Ten more lives had been gunned down. This time’s in Santa Fe, Texas. It’s tragic, but not surprising at all. Again and again, nothing has been done to prevent these horrific school shootings. This nation has chosen gun over people. More kids will die and our leaders will just stand by. More thoughts, more prayers, and more checks from the NRA.

To comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), I removed tracking scripts on all of my websites: visualgui.com, donnytruong.com, Vietnamese Typography, Professional Web Typography, and Simplexpression.

On April 14, 2018, I gutted Google Analytics on all of my websites. On May 16, 2018, I deleted all data and properties in my Google Analytics account. None of my sites sets any cookies in your browser, nor does it track you.

I do not collect, use, or share any personal data. I do not know your internet activity. I respect your privacy.

Indian-American comedians are killing it. In his latest Netflix special, Hari Kondabolu offers a unique voice on the Trump supporters and healthcare. Redistribution of organ from the rich to the poor by killing the wealthy is a bit extreme, but he makes a valid point for getting started with healthcare. In addition to race, politics, religion, and gay marriage, Kondabolu has intriguing stories on mangoes. Good materials, Hari.

Jia Tolentino:

In the past few years, a subset of straight men calling themselves “incels” have constructed a violent political ideology around the injustice of young, beautiful women refusing to have sex with them. These men often subscribe to notions of white supremacy. They are, by their own judgment, mostly unattractive and socially inept. (They frequently call themselves “subhuman.”) They’re also diabolically misogynistic. “Society has become a place for worship of females and it’s so fucking wrong, they’re not Gods they are just a fucking cum-dumpster,” a typical rant on an incel message board reads. The idea that this misogyny is the real root of their failures with women does not appear to have occurred to them.

What do they want? Tolentino writes:

What incels want is extremely limited and specific: they want unattractive, uncouth, and unpleasant misogynists to be able to have sex on demand with young, beautiful women. They believe that this is a natural right.

Read the entire essay at The New Yorker.

James’s latest Netflix special covers the familiar territories such as fatherhood, allergies, and food. There aren’t any twist and turn or a unique perspective—just straight up family friendly. Light jokes from heavy James.

I am fed up with people telling me to center all the text. No matter how many times I explained to them that centered text is hard to scan and not easy to read, they always came back with “the committee wanted the text centered.” Well, fuck the committee. I don’t design for the committee. I design for the intended audience. If the committee wants to make all the text centered, it should design it itself.

Sometimes I just want to give in and get the damn job over with, but it irritates the fuck out of me. I don’t want to be an asshole, but I hate seeing a piece of crap. There, I just need to get it out of my system.

Xuân has developed his language skill faster than his brothers at age two. The reason is obvious. He learns from his brothers. I can’t recall exactly when Đạo began to express himself with words, but I still remember his frustration when he couldn’t tell us what he wanted. Đán started to talk earlier than Đạo, but he stuttered because he could not come up with words to use.

Xuân, on the other hand, is very expressive. He already knows the differences between “I like it” and “I love it” as well as “I don’t like it” and “I hate it.” He loves to sing and to improvise. He could put anything into a tune. For example, when I pointed out to him a walking dog to distract him from wanting another pack of Pocky, he started to sing “doggy walking, doo, doo, doo, doo.” Or he would repeat what I said in the melody of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Sometimes he busted out some Jewish tunes he learned from his daycare that I have no idea what he was singing.

At times he mixes English with Vietnamese. One time, he was holding a plastic revolver, as we strolled around the block. He pointed to the sky and said, “Daddy, chim (bird) flying.” I replied, “Yes, chim flying. Isn’t she beautiful?” He pull the trigger three times and said, “Daddy, I shoot it.” Yes, my boys still play with toy guns.

These last couple of days, he started to use the word stupid: “Monkey stupid,” “Đạo stupid,” “Đán stupid,” “Mommy stupid,” and of course, “Daddy stupid.”

Now I am not so sure if his language development is for better or for worse. In either case, I am enjoying hearing his voice and his opinions.

Evan Osnos:

Midway through its second year, Trump’s White House is at war within and without, racing to banish the “disloyals” and to beat back threatening information. Bit by bit, the White House is becoming Trump’s Emerald City: isolated, fortified against nonbelievers, entranced by its mythmaker, and constantly vulnerable to the risks of revelation.

Read the full article at The New Yorker.

A friend’s daughter is thinking of pursuing a degree in web design. She reached out to me for my advice. Here’s what I wrote to her.

Dear M,

Web design is an exciting field. I guarantee that you won’t have a hard time finding jobs, especially in the Metro area. Although you can get a two-year degree in web design, I highly recommend getting an BA at a four-year college. With that said, I am not sure if there are specific majors in web design at universities.

George Mason University School of Art offers major in graphic design and minor in web design. Since you’re in Maryland, you might want to check out MICA and its graphic design program.

I have been doing web design for almost twenty years. I studied digital art and multimedia design at La Salle University. I completed my master in graphic design two years ago from George Mason University School of Art. I am currently director of design and web services at George Mason University Scalia Law School. I also take on some freelance projects once in a while. You can see some of my works at donnytruong.com.

Something for you to think about when considering web design. Web technologies changes all the time; therefore, you will have to constantly keep yourself up to date. The good thing is that HTML & CSS will always be the foundation of web design. You will need to master those two; therefore, learn them as soon as you can. You will need to know graphic tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Sketch. Programming languages such as JavaScript and PHP & MySQL are an important part of the web, but they are more on the development side. You can learn them later.

I hope I have provided enough information to help you make your decision. Please do not hesitate to ask me any question.

Wish your all the best,

Short essays complemented with images explain why brands matter. From sugar to cigarettes to cars, Bayley points out the influences brand have on us. He also provides brief information on how each brand was developed. A decent introduction for marketing and advertising students.