Personal site of Evan Islam

Home Energy Audit in Naugatuck, Connecticut

Home Energy Audit in Naugatuck, CT

Well... finally I have done it... got me a home energy audit for my house in Naugatuck, CT.

I work for Dr. Energy Saver so it was a FREE audit for me :) love it...

It was actually a training session where 5 people came into my house for training and they did the blower door testing and they changed about 10 light bulbs to energy efficient lights for free. Oh yea, they also insulated the attic in many places... all part of the training, lol. They were there all day, so lot more was done... all for free :) chi ching!!!

Now that was just the free part... it turns out that I have plenty of leaks in my house, so I need to actually get spray foam insulation and also a new heating unit... that's going to cost some money... :(

lol you win some and then you loose some.

I spend about 600 bucks a month average on heating and cooling bills... so I need to think about coughing up the money and get it all done. Maybe I'll save some in the long run.

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta for Free Download

Ummm I'm not sure what's going on, but it looks like Microsoft is giving away their prized software package, Office Suite, for FREE. It's true, cause I'm using it now :)

I downloaded the software this week and so far I'm pretty impressed with it. I love the new Office Outlook. This new Outlook is 5 times better then the last version and I think I like it. It keeps the emails in a chain (keeps the history together). Also the calendar, and task is handled much better in the new version.

Excel and Office are also have tons of new features. One thing that I see being a problem is that MS has too many controls in one place. It could be too much to handle for novice users.

Okay so, here is the link to download the FREE beta version of the Office Suite.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx

You MUST use Internet Explorer to download the software. Don't even try it on Chrome or FF...

I still can't believe it's FREE!!!

Dr. Energy Saver Building Pictures

Dr. Energy Saver is a new company which focuses on home energy savings. It's a franchise model where we can guarantee a 40% saving on your home energy bills. Now that's a lot of savings, lol. So, now we have a new facility in Seymour, CT to train the franchisees and house all employees for Dr. Energy Saver.

This building was a machine shop before we took over, so, lot of work has been done to use it and make it look presentable. I work there few days a week now to work on the corporate web site and the franchise-only intranet.

Dr. Energy Saver is a sister company to Basement Systems and owned by Larry Janesky.

Below is a slide show of the building as its being remodeled and constructed.

To write or view comments on these pictures, please visit the photo gallery in Google Picasa.

White Gold Mercedes Benz in Abu Dubai

Mercedes Benz Made With White Gold

I got an email with the following pictures... This is crazy!

This is not stainless steel.

This is actually WHITE GOLD..... We pay over 3 bucks for a gallon of gas and they buy cars made of gold, lol.

From what I understand, gas is cheaper then water in Middle East, lol.

Brand Cigars of Monroe, CT - Smoke Shop in Monroe

Brand Cigars of Monroe, CT

I love Cigars... I wrote some reviews about cigars I like. I have worked for a cigar shop back in 2005 and finally have had the opportunity to start my own business.

View Larger Map

My new cigar shop is in Monroe, CT. It's more of a smoke shop then just cigar shop because we have cigarettes, pipe tobacco, cigars, incense, etc. We are working on getting Connecticut Lottery very soon.

Some of the cigar brands we carry: Ashton, Avo, Drew Estate, Rocky Patel, Macanudo, Arturo Fuente, COhiba, Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta, Camacho, CAO, Padron, Partegas and more...

If you are around town and wanna check it out, stop by at
230 Roosevelt Dr. suite#5
Monroe, CT 06468

Help Earth Quake Victims of Haiti

Help Earthquake Victims of Haiti

Somethings in life we have no control over; specially natural disasters. Although, as human technology advances, we can take shelters from such disasters.

What happened in Haiti is unfortunate. The country is already on of the poorest in the world, and now this... I'm from Bangladesh and I know 1st hand what it's like to have disasters in a country where there are no escape plans from flood or other natural disasters.

Since I'm in USA now, I got it easy. For those of us who are fortunate, should do something for the unfortunates. Even if you donate $10.00, it helps.

Here are a few links to help:
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/
http://www.unicefusa.org/

Best Chinese Restaurant in Seymour, CT (Dragon Kitchen)

I think I'm entitled to write a page on BEST Chinese restaurants in Seymour, cause I probably eat Chinese 3 times a week. Have been doing so since 2006. Of course, I probably put on extra 15 pounds because of that. So, I'm the local Chinese takeout expert, lol.

