Defensive Design by 37signals provides 40 guidelines to help visitors get back on track incase “shit” happens. The book takes a different approach on usability by showing how to turn a crisis situation into a positive experience. The 40 guidelines will help readers create bulletproof forms to avoid frustration, design the 404 page incase they mistype the URL, handle unavailability products by telling them upfront and provide alternatives, use appropriate language that they can understand, craft relevant information when they perform a search, offer help and get out of their way when “shit” happens.

Defensive Design provides invaluable resources by focusing on simple and straightforward contents. Each guideline is not only clearly explained but also backs up with real world examples. The book points out both good and bad sites with careful explanations to show how they had failed or succeeded so readers can learn from the good and avoid the bad.

Defensive Design is a must read for anyone who works on the web. The last chapter alone deserves the price for this book. It gives readers a checklist to test out their own site by applying the 40 guidelines. This precious little book will help bring in tremendous profits and pleasant web experiences. Thanks to the guys at 37signals for this incredible work.

I have to give it to him. Chris Rock is the funniest man in America. Both Bring the Pain and Bigger and Blacker are classics. His topics including crack, gun, race, sex, gay, politics and many more are uproarious yet meaningful. After watching and listening to Chris Rock, I cannot enjoy other comedians. Jamie Foxx, Martin Lawrence, Margaret Cho, Bernie Mac, Eddie Griffin and many more just don’t do it for me and I have to go back to Chris Rock. I can hardly to see his new stand-up titled Never Scared which will air on HBO on April 17. Will see if he can top the other two classics.

“Will ship to Taiwan only.” an eBay’s Taiwan ad bids on three Vietnamese women starting at approximately $5,410 USD. These Taiwanese treats my people as an item for auction on eBay. How disgraceful is that? After reading Vietnamese Outraged at Women Trafficked on Website, my blood boils in my brain and the only response from eBay was to pull the ad. That’s not enough. It’s time for us, the Vietnamese around the world, to unite to save our women and children. This is a shameful act toward the Vietnamese and we cannot let them off easily.

If you would like to learn more about these immoral acts, please visit “Xin Cuu Phu Nu va Tre Em Viet Nam Dang Bi Buon Ban (Please Save the Vietnamese Woman and Children From Being Sale)” and voice your opinions. Unfortunately, the site is only in Vietnamese.

One, two strikes! You’re out. It’s time for Ngo Thanh Van to leave the mic alone and get back to the catwalk. Bi An Van Trang once again demonstrates Ngo Thanh Van’s inability to sing. Vol. 2 has no indication of improvement from Vol. 1. I can’t even pick out a good song to brag about. The lyrics are still cheap and the music is just cheaper.

What was she thinking? Putting out yet another worthless album. The worse track on the album is Anh Trang, which features Okio, who has no rapping skills whatsoever. In fact, William Hung would murder his ass in a lyrical battle any time. Well, I don’t want to sound too negative so go to NTVvirus.com and check it out. The site is nicely done in Flash and it has sample clips posted on there.

Just uploaded a new theme (Love) for iLoveNgocLan.com. Check out Ngoc Lan’s sweet smile and the lovely Bleeding Hearts.

If you’re using Mozilla or Firefox, you already noticed the VisualGUI’s topnav round borders. If you’re using other browsers, see the screenshot. It’s such a beautiful element and all you need is one single line of CSS:

.roundBorders {
-moz-border-radius: 1px 2px 3px 4px;
}

Here is the order: 1px (top left), 2px (top right), 3px (bottom right), 4px (bottom left)

That’s it. It’s a great time saver and you don’t have to create any graphics or write chunks of CSS. Unfortunately, it only works in Mozilla and Firefox.

The Info page is completely rewritten. It is so darn hard to write about myself.

As you might have noticed, the footer of each section contains a bottom border. There is also a new girl photo added to the ramdom series for the Graphics section. To see all of them, just refresh your browser.

Lan Song Xanh music video showcases most requested songs in 2003. The video features live performances by rising stars such as: Dam Vinh Hung, My Tam, Tuan Hung, Thanh Thao, Lam Truong, Dan Truong, Cam Ly, Phuong Thanh and many more. The video also acknowledges songwriters, Le Quang, Hoai An, Quoc An, Ngoc Chau, and Tuong Van, who contributed these magnificent works to the Vietnamese music.

