Hawk Talk - Hai

Complete Laptop Assembly

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:18:05 -0500

In the past, I've built computers, maintained them etc. and likewise with laptops. I have never, however; completely taken apart a laptop and put it back together again, until now! My uncle's laptop had a faulty motherboard so I took the liberty of replacing it for him. It was a great experience, and not much different than a PC, but I did put in more caution due to all the small parts. In the end, it all worked out and the new motherboard works great!

sorry for the time guys, it took a lot longer to upload than i thought! video was sped up too make the video shorter/smaller in size. squealing noise in the beginning but it goes away after a few seconds!

Jambalya, Success!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:58:42 -0500

Hey guys!

In my previous entry I wrote about how i was going to attempt in one of my first cooking projects and make Jambalaya for a dinner fundraiser. That was several days ago, and I promised a video, but trust me, you don't want to see it! I had a camera rolling in the back throughout the whole disaster, but all you could really see was me running around like a lunatic trying to get everything done. We had a cooking demonstration a couple days before, and the instructor made it look SO simple, even separated all the ingredients for us so I thought I would be in the clear. Little did I know, it was much more difficult than I expected! I think the fact that I had very little cooking experience had something to do with the difficulty, but I was running around trying to get everything done, and even cutting the chicken was difficult for me! The recipe called for the chicken to be cut into bite-sized portions, and I thought it would be an easy task, so I would do it mid-cooking. But, to my surprise, raw chicken wasn't the easiest to cut! Slimy and slippery, it took me more time than I expected to cut the chicken, and that was the main set back in my project, but in the end I did end up successfully making a batch of Jambalaya for the fundraiser! Next time, if there I do ever end up making Jambalaya again, I will be sure to cut the chicken beforehand! Here is the recipe I followed to prepare the Jambalaya:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cajun-Jambalaya/Detail.aspx

In other news, my uncle's laptop had some problems, so I took the liberty of fixing it for him. I finished, and will go into more detail in tomorrow's entry, with a video! Promise! I'm uploading it right now onto my Youtube channel, but it's a pretty large file and it's taking a while, but it should be done by tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!
-Hai Pham

I Can't Cook, But I'll Try!

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:02:30 -0500

In efforts to reduce the price per person on our Mississippi trip, we've held numerous fundraisers of all different sorts. This Saturday we are holding a Southern type dinner with all different traditional southern-style dishes, raffles, and all types of fun. Last night I had a meeting with some of the trip group that was specified in making Jambalaya, where we prepped everything and had a little demonstration on the cooking process. It didn't look too difficult, but then again the person cooking had been making this dish for a long time, so she made it seem like it was nothing! I was looking on in epic confusion, as I told the group, "Well� I haven't really been cooking much at all, I'm a pro at hard boiled eggs� but that's about it�" They all laughed and poked fun at the newbie, but they told me I should be alright. After the dish was prepared, we tested it out, and it was delicious! If you've never had Jambalaya before, I highly recommend trying it. The dish is a mix of chicken, sausage, and rice soaked in juicy and spicy seasoned sauce. I'm going to be preparing the dish Friday (tomorrow) night and I will try to record my endeavors to share with you all! I'll also post up the recipe for you guys in case you want to try your hand at preparing it! Hopefully I don't mess up!
-Hai

Maine, Mississippi, Vietnam, Oh My!

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:15:43 -0500

So many things going on right now!

My sister recently had her graduation this weekend, so I went up to Maine (Bates College) to watch and support, as well as helping her move all her stuff out. It's crazy how time flies, it seems like just yesterday she had just gone off to college, but now she's graduating and I'm in my third year of college! She's home for a couple weeks but then she's back off to Maine to take an exam called the MCAT (don't ask me what that is! I just know it has something to do with Doctoring) and I believe she's working at a stem cell lab for a while before applying to graduate school. I myself have always wondered what college athletes do post-graduation, and now I've seen what goes on. The day before her graduation, my sister was inducted into a "Student Athelete Society", which is basically a society for students and alumni that have excelled in both athletics and education. I was extremely impressed with her accomplishment, and was extremely surprised with the past couple days. She, being an avid runner, has not gone for a run since she has been home! When I asked her if she was planning on running anytime soon she replied, "Why? My competing days are over". Kind of sad to see actually, but I'm sure she'll start it back up sometime soon.

