Mini to the Max

I haven't built a system in a while, so I'm going to max out the current Mac Mini because it's the most affordable Mac. And in an upcoming post, I'll show you how to configure a more powerful Mac OSX system for cheaper. $799 will start you out with a 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD and a superdrive. The next few steps will be painful, so be prepared to cringe:

Add another GB of RAM to 2 GB, and it adds $100.

Add 40 GB of hard drive space for a total of 160 GB for $50 more.

So that brings the total to $949... for a 2 Ghz system. That's the cheapest maxxed out Mac you can get... or is it?

Hong Kong Station

Create your own noodles within your own budget!

Location: 128 Hester St. (btw Bowery & Chrystie)
Cuisine: Chinese
Hours: Sun-Thu 7am-8:30pm; Fri-Sat 7am-9:30pm
Phone: (212) 966-9382
Prices: About $7 per person
Credit Cards: n/a

Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: 9
Environment: 7

Visits: 1

I had a nice relaxing dinner with 2 friends at this place. I enjoy coming to Chinatown on weeknights just because there's no congestion and it's possible to get a seat with elbow room when eating! Hong Kong Station has an interesting system because the entree is customized to the customer's liking. First, there are 9 noodle types to choose from for $1.50 each. Then there are 35 ingredients to add for $1 each. I had a bowl of thick noodles with fish balls, beef stew, curry sauce and mushrooms. All of the ingredients were fresh and the $5.50 dinner was very filling. I'll have to add some hot sauce next time because the curry I ordered wasn't spicy enough (as with most "spicy" items in this country). The process reminded me of making a custom ice cream sundae, but with soup.

The food servers were very friendly and helpful. It was my first time there, so I probably looked a little confused. The ladies were patient and answered all of my questions, resulting in the custom bowl of soup I was looking for.

The environment had a modern look and feel and was very clean. There was quite a bit of room as the tables were well-spaced. That's a rarity in the saturated Chinatown of Manhattan. The restroom was a little odd though. It was clean, but there were colorful photographs of food surrounding all of the walls.

I'd like to come back to this place again. There's an endless number of combinations to try out!

W. Parr vs. Y. Fairtex

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 15, Part 4

3 rounds of competition to get to this long-awaited rematch. Did we really have to go through all the trouble... a full season of a TV series? We all knew it would be John Wayne Parr & Yodsaenklai at then end, right?

The first round already started the match out with some excitement. Both fighters came out aggressively. JWP was winning the round with his punch combos. In a couple of those sequences, he even knocked the seemingly invincible Yod back. It was up until about 15 seconds left that Yod won the round back with a last second knockdown. JWP let his guard down for a short period, but it was enough for Yod to get a solid punch in. That punch looked like a winner, but Parr actually got up and shook it off.

Round 2 was even more exciting. There were more kicks by both fighters. Yodsaenklai hit with a few hard kicks in the beginning, but instead of getting knocked down again, Parr came back with some combos of his own, again forcing Yod to stumble back a bit. Then they both started to swing away. JWP was knocked down again, but bounced right back up and hit Yod with some more punch combos. Then Yod ended with a sweep. So Yod won round 2, but it was exciting because there was a lot of action from both men.

By contrast to the previous 2 rounds, #3 was more of a chess match with each fighter throwing single moves. More defense was used. This round was close. There were no knock downs, a lot of blocks and a lot of hits. I think JWP landed more here.

JWP started to look a little tired in the 4th round as it took him longer to recover from his misses. Yodsaenklai still looked relaxed. Somehow, Parr must've turned on an alternate power source because he was not only still standing, but throwing heavy punches. He knocked Yod back twice and was effectively blocking Yod's super roundhouse... the move that took out the Preacher's arm.

JWP needed a knockout to win the match in round 5, but it started out like round 3 & 4. Both fighters were being patient and trading moves. Yodsaenklai came back in the end with a flurry of punches, 2 or 3 of them hit pretty hard, but he stayed up.

So Yodsaenklai won a unanimous decision. That was definitely the best fight of the series. Congrats to both fighters on a great performance!

Sunday Sports Recap

Yesterday was a busy day in sports and I'm still catching up with writing! I'm still behind with Contender: Asia posts, but I just didn't want to post too many of those in a row. I like mixing it up. So here's baseball & basketball from yesterday:

Undefeated Wang & DLed Posada
The Yankees snapped a 3-game losing streak yesterday when their most reliable pitcher, Chien Ming Wang took the mound. In a pitcher's duel with C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees managed to win 1-0 off a Melka Cabrera homer. Joba pitched a scoreless 8th and Rivera a perfect 9th. So Wang & Pettitte, together combine for a 8-2 record. The rest of the team is 5-11 and the Yanks are .500 @ 13-13. It's so lop-sided. During the rotation, if Wang and Pettitte don't get wins, it's an automatic losing streak. It's no wonder Hank Steinbrenner is itching to make Joba a starter. Well... he should've made a legitimate move for Santana during the off-season. He now has more wins than Hughes & Kennedy combined.

