I finished my case study last week that is supposed to be due tomorrow. Originally there were no guidelines with a 3-5 pg. limit. I did 4 1/2. No problem. But now the case due date is extended to next Thursday and there are guidelines. 7-10 pages with specific questions to address. Argh! I don't mind adding on to the case I've already written, but none of it can really be used which means I'm starting back at square 1.

I can't believe it has already been a week since my last entry. Things have been moving on so quickly that I feel my body can't keep up with my mind. Since last Wednesday, I have been slaving away towards this group project. The group went from not having a company on Tuesday, to having research by Wednesday, to having a rough draft of the assignment by Sunday, to having the slides for the presentation finalized on Monday, to presenting the actual thing today. "109, where amazing happens." On top of the presentation, there is also a case study, homework for econ, and an individual assignment for Friday's lecture, so this week is by no means over yet.

Been watching the Lakers lately? They're a team that doesn't want to lose. You can see it in the way they play. There's an aura about them now that they haven't had in a long time. Pau's trade triggered a lot of moves, with Spurs being the most scared at losing a title. Popovich must feel a huge threat, but acquiring a couple oldies probably will not help the team as they are players at the end of their careers. And for the Suns...is Shaq the worst trade ever? D'Antoni has a running team, and Shaq being the businessman that he is, has talked about trying harder to fit into the Suns' style of play. But who are we kidding? 30 pt. loss against Detroit, eesh, that's hurting. Lakers gave up Shaq earlier so that they would not have to deal with him now. Their trade-off was 1 championship for Pat Riley. But now Riley doesn't even want Shaq, and look at where their team is at. Lakers have since then been able to rebuild for championships to come. Pheonix needs Shaq for one reason and one reason only. He's got rings, and he's got experience at winning. Even Nash doesn't have a ring, so as a team, most of them do not know what it's like to be a real winner. Right idea in getting a center as centers of the past and centers of the future really dictate how games are won. Just refer to the Lakers and Celtics of old, and you'll realize why centers carry that title. They're called centers because in order to win, basketball revolves around that position. No doubt there are exceptions, but they are far and few. Maybe Jordan and Kobe? two players that can win a game on their own based on talent, but its not sustainable for the long run, which is why now the Lakers have built on Bynum and acquired Gasol.

One more thing before I head to watch the Laker game. The new MacBook Pro's are out today. Same chassis (wish they had upgraded it) but new processor and the integration of their new multi-touch trackpad. Very tempting! It might just be about time to retire my Ti Powerbook G4...Well anyways, it's game time..:)

Class Over. Jie su luh! Today wasn't as bad. Not having discussion is nice. I have to meet up with my group tomorrow for a project though. To start on it...o_O. 20 pager+slides+presentation. My days seem too short lately with too many things to do. My professors are pushing back deadlines for homework and all, but it just means I'm waiting an extra day or two to get started on them. Not a good direction to be heading.
Oh, and it's raining again. Quite a nice surprise this morning. It was relatively colder last night than it has been over the weekend, but I wasn't expecting rain until maybe Thursday. Good weather for me, but careful driving if you have to be on the road..These slight drizzles can create some very slippery surfaces.

Shibal! Eeeshh! What a close All-Star game. Ray Allen..damnit. He wasn't even supposed to be there! If there was a difference maker in who won or lost it would definitely be him. Just like Kobe should have played but he didn't, making the West a whole different team without him. Good win for the East though, they were definitely more entertaining to watch.

Kapono was my pick for 3pt shootout, although it would have been nice for Boobie to win. For skills challenge I was hoping Chris Paul would take it but Williams is alright. And the Slam Dunk Contest...O-M-G. Superman is in the house! Flew over the rim and threw it down hard. Amazing. Be back later after second round of the contest.

Round 2, slap it on the glass with one hand, grab it with the other and dunk it down..Brilliant! Never been seen before. Dwight Howard for the WIN! You've got to be crazy if you don't Text Dwight. Hmm..Tried voting online to no avail. Server must have been overloaded.

