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Weekend: Chopin in Paris Monday, October 20, 2008 A while ago, the Housonist posted something that caught my eye: Da Camera of Houston presents Chopin in Paris. I immediately emailed Katie in hopes of grabbing up a pair of tickets. She let me know that they would be at the box office, yay! Jenny and I arrived a little early, picked up the tickets and ended up going to dinner right across the street first. If you haven't been to Mingalone, you should. It's a really nice place for a lunch/dinner before the show. They have a "Curtain Call" section for a quick meals so you can make it to the show on time. It's a bit pricey, but if you got free tickets then the price is offset. THANKS AGAIN, KATIE (Houstonist)! The show was nice, but I often found it hard to read some of the texts before they disappeared. One part that caught my eye was the "GET DRUNK!" note, but when the French and English mashup/translation/take-turns/whatever voices came on I got really frustrated trying to hear what they were trying to say. Overall, they performance was ok, but maybe it's just my ignorance with that kind of artistic style. I was hoping for an ensemble of the grand piano and imagery, but instead it was separate and the music reflected the mood of poem afterward. 1 comments 
No Right Click? Use Shift + F10. Sunday, September 21, 2008 I've been using this Dell Vostro 1700 for almost a year now while working at Secure Vantage. I have absolutely no complaints about the performance of the laptop. Every time I pulled out my laptop at a coffee shop or library, I often get looks. This laptop is a monster and its heavy. I don't mind it's got a 3GHz processor, 2GB ram, and 240GB HD! I only have one complaint: the keyboard. There is just ONE key that is missing and makes me really frustrated: the right-click key. Weird part is that there's an empty space between the right-ctrl key and up arrow key. There SHOULD be a right-click key there! I've tried using the actual right button on the touchpad, but there's a catch. Context menus have a this little underline thing for keyboard shortcuts. It does NOT appear if you use the mouse's right-click. It only appears if you use the actually keyboard right-click key! I guess it makes sense, but I have times when I'm only on the keyboard, especially when coding. I also remember my old tablet PC, the Toshiba M200's keyboard layout was annoying too. The right-click key and other stuff were jammed up at the top-right hand side. It was way our of reach of my fingers, but at least it had a right-click key. Anyway, if you don't have a right-click key or it's out of range of your finger tips, you can also do a Shift+F10. Same effect and best part is its within my finger's reach. Yeah, we developers are lazy. Labels: random 0 comments
Hurricane Ike Recovery. Thursday, September 18, 2008 [Day 1 - Friday] Just before a round of Wii Mario Kart, we got our flashlights together in a little competition of who has the brightest flashlight in lieu of a some Hurricane named Ike. Around 9:00 PM Friday, we lost power! We all (Ben, Sarah, Jenny and I) rushed outside to check out the neighborhood and found a really eerie sight. The entire neighborhood was lit only by the moonlight that could pass through the thick could passing over us. We walked around, met up with Teresa (she copied us and moved in OUR neighborhood after us, hahaha) and ate her ice cream in the front yard during the blackout. The wind started picking up and we rushed inside their house before we got hit in the face by anything flying around. The house was lit by a few candles and we hung out in the kitchen. I don't know why, but Ben, Sarah and I spent a good ten or fifteen minutes taking turns trying to ninja-flick the candle flame out. There we a bunch of close calls, but I was the first one to flick it out, GO ME! I think Sarah brought up the fact that there was beer in my refrigerator and so we unanimously decided to hurry back and drink up! By the time we got back, the house was already a bit warm, so we opened up a few windows to let the breeze cools us off. We played a round of King's Cup (OMG awesome game), Jenga, and Speed-Scrabble. It sucked not having any power the first night. By this time, the wind really picked up and it started to sprinkle. This was Teresa's signal to go get her brother from a neighbor's house since he forgot his phone. As Teresa and Jenny are knock at the door, Ben sneaks up behind a truck. They start returning back to our house and Ben POUNCES on them! Teresa