Seems to me that airfare has gone up significantly since last year! My Mississippi trip this year is going to cost more than double what it did last year! It's crazy, but I'm extremely excited to go and can't wait. We've had a lot of fund raisers to lower the costs, but even with all that, the price is still kind of high. It's all for a good cause though, so in the end it will be worth it. I had an amazing time last year helping Katrina victims, and with all the other tragedies in the world it's sometimes hard for people to remember about past disasters. It's sad that after all these years people in Katrina are STILL suffering from the aftermath. The only part of the trip that I'm dreading is the heat; I remember last year's trip was a sweat-fest all day long.

Such a groomy and blue update so far! I guess this is good news, but my mother and baby brother (10, well I guess he's not a baby anymore, but he's still one to me) are going to Vietnam this Saturday for 3 weeks. One of my uncles is going to become a priest and his final ceremony, I can't remember for the life of my what it's called, is coming up. My brother is extremely lucky, this will be his second time going to Vietnam, but I have yet to go! Someday in the near future I hope though.

Even in the summer you can see a college student has a lot of running around to do! It is definitely a lot more relaxing that finals and such, but there is still a lot of work before I can sit back and relax.

Thanks for reading, till next time -

-Hai

Holiday Update

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:50:33 -0500

I'm extremely glad that we had the day off today. All the work piled on top of me lately has been incredibly stressful, and I felt that having this nice 4 day weekend was a great way to step back, re-assess everything, and just breathe!

Another good thing is spring's arrival. The weather has been better lately, although there are some few random days where it gets cold again, but usually it's nice enough out for short sleeves and shorts. The only bad thing is I'm really sensitive to pollen, but I guess it's a nice trade-off for the beautiful weather. The grass is greener, more people are sitting around outside, all the normal spring stuff. And instead of driving to the Campus Recreation Center (from South Campus to East Campus) I've been able to get in a good job before my workouts.

I'm also excited about Spring Carnival. I'm not 100% sure about the dates, I believe it starts 4/30/10, but don't quote me on that! Last year it was a fun time, but this year rap artist Drake is coming to the Tsongas! I'm not a huge fan of Drake's but he is a very popular artist right now, so why not?

Thanks for reading!
-Hai Pham

Spring Break Update!

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:18:47 -0500

Some of you may remember from previous posts that I went to Gulfport, Mississippi this summer with some members of my parish. A group of us went with other parishes in Massachussets in an effort to help rebuild homes/communities that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. It was a great opportunity and I had an amazing time last year, so I've decided to return again this year! I will update you guys on the trip progession as time goes by.

Another important event is Spring Break! I'm currently home on spring break and it's nice to have some R&R from school work! Last year I went home and worked during the break, but this year I've decided to take it easy and just stay at home and try to relax a bit. It sure does make me feel lazy, but sometimes a break is nice as well :) Only half way into the break, sitting around the house all day is already getting boring! It's too late to call up and ask to be put on the schedule, so for now, I'm just waiting to move back into school! I'm sure I'll find another time this week to write about some more updates, so stay tuned!
-Hai

P.S. Happy St. Patty's Day!

CMF Begins!

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:41:27 -0500

Hey guys! In my last entry, I mentioned Campus Movie Fest (CMF) and how my friends and I signed up. Today was the launch day, and we picked up all our supplies from McGauvran Student Center, and I gotta say, some of the equipment is pretty sweet. Here's what we got:

STM Backpack - Never heard of this company but the backpack they're letting us borrow is nice and I'm thinking of buying one for myself (not a product placement ad!)

17" Macbook Pro - Fully loaded with professional movie editing software and much bigger than my 13inch Macbook! Only problem I had was the battery was dead and I can't use it without the charger

Shotgun Microphone - Looks like a regular boom mic except smaller.

Full HD Camcorder - Records in the highest quality! Couldn't stop fooling around with it today.

Prepaid ATT cellphone - I believe it's called the Samsung Impression. Unlimited texts, web data, and minutes. I already have a cell phone, but doesn't hurt to have two haha.

So we only have week to plan, shoot, and edit a movie, and so far I don't really know what I want to make. I have a lot of ideas floating in my head but nothing concrete yet. Hopefully something good will pop out, and I'll be sure to post up the video I create when I finish. That is if I'm allowed to, haven't really read all the rules on the sheet they gave me...

