I am way beyond shock after reading Vietnamese Bride: I Was Tortured. You have to be lower than a fucking animal to do such things to a human being.

“The Taiwanese man allegedly pierced his Vietnamese bride’s fingers with needles and soaked her hands in salt water. He also allegedly shot rubber bands at her eyelids and used a wooden pole and knife to hit and cut her back.” -Asia 1.

One of the greatest strengths behind Dan Cederholm’s Web Standards Solutions is accessibility. This is not only a markup and style handbook but an accessibility guide as well. Dan does an incredible job of keeping accessibility in mind throughout the book. It is an extremely important matter that other technical writers usually missed unless they are writing about accessibility.

Web Standards Solutions divided into 16 short and sweet chapters covering the core elements of web standards style and markup such as: list, table, forms, CSS layouts, image replacement, and many more. The simple, clear and concise instructional style makes this book to be an invaluable reference for web designers and developers.

What I like best about this book is Dan’s minimal approach to markup and style. In fact, “Minimizing Markup” is my favorite chapter. Clear and simple markup keeps file size small, makes codes easier to read, and most importantly, optimizes well for search engines.

To keep this review short and sweet just like the book, I highly recommend this book to web designers, programmers, developers, content managers and anyone who have the passion for creating slender, accessible and compatible websites. Web Standards Solutions is an excellent handbook to keep by your side when delving into XHTML and CSS. You will be amazed by how many times you’ll flip through the book searching for the best solutions and answers.

Oh Lord! Noodle Pie is killing me with his Vietnamses food blog and photos. Cha Ca La Vong looks mad good with fresh vegetables and my all time favorite Mam Tom (shrimp paste). I really miss Chao Luon (eel porridge), especially the string of eel eggs.

Oh my! Look at all these Hue treats: Goi Rau Muon (Water morning glory salad) dish, isn’t that heaven sent or what? Bo Tai Nuoc Dua (rare beef in coconut) is something new to me. Howcome I never heard of this dish? What the heck? Now I have to fly back to Viet Nam just for this. Check out Ca Kho To (Stew fish in clay pot) and Canh Mang Ca Thac Lac (fish soup with bamboo shoots). Oh man! Oh man! This guy is killing me.

Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen seems to have a competitor. Leyna Nguyen, who co-hosted Asia 43’s Voice of the Heart, has those outgoing and talkative characteristics similar to Ky Duyen. Although Leyna’s Vietnamese is not as fluent as Ky Duyen, she is capable of capturing the younger crowds with her half English and half Vietnamese dialogues. It’s quite cute actually. Obviously her English is perfect and I have to give her tons of credits for trying her best to spit out Vietnamese. Unlike Trish, who doesn’t even try at all and I am not going to bring up Trish’s issue again.

With the previous two videos, Asia has raised the bar for themselves in term of creative and innovative. Unfortunately, Voice of the Heart could not live up to the previous two. The biggest mistake Asia always make is repetition. Once they have created something great and unique, they make a follow up and the sequel has never been as good as the first one. For instance, the first Da Vu Quoc Te was fantastic but the second one failed miserably. Voice of the Heart is a repetition of Mua He Ruc Ro. Not only that, they will reiterate Mua He Ruc Ro once again this summer. The theme is way over exposed. In fact, I am positively sure, there will be a revisit of Music Around the World. Asia needs to find new inspirations.

I didn’t feel much from the performances. Most are not bad but they aren’t outstanding either. In fact, Da Nhat Yen is the only performer who pushes the envelope. You might not agree with me but she has done a creative job of giving a Broadway style to “Dem Buon Nhu Thanh Ca.” I am sure the music producer has invented the music but Da Nhat Yen has carried it out with her mesmerizing vocals and sexy steps. Beside her, I have to give it to Cardin for his dance. That kid can jam even though the song is not that great. I am still wondering if he wrote the Vietnamese lyrics for “Trai Tim Dai Kho.” I am also diggin’ Nguyen Khang. His voice is exceptional and his singing on “Bien Vang Em Chieu Nay” is beautiful. This guy has high potential and I am sure he will succeed soon. Asia has definitely cut out a whole lot from this video. Where are Lam Thuy Van, Tuan Ngoc, Diep Thanh Thanh, and Kenny Thai? I am not going to name the ones should be cut but you know who they are.

