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You could say: this is the one where Ben goes and gets some new bags to tell people about, but that would not be the full story.
This week: my favorite newsletters, restaurant red flags, a popular deep think post has me ruminating on this member post, and a substantial amount of of words on backpacks and briefcases at the end of it.
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This week I share a story about a guy who owns just one towel, and I predict this is about to become a thing.
This week: the more they know, the best thing at Starbucks, high powered charging, wireless charging, and the cult of Jack.
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The some years old debate about iPhone cameras versus dedicated cameras.
At some point around the iPhone 4/4S/5 era, the iPhone camera became good enough. It wasn’t demonstrably better than most dedicated cameras at the time, but it was good enough that most people would be fine with it. It was also easier to carry, and still is, than most dedicated cameras — at least those worth carrying.
A long journal post this week focusing heavily on productivity.
This week: I have a bigger shift, something has me wondering, I struggle with Cal Newport, polluting meetings, and cancelling news.
Should be fun.
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My new travel sling and hand bag.
When I travel for work, I generally travel in a smaller backpack with that being my only bag. In the past, I take that backpack to and from the work locations and events as it is my only bag on the trip. This is generally not an issue, but can be a bit cumbersome when all you are carrying is an iPad Pro. Additionally, I have been getting a little more interested in carrying a hand bag on a regular basis for my life in general — as you can imagine I have no shortage of bags in my home, but none of them quite fit the bill for me.
This week, I say that something really is like smoking and I wrote a few more words than normal.
This week: quit how you want to be remembered, lady backpacks, shut out the noise, Apple Notes, stress, Slack, privacy, and paywalls.
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Could this be an HR approved EDC knife?
Note: WESN sent me this sample for review.
The WESN TI Micro Blade is one of those knives where it should have a cult following because of exactly what is shirks. It’s small where everything is large, it’s inexpensive in a category overflowing with overpriced crap. It uses better than average materials, and oh, it is minuscule in size and yet can replace most EDC blades. In other words, from the specs alone, this should be the ideal blade for office workers everywhere.
It is big enough to get shit done, and small enough not to threaten any HR department. But, the first version I got had a major deal breaker.
Rating drivers, RSS, algos, and dereliction.
This week: I talk about a terrible company, and relate decision fatigue to algorithm fatigue, I rate everyone, and lastly there is a new app that I am infatuated with.
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Switching to an iPad Pro as your primary computer is practical, smart, and better for you.
I don’t know how anyone can stand to use the new MacBooks out there, or why they would spend that much money on a computer. So, this is my quick guide on how to use an iPad Pro full time in a general computer sense (i.e. not for niche uses like Audio/video/photo editing or anything of that nature). Follow this guide and you can leave behind the world of overpriced computers that you will never fully utilize and instead enter a happier place.
News, iPads, a thing about digital minimalism, and millennials.
This week: I talk about a name, I ask what are you doing, I offer a top tip, I share insights from a dense man, millennials, and I cull things.
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A really useful little pouch with award winning zipper design.
Quite a name, for what is actually a very neat and simple pouch — I touched on this pouch for members, but it’s pretty great. So let’s talk about it a little more. I picked up the size ‘small’, but it does come in a few other sizes and I found the measurements provided to be very accurate overall.
For this, I am solely focused on the small size.
My new favorite pouch.
There have been no shortage of pouches I have used for DOPP kits, or toiletries bags, in the past. There’s the GR1 Field Pocket, and then for quite some time I used the Echo Field Pocket, recently I moved to the Bond Venture Pouch. All of those shared the same problems: they were really good, but not ideal. They had pockets and pouches, but they were all a bit too cramped while also being too small. The Venture pouch gave me constant problems managing items in the elastic straps.
Some thoughts about how news needs to be more static, and other musings.
This week: I use a Mac; boredom makes things difficult; the privacy parts; and printed things make me sneeze.
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This site is my Twitter and newsletter.
I pay over $230/month for Mailchimp so I can keep sending you emails. But this cost (the most I pay for monthly software by a lot) is worth it because it’s doubly profitable: Mailchimp makes enough money from me so they don’t have any need to sell my or my subscribers’ data. And I make enough money from my products by sending emails on their platform to cover the costs and not have to resort to ever selling data from my subscribers either. So it’s a win-win-win!
My expanded thoughts on News+ and why it is the worst software Apple has made in a while are contained herein.
This week I dive deep into News+ to talk about the shittastic nature of its design, take a quick chicane into privacy and Facebook, hammerhead turn back around to a document pouch I am in love with, and sprint across the line with thoughts on the MacBook keyboard fiasco.
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A heck of a bag for those who like a pocket for everything and everything in a pocket.
Note: Tom Bihn sent this backpack for review purposes.
My dad previously reviewed this bag, but my review of Tom Bihn’s well loved Synapse has been a long time coming. I chose the 25L because it is a more versatile size than the 19L and because I wasn’t confident a 19L bag would look right on my back. For those who follow the cult of onebag travel, this bag is nothing new as it has been among the preferred bags in that group for years.
Let’s dive into Tom Bihn’s Synapse 25 and see what is what.
In this edition I ask the question ‘What does this all mean?’
In this issue: no April Fools jokes; almost but not quite there; small hand bags for men; science touches where you work.
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Comically I read this criticism on News+, and wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. If you skip past the first 1/3 of the article where the writer talks about who would want this, etc etc, there are good points about how the app works. News+ really isn’t there from a software perspective on Apple’s side. There’s…
Comically I read this criticism on News+, and wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. If you skip past the first 1/3 of the article where the writer talks about who would want this, etc etc, there are good points about how the app works. News+ really isn’t there from a software perspective on Apple’s side. There’s no way, for instance, to say “these are the magazines I care about” — and that’s pretty basic shit. Trying to explain to my wife how to use it really revealed the comical level of shortcomings. I didn’t even know tapping in Wall Street Journal’s channel outside News+ would get me more content.
All that aside, here’s why this matters: quality over quantity. Apple News has always been stellar at filtering out the noise, and News+ is only doubling down on that. Don’t forget about that.
Let’s make smartphones smart, for a change.
Something which I was incredibly excited about with iOS 12 was the launch of the Screen Time utility as a native part of iOS. Being able to see how much time I was using the device, impose limits, and break this all down without having to jump through all the hoops other apps made me jump through to see this — well it seemed like Screen Time would be great. Add to that interesting metrics like ‘pick ups’ and notification counts — I hoped that this would encourage many developers and product owners to change the way they juice ‘engagement’ metrics.
Alas, this tool has changed nothing for me. And is fundamentally flawed — falling into the same trap so many Silicon Valley ‘solutions’ fall into: lots of noise with little impact.
I have no issue with carrying a purse, but it still wouldn’t solve my problem with carrying an iPad mini.
This week: I find myself asking this one question; I confirm the lack of color in the 1950s, and I talk about living a happier life on iOS. Enjoy!
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