There are about 4 places I go to:

China House (by Stop and Shop) 84 Bank St. (203-881-0184)
Dragon Kitchen (Downtown) 5 1st Street (203-881-0256)
Hunan Wok (Next to Hot Grill) - 59 New Haven Road (203-881-5444)
Cheong Hing Kitchen (Oxford and Seymour line on 67) 225 West St. (203-888-1148)

Now, I've been to all these places and they are all pretty decent. The menu is pretty similar: General Tso, Lo Mein, Fried Rice, etc. However, some are more greasier then others. I think the greasiest of them all is Dragon Kitchen. So much that, Mmmmmmmm no wonder the food tastes so good.

Presentation and quality has to go to China House. They have revamped their interior with a nice lunch and dining experience. I like that :) Plus, they offer Susi. I hate that :(

Far as price goes, Dragon Kitchen wins the race. Cheaper by a dollar at least in most menu items.

Fastest Service: Dragon Kitchen. They say 10 minutes, but they are done in 8. I wonder what I'm eating...

Most importantly, Dragon Kitchen has the best HOT OIL in town. If you order fried rice or something spicy, ask for the HOT OIL. It's crushed dry pepper in oil. MmmmMmm SO Good!!!!

Overall in my opinion, Dragon Kitchen is the best Chinese takeout place in Seymour, CT. And I Approve This Message ;)

Farzana Kanak's Web Site Design by Evan Islam

Personal Site of Farzana Kanak

Title: Farzana Kanak

Farzana Kanak has been a good friend of mine since 2001. When I first met her, she had a web photo gallery on a free hosting server with no control what so ever, so I volunteered to set her up with a complete custom site.

Now this was back in 2002 or 2003. She did have a nice site and then she had to change her hosting, domain, and all that other stuff. So when I moved everything over, I redesigned the site with my web site's layout.

Quick photoshop job with a little SEO behind it to make it a good looking site :) She manages all her content in the custom CMS I build for all my sites.

Visit Website - FarzanaKanak.com

Whiskey Tango New Jersey Web Site by Evan Islam

Whiskey Tango New Jersey

Title: Whiskey Tango

I created this web site back in 1998 for a friend, Bob Cherry (GM of Quality 1st Basement Systems). This site is just for fun where bunch of dudes from North East having good ol' time in the woods. The content of the site is pretty funny, just drinking beer and doing stupid stunts with quads and snow mobiles.

The site is designed in basic CSS and HTML. There is a index file, .htaccess file and robots.txt file on the server. All the pages are driven by a custom CMS I built for the site. One index file, .htaccess and a little clever scripting can create a very dynamic site in a jiffy :)

The site looks pretty hot and functions very well... not bad for a day of work.

Visit Website - WhiskeyTangoNJ.com

Avatar - Great Sci-Fi Movie by James Cameron

Avatar

I saw Avatar today and I am very impressed with the movie. From what I understand, the movie's price tag was $750 Million. That's a lot of money for one movie. I guess when you are James Cameron and make hits like Alien, Terminator 2 and Titanic, you get unlimited budget.

Well, I knew Mr. Cameron wouldn't make any junk movies so I had to see it. The graphics in the movie were just on another level. The creatures, the environment and all the details were just too real. Th flying banshees, the horses, the wild dogs were all very aggressive with very real movements.

I also like the new kid on the block, Sam Worthington. He was in the Terminator 4 movie. The CG characters' emotions were captured very well.

It's a must see movie. If you are not a big computer graphics action movie fan, you still need to see it because the story is very good as well. To me, the movie felt complete.

I give it ALL FIVE STARS. I might go see it again in the big screens. GO SEE IT!!!

Dr. Energy Saver - Diagnosing Energy Inefficiencies in Homes

Dr. Energy Saver - Home Energy Audit

Finally, after a month of designing and programming, the new site is live. The new design reflects the elements of the book we are publishing called "Saving Energy and $$$ at Home � What to have done and why."

April Storm is our chief designer on this project and I'm the webmaster. Richard Fencil created all the content for the site based on the book I mentioned above. The site is now ready to help homeowners with their energy problems.

Dr. Energy Saver is a home energy audit contractor network. The company offers whole house inspection for energy inefficiencies and offers suggestions to improve the energy usage. Mainly, the check up includes: air leaks, appliances, lights, windows and doors, HVAC and other energy hogging stuff in the house.

Dr. Energy Saver is a franchise network with locations all over the US. Currently, I'm working on the back-end of the site which will have a intranet called Doctors Only. I already have the lead distribution software in place and the entire administration area. This site has some cool features which are very well optimized. One of my jobs is to get the site rank in the search engines for "Home Energy Audit" which is highly competitive. But I'm sure, with some good content and some SEO, this can be achieved.

Also check out the Dr. Energy Saver Blog.

