In his interview (1, 2, 3, 4) with Hoang Trong Thuy, Nguyen Khang mentioned a release party for his new album, Ta Muon Say Cung Em, at Majestic tomorrow. Sounds good!

KTVU.com: “[Ha] Nguyen was performing cosmetic surgery in her home and earning at least $500 a day, while also receiving welfare… All victims were Vietnamese.”

Eardrum once again secures Talib Kweli as a virtuoso of lyricism. His rapping, however, is still restricted to just a monoflow. Doesn’t matter if the beat is fast or slow, he rides in a steady pace. His swift, rapid-fire delivery works well on the up-tempo such as “Hostile Gospel” and “Say Something,” but not on the mellow vibe like “In the Mood” (Kanye West rhymes more on-beat than Kweli). Still, his sixth studio solo is more consistent than his previous releases, and “Soon The New Day” is a beautiful hip-hop-meets-jazz collaboration with Norah Jones.

The Department of Earth Science and Geography gets a striking redesign from my colleague Kevin. Love it!

Robert X. Cringely breaks down the reason for the iPhone’s price drops:

This week’s iPhone pricing story, in which Apple punished its most loyal users by dropping the price of an 8-gig iPhone from $599 to $399 less than three months after the product’s introduction, is classic Steve Jobs. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a thoughtless mistake. It was a calculated and tightly scripted exercise in marketing and ego gratification. In the mind of Steve Jobs the entire incident had no downside, none at all, which is yet another reason why he is not like you or me.

Freaky News‘ “Partial Face Transplants Pictures Gallery“

From Raymond Crowe.

Julia Kiss’ Meathead and Rosebutt.

Home of type designers Hoefler & Frere-Jones gets a beautiful, refreshing look.

Phil Ford applies Biggie’s “The Ten Crack Commandments” to “The Professor’s Ten Commandments.”