Till next time,
-Hai

Campus Movie Fest

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:57:01 -0500

Hey, long time no see! This semester has been going great so far, all my classes are fine and none of my professors really seem like sticklers. The only complaint I have is 8AM classes. It's not that early in a high school standpoint since classes usually start at 7 for them, but when you're so used to have classes start at 11 or later, it can really be killer. The adjustment is going pretty well, and I'm starting to not really mind it at all.

One thing I want to talk about is Campus Movie Fest (CMF). I saw some poster advertisements hung up around campus about it and thought it was a great opportunity so I signed up. The school/CMF loans out HD camcorders and Apple laptops and gives groups of students a chance to create 5 minute short films. After the videos are edited on the laptops and submitted, they are judged and winners will receive prizes such as laptops, cameras, and more. I've got tons of video ideas buzzing around my head and hopefully one of them will be a winner! If you're interested in signing a team up, you can head over to www.campusmoviefest.com for more info.

That's it, hopefully I'll have another update in the next couple days!
-Hai

Interview With Katie Mazure, UML Softball [VIDEO]

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:50:22 -0500

So I had a chance to sit down and talk with a freshman athlete, Katie Mazure. She's currently undeclared business and also a member of the UML Women's Softball Team! She was nice enough to let me interview her and ask her questions about time management and other freshman related questions! Sorry about the audio quality, the heater in the room was pretty loud! Thanks Katie!

-Hai

Snow Day and Finals!

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:54:38 -0500

It's that time again! Snow and finals. I was on Facebook last night during the peak hours of the night, and almost everyone had status updates regarding the snow. I looked out the window and was extremely disappointed that it had yet to snow, and by the time I went to bed no snow had fallen. I figured that it wouldn't snow here until tonight, but I randomly woke up around 5:30 AM and there was snow! I was extremely excited and stood by the window for at least half an hour just watching the snow fall.

By morning, a lot of the snow had fallen and walking to class wasn't extremely enjoyable. Nonetheless, I made it to all my classes without any major slips or falls. Which leads to my next point, finals. Last year finals weren't bad, and this year is no different. I'm not extremely worried about them, and cannot wait for the semester to be over. Don't get me wrong, I love being here on campus, but I love Christmas at home much more!

I didn't ask for anything for Christmas this year, so hopefully I'll get some nice surprises. UML usually gets out later than most schools do, which I don't mind at all. I think if I was at home earlier, then the wait for Christmas would kill me. I remember back to my pre-college days and waiting for Christmas as soon as November strolled through. Now though, college life has me pretty distracted and before I know it, I'm home and only have to bear the wait of three days until Christmas!

Thanksgiving Update!!

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:37:40 -0500

I can�t believe it�s already Thanksgiving; this year is flying by compared to last year! Around the corner is this semester�s end and I feel like winter break is going to be here any moment! It feels good to be home and enjoy a nice home cooked feast on Thanksgiving, but I miss being at school and the independence it gave me. Even better, before we left, all my suitemates took everything out of our suite and did an all out pre-turkey-day-cleaning! That way, when we all get back, the room will be immaculate and welcoming. Which brings me to my next topic: cleanliness.

My suite, a 4-person suite, always seems extremely more dirty and messy than the suite across the hall. I must mention too, the suite across the hall is an 8-person suite! I swear, you can go in there and not find one dust bunny under any furniture. We try to keep our room clean by sweeping, mopping, and doing dishes on a weekly basis, but everything always seems to be so cluttered! It does definitely help that we clean on a weekly basis though, but it's upsetting when the room gets messy the same exact day we clean.

On a side-note, I�ve decided to pick up an old hobby of mine: reading. I remember back in the day, I think it was before my sophomore year in high school I used to love reading. Dan Brown was one of my favorite authors and I read almost every single one of his books, so when I saw his new book �The Lost Symbol� in our school�s bookstore, it just sparked my interest to read again. So I decided to pick up the book and try to enjoy reading again. It was funny when a couple of my suitemates came out to the common room and saw me just sitting there reading; some poked fun at me but I must say, I do very much enjoy reading again, and I�m glad I picked it up. I haven�t finished the book yet, not even halfway as I�ve only been reading it for a couple of days, but I�ll let you know how it goes!

As for the Rockstar On Campus internship, I�ve finished my promotional video for them of me handing out Rockstar Energy Drinks around campus, and for those that are interested, here�s the video (you'll have to log in to facebook to see this video I believe; but I'll try to upload it to youtube and edit this entry soon):

Well that�s all for now, all this serotonin from the turkey is making me sleepy! Plus I gotta get some good rest is now for all the crazy early bird shopping on Black Friday!