Very bad news for the Yankees... Posada will go on the DL for the first time of his career to repair a long-time shoulder injury. This is a huge blow to the Yankees because Posada is one of the leaders and is the intelligence behind the pitching and infield defense. If there is a bright side it's Molina starting out the season very much improved. They got him as a backup, but he's going to have to go fulltime for a while.

Keep Talking Stevenson
The Wizards played a great game 3, blowing out the Cavs 108-72. The started out game 4 pretty strong until a couple of hard fouls angered LeBron James. That combined with more pregame trash talking from DeShawn Stevenson ignited James as he scored 34 points on his opponents. The Cavs also got strong games from Gibson & West. It was West who drained the game winning 3-pointer with the assist from James. That last play was reminiscent of Jordan to Kerr for the 5th championship. Don't the Wizards know that players like LeBron play better when they're angry? Hopefully they keep talking because it'll mean a game 5 victory for the Cavs.

LeBron, overrated? Are you kidding me? And that's coming from DeShawn Stevenson? No further comments!

Late Sunrise
The Suns avoided a sweep with a blowout of the Spurs. This was just a weird looking game. The Suns seemed to hit everything and everyone was on fire with spread out scoring. They had 5 players in double figures, with the lowest at 14 points. The Spurs just looked really bad. They just weren't themselves. Failing to sweep means they're going to get less rest than the Lakers, unless Kobe's boys lose tonight.

D. Askerov vs. R. Bakkouri

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 15, Part 3


This was the long awaited grudge match... the match that didn't happen in episode 3. It wasn't the brawl that was expected though. Thankfully Dzhabar remembered the JWP fight and didn't let Rafik's antics get to him this time. Dzhabar uncharacteristically fought with patience, going for points in all of the rounds. This fight also went the full distance... again a big surprise. I think everyone wanted to see Dzhabar knock out Rafik. Maybe the time off and hanging out the JWP, Soren, Yodsaenklai and Zach really calmed him down.

If these two had faced off in the first round, it likely would've still been an early exit for Rafik, but it would've left John Wayne Parr available to take out yet another Wild Boar top fighter.

K. Zaki vs. Z. Dominik II

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 15, Part 2

Next on the lineup was the rematch between Zach & Zidov. In their first meeting, it was Zidov who picked Zach after the Wild Boars won the challenge. By the way that match was going, the Wild Boars were on their way to becoming the first to lose a fight that they picked. Zach was clearly winning the fight until his shoulder popped out and couldn't continue. So everyone was happy to hear about a rematch for the finale.

Part II pretty much picked up where the original fight left off. Zach was unloading with all of his weapons and executing them in perfect form. Several low round kicks knocked Zidov to the ground. He made use of elbow strikes at a close distance. The most devastating one was in the 5th round which eventually caused the referee to stop the fight because they doctor couldn't stop the bleeding. So it was a good show for Zach to redeem himself in front of the hometown Singapore crowd. Since the fight was stopped due to medical reasons, maybe we'll see a Zach vs. Zidov III in the future! They fought for 7 rounds total and injuries aside, I had Zach winning all 7, so a part III wouldn't be exciting in my opinion.

Tech Deals of the Week (4/27-5/3)

Flash Sales
- 4 GB Sony @ Circuit City for $29.99
- 8 GB PNY @ Circuit City for $39.99
- 4 GB PNY @ Best Buy for $24.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Radio Shack for $29.99
- 4 GB Centon @ CompUSA.com for $18.74

Case Logic Portable HDD Case @ Best Buy for $9.99
Portable hard drives are more compact, but they're still hard dries with moving parts. That means they're breakable. So $9.99 is not too much to pay for some extra padding.

Maxtor Ext. HDD @ Staples
These are the same as last week. It's still a rare offer. If you need lots of hard drive space, this is the best price out there.
- 500 GB for $99.98
- 750 GB for $149.98

Targus 25-in-1 Card Reader for $9.99 @ Radio Shack
This is the same model I purchased in February. It's a nice compact card reader that performs fast. My favorite thing about this is it only creates one drive letter on your system. I also have one by i-Rocks and that creates 4 drive letters!

SanDisk 4 GB SD Card @ Circuit City for $27.99
The previous low for a 4 GB SD card was $29.99, so this is even lower than that.

S. Mongkongtong vs. S. Wright

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 15, Part 1

The first match of the night was actually not included in episode 15 because there's no back story to it. It's just two of the better fighters going at it. Hopefully it'll be included in a DVD release though. The online version seemed to be cut of airing, but with low audio as if it was not completed. This was an interesting matchup though. Sean was the big surprised, being picked last in episode 1, but lasting all the way up to the semi-finals before being eliminated by Yodsaenklai. He's strong and energetic. Soren is more of a textbook Muay Thai fighter. He's probably not as strong as Sean, but executes everything in perfect form. Soren was eliminated in round 2 by a wild Dzhabar overhead punch that slipped through his defense.