In term of set design, Asia did a lazy-ass job on this video. Most of the backgrounds are simply full screen of boring sceneries that add nothing to the video. Noticeably, the background in Truong Vu’s “Doi Thong Hai Mo,” the photo is not even high quality. You can see the pixels clearly. They can get away with the ordinary eyes but they can’t fool the Visualgui. With fast beat performances, all you see is looping stock motion graphics or flashing lights in the background. They are way too sloppy.

Asia 43’s Voice of the Heart is a disappointment. I am sure you can bypass this one without missing much. Hopefully Asia will break out their repetition and come up with innovative and creative ideas. It’s a challenge but take the time to do it right. They don’t have to come out with 4 or 5 videos a year. Think through carefully to produce delicious products instead of these “instant noodles” junks. Speaking of taking time, Tinh productions have definitely taking their time. It is almost a year ever since the fantastic Tinh 11 released. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for Tinh 12 since they are taking this long to produce.

Do you have what it takes to bring design in-house? Let the folks at OrangeSeed Design help you make the decision. Bringing Graphic Design In-House not only guides you through the process of creating your own logo, letterhead, business card, brochure, newsletter and website, it also assists you to determine whether to outsource or go for it. If you decided to hire a design firm, the book also provides tips to select the right agency to fit your needs and budget.

The first section of the book breaks down the pros and cons of bringing design in-house including managing the projects, buying appropriate software programs, working with design agencies, and so on. Even though this section is short, it contains valuable resources to help you evaluate whether is it feasible or not to handle in-house.

Once you have decided to go in-house, Section 2 will walk you through the fundamentals of design such as: layout, color, typography, and much more to help you achieve your goal. Pay close attention to the Project Management piece, it is also an important part of design basics.

After you have grabbed the basic concepts, Section 3 provides case studies to show you how the basic concepts in Section 2 applied into the real world projects. Section 3 fills with in-house design examples with brief explanations to feed your hungry mind.

Now that you have understood the basic concepts and seen real world case studies, let’s move into Section 4 where you will find creative solutions to your projects. The book discusses 10 useful “Design Systems” to help you make the connection across the board from print to online materials. The book then devoted each segment delving into the studies of logos, stationary, brochures, newsletters, and websites to help you visualize the creative process behind each design.

OrangeSeed Designs has done an exceptional job of explaining basic graphic design for non-designers and beginners. Although the book covers web design as well, it only focuses the visual elements and web design is much more involved than just the appearence. If you are thinking of bringing graphic design in-house, this book is definitely your best friend; however, if you are also thinking of bringing web design in-house to save money, you need to pick up Carrie Bickner’s Web Design on a Shoestring as well. In fact, I highly recommend both of these precious books to in-house designers and beginners. They will make your job more pleasant and successful.

The Drum Machine from Tokyo Plastic is mad wicked. It takes mad long to load but definitely worth the wait.

The Abnormal Behavior Prince is definitely in love.

I am one of those who only use Google for all kind of online search and never go further then the homepage. I am definitely missing out many great features from other search engines; however, I don’t have time to play around with every search engine on the web to find out what each has to offer. Fortunately, Diane Poremsky has done the research for me. Google and Other Search Engines delves into major search engines on the web including: AltaVista, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, Excite, Google, HotBot, Lycos, MSN Search, Yahoo, and many more.

Poremsky starts off with an overview of how search engines work then she breaks down each one to show how you can benefit from using one over the other to make your online search more effective in less amount of time. I didn’t even know that I could type in tracking numbers to find out the status of my UPS package or flight information through Google. I didn’t know how to use the Boolean searching in AltaVista and HotBot to limit my searches for more effective results. Best of all, Poremsky takes us through Advanced Search Options, which I never bother look at. Beside the major search engines, she also touch upon the specialized ones such as searching newsgroups, locating mailing lists, finding people, finding businesses, and many more from A to Z.

Diane Pormsky’s Google and Other Search Engines is a helpful reference for improving your online search. If you’re new to the web, this book is highly beneficial to you. If you’re a veteran, you might pick up some advance features from one search engine over another. From a web designer perspective, reading this book helps me get a good idea of how people would do their searches and how each search engine responses so I can improve my sites’ keywords and meta tags to better accommodate each search engine and my target audience.