runs off screaming and her brother runs the other way. What a brother...hahaha. Teresa heads home and we end up back at my house to get ready for bed. [Day 2 - Saturday] I didn't well sleep all night. I kept one waking up, walking around, checking windows and the yard. Morning came and still no power, HMPH. I took a look around the house and the only damage we had were two of our bottle-brushes were leaning at forty-five degree angles in the backyard from the crazy wind and one panel from our fence was knocked out. Jenny and I took a drive around the neighborhood to check out the damage. There were just a few trees leaning over, nothing really completely uprooted, a bunch of branches in the streets, but still drivable, and shingles everywhere. After returning, my parents showed up to check up on us since they're only about a twenty minute drive away. We all agreed to crash at our parents' house since they lost no more than thirty minutes of power the entire night! My parents assessed the damage and took off. Ben and Sarah took off afterward while Jenny and I drove to Marie's house to scoop her up. This was when the devastation of Hurricane Ike was more visible. Street lights were hanging from the poles, huge trees knocked over, billboards knocked out, and some flooding. Some streets were impassable due to debris and there was absolutely no power. When we got to Marie's house, we saw that her fence was knocked over, and TONS of pine needles and branches scattered throughout her yard. They seemed to have it worse than us, but nothing crazy. [Day 3-7 - Sunday-Thursday] I don't remember much besides playing Risk, Monopoly, Wii Mario Kart, and getting on the canoe around my parents' lake. At one point, Ben and I returned to our house and cleaned out the refrigerator. This was completely disgusting, but we had to do it. The freezer had blood from the sausage and ground beef we stored up pooled at the bottom. The fridge smelled like an old trash can. Nothing Colorox can't clean up. The same day, my dad came by and we cut off some branches to the tipsy trees and put the upright again. We were on a roll, so we weeded the backyard, trimmed the rest of the trees so we can have a nice walkway without a branching slapping anyone in the head. These were the highlights of the aftermath. If you're asking about work, well our building lost power and got a little water damage from the windows. Working from kind of sucked, but I did learn to mock a bunch of objects and catch/handle exceptions properly. That evening, a few of us decided to go to Sammy's despite the curfew. While we were there, I got a text message from a friend that our friend had power (she lives in our neighborhood too). Around midnight, we drove home and sleeping in my own bed in my own house with A/C felt great! [Day 8-9 - Friday-Saturday] We spent the Friday morning enjoying the power and then I was off to work. We finally got power there as well. We setup all the servers and cleaned up all the cabling. We left the place ready for a fresh start on Monday! What good is power without the Internet? Almost absolutely POINTLESS! We just got home today (Saturday) from a dinner at Luby's and returned to my house with Internet. Time to catch up on news, blogs, and everything that I've missed... Labels: hurricane ike, random 0 comments
NYTimes.com - Double Click a Word, Try It. Monday, July 28, 2008 I just read a short article on 43 Folders and wanted to read the full article. As I was reading, I came across a familiar word, but did not really remember the full meaning, so I wanted to look it up. I scrolled over and double clicked "dilettante". BAM a window pops up and I think it's another annoying advertisement. I glance over and there is a full definition of the word! Nothing but awesome, so I had to post it ASAP. I tried clicking other words, small ones long ones, people, places, everything I could think of, but Answers.com find almost everything. The coolest feature is the query does not just search the word, but instead the context the word is used. For example, try clicking on "LONDON" at the very beginning. FAILED! But it's okay. It is only returning what it was told to query on. I wish some other websites like CodeBetter.com and other development websites had something similar to this, but instead pointing to API/SDK documentation and stuff. Labels: random 0 comments
Got Podcasts? Sunday, April 06, 2008 I've started to use my iPod Nano (second generation, so no video) for podcasts again, but I'm curious about what else ya'll listen to. 1 comments
