Alex Bain's Blog

What's been in my ears

Lately, whenever I turn on my iPod, it's to listen to one of three things:

1. Adam Carolla
2. Ken Burns' Jazz
3. Bill Simmons' iMixes

We'll go through them one at a time.

Adam Carolla's radio show can be downloaded automatically through iTunes, one segment at a time, commercial-free. His style of comedy is not for everyone, but I think he's a genius. Not only is he great at pointing out hypocrisy, like when he rants about how he hates the lottery, but he's also got a very inspirational rags-to-riches story, a community college dropout who fought his way into fame by working his ass off. There's a great LA Magazine article about him, with a quote I think about a lot. He said:

“It’s action that matters. If you don’t like your life, change it. You can change your life. You may feel the same, but if you change your behavior, you will be different.”

Ken Burns' jazz collection has served as a terrific introduction to the world of jazz for me. I've been reading about the genre lately, and intending to listen to more of it, but I didn't know quite where to start. It's intimidating to me, like Starbucks was before I figured out that "venti" meant "large". I'm sure that a year from now, I'll have a good sized collection, and I'll know what I'm talking about, but it's a scary new world to me at the moment.

Bill Simmons is my favorite sports writer, but he also has extraordinarily eclectic taste in music. Whenever he's written about music in the past, I almost always either don't agree with him, or don't know the bands he's talking about. However, he does brag that he always controls the iPod on long car rides with his family or friends, so maybe he's onto something. He mentioned in a column once that he'd put together a few iMixes on iTunes, and when I checked them out, I'd never seen any of the bands before. I was going for a long walk the other day, and downloaded one of them to try it out. It's actually pretty good, and it's not stuff I'd have ever heard otherwise.

My iPhone review: the first month

It's amazing that this revolutionary device was launched a month ago and received almost no press. I think someone should say something about this thing, so here are my thoughts:

Pros

• 
• First thing's first: the way the screens fade and transition when you interact. It's so smooth that it invites you to play with it.
• I don't know how I ever lived without high speed internet access in my pocket all the time. Some people complain that AT&T's EDGE network isn't fast enough. I don't know what pages they're trying to load, but it's been great for me. 9 times out of 10, if I'm using the internet when I'm out of the apartment, it's to quickly Google song lyrics or a store's hours, and EDGE works great for that.
• I'm totally OCD about managing my contacts and calendar, and this is the perfect device for someone like me. The phone rewards me for meticulously adding contact info to my friend's address cards, and organizing my contacts together into sensible groups.
• Having a 2 megapixel camera always handy has proven indispensable. It's also enabled me to start a second blog. I could never live without this benefit now that I've known it.
• The phone allows you to be talking to someone, and then add a second call to make it a conference. I've used this for business reasons a few times, but even though there's been a few times in my personal life when it may have been handy, I've resisted for fear of seeming like a show-off.
• Having an iPod on me is great for long walks. I walk ~15-20 minutes to and from school each day, and into and out of Harvard Square, and I didn't always bother to bring an iPod in the past. It wasn't that the Nano was too big, it was just another item in my pocket to deal with. Now I bang out books-on-tape in little pieces on these walks and feel so much more productive.
• The keyboard took some getting used to, but I've got the hang of it now. It's not always easy, but neither was the Treo's keyboard.

Cons

• Google Maps crashes all the time. Wicked annoying when you've spent a bunch time typing in a long address, and even worse when you were looking up directions so you typed in 2 addresses.
• It's entirely unacceptable that the phone has no to-do list manager. I end up using Ta-Da List, which I'm thrilled with, but it doesn't work if I'm on a plane or away from coverage.
• You can't select text and/or cut, copy or paste text. Seems like something they can add in the future.
• The keyboard auto-corrects my spelling, but only if I use the exact right number of letters for the word. If you don't know how many "P's" are in "appellate", and you get to the end of the word and realize you guessed wrong, you have to delete each letter one at a time to fix the mistake.
• The camera's exposure time is a bit too long, and most of the pictures are a little blurry if you don't work to hold the thing really still.
• The phone doesn't tell you how many characters you've typed when you're sending a text message. This is a problem in general, because SMS messages have to be <160 characters, and it's a big problem for anyone who uses Twitter, where you're restricted to 140. I'd guess they'll fix this soon.

Should you get one?

• Do you meticulously organize your contacts and calendar (because you probably wont start doing that if you haven't been already)?
• Do you have a decent sized iTunes library, and if you do, is it organized in such a way where you could easily determine which ~4 GBs you would want on your phone?
• Are you free to switch carriers (not locked into a contract)?
• Do you mind blowing a ton of money on a phone?

If you said "yes, yes, yes, and no", then go for it. It's certainly not for everyone, but I love mine.

Bonobos Pants: Aspirational lower-body gear

My buddy, Spaly, just graduated from the GSB. He's starting work in private equity in November, but he's doing something really cool between now and then: starting a pants company.