The match went the full distance with both fighters trading combos, but Soren was clearly better. Many of his sequences started out with kicks. Then he went to punches as Sean got closer and eventually elbows & knees. It was a good Muay Thai display by both fighters and an appropriate introduction to the Contender: Asia finale. It was also a nice fight for both Soren and Sean in front of the jam-packed arena. Both guys were sent home with knockouts, so this was a good show of what each one is capable of.

Attack of the Eee Clones

It seems like I'm reading about a new Eee PC competitor every day. Liliputing has put together a list of what's out now and ones that are coming soon with all specs that are currently available. I took that list, filtered out the useless 7-inch ones and loaded the data into a spreadsheet for easier comparison. I didn't want to include the 7" models because I don't consider an 800x480 resolution good enough for every day computing tasks. For these type of laptops, I only think SSDs are practical. So far, only the Eee PC and HP Mini-Note have been confirmed to have that option. I'm sure the others will to when they get released.

Click here to check out the spreadsheet. This will update automatically as more specs get released.

My requirements are: Intel Atom processor, 16 GB SSD, 2 GB RAM, 8.9" screen and 6-cell battery. So I won't be rushing in the get the Eee PC 900. I'll see what the others have to offer first.

Foiled by the Tiger Kings - Part 2

The format of the competition was also "rigged" in a way. The captains chose team members one by one, naturally the stronger ones were picked first. Challenges during the first half of each episode determined which team would pick their opponent. Logical thinking would be to pick easy fights to deplete the opposing team and make it into the 2nd round. As with all post-season sports, it's setup so that things get more exciting as we get deeper into the competition.

This was foiled by the Tiger Kings team because they had a tendency to pick fights with the stronger guys. Their strategy was delayed gratification... knock off the hard guys first and that the opposing team would be less physically fit to win the challenges. John Wayne Parr took out the blue leader. Yod eliminated the Bruce "The Preacher" Macfie, who was one of the better fighers. Bruce was probably expected to make it to the 2nd round. Dzhabar fought a tough battle to get David Pacquette out. The second round had a few lopsided fights because of this. JWP got what would've been a "flawless victory" in Mortal Kombat against Zidov. Sean Wright rocked the older and slower Yukay.

Ten Random Chain Survey Questions for 2008-04-24

1. A class you refuse to take? Marketing
2. You go into Target and have $20 to spend, what do you buy? DVD(s)
3. You've won free gas for 5 years. Now what? drive a lot, blow stuff up, etc.
4. Is it easy for someone to make you smile? no
5. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? 7
6. Do you know anyone who lives in Wyoming? no
7. Do you think you would make a good parent? no
8. What's your favorite kind of ice cream? mint chocolate chip, cookies & cream
9. Are you perfect? No... Batman is perfect. Azrael is just a student.
10. What are you listening to right now? Rocky soundtrack

Foiled by the Tiger Kings - Part 1

It seemed like there were a couple of things setup in Contender: Asia... or at least setup to sway events in a certain direction. One of them was having contrasty choices for captains. John Wayne Parr from Australia is a poster boy for Muay Thai. He's always smiling, super nice outside of the ring and stands for sportsmanship. Rafik Bakkouri from France is the bad boy. He's had a reputation of mouthing off, taunting and insulting. I have no doubt Rafik was picked for the show to stir things up and cause drama. As Zach wrote...

"It's not gonna be very interesting if we all sit there and be nice and talk about our favourite food and hobbies for every episode."
- Kim Khan Zaki

My first point was foiled by the early challenge by John Wayne Parr. It must've been a surprise to the creators that the Wild Boars captain would get kicked out after just the 3rd episode. That was a great and heroic move by JWP. If Rafik was allowed to stay through the first round, he could have done a lot of damage. By that I mean that he would be a bad influence on some of the younger fighters, which could've blocked many friendships from happening. Ultimately, it would've been a bad blow to the sport of Muay Thai. The guys became much closer after Rafik's exit... including fighters on opposing teams.

I don't think it hurt the ratings at all to be missing a strong antagonist. The fight portion of the show has enough action with the guys going all out. I really don't mind, and actually enjoy the friendship and bonding half of the show.

Great Undercards

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 15 Preview

Tomorrow, a 2-hour season finale of The Contender: Asia will air. At first, I was thinking... 2 hours for a single match? But then I read Zach's blog and he mentioned that there are a few undercard fights by popular demand. Zach will have a rematch with Zidov in an episode 7 rematch. Dzhabar will fight Rafik, a result of the episode 3 scuffle. There's also Soren vs. Sean. I don't think there's any grudge there... just 2 of the better fighters facing off.

Episode 3 Re-evaluation
When I reviewed episode 3, it was after skimming through and first half and only watching the fight. I watched it again in full to see how the tension built up. So I have to correct myself in saying that the altercation was Rafik & Dzhabar's faults. After watching carefully, I have no doubt that Rafik instigated the whole thing. He was talking big for the entire episode and was a poor captain to his team. He would just crack jokes and complain instead of meeting about the possible fights and strategies.