I'm Too Scandalous for Corporate America. Monday, November 26, 2007 I thought I'd be considered as "Entertainment" or something. Silly Websense.  I wonder who categorizes URLs: Websense, the company itself, or a blend? If anyone has insight, it would be interesting to see how much Websense customers trust the categories. 0 comments
What Is This World Coming To? Tuesday, November 20, 2007 (10:05:35 PM) thomasnguyencom: you get gunit's email? (10:08:38 PM) sohel: sayt wat (10:09:16 PM) thomasnguyencom: houston.rr mail...check it. (10:09:26 PM) sohel: u know rr is going away right (10:09:30 PM) sohel: its all comcast now (10:09:38 PM) thomasnguyencom: no shit sherlock, i told you that. (10:09:47 PM) sohel: hoebag, no u didnt (10:09:58 PM) thomasnguyencom: i TOLD you to email those on your list to move it over to a new one. (10:10:14 PM) sohel: all i get is spam (10:10:18 PM) thomasnguyencom: i told you about 4-5 months ago about it. (10:10:25 PM) thomasnguyencom: "ON YOUR LIST" (10:10:30 PM) sohel: i dont see anything gunit (10:10:32 PM) thomasnguyencom: geeze man. (10:10:38 PM) thomasnguyencom: grace laurel. (10:10:48 PM) sohel: slacker (10:10:50 PM) thomasnguyencom: omg don't tell me you actually looked for "GUNIT" (10:11:56 PM) sohel: lol yes i did 0 comments
Want It? Just Ask For It. Wednesday, September 26, 2007 So some of you may know that my MDA died on Labor Day weekend. I've been using my old i-mate sp3i as a replacement. The bottom row keys don't work (*, 0, #)...boo. I called up T-Mobile the weekend of Labor Day weekend and asked for a new phone. Too bad my 2-year contract doesn't end until June of next year or pay the full price of $449.99! So I gave up and dug out my sp3i. I dropped by T-Mobile today to see if I could do something at a store. I waited around for a bit and BAO CHUNG popped out! He's and old friend. Anyway, he couldn't do anything either...boo. He told me to call up the Customer Care and just simply ask for it. Be nice of course, but just ask for it. I get home and do as he says...VOILA: Titanium Blackberry Curve for $249.99, just like the store discount. DONE. And now, I wait... Labels: blackberry, random, tmobile 0 comments
"holler from deutschland" - Stein. Thursday, September 06, 2007 (11:36:37 AM) samario12345: holler from deutschland He's livin' it up in with Malvin. Dammit, Malvin...when are you returning to visit PGH547 again?! If you're ever in the city, you're welcome at my place. I'll have a bed and a keg ready for you, just like home in Germany. 0 comments
Some Pet Peeves. Thursday, August 23, 2007 1. "Can I ask you a question?" -Just ask it. 2. Out of nowhere, asking a question without any context or hint about what you're talking about. "How you implement it on the one report you did a while back?" -Clarify, we're not on the same page as you. 3. Calling me on my cell phone and asking, "Who is this?" -You called me, tell me who you are. 4. When a neighbor stares at you while jogging, you wave and say hello, and they do nothing, but continue to stare. -I said "Hello." It's common courtesy to respond. ...Or am I just that awesome that I make you speechless? 5. Trying to Ghant chart a project with a Waterfall mentality for an Agile project. 6. Just enough coffee in the coffee pot to not make more, but not enough for one full cup of coffee. -Quit being lazy, make another pot. 7. "I get it" with a nod, but you really don't get it. -Ask a question, don't go off for two hours trying something with no success that could have been answered in two minutes. 8. Estimating/Planning for a year long project with no contingency and not adjusting it...EVER. -Murphy's Law is always in play. Revisit the estimation/plan if something slips, might slip, or could slip because in the end, it will. 9. Some sorting algorithms: 1, 10, 11, 2, 20, 21, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. -Have we not evolved the sorting algorithm to understand that 2 comes after 1? 10. The fact that freezers don't have a light. -Thanks, James. You inspired this post. Haha... Labels: random 1 comments
