iPhone stereo adapter search

Surprise surprise. Bust Buy was a waste of time!

They sell and install iPod/iPhone adaptors from iSimple, but not for an “old” car like my 2004 Acura TSX. I took a snapshot of the product BB installs and took my search online. iSimple didn’t have a version for my car. Sigh.

Luckily my wife found a blog article an 04 TSX with navigation owner posted about an iPod integration solution from Dice Electronics (http://www.enusbaum.com/blog/2009/01/31/car-hacking-installing-an-ipod-adapter-in-my-acura-tsx/). The iHonda R4 is supposed to work with my iPhone 3G, displaying info and control my iPod/iPhone via the navigation touch screen– all while charging it! Plus, it has an audio jack for use with other MP3 players when I ditch this phone.

A quick Google Shopping search revealed the best deal was through a third party electronics dealer on Amazon for $112 (http://www.amazon.com/i-Honda-R4-5v-Integration-Acura-Honda-Navigation/dp/B0012TM9U2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1280530810&sr=8-1-spell). I tried using Bing Shopping for this, but the results were surprisingly lacking, despite having several great experiences prior. Even the basement bargains for this item on eBay were priced higher than on Amazon.

Placed my order and just need to set aside time and a place to do the install.

Photos and my impressions: http://eternallylost.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/dice-electronics-ihonda-r4-install-with-iphone-3g/

Six years of Acura TSX goodness

I’ve been a loiterer on the Acurazine forums for a few years now. So much so that I eventually created an account back in 2007.

That being said, my recent DMV registration renewal notice, prompting for my first smog check, reminded me that I didn’t modify anything on my ride in it’s 6 years of existance.

I realized then that I was bored with the car.

I’ve been prowling the TSX section of Acurazine, along with other performance web sites, for weeks and eventually came up with my initial upgrade plan:

- replace drooping driver side visor
- iPhone stereo interface. Not a simple audio jack.
- upgraded brake system: OEM-spec performance rotors and pads

I’ve already bought a set of visors pulled off another 2004 TSX from a junk yard in Jersey that were sold on eBay. I just need to iron out the other items.

This should help keep things interesting for me awhile…

How Craigslist, Google, Pho and SEO come together

It seems like it’s been forever since I posted anything to this blog, not to say that nothing eventful or noteworthy has transpired. I’ve just been busy trying to “maintain” I guess.

We’ve bought quite a few baby items from Craigslist. Just picked up a Superyard XT in Birdland yesterday from an ad in Craigslist.

Where the hell in San Diego is Birdland you ask?

Even after 20+ years living in this city, I had to consult Professor Google (Maps) to learn that Birdland is the area between the 163 & 805 split, where Sharp Memorial, Sharp Mary Birch and Rady Children’s Hospitals are located. I’ll stop here and leave it up to Noah to film an episode of Wonderland on Birdland. I love that show!

What prompted this post was a coworker asking me how to get to Pho Joy in Poway. I couldn’t remember the restaurant’s name so I Googled “pho Poway” and got my answer.

I WAS surprised to see that my post reviewing Pho Joy appeared on the first page of my search results. OK, I wasn’t too surprised. After working in SEO for awhile, I tend to write in keyterms and phrases now.

It was nice to be able to verify firsthand that my search engine optimization skills are still applicable.

Cheers!

Lady Vengence

Finally watched the third installment in Park Chan-Wook’s vengence trilogy last night– Lady Vengence. It kicked arse!

Old Boy us still the most twisted revenge film if ALL TIME! Even more f’ed up tha Kill Bill. Don’t get me wrong, that Tarentino flick is a great action film, but the twisted revenge in Old Boy is mind-blowing. Not like the recycled crap here in US cinema.

Next, I want to see Park Chan-Woo’s take on vampires in Thirst. Twinkle twinkle!

Props to MF for hookin us up with the DVD!

Red Sun – a cowboy, a samurai & indians

Just watched the 1987 film Red Sun on my DVR. Stumbled upon it last night. It was an awesome cowboy, samurai flick.

Can’t go wrong with Toshiro Mifune (from all those Kurasawa joints) and Charles Bronson.

I highly recommend this film. It was mantastic: guns, swords, samurai, cowboys, bandits, honor (bushido), Indians (Native Americans). The fight scenes were cinematically drawn out to make sure viewers got a good sense the enormity of the environment – the old West.

Zips Tummy Buster Deli

Wasn’t able to bring lunch today, as is my usual plan for Fridays, so I decided to hit up nearby Zips Tummy Buster Deli off Danielson in Poway (zipstummybuster.com).

Been hearing a lot of raves about how huge the sanwiches are from co-workers and thought today would be a good opportunity to see for myself.

I had the 9″ steak wich on wheat with Provo and a drink. The damage was about $7 (regular fountain drink was 1.23 I think).

This sub wasn’t great, but not bad either. Even with the pricy fountain drink this is still a better deal than Jersey Mike’s. The staff are friendly and the order turnaround is brisk (as is business). There’s definely something good going in here!

I’ll be giving this place another try given it’s proximity to work. I’ll probably walk next time as long as it’s a beautiful day out like it usually is here in San Diego.

My latest acquisition

After much debate (with myself) and research, I ordered a HD camcorder last night to capture the ever-increasing mobility of my child.

Free FedEx Ground shipping and a massive discount made this a must have.

I’ve definely become more and more of a Canon fan over the years. And it all began with the point and shoot PowerShot S50…

The S50 camera takes excellent shots, low lighting being the exception, and has been a consistant companion, beautifully capturing photos and video from my nose bleed seats at Chargers games to our trips to the UK, France and Italy.

Our S50 even survived a tabletop drop (more than 1ft) on the Shinkasen bullet train to Tokyo. Other than a small dent from that incident, the camera still works perfectly and is our secondary camera to our recently purchased Rebel T1i, which is already proving to be worth the price we paid.

Even after looking several other makes, I still selected a Canon camcorder. My Canon VIXIA HF 200 should arrive next week!

I just need to buy a 16GB SDHC card to drop in. I’ll post my impressions once a get a feel for this lastest acquisition.

PS: Happy Earth Day!