I hope Dzhabar kicks his butt tomorrow. I also hope Zach continues what he started against Zidov before his shoulder popped out. And for the finale, I would like JWP to win, but wouldn't be devastated if Yod got the title. I like both fighters. They're 2 of the world's best and they're both nice guys. Wayne Parr is after the thrill of the win... the belt. Yodsaenklai wants the money to build his mother a house.

Note: The finale fights were actually done already. It was a huge live event on April 12. I just didn't want to spoil anything. If you want to know the results, just surf around in Google and YouTube and I'm sure you'll find them.

Recycling = Trash

Since today is Earth Day, I want to recap a recent event that was related. A couple of us were working a late night one day, just organizing a large amount of old documents. The cleaning crew, who usually comes in around 7pm was doing their rounds. We had a few bags worth of documents. Everyone's office had a recycling bin and a trash can. The recycling bin was lined with a translucent blue bag and the trash can with a clear bag. We needed some more bags to recycle all of our old documents, so I went to one of the cleaning ladies and asked for bags. She handed me some clear ones...

Azrael: Do you have any blue ones because we're just getting rid of paper.

Cleaning Lady: Oh it doesn't matter. All of the bags go to the same place anyway.

That meant that the recycling bins were just a front and the building really wasn't doing it. I wonder how many other office buildings in the city do the same thing.

Happy Earth Day!

Hero vs. Zero

The pre-series trash talking was really promoting this matchup to be an exciting one. At the start of the game, Wizards players were fouling LeBron each time he went to the basket. It reminded me a lot of the Bad Boy Pistons that Jordan had to get through with their no layups, no dunk "Jordan Rules." Late in the first quarter, James had a spectacular dunk that got him going. The game was a close one with lead changes going back and forth. In the end, it was James who played the role of "Mr. 4th Quarter" rather than the self-proclaimed Arenas (who only had 2 baskets in the 4th). James finished with 32 and Ilguaskas (who is also a Wizards killer) had 22.

“My play speaks louder than me going out there and pushing somebody or talking trash. My play speaks for what our team’s play speak for. That’s what it’s about. We’re not the type of team that talks but we’re not going to back down either. Our game did the talking tonight and that’s what it should be about.”
- LeBron James

Of course Arenas downplayed the trash talking after the game saying that it started years ago and that it's what players do.

Tonight's game was less exciting. It seems like everyone got all of their tensions ironed out in Game 1. The Cavs blew out the Wizards 116-86 a few minutes ago! James had 30, Z had 16 and Szczerbiak had 15 to lead the way. The Wizards had 3 players tied with 12 and shot 38% vs the Cavs' 52%. So the Cavs now lead the series 2-0. Hopefully they can close it out fast to get some rest. If Arenas keeps yapping, it might just become a sweep!

Eee PC 900 on 5.12.2008

There's finally an actual date for the US release of the Eee PC 900... May 12. It's said to start at $550, which is very reasonable. The configurations are a little strange though. The Linux version comes with a 16 GB SSD and the Windows XP one comes with just 8 GB. It should really be the other way around based on the OS size. The competing devices are way behind. Everex's 9" laptop is slated for 2009. Acer has yet to release anything. Many companies are just releasing their 7" models. I can't imagine those selling when the Eee PC 900 comes out.

I might actually get this one, but will read up more on the others and the Intel Atom processor before I make a decision. The Eee PC 900 was rumored to have an Atom, but the actual product is a 900 Mhz Celeron.

Tech Deals of the Week (4/20-4/26)

Flash Sales
- 4 GB Kingston @ Circuit City for $27.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Best Buy for $27.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Staples for $49.98

Targus Groove Backpack @ Staples for $9.98
I haven't seen this price for the Groove (black) since last year. For more details on this item, click here. This deal is after a $15 mail-in rebate.

Maxtor Ext. HDD @ Staples
- 500 GB for $99.98
- 750 GB for $149.98

Radio Shack Deals
Everything I listed last week is still valid this week.

Poole of Coaches

With yesterday's firing of Jim Boylan (as expected), the head coach position is now vacant. There are so many options out there. Veterans like Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Jeff Van Gundy are available. There are also guys who are currently coaching for other teams that might get fired. Mark Jackson's name has also been thrown around as a new guy. I would like to see Jeff Van Gundy or Lawrence Frank (assuming the Nets fire him). Those two guys are like basketball computers. They know all of the stats and all of the players by heart. They'd be a great match for a hardworking team like the Bulls. Mark Jackson, though unproven has impressed everyone with his YES and ESPN commentary. Former coach Scott Skiles is also available and is being pursued by the Knicks and Bucks. I hope he goes to the Bucks though. He's the type of guy that can turn a weak team into contenders. I wouldn't want the Knicks getting good anytime soon!

