Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Author: Thang Nguyen 555

  • The giving

    This program has been made possible by Viewers like you, and the following foundations….. We all heard that line on PBS or NPR. Now we will see it on Fortune magazine that Giving is back in an organized way (like Barn Raising in an Amish community, or Cognitive Surplus giving at Wikipedia). This time. wealthy…

  • Dead authors, dead Dad

    On Sundays, my Dad would take me for a stroll: breakfast and book browsing. No ball games, no race track, no nothing. Just book browsing and sometimes, the cinema. I often wonder if those (dead) authors had anything to say. What good does it do to ponder over their thoughts? “one cannot swim in the…

  • Self-monitoring Vietnam

    Two articles on Bloomberg Business Week. One on Clicking with co-workers (productivity increase) and the other, Vietnam is finally ready for foreign investment ( with a question mark at the end). The former article is based on a study that people who work and play together make a great team. The other, since its neighbors…

  • Impressive Impressions

    I just finished reading “Impressive First Impressions” by Vu Pham and Lisa Miyake. Their Amazon sales was supposed to support “Back to Work” wardrobe fund. Makes sense. The motive to shop, the means to shop and the manual to shop till you work. I picked up a few tips from this well-researched book: zip your…

  • Death of a friend

    He once said he had five years to do what he had set out to do i. e. get the school up and running in full swing. Now he is gone. Heart attack. The last time we had lunch together at a German burger joint was exactly three months ago. He expressed concerns about enrollment,…

  • 3rd place turns 2nd place

    Starbucks joins MacDonald to offer free WiFi. What was originally intended as a Third Place (away from home and work) now attracts SOHO workers and sales people, unemployed people, students, nomads, expats and inadvertently turns Virtual office (2nd place). MacDonald, the favorite children’s play place, now hosts  more lap top users indoors than children outdoors.…

  • Say Goodbye to 3-G

    We have moved beyond “You’ve got mail”. Now 3-G I-phone will be just another shelved version for late adopters. The only consumer want-to-have in the horizon is 3D-TV perhaps as soon as the upcoming Super Bowl season. I thought about 3-D, 3-G and 3M this morning, because I need a Post-It note for grocery shopping.…

  • Press Reset

    Green needs it. We need it too. Every awake moment. Athletes are supposed to get set and ready for the next play. Forget about that blunder (which he tried to reach back while on the ground with no footing to “spider-man” his reach). Some CEO’s even insisted on hiring people who have failed in the…

  • Up the value chain

    China is dreaming up its own Silicon Valley. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127742250&ft=1&f=1017 Its young are flocking NE universities in the summer, learning about American culture and history. While in San Jose, they visit Tech Museum. Are ideas and innovation moving offshore? I was told to “follow the money”. Does anyone know what time it is? Doesn’t anyone even…

  • Austin Powers in Shanghai

    He woke up from a deep-freeze slumber. Then took a long bathroom break. 30 years have passed. And our Bond-like figure found himself at Shanghai World Expo. Dr Evil (Austin’s villain)  himself couldn’t have asked for more: let’s hold the Expo hostage, for a ransom of ….let’s say 7 million. That’s the FDI amount for…