I've heard him talking about this as a dream for a few years. He's not chasing it in a foolish way either. He's putting a bunch of his time and money on the line, but he's put together a great product and built a really fun brand around it. Check out his site. What's cool is how well the product and the messaging around it reflect his personality. The pants are different and a little loud. Well... so is Spaly.

I have three pairs of these pants. Here's what I think:
Pros:

• A great alternative to khakis and jeans
• Showcases a man's athletic physique (if he has one, which is why the post is subtitled "aspirational lower-body gear")
• It's fun to support a nice guy
• They're unique
• They're a great conversation starter
• The sales model is highly personal
• Material is high quality
• The price is right

Cons:

• The early versions are a little long. They need to be hemmed if you're not 6'5". I think this is common among nice pants though
• You can't wear something this trendy for pants and then something stupid on top, but you can't wear something overly trendy on top either. This is a tough one, especially for someone like me, where 90% of my wardrobe is t-shirts I somehow got for free.
• They fit a little tight around the legs, which makes them look great, but I can't load up my pockets the way I'm used to. I have to switch from a wallet to a money clip, and you can see the outline of my smartphone or camera on my thigh if I bring them out.

So there you have it. The pros far outweigh the cons. If you're feeling like trying something new and looking hip at your next party, pick up a pair of Bonobos. Shoot him an email through the site and tell him what you're interested in. Tell him #32 sent you :-)

[By the way, the name of the brand comes from the kind of monkey that has more sex than any other animal. That's the truth.]

My relationship with various brands

I'm a pretty loyal guy when it comes to friends, family, schools, and sports teams, but also when it comes to my favorite brands. Perhaps it's a little ridiculous at times, but there are some brands I feel like I'm constantly defending. Here is a list of brands to which I owe allegiance. The main criterion for making the list is: Would I pay 10% for a product of this brand than a comparable product made by a competitor? The question is not relevant in some cases, where the product is free, but you get the point. There are some cases where the brands overlap (e.g. Sony and Bose) and in those cases I have to sub-bucket my brand loyalty for my ethos to remain consistent.

Here's the list (in no particular order):

• Tumi (luggage, but only their ballistic nylon bags, not the freaky Jetson's-style new stuff)
• Coffee Bean (their Chai is incredible, as I've mentioned before)
• Apple (I know I'm a biased former employee)
• Bose (their noise canceling headphones are a life saver on a crowded plane)
• Tide (I know it's probably the same detergent as the generic, but I just feel better about using Tide)
• Nike (watch, running shoe, underwear, dress shoe - Cole Haan)
• The Omni Group (Mac-only software)
• Bonobos Pants (great pants for men)
• Hertz (rental car, so fast to pick-up and return, which is key for business travel)
• Calyx and Corolla (flower delivery)
• Adam Carolla (talk radio)
• Zazzle (custom t-shirts)
• Staples
• Mobil (gasoline)
• Canon (digital camera)
• Sony (TV and home theatre products)
• Dunkin Donuts (all non-chai coffe products)
• Patagonia (jackets, especially fleeces)
• Dr Grip (pens)
• SanDisk (flash memory)
• PayPal (online payments & money market investment
• Schweps (club soda)
• United (air travel)
• Niman Ranch (meat)
• Amazon (online commerce, especially books)
• Google Maps (directions)
• CitySearch (restaurant advice / reviews)
• DayQuil/NyQuil (cold/flu symptom relief)
• Advil (pain relief)
• Old Spice (sport scent soap)
• David McCullough (biography)
• Tommy Bahama (Hawaiian Shirts)
• NetNewsWire (RSS feeds)
• e*trade (online brokerage)

Now that I look at the list, it makes me look really materialistic. Shoot. The truth is, even though many of these products are premium brands, I don't have incredibly expensive tastes, especially when it comes to restaurants and clothes, where most people blow a lot of money on brands. for most of these items, there's a great story behind how I became loyal to their brand.

Nike music hat

Lisa got me this product from Nike for Christmas called the "hatphone", a clever play on headphone. At first it seemed a bit too expensive for something I might not use much, but I've actually found it to be quite valuable. If you run in a cold weather climate, it's obviously a great way to jam to your tunes (it's gotten me through a 17 and a 23 mile run that I definitely wouldn't have survived without it)

The thing I've found, is that it's surprisingly nice to wear just walking around. I have a long walking commute each morning and afternoon, and when I'm not making phone calls or walking with a friend, this hat keeps me busy and makes a cold walk more enjoyable.

Perhaps this is obvious to you, but it wasn't to me: Mine has shrunk after a couple cycles through the washer and dryer (still usable, but a little snug). If yours fits fine when you first get it, then don't dry it with high heat like I did :-)

The Doorganizer

I started reading a great website recently, LifeHacker.com, and they turned me onto a great little gadget for productivity: The Doorganizer.

The picture pretty much explains it all. You hang it on the doorknob of the door through which you leave your home, and you're guaranteed not to forget whatever you put inside it.

Mine just arrived a week ago, and I'm noticing it's also a handy way for couples (or roommates) to communicate through notes or leave small objects for each other.