W. Parr vs. D. Askerov

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 14

So... on to business. To my surprise, this match went the distance... all 5 rounds. I thought it would be a first round knockout. I pictured Dzhabar charging with a crazy hook and JWP countering with a straight punch and KO! Dzhabar proved that he could really take hits. The 1st round was all JWP. He hit with all of his combos, got some solid shots in and a late round knockdown. The 2nd round was still all JWP. Dzhabar probably got 2 hits in plus a trip. JWP is so deceptive in his moves. He can do a good fake of the left round kick and hit with a right hook punch. Dzhabar was a little more active in round 3, especially the end, but I still gave the slight edge to JWP. He got more hits and combos in. If the judges were generous, they could've called the round a draw. Round 4... JWP again. early in the round, he had a flurry of uppercuts and hooks that all hit. Dhzabar looked like he was starting to get fatigued, despite being the younger fighter. Towards the end, he was thrown and also fell down missing and low round kick. Dzhabar tried to be the aggressor in the final round, but he almost fell each time he missed with a punch or kick. They traded blows towards the end. If the judges just looked at the last sequence... again could've ruled it a draw if generous.

I read some message boards and some people actually had Dzhabar winning this. Are you kidding me? I watched this 3x today and JWP was in control the whole time. Dzhabar was circling the ring while JWP was dictating. The only times he looked aggressive was when he tried to grab JWP or tackle. JWP was never in danger and never got hurt. He's conditioned like a Thai fighter and has that invincible look when he's in the ring. While Dzhabar was fatigued and telegraphing moves, JWP was still sharp, moving quickly and throwing fakes.

Muay Thai Sportsmanship

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 14

I'm going to write a bit about the episode itself in this one because it's the last on before Yod vs. JWP in the finals. The 3 remaining fighters were given Samsung DV cameras as a reward and they took a lot of footage of each other, which made up the first third of this episode. One major theme was sportsmanship and discipline. Most of the guys got a long great... I'd say 15 of 16. They lived together like best friends even though they had to fight each other. And this is muay thai... not regular boxing. The risk of death is much higher. But the art stresses discipline, control and good principles. Let's put it this way... you'd never see Tyson and Holyfield hanging out the way Yodsaenkai & John Wayne Parr do. In their home videos, Yod, Dzhabar & JWP reflected on all of the fighters from the start of the season. They had good things to say about all of them except Rafik, who just had a big mouth and taunted a lot. He's a disgrace to this sport and his country. JWP taught him a good lesson in episode 3. Before the series, Yod also knocked him out.

Subway Tales: The Drivers

I wanted to write a post about the drivers and conductors to add more fire to Blockade, but Streeter J. Seidell, writer for Metro beat me to it this morning in his Voices column, So You Wanna be a Subway Driver... So I'm just going to direct you to his article:

1. Accelerating and braking When leaving a station, it is best to jam forward the drive shaft for a split second and then pull it back immediately. This is how we alert our riders that the train is leaving the station: with a violent, sudden jerk forward.

Click here to read the full article

Reverse Record

It was too little and way too late, but I'm just happy that the Bulls finished strong. All of the kids played great tonight. Thomas had 26 to lead all scorers. Gray was one point short of a 20-20 as he pulled down 22 rebounds. That was easily his best game of the season. Noah had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Thabo added 16 points. So the season ended with a 32-49 record... the opposite of last year's. This Summer should be an interesting off-season. How will the team be reshaped? Will the core be retained? Who will be the coach?

I'll continue to cover the playoffs still. Since the Bulls won't be playing anymore, I can throw my support around our division rival Cavaliers. LeBron James is such a great player that I'd like to see him win the championship. It's a rare opportunity for me to be on his side!

Starving w/ AM

Every Wednesday, AMNY has this column on healthy gourmet dishes. They always talk about replacing a common favorite with something ridiculously small and completely different. Last week, they had mussels, minestrone & green salad replacing chicken parmesan and a roll. The chicken parm had 928 calories and the replacement meal just 352. Of course... those two things are nothing alike! Today's was chicken noodle soup (100 calories) replacing chicken nuggets (341 calories). OK... they're both chicken, but I can't imagine myself thinking, "I'll have a bowl of chicken soup instead," when I'm craving nuggets. If they're going to write about healthy options that are alternatives to the common favorites, they should at least be similar. It's almost like saying, "instead of a t-bone steak, have a bowl of onion soup."

Forget Defense!

It was another night with both a Bulls game and a Yankees game and both were strikingly similar. It was all out offense for all teams!

The Yankees won their game against the Rays 8-7. They had 15 hits to the Rays' 11. Damon, A-Rod and Ensberg homered. Cano had a pinch hit, game winning homer in the 8th. Kennedy looked good in the early innings and had a 7-1 lead, but the Rays were able to tie it up. Rivera racked up another save... 4 so far. That's important because last year, he wasn't getting the early save situations and ended the season with less than his usual numbers.

The Bulls defeated the Bucks 151-135! They shot 67% from the field and the Bucks shot 58%. The Bulls had 7 players in double figures led by Deng with 32 and Gordon with 29 off the bench. Duhon had a double double by halftime. Defensively, they weren't bad though. Turnovers were down and they still got their rebounds. That was one crazy game! The halftime score at 81-71 looked like a final score!

