The Brooks Review

This week: an update on my new mechanical keyboard, some notes about USB-C. Further, some thoughts about using an iPad Pro in a corporate environment (it’s fine) and some additional musings unrelated to iPads, but which hey why not add them here.

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I’ve been hearing about this light for quite some time now, with the consensus being that this is a fantastic light at a great price (especially for a SureFire light). There are two models of this light, the Plus and the standard. Both take a AAA battery to power them, but the size and output varies.

The standard Titan is shorter by a fair amount and has a maximum output of 125 lumens — which is about all you need for most scenarios where you would be using a light this small. It has two modes at 15 lumens and 125 lumens and is only $55.

Continue reading: SureFire Titan Plus

This week I am going with a classic snack, and one that will fill you up as well. Ritz Sandwich Crackers which come with either a cheese filling or a peanut butter filling. There is a divide in our house over which is best, with my oldest daughter and wife preferring the cheese, and my youngest the peanut butter. I personally think the peanut butter takes the win on this, but the cheese is very good as well.

Continue reading: Snack Pick of the Week: 2/4/19

This week I touch on some thoughts around Darkroom for iPad (and in general). I also share thoughts on my reacquaintance with a Mac, now that I have one again for work, as well as my evolving desk setup now that I am figuring out the tools I need for my new job.

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For a very long time my travel DOPP kit has all resided in a GORUCK Field Pocket. First in the GR1 Pocket, and then in the Echo Field Pocket. Those both worked really well, but those pockets are overly bulky and heavy for what you really need. I decided to give a new piece of gear a try, the Bond Venture Pouch.

Continue reading: Bond Venture Pouch

This week I am covering some of the newest additions I have been trying and working with on my iPad Pro. I have a new favorite handwriting/Pencil note taking app, updates on some of the newer USB-C accessories I picked up. And I ordered a new mechanical keyboard as well, so we should certainly talk about that.

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There exists this show on the TLC network called 90 Day Fiancé and it is among the best of reality television. Both the show itself, the and cult like following and dissection of the show on blogs, but mostly on Reddit (which is an insanely active subreddit). What’s the show about? It’s about rather sad Americans (who are typically troubled in some way), going and “falling in love” with a foreigner and applying to bring them to the U.S. on a K1 visa (Fiancé Visa) which gives them a scant 90 days to marry that person once they arrive in the US, or send them packing.

Continue reading: 90 Day Fiancé — A TV Train Wreck You Should Watch

Over this holiday break my iPad Pro setup changed. I had no intention of switching my setup, but a generous gift of an 11” iPad Pro upended my thinking. As I’ve written in the past, there was no real need for me to upgrade my iPad hardware, but that’s not to say that the new devices aren’t very nice.

So what happened next was simple, I decided to proceed with the 11” iPad Pro which had the base 64gb of storage (this is how I know first hand this is actually enough storage). I used that setup for a week and a half and sold off all my other iPads. And then, I changed my mind and swapped the 11” for a 12.9” model and since I was swapping I went ahead and increased the storage size for peace of mind down the road. So what I want to talk about this week is threefold: the 11” iPad size, the new 12.9” footprint, and some accessories I have added to my stable.

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I wrote a series of posts a while ago about my quest for finding better clothing for travel. That morphed into finding better clothing for everyday and all of that morphed into my launching a new site with my pal Steve, called Everyday Wear.

Continue reading: A Quick Update on Performance Clothing

If there was one knife I spent all of 2018 wanting, it was this knife: the Benchmade Proper. This is a fantastic looking knife and a bit of a modern take on an older knife style.

I’ve been using this knife now for about three weeks and I have fallen in love with it. It is fantastic, so let’s dive in.

Continue reading: Benchmade Proper 319

I am going all out for the snack pick this week, and I have to warn you that this might send you back in time a bit. This week I have a gluten free snack pick, which is always nice and inclusive. So this week it’s Mike and Ike Original Fruits.

Continue reading: Snack Pick of the Week – 1/14/19

I’ve long struggled with how to layout and ‘design’ my desk area. There’s two competing “best” ways to go about this: looks and ergonomics. And these are nearly mutually exclusive (you can’t have a beautiful desk which is also perfectly ergonomic), but I also have come to realize that I have been thinking about this all wrong. And, contrary to popular opinion, that the iPad is not the ergonomic nightmare most think it is.

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I have been seeing these pouches for quite some time now and figured it was about time I give one a try to see what the hype is all about. These are a heavy polymer substance (feels like soft non-sticky rubber) and have a single zipper across the top which is a weatherproof zipper with an oversized zipper pull. At each top corner there’s an eyelet to help with clipping the pouches to something.

Continue reading: Magpul DAKA Pouch

Since I am a day late this week, we have some ground to make up for. Thus, the easily forgotten, but always satisfying Keebler Deluxe Graham’s are the snack pick for the week.

Continue reading: Snack Pick of the Week: 1/8/19

It’s been a while since I wrote a full iPad Productivity Report, so for the new year I am back at it. This will be the first of many to come over the next couple of months as some big rethinks are in the works for me with my iPad Pro setup(s). Today I want to address a few things I am playing with: font management, space needs, Notion, and Vellum. And then at the end I want to touch on a few upcoming things with my setup.

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