Lupe Fiasco is a conscious rapper who is unfortunately running out of consciousness in his latest release Lasers. Instead of focusing on his lyrical skills, his strongest assets, Lupe lets r & b hooks, Auto-Tune and dance beats take over his rhymes. Lupe is at his best when he speaks his mind like on the brilliant “Words I Never Said,” in which he criticizes: “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist / Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit.” Too bad, Lupe spends too much time trying to speak to the radio and the clubs.

In “The Medium, The Message, The Method,” an informative piece in BizEd, Sharon Shinn shares 10 tips to create a unique marketing plan for Business schools:

1. Stop looking over your shoulder.
2. Focus on what makes you unique.
3. Define your marketing goals to determine your medium.
4. Choose your advertising vehicle.
5. Give special attention to digital media.
6. Exploit the power of video.
7. Join like-minded communities online.
8. Export your worldview.
9. Always remember those alumni-and other stakeholders, too.
10. Make sure that message focuses on the experience.

I would have linked to the article, but BizEd doesn’t have an online edition of its magazine.

We didn’t do much this weekend. No traveling and no visiting the museum. On Saturday we spent some time at the mall. Although the indoor playground was packed, Dao managed to run around, laughing, sliding and were having a good time. That was actually the first time I saw him enjoyed the playground. The funny thing was that as he was running, he would put out his arms to protect himself if he saw kids running toward him.

We bought him an alphabet train puzzle. Each piece of the puzzle is placed together in alphabetical order with each animal, except for letter “u.” Is there an animal that begins with letter “u?” The puzzle uses umbrella instead. Dao has already know quite a bit of the animals and he could recognize their features even though he doesn’t get the name right. For instance, when I showed him the picture of the fox, he said cat. When I showed him the picture of the vulture, he said “chim” (bird in Vietnamese). When I showed in a picture of a frog, he said “ech” (he only knows Vietnamese name for frog). When I showed him picture of the gorilla, he said “Bac Ky” who is my sister-in-law’s husband. Yes, I was puzzled myself on that one too.

Sunday afternoon at 2:30, we went to Eden’s birthday party. Eden is one of Dao’s classmates at the daycare. Eden’s parents booked an hour and a half at The Little Gym, which located on the second floor with a beautiful view of Fairfax Corner. I picked up one of the club flyers and the price for a birthday bash is $300 for up to 15 kids.) Before we went, we tried to give him a nap, but he only slept for half an hour. By the time we headed to the party, Dao was already acting up. While other kids did all kind of activities, Dao played basketball with his buddy Aidan. At school, Aidan and Dao are best buddy. The teachers said they do everything together even sharing their food. At the party we could see why. Just the two of them shooting hoop while the rest enjoyed jumping up and down the inflatable bed. While the rest sat in the room enjoyed pizza and cake, the two of them running up and down the hallway. Brit who is also one of Dao’s buddy joined the two boys.

Dao made some hilarious comments this weekend. When he sneezed, he said “bless you Dao.” When I carried him on my arms, he said “Dao nang” (heavy), but refused to walk when I put him down. Whenever I asked him to do something for me, like getting a towel or throwing clothes in the washing machine, he would complimented himself, “Dao gioi” (good).”

Friday after work we took Dao to the mall. He loves table train and we love to read; therefore, Barnes and Noble is the happy spot for all of us. As we were driving, Dana realized that we didn’t have Dao’s backpack with us. We left it in the new minivan. I told Dana that we could buy some diapers for him at the mall.

Five minutes at the train table and Dao did a number two. I told Dana to watch him while I go get some diapers. I looked up the mall directory and couldn’t find a convenience store. I checked the bathrooms to see if they have some sort of vending machine for diapers, but couldn’t find any. My last resort was to ask for one.

I went to the kid’s playground and check out the mommies to see if they were approachable and the kids to see if they were closed to Dao’s age. I spotted an Asian mom with a little girl on the stroller. I went up to the mom and asked, “Excuse me, do you happen to have an extra diaper to spare? I couldn’t find a store in the mall to get one.” She must have understood the feeling; therefore, she quickly responded “sure” and pulled out the exact same one (size and brand) we used for Dao. I thanked her and headed back to Barnes and Noble. I told Dana I couldn’t find a store and she said, “I told you so.” Then I pulled the diaper out of my pocket and said, “I told you I could get one.”

As if Mai Thanh Son, Doan Phi, Tuong Nguyen, Tuong Khue and Cardin aren’t wimpy enough, Asia Entertainment added Le Anh Quan, another baby-boy voice, to its male roster. His debut Mot Giay Phut Thoi is a typical Asia’s cookie cutter. Le Anh Quan covers Asia’s songs that have been sung to death like Truc Ho’s “Con Mua Ha” and “Neu Khong Co Em,” Vu Tuan Duc’s “Tinh Da Vut Bay” and “Trang Ua Sao Mo,” and Sy Dan’s “Ngay Vui Nam Ay.” Vocally and instrumentally, none of these tracks stands out. Le Anh Quan’s weak voice and static delivery bring nothing new to the unimaginative productions. Come on Truc Ho, slow down, put some effort into your work and stop releasing these dreadful music.