The little kid, Nguyen Huy, is too much for me. He is definitely talented but Bien Nho production has turned him into a little pimp. It’s not the appropriate direction for a kid at such an early age. He has made quite a controversial in Viet Nam and I have to agree with the protesters. His image is improper and his voice is annoying the heck out of me, especially that “Melao” song.

My most favorite performance from the video goes out Ha Vy and Huy Vu in “Chi Le Cha Cha Cha.” The video is so much fun. Ha Vy is so fly and I love her outfits. She looks so damn hot and sexy. I actually prefer her performance in pop instead of country. Her country style performance in “Dinh Menh Buon” is too dreadful; however, her duet with Truong Vu in “Lien Khuc Trom Nhin Nhau” is quite cute. The storyline is nice. Ha Vy and the little kid are adorable. I probably can play the daddy’s part better than Truong Vu.

My Tam and Dam Vinh Hung give a fantastic performance in “Lien Khuc Tinh Yeu Con Dau.” It’s a compilation of their top hits. My favorite one is the duet of “Tinh Yeu Con Dau.” My Tam does a great backup job and she certainly has the charisma for the camera. Unfortunately, Dam Vinh Hung has no rhythms. He can sing – his performance in “Giay Phut Chia Xa” is mesmerizing – but he can’t dance at all.

Thanh Truc is striking as always in term of her appearance but her singing in “Ve Chon Thien Duong” is still weak comparing to My Tam. Thanh Ha couldn’t come close to Ngoc Lan in expressing the emotional lyrics in “Nha Trang Ngay Ve.” Dong Dao gives me an impression of Nhu Quynh in “Chuyen Tinh Hoa Tigon.” Why the hell does she wear clear heels with the traditional dress (ao dai)? The traditional dress doesn’t go with whore’s uniform. Quang Dung and Thanh Thao look cute together in “Ao Anh.” Linh Tuan and Thanh Huyen did an implausible job in “Tan Co: Han Mac Tu.” Linh Tuan has some nice vocals.

Bien Nho 3: Di Tim Ky Niem is much better than the first and second video even though they are still featuring the useless Vietnamese models and a whole bunch of wack ass MCs. Actually some of the wacky jokes are somewhat funny. They still do those lame introductions, which have nothing to do with the songs.

Because of the invaluable feedbacks, I have reworked Tinh Khuc Buon. I focused mainly on Ngoc Lan’s eyes because they show so much sadness and emotion; the key elements I was looking for to convey the message behind the song.

I also reworked the Powerhouse intro to feature the stars – including Lucy Liu – that are coming this summer.

One of the greatest strength about Lynda’s Hands-On Training series is the ability to reach the right audience. Lynda Weinman and Shane Rebenschied had definitely listened to the readers; therefore, they know exactly whom Beyond the Basics is for. While beginner Flash books bore the hell out of me and advanced ActionScript books make me dizzy, Beyond the Basics bridges the gap. This book is all that you need to build a complete interactive Flash site.

If you look at Flash sites and wondering how the developers loaded video, music, text, form, and everything else seamlessly into a page, you need to pick up Beyond the Basics. This book is truly a real world hands-on training where you get to put together an interactive Flash site from scratch. Shane will walk you through step-by-step of building a Flash based site in a modular fashion. According to Shane’s definition, modular fashion is, “to design a module once, then reuse it for multiple purposes.” You will learn how write reusable ActionScripts, load external SWF and JPG files, format text with external TXT, HTML and CSS files, build a dynamic slideshow, develop a Flash form, generate an MP3 player, make a video player, and construct the navigation bar. In fact, go to L.A. Eyeworks and see what you are going to build.

Even though I haven’t touch ActionScript for two years, Shane helps me get up to speed with his clear and approachable style. Furthermore, his sense of humor helps moistening up the book. For instance, “There’s a ton of new and very exciting examples in the next chapter, so go lock your door and tell your significant to go to bed without ya because you have a different date tonight! ;-)” I was about to go to bed at the end of that chapter but his witty makes me go into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee to read on. It’s a nice reading when the author loosens up a bit.

Beyond the Basics is highly recommended for any intermediate Flash users and web designers who would like to create an interactive Flash site. The book is definitely worth its price considering how much you get out of it; however, there is one area the book should have been included is Flash accessibility. Designing accessible content is extremely important on the web and Macromedia has recognized it by integrated new features in Flash to promote accessibility. Beyond the Basics is fantastic but it would have been greater if accessibility is covered.