Finally Friday. Well, actually Saturday 4:30am now. I had a quiz today that I missed 2 on, Bah! and a case study that I didn't have any interest in thinking about. It's about time the week ended. Tiring and busy..When I got back to the apartment I wanted to do homework, but I fell asleep for 3 hours. Then when I finally woke up, I started on econ which made no sense whatsoever to me.
Btw, I haven't commented on the Lakers in a while. They've had a good road trip. Gasol was a great trade, and I agree with Odom, Pau came at the right time. But with Kobe's finger hurt, what's in store for their near future? Anyways, watched the Rookie Challenge today. Farmar and Boobie Gibson FTW! After the game I did a mini "ricer" mod, aka the RA-R grille mod. Just seeing how it would look. Did it at night though, and without much room to back up and see it from far away, it's hard to tell if it actually looks good. I'll have to take some pics before deciding if it stays or goes.

Geez..after a warm day yesterday, who would have thought today would feel like the beginning of winter again? Slept for 2 hours before going to class. Managed to stay awake but I'll need to sleep soon (won't wake up till probably 9pm, haha). Got a quiz to study for for tomorrow. Noticed a good quote from the daily quotes that is about to get kicked off..

• "The less you talk, the more you're listened to."-Abigail Van Buren

My in-cabin air filter came. The car has been getting that moldy smell from winter. Haven't changed the filter since getting the car, so I figure it's just about time. Should be a very straight forward install. I'll do it later today or tomorrow after class.

I've been sleeping for 14 hours or so a day, waking up to watch Laker games, doing my case study (done Sunday night), loading albums onto my iPod, and watching a couple DVDs. I also changed a couple bulbs in my car to wide angle LEDs for more visibility in the dark. Well, need to get to campus soon..I'll post again soon.

A couple of blog entries ago, I posed the question of what type of "connection" I should use to have mp3 playback capabilities in the car. My choices were pretty much down to two..FM Transmitter or Jazzy Engineering's Aux-in mod. What it came down to is sound quality should never be sacrificed if there's anything that can be done about it. I've bought Monster cables for DVD player, PS3, Receiver, Digital Cable box, etc..in order to obtain optimal audio and picture (A lot of it is probably marketing, but they do offer lifetime warranty),  so there just wasn't any reason ultimately to choose the FM Transmitter except a docking station, and ease of use and transfer to other cars. I opted for the Jazzy Aux-in because I wanted the quality sound and clean install (no wires to show, everything is tucked away nicely). Furthermore, a docking station, as pointed out to me before, doesn't allow you to hold the player and flip through albums since the dock keeps the iPod stationary.
The install took about 40 minutes. 3-5 minutes taking the dash apart and the CD changer out and another 3-5 putting everything back. The rest of the time was spent taking apart the CD changer, installing the Aux-in, dremeling an opening for the ground loop interrupt to come out, and finally tapping the cigarette lighter power source and soldering a solid connection to it to provide power (charge) the iPod.