It's also fun to say in a geeky way. When our new street parking sticker arrived in the mail, Lisa immediately suggested I "doorganize it" so that we'd get put it in the car the next time we were driving :-)

Flip Fold: Laundry for people who like Origami

If you like laundry, and you're a little OCD like me, than I've got great news for you. Two words: Flip Fold.

I got this thing as a gift when I moved to San Francisco, and it sat collecting dust for about 3 years. I finally gave it a try, and the thing is incredible. If you think you don't need it, because folding isn't a problem for you, you're wrong. If you employ this fancy Japanese method, you're cool, but you're not Flip N' Fold'n.

It's great for fitting a lot of things in a small amount of space, which is handy with my tiny closet, but it's also great when you're packing for a long trip. The only problem is that, if you don't pack the Flip Fold (which you can't b/c it's too big), it's really hard to pack again to come home at the end of your trip.

If you're skeptical (and I would be too), you're welcome to come over and try mine.

Reveal lightbulbs

As I set up my new apartment, I thought I'd let everyone know about one of my new favorite home improvement secrets: Reveal Light Bulbs from GE. We did a little test here in Cambridge, where we have normal bulbs in one bedroom, and Reveals in the next room over. The difference is enormous. Reveals are warm and inviting. The bedroom with the normal bulb reminded me of the dreary office environment in Joe Versus The Volcano. The next time you're picking up bulbs, get yourself some of these, and thank me.

My favorite blogs

My friend Jeremy introduced me to the RSS Aggregator, or "Blog Reader", in the summer of 2004. I fell in love with the concept of having the internet delivered to me. Clearly, I wasn't the only person making this discovery, although I consider myself ahead of the curve in this area. I want these applications to make it big, but it hasn't yet. My test for whether something in technology has caught on is 3 fold:

1. Do high schoolers use it? - A low bar to clear
2. Do people with little money or need for technology (e.g. cab drivers) use it? - Slightly more indicative
3. Do grandparents use it? - An absolute litmus test for adaption

Consider digital music: I'm 27. Napster hit the scene when I was in college (1997-2001). Even by the time I was graduating, the term MP3 would have failed all three of the above tests. Now, in 2006, there are kids who were born after I graduated college that own iPods.

I think people will be so much better informed once everyone is checking RSS feeds as often as they check email now. It's a little like subscribing to magazines and newspapers, only if they were sent to you several times a day.

Well, as I see it, there are two kinds of blogs: topical aggregators, and personal journals. I like reading both kinds.

Topical Aggregators: I've read theories before about how content (music, movies, etc.) will all be free in the future, and the only thing we'll pay for his the service of someone sifting through all the crap to tell us what is worth our time. That's a lot of what is happening online right now. I could spend a whole day reading news about the Mac-using community, but all the best rumors and other tidbits eventually show up on TUAW.com (The Unofficial Apple Weblog). The same is true for any other topic out there. If you care about it, there's someone aggregating all the news you'd be interested in.

My favorites:

• TUAW.com - Apple news, rumors, and tid bits
• Engadget.com - New gadgets, and news about old ones
• Digg.com - Stories from anywhere around the web are voted on. Looking up the most popular in each category is insightful. I particularly enjoy the tech section.
• Slashdot.com - Similar to Digg, but older, and more tech-focused.

Personal Journals: Other kind of blog out there is the personal journal. I know people who send out emails to all their friends at once when they've gone on a trip, had a baby, or done something else significant. These journals are no different than mass emails, except they're publicly viewable, and generally written more frequently. I subscribe to these when I think the authors either have interesting lives or opinions.

My favorites:

• Vinography - A San Francisco wine lovers journal of favorite bottles, trip to vineyards, local tastings, etc.
• Blog Maverick - Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, discusses his thoughts on basketball, business, technology and general philosophy.
• Marginal Revolution - An economics professor discuss funny econ news around the country, such as markets for goofy products and services, or the application of economic theory in out-of-context situations.

The RSS technology can also be used to simply update you to anything new on the web. Whenever my favorite sportswriter, Bill Simmons, has posted a new column, his RSS feed alerts me and I go read it. I also have something like this for Flickr. I can "subscribe" to the "10-25 Favorites" pool, which will show me which pictures are becoming popular on Flickr. Or I can subscribe to my brother Billy's feed, and see what sort of art or pictures he's been posting. This is a creative use of RSS, but these aren't blogs.

Frusion: the biggest thing since sliced cheese

You all know how excited I got about sliced cheese, well here's another big food innovation...

It's a product I wish I'd known about when I was commuting to Apple:

I always wanted something light and healthy that I could consumer easily in the car, so I'd end up eating bananas, but these things taste awesome and they're so easy to grab as you're running out the door. This will become a staple of my business school diet.

As if the product wasn't cool enough on it's own, it's website has an old Mike Tyson's Punchout simulator.

UPDATE:
My friend, Hutch, who turned me onto drinkable yogurt pointed out that I have inadvertently endorsed the wrong brand. I hear that Frusion actually doesn't taste that good, and that the brand which is by far the best is Stonyfield Farm. Try their Organic Strawberry flavor.