The Brooks Review

Hi, and welcome to another week, and another round of things you scratch your head about, including but not limited to: being alone, making my life less easy, the weather, watches, and details on an upcoming giveaway.

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Recently, I picked up this watch to be my casual and weekend wear. I wanted something unique looking, with a tachymetre on it. Nezumi is a brand I have seen for a while and their designs are top notch, so I decided on the Loews model after a lot of back and forth.

Continue reading: Nezumi Loews

This week: a look at what is better about Apple Maps, and where it still falls down; Texas’ Postmates; small screen computing; Microsoft’s Duo; and sleep science.

Apple Maps Updates

Apple’s mapping software was been in the spotlight the last week, with updates to the NE section of the US following a series of updates to various other coastal areas of the US. Which brings us to two articles, the first:

Apple Maps is better than Google Maps? In this post Jason Aten argues that Apple is on the path to take down Google Maps. Aten concludes by saying Apple Maps is now a ‘worthy contender’ and in a lot of ways he is right. Which brings us to the next post:

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This week: $5 off, podcast ad blocker that all apps should use, where we are with iPhone, iPhone 11 Pro briefly, and iPadOS notes.

A Podcast and Radio Ad Blocker

Oh wow, this is great. It is an ad blocker for podcasts and radio, which uses some audio like matching stuff to snuff out ads in audio. That’s pretty amazing.

Now we will see who owns the podcasting apps. And I am not really joking, because this is a great feature and something every podcast app should implement, except if like the owners of the app make money from podcasting, right?

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We are coming up on the part of the year where things get a little hectic for me — I don’t know why, but this is the trend. And thus I tend to not really get a bunch of new stuff to review and test during the last few months of the year. Who knows if this year is different, but now seems like a good time to write this post.

It’s time to point out a few really good things I have come across in my time writing this site (9.5 years for those wondering). Things which you can spend your money on without worry, and know that it’s good, will last, and worth every penny.

These are the items I feel confident fully endorsing the ever loving crap out of.

Continue reading: A Few Really Good Things

This week: how I dealt with a natural disaster without social media; USB-C Pro; I comment on a few of anti-office and hipster articles; where to park; and Usain Bolt.

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This week: things about being back in an office, Dan Cooper, immortal savings, making $350k and middle class, and lastly what does it mean to have an MDM device.

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When I initially reviewed the Stuart & Lau Cary briefcase, I mentioned how it was, in a lot of ways, a modern take on the classic Filson Original Briefcase. Modern materials, layout and everything else.

As time has worn on I have come to the conclusion that the Cary is better, but the Filson has my heart.

Continue reading: Stuart & Lau Cary vs Filson Original Briefcase

This week: a smattering of thoughts on the parts of remote work no one talks about, screen time usefulness, iPadOS gestures, coincidences, and my pitch for you to wear better pants.

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I picked this watch up on Reddit for a really low price, and decided to give it a whirl as my go to weekend watch. I’ve had it I for about a month, and am moving on, but not because of any flaws with the watch itself. It’s pretty neat, and a heck of a deal.

Continue reading: Spinnaker Fleuss

I have been looking for a watch to compliment my others — something to wear 95% of the time from office to home. Simple, versatile, and basically what is referred to as a ‘tool watch’ — I always wanted to stay under $700. So I ended up getting this Armida A6, an homage to the Rolex Explorer which is currently very popular. The watch is fantastic, but it’s its own thing and ultimately, sadly, it doesn’t fit the bill for what I want.

Continue reading: Armida A6

This week: full iPad segregation, self-improvement the glorified hobby, Speedmaster wearers amirite, iconic watches, and Justin Blanton is blogging again.

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I’ve been needing to review this knife for a while. This is especially bad since I love Benchmade knifes and think they are one of the best knife companies out there — eat your hearts out Spyderco fans, Benchmade is superior. I’ll give you a simple reason: most Benchmade knives are ambidextrous, most Spyderco knives are made for right handed people.

Anyways, the ‘mini-grip’ as it is known is often heralded as one of the better, if not best, everyday carry knife options out there. It’s versatile, inexpensive (relatively), and well made. Let’s see how it stacks up…

Continue reading: Benchmade Mini-Griptillian

Many have been asking me to compare Tom Bihn’s new bag against the GR1 and the CPL 24 I recently reviewed, but those 1:1 comparisons can make it hard to remain in perspective of all the bags out there. So I think a better way to look at this is in the common context of use cases and what is best for those. I’ve broken this down to four categories, and let’s talk about which is best for each before we wrap up with an overall look at things. I’ve also limited this to just the Synik 22/30, CPL 24, and GR1 21/26 as those are the best backpacks on the market currently. ((Prove me wrong, seriously.))

Continue reading: Synik vs GR1 vs CPL 24

This week: toggling Bluetooth, vibrating to keystrokes, what is harmful, a potpourri of computing notes, and 10 things about Houston.

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