Ben Brophy's Links

Rumor Mill: New Macbook Touch Coming Soon?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:17:09 +0000

I just got an iPhone yesterday (and having so much fun) but I'm still dreaming about the next hard-to-justify-but-must-have-it Apple product.

Waiting in line for an iPhone

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:04:12 +0000

Been here for about 90 minutes so far, hopefully it will just be a couple more hours. I look worried don't I?

I finally got two iPhones one for me and one for my wife. I won't even tell you how long it took. It's ridiculous. But I love the iPhone.

Paradise Unpaved

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:24:03 +0000

Cool illustrated story of converting a driveway to a garden, even though the city objected. via kottke

iPhone 3G shortage to last two to four weeks, analyst says

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:05:07 +0000

Two to four weeks? Two to four WEEKS? Argh!!! I saw they were going to have some iPhones in Peabody this morning. I totally should have taken the day off and driven up there.

ezeego1 - eCommerce in Hindi

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:23:51 +0000

Ezeego is a rare ecommerce site available in Hindi and English. I take it as another sign of India's rising prosperity. That red tag on the logo says 'beta' - all those Hindi lessons were good for something. via ecommerce insights

Apple 2.0 iPhone 3G: Sold out in 21 states

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:15:43 +0000

breathe. contemplate nonattachment. ponder the emptiness of consumer electronics. treasure the simple beauty of life. doing these times will help you kill time until you can finally buy your iphone.

Swimlanes with Comics

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:51:41 +0000

I love the way this 'swimlanes' diagram uses comics. One cell for each chunk of the diagram.

I want my iPhone

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:13:53 +0000

I had a personal shopping appointment at the Apple Store with a nice young man named Craig yesterday. He spent half an hour showing me the wonders of the iPhone 3G, he pulled out his personal phone to show me his favorite apps, and even logged into his MobileMe account on one of their computer to show me how well synching works. I told him I was sold. He came back with two iPhones (one for me and one for my wife) and then said "Well here they are, but I am sorry I can't sell them to you. You have to get in that line by the door. Estimated wait is two and half hours and we might sell out before you get your turn." What a tease. I left in tears.†

This morning I tried the AT&T store, but I called ahead and they are sold out. Then I decided I would just bring my laptop and wait it out with the Apple faithful outside the store. I called ahead and they were sold out of the less expensive 8GB model that I want.

It's so weird. I've got this economic stimulus check burning a whole in my pocket, but I can't seem to spend it. Maybe the sales will cool down this week.

† not really

Ben on Marketplace: ESPP vs. IRA

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:53:26 +0000

I was a call-in guest on Market Place Money recently. I called in with a question about how to use 1% of my salary that I was planning to add to my savings, in our Employee Stock Purchase Plan or in a Roth IRA. You can click on the link to listen, but Chris Farrell thought the ESPP would be the better deal.

I also called the guys at at the Sound Investing podcast with the same question, and I wound up on that radio program as well. I got pretty much the same advice, but with the additional input that I should sell the stock every year and put that money into an IRA. You can listen to the show here - I'm about 3/4 of the way in.

So after all that, yes, I signed up for the ESPP.

Mygallons.com: Lock In Gas Prices Before They Go Up

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:59:48 +0000

Wow. It's like futures market speculation for the little guy.

Netflix Kills a Feature

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:43:28 +0000

I admire the way Netflix innovates by trying out new features and rolling them out to see how well they work. I guess the downside is if feature don't work they have to pull them. This particular feature - having multiple queues - is one I wanted to like, but in real life never quite worked for me. I am sure there are people who loved it. Kudos to Netflix for being willing to kill a feature for the greater good.

Update: After thousands of complaints, Netflix brought the feature back. It's very hard to kill a feature.

PolsPotten - Click Your Queen

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:03:40 +0000

I have some tumblers made by this crew which I love, so I looked them up. They are a Dutch company with twist on the usual design pattern for picking a country or language.

Backdoor Designs

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

I met this lady on the plane from Portland. She uses a "Encaustic" to paint with, which is basically painting with hot beeswax. I guess it's been around for a long time, longer than oil paints. There are some Roman mummies at the Boston MFA with masks painted using encaustic. Those mummies used to creep me out. Anyway, it's cool stuff, I especially liked "Call Today and Get Your Future Started" on the bottom of the home page.

Strawberry Daiquiri

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:46:14 +0000

My boy and I had a bunch of farmer's market strawberries to finish up this weekend, and we came up with this recipe for Strawberry Daiquiri's. They were delicious.

3 oz lemon juice. that's about 2 lemons
6 oz of chunked strawberries.
1 oz simple syrup. maybe a little more if you feel sweet
4 ice cubes

Blend up all of the ingredients together (We used a cuisinart smart stick which was fun). Add some water or some light rum as you like. Serves two.

Questions for Enrique Peñalosa - Man With a Plan

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:35:21 +0000

I love this interview from the NYTimes magazine with the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. He has radical ideas like keeping beaches public and building sidewalks.