While the Vietnamese entertainment productions in the US including Asia, Thuy Nga, Van Son and Tinh reuse same old songs over and over again, the music industry in Viet Nam is booming with hits after hits. Lan Song Xanh music video alone displays more than 25 new top hits in 2003. Now that is impressive comparing to the productions in US, which I can’t even recall a good song made in 2003; therefore, the productions in the US are loosing the market shares to those in Viet Nam.

The best part about Lan Song Xanh video is the actual live performances, no lip-syncing. Of course, Dam Vinh Hung and My Tam are as fine as always. I actually like Dam Vinh Hung’s Neu Co Yeu Toi live version much better than the recorded version. His powerful voice makes a big different when he sings live. My Tam is simply sexy. This girl has everything: the voice, the look, and the loot (She has recently signed a contract with Pepsi for 70 thousand US dollars). Her performance on Hoa Mi Toc Nau and Uoc Gi is just breathtaking. Beside those two, Tuan Hung also rocks the mic. He gives a mesmerizing performance on Tinh Yeu Lung Linh and Dot Chut La Kho with his strong and smoky tone.

Along with solo performances, the “ho`” part is entertaining as well. For those who don’t know, “ho`” is an interaction back and forth playing on poetry. Similar to Hip Hop battle, one starts off with “ho` ho ho ho’… ” then spits a couple lines. Immediately, the other would “ho`” back with a reply. In this case, there are five guys (Dam Vinh Hung, Lam Truong, Dan Truong, Tuan Hung, and Quang Dung) verses five girls (Phuong Thanh, My Tam, Hong Ngoc, Thanh Thao and Cam Ly). What cracks me the most is Dam Vinh Hung’s smart mouth. He just says whatever on his mind especially when he busts on Tuan Hung, “No o ngoai vo.” Phuong Thanh on the other side is funny as hell too. She pokes at Hong Ngoc with the North Vietnamese accent, “Ben em, con nho ao do no ‘soc’ lam day.” You have to know Vietnamese slang to get it.

Asia video 42, Am Nhac Vong Quanh The Gioi, proves their musical arrangements are still topnotch comparing to other Vietnamese entertainment productions in America. With high definition sound qualities, the beats and the instruments are crystal clear. Although this video features aged songs, Asia music producers give them brand new vibes with their innovative remixes. The best one is “Bang Bang” with the smooth guitar sound and the unique upbeat flavor.

Beside the fantastic sound, custome and set designs are worth noticing in this video. To show music around the world, each scene and every custome must be done correctly in order to take the audience to different countries. Thankfully, Asia had done their homework. They must have invested a tremendous amount of time and money to provide all the sceneries and clothes design for the show. As a result, the set design is aesthetically exquisite and the customes are eloquently gorgeous. On top of that, the special effects in the background are splendor.

The singers’ performances are good but the dancers’ performances are extraordinary. Another highlight of the show is the choreographers. The dances are highly enjoyable. Specially the Italian’s God Father act, they step with stylish and power. The choreographers put up a great show even though it is hard to look at Kenny Thai’s baby face as a mobster. Not sure why Phillip Huy’s Cup of Life performance filled with Victoria’s Secret Angels but it is all good. Hot chicks shake their asses in panties and bras, what more can you ask for?

My only complain is Trish‘s interview. Don’t understand why the audience applauded when she asked if she could speak English instead of Vietnamese. If I were there, I would have booed the hell out of her. I would not encourage her to speak English. If Truong Vu can speak Vietnamese even though he is Chinese, Trish better learns to speak her native language.

Asia has produced two successful products back to back. Asia 41’s Mua He Ruc Ro was a big hit and this one is highly enjoyable as well. Asia had been refocused themselves to create meaningful and entertaining works. With this video, they must have spent big bucks to create a masterpiece like that. I usually don’t care about bootlegging but please buy Asia’s original products so they can push the limits and bring us more good videos. They have the visions and the talents and I would hate to see them go away.

Major changes behind the scene have been applied to VisualGUI. The CSS is rewrote and combined into an external files instead of scattering all over different pages. If the site is not displaying correctly, please refresh the pages and the style sheet, especially IE users. If you’re using the latest Safari, you rock. Roll over the links for special treat. Finally, VisualGUI has moved from Transitional to Strict. The site is now valid XHTML 1.0 Strict. Making this move is a challenging task but I am pleased with the result. Just have to keep moving forward in this web game.