Subway Tales: Supersize Us

Every morning, on the way to work, I pass by 2 McDonalds (hey... it's NYC). Anyway, as I round the corner of the 2nd one during a train transfer, the Tan sisters are always sitting at the window table, drinking coffee and eating various McDonald's breakfast items... EVERY morning. It's straight out of the Supersize Me movie. The sisters get into the area early so they could catch a relaxing breakfast before work. At least once or twice a week, one of their daughters will also join them... and sometimes a husband too. What are the chances of so many family members having different morning routines that crossed paths consistently all the time? And none of them ever get tired of good old Mickey D's! The Tan family either works out a lot or they all have quick metabolisms because not one of them looks overweight.

Tech Deals of the Week (4/13-4/19)

Flash Sales
- 8 GB PNY @ Circuit City for $39.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Circuit City for $29.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Radio Shack for $29.99
- 4 GB PNY @ Best Buy for $27.99
- 4 GB Sony @ Staples for $24.98
- 8 GB Sony @ Staples for $49.98

JVC Gumy Earbuds @ Best Buy for $9.99
This is the same product and price as last week, but different store.

Logitech QuickCam @ Circuit City for $19.99
This is a portable Web cam made for laptops, but can also be clipped onto LCDs. It can also take 1.3 MP still images. The in-store price is $49.99 - $30 mail-in rebate.

Logitech V220 Mouse @ Circuit City for $9.99
This is a cordless laptop mouse for a steal after 2 $10 mail-in rebates.

Logitech VX Revolution @ CompUSA.com for $23.74
It's my first CompUSA deal in a while! This one is very good though. The price you pay is $39.99 + $3.75 for shipping and then there's a $20 rebate. A little over $20 is a great price for the best cordless notebook mouse in the world. Note: This deal ends on 4/15!

Battery Charger w/ 4 AA @ Radio Shack for $19.99
This is the same item as in March, but with 4 batteries instead of 2.

Subway Tales: Blockade

I was in the Roosevelt Ave./Jackson Heights station in Queens this morning when I witnessed a rude MTA employee at work. She purposely stood in the middle of a narrow walkway, using her football player sized body to take up as much room as possible. She just stood there, speaking loudly to her colleague (who was not blocking passengers' paths). Every time a customer passed her, she would complain that they didn't say "excuse me." And she would give them a lecture too. The train was delayed, so I had some time to get the shots above with my camera phone. I wish I had my hi-res camera with me, but we'll have to go by these. Anyway, there's no way you can miss her. She's enormous! So if you see this sumo-sized employee, be sure to walk in front of her as she babbles to her coworkers and blocks walkways instead of doing her job. He just had a fare hike recently, so guess where our money is going. That's why we have to show our appreciation.

A Season Series & Some 2-Hit Ball

It's always a treat to have the Bulls and the Yankees win on the same night. It happened a lot more often last year. But we got it tonight!

The Bull's season was pretty much over earlier in the week when they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention as they lost to the lowly Miami Heat. But they came to play tonight against a Cleveland Cavaliers team that has owned them over the King James era. The Bulls actually took the season series 3 games to 4... a small positive for this crappy season. Deng led the way with 21, but the key points in this game were double doubles by both Thomas and Noah. It's very important that these 2 guys increase their basketball IQ. When they come on to the floor next year, I don't want to break a sweat every time these guys have to dribble and pass.

Chien Ming Wang pitched one of the greatest games of his career tonight... a complete game 2-hitter against the rival Red Sox! The only run that he gave up was a cheap homer that was very catchable. So he again missed a perfect game by just a hair's width. The other hit was a 9th inning bunt. The Yankees got their scoring by playing small ball.

Y. Fairtex vs. S. Wright

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 13

JWP: Not training today? Good luck in your fight. Do you have a game plan?
Yod: Just have to be careful of his leg kicks. It's OK. It won't be hard. (as he plays with a deck of cards).
Yod: I'm just not going to take any risks.
JWP: Sean likes to throw body punches.
Yod. Body punches aren't easy to land. I'm not James or Yukay. Let's see how Sean goes up against the real deal.

It's the semi-finals! I'm writing this one for consistency. I haven't missed an episode for a while, so I wanted to cover this even though the outcome is obvious. This tournament has been cake for Yod so far. He doesn't even look worried. If he ends up winning this, it'll be the easiest money anyone has ever won. Sean only got one hard hit in during the first round and Yodsaenklai just shook it off and went to work. His round kicks are amazing. He hit Sean with one in the beginning and Sean moved off to the side about 3 feet because of the impact. He kept firing roundhouses after roundhouse. Sean blocked some and got hit by some. That didn't matter because Yod's leg is like a steel pipe. A blocked kick still hurts as if it hit. He wore Sean down with these, then went to punch combos and knocked him down with an uppercut. I felt that was a 10-count and the ref just let Sean get up to make things more exciting. Another combo came, but Sean was saved by the bell. During the 2 minute break, Sean was totally out of it and eventually got knocked out early in the 2nd round.

The semi-finals are just a formality really. We all knew from the beginning that it would be 2 of 3 fighters in the finale... Yodsaenklai, Naruepol & John Wayne Parr. Yod could've beaten Sean with both arms and both legs tied up. And John Wayne is going to beat Dzhabar too.