Yaaawn. I studied last night till 3AM for my econ midterm and woke up at 6AM to go to a pre-test review section. Didn't help all that much..I'm pretty sure I did the actual work problem right, but I didn't feel so confident about the multiple choice. It wasn't something I was "worried" about, because there was no heads up on what the multiple choice would be on and the main focus was to get the problem down. Well, the problem is 60%, MC is 40%, and half of them required guessing (most of this material wasn't in the book to begin with, nor lecture..just implied ideas through applying different concepts). Some of of it due to my own mishandling of the available time, but when it was came down to the wire, there just wasn't enough time to think these problems out, draw diagrams, plug in numbers to test, etc.
Anyway, I came back after the test (using every last minute of time available in class) and ate, relaxed a bit, took some photos, checked mail, did some homework, and by 2pm I was out cold. Just woke up (currently 5:50pm). Heh, good recovery sleep I suppose. Happy Chinese New Year!
It has slipped my mind lately, but the acquisition of Pau Gasol = very good trade. Crittenton hasn't had the time to really shine this year anyhow, and Kwame has been playing lackluster on both sides of the court (put nicely). Gasol is a much better ball handler in the post, has a scoring mentality, can pass the ball, and spread the floor better. Whereas Kwame, sometimes I don't know what the heck he's doing. His defensive presence lacks at times and his offense comes and goes the same way; not to mention he can't shoot free throws. Crittenton will be missed down the line in a couple years as the team will need a good back up guard of Crittenton's caliber, but for now the Lakers are definitely showing signs of wanting to win. And the Shaq for Marion trade for Suns? Hmm..Hard to say, but I find that Shaq will slow down Dantoni's flow of the game. Although in a half court game Shaq's defensive presence will make an impact, Marion's activity on both ends of the court will truly be missed.

First time eating there tonight. Never sparked my interest to go before, but my case study coming up is on Panera Bread, a fast-casual restaurant. Following Panera is P.F. Chang's with it's adaptation of a fast-casual restaurant. I was curious to see how an Americanized China Bistro can fit the segment between fast food and $20 per person meals. To my surprise, I found this experience to be very memorable. The food is much better than Pei Wei (a competing restaurant) and the service was excellent. The lighting was a bit dim for my tastes, but seems to work at creating a different atmosphere. Unlike Panera Bread, which provides WiFi, inviting customers to stay longer, P.F. Chang's definitely feels more like a restaurant in which one would order, eat, and leave as others are waiting for your table. It leans more towards high class eating than fast food. Items on the menu start at around 6-8, upwards of 10-12 dollars (from what I recall). The dishes capture the essence of Asian flavor that has escaped other foodservices such as Stix, Panda's Express, and even Pei Wei. If you decide to try P.F. Chang's I'd recommend getting the Banana Spring Roll dessert. The taste is indescribable, as nothing I've eaten can be compared to it. The banana's are fried inside of egg roll skins, served with a flavorful ice cream you probably can't find in many other places. Overall, the prices are not as economical as eating at a traditional Asian restaurant, but for a gourmet feel and a comfortable atmosphere, I'd say P.F. Chang's is worth an occasional visit.

Well, it's February, which means I can upload more photos (which I have). But I've maxed out on 500 once again, so the remaining will have to go up in March. I'm hoping by the end of March, things will be back to normal and my photos can be uploaded regularly.
Tough week this week..I got a project due tomorrow. I got a midterm on Thursday. An assignment due Friday morning. And another long case study due the following Tuesday. Stressed about the midterm since it's for Microeconomics. Also stressed about the project because there's a time frame of when it starts and ends, and the start time is while I'm in econ class, giving me a slight disadvantage.
On the plus side, the diffuser looks sweet on the car. Very inconspicuous too, so if you're not looking, most likely you won't notice it (the way I prefer it to be). The weather has been up and down lately, so I haven't even had a chance to snap a photo. When it's not raining, I'm busy, and when it's sunny I'm editing photos indoors. Once I have free time, it's too dark and the shots come out too blurry. o_O! Soon enough... not like I can post them yet anyways.