I used to unable to drink coffee. I would get really shaky after a small cup and could not sleep at night. Those sign affects had gone the day my baby boy was born. I needed coffee to keep me up in the morning when he cried in the middle of the night. Now he sleeps through the night, but coffee has stayed with me and become part of my diet.

I don’t get coffee in the morning anymore because the line at Starbucks is insane. I wait until after lunch to enjoy a cup of grande bold with one or two rolled wafers from Pepperidge Farm. My homeboy Nate who works at Pepperidge Farm would bring over all kind of cookies whenever I go back to Lancaster.

Because I drink coffee at noon, I get really hungry by the time I head home from work. After dinner, I would kick back with a cup of iced Patron Xo Cafe Liqueur to unwind. The only problem is that the liqueur makes me sleepy afterward. If I don’t have to do anything else, I would just roll in bed with Dao. He can jump up and down all he wanted and doesn’t bother me at all.

Last Christmas, we received a Cuisineart’s Espresso Maker from Dana’s brother. Last month her sister’s husband brought back some expresso from El Salvador. My weekend joys have been waking up to a strong expresso and French baguette with fried eggs. I love my eggs sunny side up with black pepper, soy sauce and hot sauce. That’s all I need to start my weekend.

Released in July last year, Matthew David’s HTML5: Designing Rich Internet Applications seems to be rushed to catch the new HTML5 wave. The contents are poorly edited. The sample codes are inconsistent and choked full of obvious errors. The author goes as far as using inline CSS to float elements rather than calling external file or in the page header. This method of coding reminds me of workarounds I have to do inside a CMS, which is not fun at all.

If you’re interested in learning HTML5, Jeremy Keith’s HTML5 for Web Designers is still highly recommended. It’s a concise read, but I return to it again and again. If you want more details with broader topics including HTML5, CSS3, DOM, Microformats and best practices, John Allsopp’s Developing with Web Standards is still an indispensable read.

With over 400 type specimens and diagrams, Designing Type examines each letter in great details. From serif to san serif and from capital to lower case, Karen Cheng discusses the nuances and the characteristics in a font. Her technical knowledge on typography makes this book an indispensable read. Designing Type requires tremendous patience and many re-reads, but without a doubt a must-have text for anyone who is interested in type design.

With Evolution, sexy singer Thanh Ha attempts to get her groove back. No crime in that. Even a MILF needs rejuvenation. Like what Y Van had suggested in “60 Nam Cuoi Doi,” life only lasts 60 years so you might as well make the most out of it. Thanh Ha gives Y Van’s classic a fresh makeover thanks to Roland Casiquin for the up-tempo, rock-up beat.

While some of the productions are superb, the song selection is all over the place. Most tunes are translated and Casiquin can’t seem to help himself from injecting annoying ad-libs and nursery rhymes into the tracks. The jump-off “Diep Khuc Mua Xuan” (written by Quoc Dung) wouldn’t be so irritating if he keeps the machine voices out of the tune. Likewise the little Auto-Tune singing-rapping on Van Phuong’s “Tinh Yeu” is exasperating: “Girl you’re the one / You’re my love / You’re my medicine / When it comes to [love?] makes you the veteran.” These Vietlish tracks, particularly “Nobody But You,” make Thanh Ha sounds like she desperately trying to be hip just like the suit she can’t pull off on the album cover.

“Tinh Voi” (a translated tune) starts off with such a sleepy bossa-nova that Casiquin has to rock it up in order to keep listeners from dozing off. From r & b to dance pop to rock to smooth jazz to soul to rap, the album should have been titled The Evolution of Thanh Ha’s Sandwich.

As someone who follows Ngoc Anh’s career for many years, I didn’t think she could make a bad record if she wanted to. Even under Thuy Nga’s poppy direction, she managed to cut some exceptional tracks with Giet Nguoi Trong Mong and gained a wider audience who only knew her after she appeared on Paris By Night.

Her follow-up release, Ta Tinh, however, proves me wrong. As Thuy Nga pushes Ngoc Anh deeper into the pop hole, she can’t save herself from sinking into the god-aweful productions. Her rendition of Pham Dinh Chuong’s “Nua Hon Thuong Dau” is one of the most tasteless covers I have heard. The bouncy arrangement takes the soul and the lyricism right out of the song. Intead of “Nham mat cho toi tim mot thoang huong xua,” the beat gets on your nerve if you close your eyes.

Ngoc Anh and Bang Kieu’s duet on Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Rieng Mot Goc Troi” is much worse than on Do Le’s “Sang Ngang.” The track sounds like two chicks and a horrendous soprano sax battling out for their own turf. Other than the excellent, heart-rending version of Pham Duy’s “Mua Thu Chet,” Ta Tinh is mediocre at best.

From skin-baring album cover to artifical, soupy hits including Le Xuan Truong’s translated “Cuoi Cung La Hu Vo,” Ngoc Trong’s “Sau Vuong Khoi May” and Hai Nguyen “Em Hay Ve Di,” it’s sad to see such a phenomenal artist getting sucked into Thuy Nga’s money-making machine. With Ta Tinh, Ngoc Anh is selling out her soul more than trying to reach the young listeners.