thích thẩm mỹ và cách thiết kế của tôi. Nhưng đó chỉ là cái nhìn bề ngoài. Cái quang trọng hơn nữa là cách viết codes. Tôi cũng từng đã có khách hàng đã có thiết kế rồi họ muốn tôi đưa thiết kế đó qua HTML, CSS và đưa vào WordPress. Cuối cùng họ đã không chọn tôi vì có người đã cho giá thấp hơn rất nhiều. Sau khi cái project làm xong, tôi xem codes mới thấy rõ tiền nào của nấy. Codes không gọn và không chặc chẻ nên trang web chạy rất chậm. Layout chỉ xem được với màng hình lớn. Màng hình nhỏ như điện thoại di đọng thì không rỏ ràng.

Nói tóm lại thì tôi không biết chọn người chặt cây rẽ sẽ có hại gì không nhưng họ đã làm gần xong trong một ngày. Nghề này tuy cực nhưng kiếm tiền cũng không tệ. Chỉ cần hai ngày là được $2,200.

I didn’t know R. Kelly has a new book. Definitely going to pick it up after reading Andrew Marantz’s excellent piece on the book:

In his twenty-year exploration of the limits of the R. & B. sex ballad, R. Kelly has often toed the line between satiric and satyric. In his song “Sex Planet,” he made the obvious joke about Uranus; in his song “Sex In the Kitchen,” he made the obvious joke about salad-tossing; in his song “Pregnant,” male backup singers (ominously? chivalrously?) offered to “knock you up.” He has referred to himself as a “sexosaurus” and a “lesbian R. & B. thug.” He has attempted onomatopoetic renderings of cunnilingus and of flesh skidding down a stripper pole. He has yodeled, twice, in the songs “Echo” and “Feelin’ on Yo Booty.” (To perform the latter song in concert, he donned a top hat and cape for an extended operatic remix.) And then there is his unfinished magnum opus “Trapped in the Closet,” a series of twenty-two songs (and counting) featuring a gay pastor, a stuttering pimp, and a woman named Bridget whose husband is a midget.

Dạo này hay thèm món tráng miệng xôi với xoài của Thái. Ở gần sở làm có một nhà hàng Thái tên là Rien Tong làm món này rất hấp dẫn. Đĩa xôi nếp ấm và thơm với một lớp nước cốt dừa rưới lên mặt không quá ngọt và không béo lắm. Còn lác xoài thì ươm lạnh chín mùi ngọt liệm. Vừa sơi vừa hớp vài hớp trà xanh nóng thì đời cũng được lên mây năm phút. Tuần trước cũng định ăn nhưng kêu ra một dĩa drunken noodle còn thêm chai Singha nữa nên no quá ăn trắng miệng không nổi thật tiếc. Kể cho bà xã nghe món đặc biệt này bã bảo, “Để em xôi một nồi cho anh ăn đã thèm.”

Mấy tuần nay vợ hôm nào cũng chuẩn bị cơm trưa đem theo cả nên không ra ngoài ăn. Đồ ăn nấu ở nhà dù sao gì cũng tốt hơn ăn ở ngoài. Sáng thay gì ghé Starbucks mua cafe đá bà xả cho một ly cối artichoke nấu ở nhà để lạnh đem theo uống vì dạo này máu cam chảy như thác đổ không dừng. Mổi sáng đến chổ làm điều phải chạy nhanh vô nhà vệ sinh để xả nước. Kẹt xe thì chịu thua thôi.

Ngồi ở chổ làm đến 10 giờ sáng là chịu hết nỗi phải lội qua Starbucks để mua cafe cho tỉnh ngủ mà làm việc. Nhất là hôm nay nâng cấp lên “Cợp Núi” ngồi đợi mà ngáp lên ngáp xuống như lên đồng. Không biết “Cợp Núi” có gì mới lạ không nhưng thấy tóc độ nhanh hơn một tí. Nếu bạn sài Mac, nên nâng cấp.

I drive my wife and kids insane listening to web-related podcasts. By catching up on some shows while getting the kids to sleep I thought I could accomplish two tasks at once, but that isn’t the case. My wife said the talk gives her a headache. Dao asked me, “Why is that man keep on talking?” So now I just put on my headphone when I listen to podcasts. It helped me clean the house and fold the laundry.

If I remember correctly, the first tech podcast I listened to was Dan Benjamin’s “The Pipeline” with Jeffrey Zeldman. I loved to hear how these talented guys and gals became successful. Unfortunately “The Pipeline” has not been updated for a year.

The first episode of “The Big Web Show” I listened to was when Jeffrey and Dan interviewed the Drupal Girl aka Jen Simmons. She’s no longer the Drupal gal and this show is now quite sporadic. Then I got hooked on Jen’s “The Web Ahead.” I love focus of this show. Each episode delves into a very specific topic and Jen Simmons’ knowledge of the web is quite astonishing. She was on hiatus for a while, which gave me a chance to catch up on every show. One of my favorite episodes is on video with Michael Verdi. The topic on Flash brought back so much nostalgia. The show is now also sporadic.

I also tuned into Kristina Halvorson’s “Content Talks.” I listened to almost every episode. Love the content strategy talk as well as Kristina’s clear enunciation. Too bad this show is also not active.

Occasionally I listened to “The Talk Show” with John Gruber. The breakup caused quite a stir, which resulted in one-star review for John’s new show. I still follow John on his new show. Based on the lacking of updates of the shows I mentioned above in the 5by5 network, I could see why John did what he did.

One of the shows on 5by5 that is still on regular schedule is “Build and Analyze” with Marco Arment. This show is somewhat similar to “The Talk Show” in a way that they talk about Apple.

Although I am not too crazy about the Q&A format of “ShopTalk,” which hosted by Chris Coyier and Dave Rupert, I tuned in anyway. Chris and Dave could be quite hilarious at times.

Recently I caught up with both “The Non-Breaking Space Show,” which hosted by Christopher Schmitt and Dave McFarland, and “The East Wing” by Tim Smith and Galen Gidman. Both are pretty decent.

Damn, that’s a lot of podcasts.