Looking to Hire a PHP-MySQL programmer in Seymour, CT

PHP MySql Programmer Needed in Seymour, CT

Date today: 12/09/2009

Looking to hire a LAMP environment developer for Basement Systems located in Seymour. Currently, we have 20 people working in our web department and we are looking to add one more person to the team.

If you are interested and/or know of someone who might be interested in the Connecticut area, please contact me at 1-800-640-1500 ext:9323. We are looking to hire within a week or two. So, if you are interested, get a hold of me.

You will get a chance to work at the Treehouse :)

Review of a Food Tray for my Car's Back Seat

Food and Drinks Tray for my Car

I drive an Audi A-4, so there are plenty of cup holders in the car. Two cup holders in the front and two cup holders in the back. Now, why the hell do I need more cup holders? Well, my rear cup holders are in the middle seat tucked away. When there are three people in the back, there are no cup holders. So, I thought I'd try this cool little car food tray cause it costs only 10 bucks.

Looking at this picture you can tell that this product is coming from Asia. Well, I got the package from Singapore within 3 to 4 days.

Okay so, it's a small plastic tray with some nice hooks to hang behind the neck rest's metal poles. It has adjustable belts to tie it strong so it won't move. I'm surprised at how sturdy it is because after all, it's just thin plastic. I've seen those add-on cup holders in auto parts stores but this is different, you can actually place your sandwich on the tray, lol.

Take a look at the installation picture below. Pretty smooth operation.

I got the pictures from the manufacturer's web site. The product is from Budget Gadgets. They have some cool gadgets at CHEAP prices. I'm assuming they are cheap because most of the products are coming from China or other Asian countries. I don't complain, lol I like cheap products :)

Okay seriously, for only $10.34, you gotta admit, this is cool. On top of that, FREE SHIPPING, lol. I thought people make money on shipping costs. They are missing out. If you want to buy it, check out their web site:
http://www.budgetgadgets.com/-p-6128.html

I actually saw another tray like this which looks to be better but a little more expensive. Check it out:

Create your car into a portable mini office, lol. I think this one is slick. A car laptop tray, hahaha you gotta like this one.

To view details of this product go here:
http://www.budgetgadgets.com/-p-6043.html

Have fun...

What I Like About Internet Jobs

I have been listening to a tape program called Top Performance by Zig Ziglar and there is a section about what you like about you job. That got me thinking about the internet jobs in general and how far our work life has come over the years.

I've been working at Basement Systems for almost 4 years now as one of the webmasters of the company. We have been very successful in the web department where we now have over 20 people working in the web department of a basement repair company. Now, that's cool.

Today is Saturday. I'm at the office planning on doing some work work and personal work. What does this have to do with the title of this page? I'll tell you... I can read an email message at home, do some work, go to sleep and then come to work and follow up on that. I really appreciate that and what other field can you do this in?

Web files are generally saved on a server which lives in the SKY somewhere and you pull down the files you are working on from anywhere with FTP and internet connection. Of course, you have to like what you do for this to make sense otherwise, why would you work on Saturdays???

Say you were a doctor, mechanic, or lawyer. Let's face it as a doctor, you can't operate on the same patient at your house and at the hospital. As a mechanic you won't work on the same car from your house and then from work garage. As a lawyer, you may not get all legal documents to come with you to your house. So on.. and so on... Which is OKAY... you just stay late hours and get the jobs done. Where as I can access my work from my house at anytime.

It's the internet, email technology and servers make connecting to your personal and work life smoothly. You may be one of those people who thinks it's a bad idea to connect your personal life and work life together. If you are then I got a piece of advise for you; get a new job that you LIKE.

Technology is making our lives so much easier and transparent, it's not even funny. Rather then fighting it, get with the flow and use it to your advantage. Currently, internet jobs allow us to be more flexible in the way we work and from where we work.

I love my internet job :)

webmasterEVAN is my Xbox 360 Gamer Tag for Halo 3

Halo 3 Online

Anyone play Halo 3 multi-player online? If you do, feel free to add my gamer tag webmasterEVAN and we can waste hours on doing something total non-productive, lol.

I love this game... specially the graphics. Put the system on a 37" HDTV and you get the coolest video game experience ever. Here are couple of screen shots from the games I have played.

Click on the image to see the high res version to see the details of the actual game graphics:

This is cool... I got the red player just as he was about to land. Gotta love the details of the shot.

I got a Killtacular in this game. Killtacular is when you kill 5 players in a row within 4 seconds.

Shooting from the Floor...

More gravity hammer action.

Check out my online halo profile for more screen shots from the game :) This is cool, Bungi(the makers of the game) has a cool web site that shows rank, stats etc. Makes things more interesting.