Exclusivity: Awesome Marketing Strategy. Friday, May 11, 2007 Nowadays, if you're in the "exclusive" group, you're cool. It seems like there's new marketing approach to the way products are being released (maybe its old and I just haven't noticed). The Internet's social websites today has allowed this strategy to blossom like crazy. Step 1: Company has product X coming out. It's announced at CES or a press event (Macworld or just a press release). Step 2: Company releases "prototype" product X to limited users. Step 3: Company says, "don't show anyone." Step 4: Users let others know they have it. While using it, others ask about it and let others know. Next thing you know, the product that was released to a limited number of people who aren't supposed to tell anyone...is now known by the world through blogs, YouTube, etc. What the world has become today...it's awesome! Oh yeah, by the way: I was at Flying Saucer for lunch today and Vikram saw some guy with the iPhone. I didn't believe him, but he DID have it! It's a SICK ***If he really is a beta tester and finds a HUGE bug, what will Apple do? I highly doubt its beta testing...it's Exclusivity! Labels: apple, cingular, iphone, marketing, random 1 comments
"New" Elevator Technology? Tuesday, May 01, 2007 For all those at 1111 Fannin, we hate this "New Elevator Technology." It may just be that we're running on old algorithm, slow CPU, or maybe its just the slow elevators themselves. Whatever the case, the elevators here suck. If a technology sucks it doesn't matter if it's new or old. Also, it's a choice of whether you'd rather wait in an elevator to get to your floor or wait outside until the algorithm determines the best action to take. Personally, both suck...maybe we've all grown to be impatient. 3 comments
Hi, I'm Thomas Nguyen. Thursday, March 15, 2007
On another note: Need a car? 0 comments
Silly Customer Service. Tuesday, March 13, 2007 So I was charged a Service Fee of $17.00 yesterday. This morning I called them up to find out what the heck it was for... Telephone Banker 1: "Sir, are you aware of the type of account you have you need to have a minimum amount in the account?" (She's talking about the Premier Account that requires some $18K for a waived fee.) Me: "Oh, yes I am, but I'm an employee." Telephone Banker 1: "Oh, this happened to me too, I just talked to my manager." Me: "You can't fix it for me?" Telephone Banker 1: "No, just talk to your manager." Me: "Ummm..." Back and forth...nothing solved. So I call back again. Telephone Banker 2: "Oh, let me talk to my supervisor." Me: "Ok." ...a few minutes go by... Telephone Banker 2: "I'm sorry about that. The fee will be returned within one business day and will no longer charge you. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Me: "No, that was it, thanks!" Why can't people stop being lazy and just do their job? 2 comments
Who Said Corporate America Isn't Fun? Sunday, March 11, 2007
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Celebrate Comida Con C's. Monday, February 26, 2007 Chicken, Corn, Croissant, Chips, Cheese, and a...no, a few Cold Beers and a Cup of wine. Heroes was awesome. Next week is going to make me pee in my pants. Labels: random 0 comments
Null Null-Check, Boo. Saturday, February 24, 2007 I haven't used my Reliant account since I moved out of the old apartment last year. I'm linking my old account to the current one at the new place. I log in and check it out:
Remeber folks, null-checks are important! Labels: development, finance, random 0 comments
Sony Style Service !Sucks. Friday, February 23, 2007 So one of my monitors just completely died today. I called up the service 1 (866) 357-7669. I explained what happened and all they asked about was: 1. Where did you buy it: SonyStyle online. 2. Name: Thomas Nguyen 3. Model Number: SDM-HS75P/B 4. Approximate date I bought it: August 2006. They found me within minutes, no joke. They knew what city it was shipped to, exact date I bought it, and even the CC I used (they used this to verify I was who I am!). So, within 3-5 days after I fax in my order confirmation email to Sony, they'll send me a replacement (refurbished) monitor and a return shipping box. Guess for how much? FREE! I can't wait until it comes in. The warranty for the monitor is 3 years parts/labor. So, I just need to save up until August 2009 for a new monitor. BAD ASS! Labels: random 0 comments
Simple Error Check = $39.00. Thursday, February 22, 2007 I have a Chase Savings/Checking account and two Credit Cards. So I set up to pay my credit card and it asks for my checking account number. Shouldn't that already be integrated since Chase owns both my Checking account and Credit Cards? blargh! I made a mistake when entering in my account number and submitted the payment for January. It cost me $39.00! The problem is, they didn't tell me anything, just returned the payment and charged me a fee. By the time I saw this, my next payment was due in two weeks. So, I call them up and they look up my account to find my typo that cost me $39.00. Yeah, I'm at fault, but couldn't some exception handling or just simple integration to allow me to pay my credit card with my checking account directly? Boo to Chase for not doing this! ***They waived the charge since I've got a bad ass history with them. 0 comments