The diffuser is supposed to be a straight bolt-on item with only 6 holes to drill. The install was definitely not as it seems on the instructions. First of all, the washers are way too small, so I had to use another set of my own. The nuts are hard to keep in place, and there's very little room to maneuver around with a hand. I had to remove a couple aero pieces from under the bumper to give myself extra room. The fitment is ok, but not perfect. The rods that bolt into the tire well don't extend far enough, so I had to bolt it closer (no matter how you position the diffuser, it won't reach that far forward). The cut opening for the exhaust hanger is not in the right position, nor was it big enough to clear anyways even if it were. I had to dremel the opening larger at around 3:30am, making one of my neighbors a bit unhappy. The smaller piece that fits on the driver's side does not sit as flush as the passenger side, therefore leaving a gap between the bumper cover and diffuser. I had to drill an extra hole and put in my own bolt, nut, and washer (good thing I had a similar bolt to use). What a pain to install, but I'm still very pleased with the overall look. Despite cutting the opening for the exhaust hanger larger, I'm still skeptical about it hitting the diffuser when the exhaust moves. I've already zip tied the rubber hanger, but it still seems like there can be some slack. With the diffuser attached to the bumper cover, when I'm on the trottle, the license plate seems to rattle a bit. I'll have to add some double stick tape to the back sometime.

Once I got back to Arcadia and started unloading everything, the next thing to do was clean my room. Of what? There's was a large box sitting in the corner. Yup, I went ahead and installed the diffuser. I just finished and it's currently 5AM Saturday morning. Why did it take so long? There were a couple reasons. I'm too drained to discuss them now. Plus I have a sprained left ankle. Need rest for a couple hours. I'll add on to this subject later.

The moment I came back from class, I started on econ hw. It took me 2 1/2 hours to do 3 problems. Then I started dozing off, peeking at the Laker game every once in a while. Woke up to a very impressive 4th quarter and win. I can't stay awake =.=! Need to drive home now though.

After having the player for almost a week now, I've loaded about 10 albums onto it. Putting songs on the player is pretty easy after going through it the first time. What's hard is looking for album art without it being watermarked (particularly Asian albums which mostly yield results from YesAsia). If the album is on Amazon.com it's no problem at all, but otherwise there's a lot of digging, going on yahoo.com.tw or kr.yahoo.com.

I was thinking of integrating the iPod into my car, but there isn't an aux-in port to plug it into. There's obviously ways to get it to work still, but everything has its trade offs.

• Jazzy's Aux-In: taps into the stock head unit but requires 1 of the 6 CDs in the cd changer to be "quiet." The install is straightforward by taking the head unit out and opening it up. The wires will be tucked in the back and nothing will show except for a discreet cord to plug the iPod into.
• Change to aftermarket head unit: One of the preferred solutions by people who own non aux-in ported cars, but it requires giving up the stock unit, which I do not want to. This option is pretty much out of the question since the only units I have found to look good fitting in the double din is a LCD screen. Too costly at the moment.
• Change to stock 2007 head unit: The 07's have aux-in ports, and the port alone is available for sale. However, in order to use it, one would have to switch to the 07 head unit. It isn't a horrible idea, but the units go for around $300 pulled from cars, possibly "used, in mint condition" and they do not look as good as the current head unit, IMO. Install would be very clean and very stock looking to anyone who can't immediately recognize the changes.
• FM transmitter: Broadcasting the songs via a transmitter to the FM radio. Could work. Most people probably do it this way to avoid hassles or to look for other alternatives. The benefit is you can bring the transmitter with you to any other car without aux-in to be used. But the reviews on any of the transmitters are essentially the same; They're all two-sided. People either love it or hate it, but the one sure thing is that there is going to be static. The broadcasts are never perfect and can easily cut out in more populated areas with interference. Another benefit is that most have a holder for the iPod (nice to have but it immobilizes the player from being head to your face, vs plug into a cord and just leaving it in the cup holder for easy pick up and put down.)

Are there other options? Perhaps, but I couldn't find them. Adding another hotness to the list I had yesterday:

• Fan Bing Bing: Chinese actress. Saw her in the movie Contract Lover while flying back from Taiwan. I thought she looked "weird" at first, but her characters grow on you. Saw her yesterday in the movie Battle of Wits. Not bad, not bad. She's been under my radar because I haven't heard of her until now, but she's had movies out since 2001. Oh, and she's in Flash Point, a movie I picked up at Asian expo for $5 w/ Donnie Yen and Louis Kuo.