All the Alex Bain you can handle!

Oct 31

[video]

Oct 22

Stanford homecoming. Crushing UW.

Stanford homecoming. Crushing UW.

Oct 19

I’ve got a bad feeling that my new Twitter follower might be a spam account. How should I go about confirming my suspicion?

I’ve got a bad feeling that my new Twitter follower might be a spam account. How should I go about confirming my suspicion?

Oct 16

Gotta protect your corner. “My name is my name!”

Gotta protect your corner.

“My name is my name!”

Oct 14

It’s been an exciting couple days :-)

It’s been an exciting couple days :-)

Oct 12

Why did Steve Jobs choose not to effectively treat his cancer? - Quora -

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 death that way, but it’s touching, if true.

Oct 05

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 opportunity, but I’ll miss the Apple people/culture tremendously. I’ll also miss the confidence and pride that you are uniquely able to inspire in all of us here.

Thank you so much for everything you’ve taught me and every opportunity you’ve created for me.

With gratitude,
Alex Bain

One more thing: I took your advice on something else, too… I registered to be an organ donor.

*I’d emailed Steve when I left Apple for HBS in ‘06, and he’d replied, “Well, you could also come back when you’re done.”

**I gave him a 10 word summary of some of my stuff that he may have come across.

His passing is horribly sad, but I’m glad I told him how thankful I was while I had the chance.

Sep 29

One Foot Tsunami: Yellow-Bellied -

Great story about what Ted Williams and Jose Reyes DON’T have in common.

It’s hard to believe:

  1. That we’ve known batting average was a terrible measure of hitting prowess for ages and it’s still what people focus on
  2. 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 helps endorsements)
  3. That Williams actually hit .411 that year (read to the bottom of the link)
  4. That Reyes tried to convince fans he had their interests in mind

This is a site that everyone with an RSS reader should be subscribing to, by the way.

Sep 27

[video]

Sep 25

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).

Sep 24

[video]

Sep 23

Probably my favorite new site. Kanye West lyrics rewritten to be about food. Macros, cakes, shopped album covers, really anything goes.

Probably my favorite new site.

Kanye West lyrics rewritten to be about food. Macros, cakes, shopped album covers, really anything goes.

Sep 22

Daryl Morey and Sam Hinkie on the meaning of Moneyball -

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

Sep 21

Back in April, when I was leaving Apple, I was looking at Twitter, Facebook, and Netflix. Twitter didn’t work for a host of reasons, but Netflix made a compelling offer. I liked a bunch of the people I met, and I thought they had a rosy future ahead. I knew they’d face some challenges renewing their streaming contracts, but I assumed management had a plan in place. In retrospect, I cannot believe how lucky I am that I’m at Facebook and not there. I’m sure if I were there I’d have found something to be positive about, and I’d have learned plenty and made tons of great friends, but it’s hard to imagine a change that could’ve been better for me than coming to Facebook, and, man, am I glad my company’s value didn’t just go from 300 to 128! I suppose I should wait until users calm down about the new newsfeed/ticker before I spike the football :-)

Back in April, when I was leaving Apple, I was looking at Twitter, Facebook, and Netflix.

Twitter didn’t work for a host of reasons, but Netflix made a compelling offer. I liked a bunch of the people I met, and I thought they had a rosy future ahead. I knew they’d face some challenges renewing their streaming contracts, but I assumed management had a plan in place.

In retrospect, I cannot believe how lucky I am that I’m at Facebook and not there. I’m sure if I were there I’d have found something to be positive about, and I’d have learned plenty and made tons of great friends, but it’s hard to imagine a change that could’ve been better for me than coming to Facebook, and, man, am I glad my company’s value didn’t just go from 300 to 128!

I suppose I should wait until users calm down about the new newsfeed/ticker before I spike the football :-)

Sep 19

This is the part of the year where the Red Sox try to convince me to drink some Drain-O :-( If we don’t absolutely wail on the Orioles, it’s going to be a long Winter.

This is the part of the year where the Red Sox try to convince me to drink some Drain-O :-(

If we don’t absolutely wail on the Orioles, it’s going to be a long Winter.