Clockwork Apple: Update

Melvin: I haven't seen him all Winter long. Maybe he's finally getting his stomach pumped.

Cassandra: I probably saw her once or twice since my initial post. She likely still follows the same route. I just randomized mine.

Diego: I still see him often enough when I take the 7... same routine.

Wally: He still follows his morning routine, but I see him less. This is probably due to a slight variation in our clocks after springing forward.

Bertha: I haven't seen her since the initial post, but it was due to a pattern change on my part.

Jane: I still see her on most mornings.

Jorge: Jorge has my exact schedule. Not only do I see him on the way home, but he's also there for the morning commute. We both ride the same car both ways. It's the 2nd car from the front in the morning and the 3rd from the end at night.

Eduardo: Same routine.

Chairsmith: I haven't seen him, but the Chairsmith is unlike the others. He doesn't follow a routine. I just happen to see him a lot in random places.

In Hindsight

Note: This post is just for fun and is written as if predicting the future was humanly possible. In reality, it's not fair to make judgements in hindsight. If I were John Paxson, I also wouldn't have made any trade based on the awesome season the Bulls put together last year.

Obviously, the biggest one was Kevin Garnett. Looking back, I would've easily pulled the trigger on any trade involving him. He's one of the most versatile players in the league. I'd say he's second only to King James. KG also doesn't have a big ego for his stardom. The rumors had Deng, Thomas and Sefolosha + bench guys for Garnett. I think Garnett would've gotten along great with Hinrich, Gordon and Wallace. As great as Deng plays, the Bulls wouldn't hurt too much by trading him because Nocioni is just as good. Noc's sophomore year was pretty much equivalent to Deng last year.

I think Tyrus Thomas faked the interview before the draft. He told the Bulls what they wanted to hear... about working hard and being dedicated. He hasn't proven the work ethic he talked about back then. While he's one of the most physically talented players, he lacks basketball IQ and makes me nervous as Hell when he dribbles the ball! In hindsight, I would've kept LaMarcus Aldridge instead of trading him to Portland for Thomas & Khryapa. Again... based on last year, Thomas was better than Aldridge.

Going with Noah in this year's draft was part of the Bull's plan to build the greatest defensive team ever. Defense wins championships, but you can't win on defense alone. Whenever Noah & Wallace were on the floor at the same time, there were basically only 3 guys on the floor that could score. Looking back, I would've dealt Noah away for Yi Jianlian. Yi was a higher pick, but right after the draft, China was pushing for him to be traded to Chicago or Golden State. All Chicago had to do was get on the phone. The bad that comes with Yi would be pressure from China to give him minutes. But looking at his skills, he's basically Tyrus Thomas with a brain. He's athletic, aggressive and has violent dunks, but he doesn't make me fold my breath when he has to dribble or pass. Thomas (Noah too) should never be allowed to dribble the ball unless he is driving to the basket for a short distance!

I would not have traded for Bryant or Gasol though. As I mentioned in the past, a Bryant trade would require dismantling the team and he has the biggest ego of any player and that doesn't mix with the Bull's style. Gasol is a good player, but I'd still take my chances and develop Aldridge and Yi as inside players.

Wallace & Smith for Hughes & Gooden? I'm neutral on that one... either path would've been fine with me. Wallace and Gooden cancel each other. Hughes and Smith also cancel each other.

As Long As Things Get Done

The unwritten rule in my office is... "it's OK to slack as long as you get your work done." In other words, that means someone could take a 2-hour lunch if he/she gets all of his/her tasks done by the deadline. That logic is flawed in a mathematical way. Say the day consists of 8 hours of work with a 1 hour break. If the employee takes a 2 hour break and works for 6 hours, hitting all deadlines, it doesn't mean he/she heroically put 7 hours worth of work into 6 physical hours. It means that he/she only worked 6 hours! Working for 6 hours can never be equivalent to working 7 hours. If an employee can increase production output to get a task done in a shorter period of time, then that's the rate he/she should be working at ALL the time. There's no such thing as going over 100% either. 100% represents full capacity. The bullsh** of working 110% really means that someone is giving 100% sometimes and just 90% most of the time. Corporate bullsh** like this is why other countries paint a picture of the lazy American... a stereotype I try hard and unsuccessfully to erase.

Wang & Matsui

The Yankees aren't off to the start I thought they were going to get off on, but that's nothing new. They're a 2nd half team. I just hope they don't fall into the same mental trap as the Bulls this year. They did get a win today though as Chien Ming Wang got mixed up in his 2nd pitcher's duel of the year (in just his 2nd appearance). He gave up 4 hits and 0 runs as the Yankees shutout the Rays. The game was won by a 2-run homer by Hideki Matsui in the 4th inning. Chamberlain did the setup and Rivera closed it in perfect fashion. The Yankees are 3-3 with today's win. At least with baseball, if you fall behind the 500 mark, you can gain ground the next day. It must be nerve-racking in basketball to have to wait 2-4 days before you can do anything about it.