-Hai

A Rockstar Weekend!

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:43:07 -0500

Hey guys! I don�t know if you�ve heard yet, but Rockstar, the energy drink company, is trying to find college students on different campuses to represent their company! On Sunday, I went to Boston University to an info session they held, met some new people who were also there to try and get the position, and just had a lot of fun all together. For the first half hour they just told us to mingle around and meet new people, which was awkward at first just walking up to random strangers and introducing yourself, but after a little bit, I got used to it and found out that most of those students were pretty outgoing just like me. At the end of all the presentations they showed everyone got a case of Rockstar Energy Drinks (24 cans) and were told to make a good video of distributing the drinks. I�ve already handed out all the drinks they�ve given me, you might�ve even seen me at Fox and/or North Campus! People were playing fake air guitars and even did pushups for a free can of Rockstar! I also had a couple of Rockstar hats that I handed out to a few lucky people! I haven�t edited the video yet, but when I do I�ll be sure to show you guys! Hopefully they like my video and hook me up with more Rockstar gear! I personally think this is a great opportunity for an internship with Rockstar, and a great way to get free stuff!

Till next time,

-Hai

Red/Yellow Armbands?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:53:33 -0500

If you�ve been around South Campus in the past 2 days, you might�ve seen people wearing yellow or red armbands running around, chasing each other, and pelting one another with rolled up socks. If you haven�t already been told, it�s a huge outdoor tag game called, �Humans vs Zombies�. Basically, there�s a group of humans and a couple of zombies in the beginning of the game. Zombies go around with yellow armbands and humans walk around with red armbands. The zombies have to try and find a human to tag (must be outside a safe zone like dorms, streets, buildings, etc.), which means they�ve eaten the human. Once a human is eaten, they must give the zombie their code so the zombie can register the human as killed and then the human becomes a zombie. Last human standing wins. Unfortunately I�m now a zombie, but I do have the most kills! If a zombie doesn�t eat within 48 hours the zombie dies.

In other news, this Sunday, I�ll be visiting one of my best friends at Boston University. But the trip isn�t just for visiting though, I�m also going to the Rockstar On Campus event being held at BU. At this event, Rockstar (the energy drink company) will select a few people to be hooked up with free Rockstar clothes and have their fridge stocked with Rockstar Energy Drinks 24/7. Hopefully I can get a sponsorship from them!

Well that�s all for now, till next time,

-Hai Pham

Stay Away From Me!!! (short update)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:59:32 -0500

One of my biggest peeves, and I suspect others will feel the same way, is being sick. It feels like every year I end up either catching bronchitis, influenza, or a sinus infection. Today, I woke up feeling pain all over and I believe that I have the flu. I went to all my classes today, but when I got back, I took a long nap, only to awaken in more pain. I did drink a lot of orange juice and medicine, so hopefully I'll feel better soon! Not to mention it was raining and damp all day today! Tomorrow I'm probably going to schedule an appointment with health services and hopefully they can tell me exactly what I have.

I'll be sure to post back with a nurse report! Hopefully I'll be cured by the time Halloween and the big UML vs BU game this Friday!

Till next time,
-Hai

New Laptop, UML Home Opener!

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:20:56 -0500

Hey guys!

In my last update, I told you guys that I didn�t have my laptop anymore because it was being sent out and fixed. I had Geek Squad send it out to their service center, but two weeks later I got a phone call saying that they didn�t service laptops that were made from the company that made mine. I was pretty peeved at the fact that it took them 2 weeks to send my laptop out only to then find out that my laptop wasn�t going to be able to be fixed. But the good news was I could pick out any laptop from Best Buy as a replacement, as long as it was the same price as mine was originally. Unfortunately, I was told that I couldn�t go to any Best Buy and pick one out, I had to go all the way back to the one 2 hours away from school. I made the trip all the way back (and I dragged one of my friends along too!) using the commuter rails, and I didn�t get back until midnight (poor friend!). I ended up getting� my first Mac! I�m pretty excited to have gotten a Mac for my laptop and so far, I love it!

I�m still trying to figure out the new video editing software I got on my Mac, but new videos will be coming soon!

In other, more exciting news, I just got back from tonight�s UML home opener hockey game, UML vs. Colgate. Our team ended up taking home the win 5-3! Great job guys! Hopefully tomorrow�s game versus Northeastern will yield similar results.

-Hai