January 2012
2 posts
http://www.facebook.com/AlexBain →
Taking a brief break from Tumblr. Not by choice. I’m swamped at work, and I’d rather explicitly tell people not to expect anything here for a while.
I’ll probably still post to Facebook occasionally, though, if for nothing else other than to test out our product ☺
Getting on the midnight shuttle home from FB for...
Shuttle driver: Good to see you again! Do you work in security?
Me: Nah, but I can see why you'd think that. I'm just an analyst.
Driver: Oh, but you're here so late. I guess you come in late too?
Me: Not really. I was in yesterday by 8:30, and today by 9.
Driver: Oh, but you must not do that for much longer, right?
Me: That's the same question my wife's been asking :-)
December 2011
5 posts
“It’s not that he usually says the right things; he only says the right...”
– Great Klosterman article on Tim Tebow, but this sentence made my head hurt, and I was two credits away from a logic major in college ☺
November 2011
7 posts
“A modern-day HyperCard. Something that allows anyone who can just kinda-sorta...”
– Incredible answer from Gruber in this interview, 5 Minutes on The Verge, to the question: “What’s missing in technology that nobody seems to be working on?”
I’ve mentioned how much I loved HyperCard before. iWeb was a train wreck, but something like a revival of HyperCard...
Day care sick day incentives
Oliver’s school has a rule: 3 runny poops, and you get sent home. They have a few other objective measure of whether or not a kid’s sick, but that’s the one we’re interested in with Oliver’s current GI situation.
If you get sent home, you can’t come back until you’re “24 hours symptom free”, which basically means: “Don’t come back...
October 2011
7 posts
WatchThis video for the 2012 Brown men’s lacrosse team had me a little too pumped up at work.
Also, I was disappointed that the shot of my #32 jersey hung up in the locker room must’ve been left on the cutting room floor.
1 tag
Why did Steve Jobs choose not to effectively treat... →
Entirely based on speculation, but includes details I hadn’t seen before.
Wish he hadn’t said:
Jobs was an acid-tripping hippie back in the day, and a conventional medicine skeptic now.
But glad he said:
Mr. Jobs opted to dedicate his time to Apple as the disease progressed, instead of opting for chemotherapy or any other conventional treatment.
I hadn’t thought of his...
This is the email I sent Jobs back in May
I took your advice*. You said I should come back to Apple after Harvard Business School, and that’s just what I did. But now I’m leaving again.
I rejoined Apple in ‘09 to manage the analytics group for iTunes.
I’ve worked on fun projects like:[redacted]**
I’m starting at Facebook in two weeks, where I’m managing mobile analytics. It’s a great...
September 2011
19 posts
One Foot Tsunami: Yellow-Bellied →
Great story about what Ted Williams and Jose Reyes DON’T have in common.
It’s hard to believe: That we’ve known batting average was a terrible measure of hitting prowess for ages and it’s still what people focus on
That players who make their living in this game are so focused on a stat that doesn’t matter very much (and don’t give me the crap about how it...
WatchThe new Facebook Timeline is awfully powerful. See for yourself… via Don Draper
Mindy Kaling in the NYT →
She’s one of the best on Twitter, & I love her frequent Boston references (even though she’s my age, went to a prep school, & I somehow don’t know anyone who knew her).
4 tags
Daryl Morey and Sam Hinkie on the meaning of... →
Real quick read from one of the best voices on the subject of informing sports decisions with data. I don’t believe for a second that he gives a crap what the scouts tell him.
Via Rob Go
“I am so hungover. Last night I thought I would be “the cool mom” (TM Mean Girls)...”
– Honest to Blr: Deja Ew
If you’re not reading Diablo Cody’s infrequently updated blog, you should check it out.
What are the best xkcd comics? - Quora →
Super-geeky humor, but many of these had me awkwardly laughing out loud at work.
Via Steve
Who Goes Where When (and Why It Matters) →
I love working with data scientists!
“Jay’s best trait is that he asks questions. He’s not afraid to take advice. It’s...”
– Pitchfork: Interviews: ?uestlove: 15 Years
Sounds like Jay-Z is Hip-Hop’s data scientist :-)
August 2011
31 posts
“Even the wisest people won’t make good choices when they’re not rested and their...”
– Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?
The summary quote makes the article sound overly obvious, but it’s worth reading. The will-power-as-muscle that gets tired throughout the day argument is one I’ve seen before, but I enjoy learning more of the science behind it.
Neven Mrgan's tumbl: The Apple Logo →
I like this story, and I’ve heard it once before, but I’ve never understood why, if the bite from the Apple logo is to provide a sense of scale, that the stem is so big.
“There is one great anecdote that nails this myth of authorship - the famous Walt...”
– David Galbraith’s Blog » Blog Archive » The Big Apple
Bill Simmons on Uncle Frank →
Got a little misty eyed reading this.
Tuesdays with Tim Cook
In my first job at Apple, there was a meeting between the sales folks and the ops folks every Tuesday that last anywhere from 2-4 hours. The goal was to look at sales trends and understand two things: did we have supply to meet demand, and did we have demand to meet supply. In other words: if sales were going gang busters, could the ops folks keep up, and if sales weren’t, what was the...
Songs that start with a mistake
I can think of three songs off the top of my head that begin with a mistake: [Links open iTunes]
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day
Hard Knock Life - Jay Z (Unplugged)
The Boston Monkey - Otis Redding
I know there’s more. What am I forgetting. I feel like the Beatles have one, right?