Tech Deals of the Week (4/6-4/12)

Flash Sales
- 4 GB Geek Squad @ Best Buy for $29.99
- 4 GB PNY @ Circuit City for $24.99
- 8 GB Kingston @ Circuit City for $54.99
- 4 GB Ativa @ Office Depot for $27.99

Seagate 1 TB SATA HDD @ Best Buy for $189.99
This is the lowest price I've seen for the internal TB drive. It's less than the $.20/GB rate!

Ativa USB Optical Mouse @ Office Depot for $7.99
Go for this it you're still using a rollerball mouse. The price is low enough that you could replace a small office's old mice without spending too much.

Motorola H500 Bluetooth Headset @ Office Depot for $14.99
This is a great price and is equivalent to the H350 model at its lowest sale price. This is after a $30 instant savings and $35 mail-in-rebate (the in-store price is $49.99). This also comes with a phone case & screen cleaner. What's the catch? Well... it's pink.

Optiquest 20" LCD @ Office Depot for $169.99
I haven't had any firsthand experience with Optiquest monitors, but this is a pretty low price for a big LCD. If you're still using a CRT, this would be a good energy-saving replacement.

JVC Gumy Earbuds @ Circuit City for $9.99
If you own a colored iPod Nano or Sansa MP3 player, you can pick up one of these colored earbuds to match your player's color.

Radio Shack Deals
Everything I listed last week is still valid this week.

D. Askerov vs. S. Mongkongtong

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 12

Dzhabar had a difficult 1st round against David, which I thought he lost. Soren had an extremely easy 1st round, dominating Alain in the bloodiest match so far. So it was hard to gauge how these 2 would do against each other. Dhzabar looked sloppy against David, throwing wild hook shots and not blocking those powerful front kicks. Soren was untested. The matchup itself caused some problems with Dzhabar being one of the shorter contestants and Soren being the tallest. So a short range battle with elbows and knees would favor the Russian and a long range battle with kicks and punches would favor the Aussie. Dhzabar ended up winning by knockout. It just looked like he went crazy and got a lucky overhand punch in. Soren was hit so hard he had no idea where he was.

Soren seemed to have some pretty good textbook moves. John Wayne Parr must've picked him for a reason to be on his Tiger Kings team back in episode 1. I noticed Preacher shaking his head when John Wayne picked Soren. Having fought and beaten both fellow Aussies in the past, he must've felt Soren was the better fighter. As a spectator, it was hard to tell. John Wayne beat both guys pretty badly.

Dzhabar's moves are a little wild, but I've watched a few of his fights before The Contender: Asia and he's very well conditioned. He's strong and he can take hits.

Bulls over Cavs

It started out as a blowout, with the Cavs leading by 17. Ben Gordon kept them in the game with 24 points and Larry Hughes' 25 points came mostly during the 2nd half to lead the Bulls in a comeback victory. Noah, Deng and Noc all had double figures. The scoring wasn't that great overall, but they won it with effective fast breaks. The magic number for the 8th spot is now 3... any combination of Bulls wins and Hawks losses. Based on the way both teams are playing and the momentum, I don't think the Bulls will make it. I'm just glad they're playing hard though. They played great 4th quarter defense against the best player in the NBA tonight... a sign of life, but can they keep it up for the rest of the season?

Sword of Azrael: 200803

Death by Fire: A move at the 11th hour of the month by a Brooklyn man who strangled his wife to death deserves the sword this time around. May the fires of Azrael char his body slowly.

Slave Pit: Eliot Spitzer gets this fine for March. Likely all politicians do this, but he just did a bad job of covering up... literally!

Excommunication: This goes to the office security guards. See Building IDs for details.

Last month, there was also a boyfriend who kept his girlfriend on a toilet seat for a month. She sat for so long that her butt was literally fused to the seat and had to be detached at a hospital. I don't even know what to think of this. It's so out-of-this-world. It doesn't fit my 3 punishments, but it deserves something!

First Place

We had baseball today! The season opener was played today after the rain out yesterday and what a game to kick off the season with. It was a pitcher's duel between Wang & Halladay. Melky had some great defensive plays and a homer. I was a little worried because the game was close all the way through, but the Yankees came back with some small ball in the 7th. Joba setup the 8th and Rivera did an automatic closeout as usual. The first game is always important because momentum builds with it. "We don't win sometimes. We win all the time." I had to catch this one on the radio, but was very glad to get the baseball season started.

Basketball tonight features the Bulls and the Celtics... can anyone guess the outcome?

Ten Random Chain Survey Questions for 2008-04-01

1. If I were a doll, the accessories packaged with me would be: two-handed flaming sword, P-90, laptop, PDA
2. What would you do if you were stranded on an island with the person you hate most? A dream come true! *evil laugh*
3. Know how to cook? Enough to survive
4. I am annoyed with: My colleagues
5. What color hair do most of the people you are around have? dark brown
6. What object have you broken most recently? iPod case
7. My favorite shoes are: Jordan XX
8. Can you use chopsticks? it's genetically encoded
9. Do you prefer beaches or forests? forests
10. Who knows a secret or two about you? Hanna