This Pig Goes WOOF WOOF. Tuesday, February 20, 2007 I'm 24 and there are 12 signs of the zodiac, so that makes me a Pig, right? WRONG. For the past 24 years of my life, I have been deceived by the "American" culture and mentality. There are many calendars, but the two in question are: Lunar calendar and Gregorian calendar. The year-calculation is totally different, but same basic concept. Remember! The Gregorian calendar has NOTHING to do with the Chinese Zodiac (not to be confused with the Classical Zodiac). For the year 2007: Dog: January 1 - February 17. Pig: Febaruary 18 - December 31. Apparently there's an element attached to your sign too. I'm a water dog: "It is associated with the planet Mercury, the north and winter, and the colour black. Water is "black" because in fact it represents flood. It is believed to govern the kidneys." -That explains my craze for black. -And the fact that water, to me, is FREAKING awesome. -AND that I like the cold! So, has anyone changed their animality? ***MORTAL KOMBAT!!!*** 0 comments
SPAM-tasticaliciousness! Thursday, February 01, 2007 So I've been getting tons of spam lately and to get a good idea of what I'm up against, here are some numbers for January. Good Email: 194 (9.72%) Bad Email: 1995 (90.28%) Breakdown of the stupid bastards (not case-sensitive):
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Want to Move to Houston Midtown? Saturday, January 20, 2007 I've moved out from a friend's townhouse. I'm stuck in a lease (reletting fee) for a few months and if anyone is looking for a temporary stay to test the waters in Houston Midtown, please email me. It's a great location. Clubs, bars, lounges are nearby. Downtown is but a few rail stops away. Seriously, this place is awesome. Labels: random 0 comments
Knights of the Round Table. Saturday, January 13, 2007 I've been talking to James and Shey about having a round table discussion about new and matured technologies. It'd be great to keep in learning since I've been out of school for so long. Let me know if you're interested in something like this and we can start reading up on them, make presentations, and possibly create a mock project. Shey also suggested to podcast them. I want to get started mid-February. I'm starting up on Spring MVC and Struts, since I need to learn it for work. Some initial topics I'm interested in are: Spring MVC, Struts, AJAX, and RoR. Labels: development, random 1 comments
Provided, Potluck Or Pay Up. Thursday, December 21, 2006 It's almost food-time for the holidays. Parties are coming up and the question arises... "What do you want me to bring?" A. Provided: The host takes care of it all (food, drinks, fun). B. Potluck: The host takes care of the fun, and possibly drinks. Obviously food is provided by all the attendees. C. Pay Up: It's like A, but charge the attendees a nominal fee to cover costs. What are the consequences of each? Discuss. Labels: random 1 comments
It's Holiday Season! Thursday, December 14, 2006 Happy Holidays everyone. Its a good time of year to relax. To fulfill this, today is my last day at work until next year! It's a little weird to, but I'm a little conflicted with this. The project I've always wanted is now in my lap and working on it's really awesome. I'm a little upset that I'm going on vacation, I REALLY want to keep working on it! Nevertheless, the break will give me time to learn more patterns, OOP, and web development. So hopefully, when I get back, I'll be prepared to get back on it. I got my early XMAS gift from flickr! Anyone who's cool will help me with my wishlist , haha... On a side note, get Sohel deodorant for XMAS... Sohel: i know it stinks in here! Sohel: cause im the SHIT Sohel: haha Sohel: thats great me: its horrible. me: b/c you DO stink. Sohel: cause im the SHit Sohel: thank u Labels: random 0 comments
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Recent Posts First Year on the Job. I Casted My Ballot. Tom, Motorpool: "Thanks, I had Fun!" Weekend: Chopin in Paris Code Review FUN! Reading Material: Writing Secure Code. No Right Click? Use Shift + F10. Hurricane Ike Recovery. CI in SD Conference. Microsoft ArcReady Event. Archives May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008  |
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