The Brooks Review

Year: 2010

  • A World of Tweets

    It is like a live infographic that shows where all the Tweets have been coming from. Also I love this quip:

    …degrades gracefully to Flash on older browsers.

    [via Hans Gerwitz on Twitter]

  • Three reasons to use Calvetica

    Dave Caolo:

    Finally, use Calvetica because this is gorgeous

    I just started using it again after casting it aside for a while, and the landscape view is awesome. Still though I wish it just omitted past days and only showed ‘the future’.

  • The Life of a Telecommuter

    A very nice simply look at what it is like to work remotely, Christina Bonnington:

    I also often end up working later into the evening than I would if I had a commute to tend to. If I’ve got nothing better to do come 6, 7, 8pm, I might as well just keep working.

    This is the danger of working from home, most people I know that work from home always are trying to prove themselves, and often put in more work hours a week than those in real offices. That said working from home is not for everyone.

  • Tinkering With the Finder’s Column View

    Christopher Breen:

    Control (Right) click on a column handle and you’ll see three options: Right Size This Column, Right Size All Columns Individually, and Right Size All Columns Equally.

    Awesome, I had no idea. Good work reporting on Macs again Macworld. ((I honestly mean that.))

  • The Effect Printing Has on iOS

    With all the rumors circling about whether or not AirPrint is still a go for iOS and Macs I thought it pertinent to talk a little bit about why AirPrint matters.

    The reason I think the lack of AirPrint will set back iOS is because it is seen as something vital for business users, regardless of how often (or if) they ever use the feature. It would be something that Windows driven tablets with USB ports could easily tout as a feature.

    Printing doesn’t have a whole lot to do with consumers, it has a lot more to do with business users. Further it has a lot to do with those who try to use the iPad as a primary computer, yet I don’t think those people care much about AirPrint as they do about the ability to print wirelessly to select printers. ((If the iPad is your primary machine then AirPrint through a shared printer is irrelevant – you don’t have another computer.))

    I find it hard to believe that Apple would be willing to kill off printing.

    They certainly don’t mind killing off optical media (DVD drives) because there are commonly accepted alternatives that have become ubiquitous and cheap for everyone: flash drives. Printing, though, has no alternative – geeks may argue that PDFs are the alternative, but for the majority of the people in the world PDFs are nice, but no substitute for paper.

    Paper, you see, is still king in business.

    If I had to guess I would say it will take another 5 years to get rid of paper on a whole, to where it is something more akin to the current snail mail versus email system that we have in place today. Until paper stops becoming such a pertinent medium for businesses (that is until filing cabinets start giving way to HDs and servers) printing will be an important part of a business persons arsenal.

  • AirPrint Lives On [Updated]

    After posting yesterday about reported rumors that AirPrint on Mac OS X was dead/delayed I received a tip form a current Mac Dev that said the current build of Mac OS X available to Mac developers still has AirPrint as part of the OS. In fact it still works with this developers iPhone and Mac for shared printing from the iPhone.

    This is not a beta of 10.6.6, this is still 10.6.5 that we are talking about. Time will tell, but I doubt Apple removes or delays this feature given this new information.

    [Updated: 11/10/10 at 10:47 AM] Steve Jobs confirms that AirPrint is still alive, MacStories has it.

    [Updated: 11/10/10 at 3:53 PM]Nope doesn’t work. Crap. Crap. What a lame thing to pull Apple.

  • RIM’s PlayBook Pricing

    Jun Yang:

    Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, said it will begin selling a tablet computer in North America in the first quarter for “under” $500 as it takes on Apple Inc.’s iPad.

    Here’s the thing: didn’t RIM say that you needed a Blackberry to pair with the PlayBook – so if that is the case then the PlayBook will be an accessory that costs more than what it is accessorizing((A BlackBerry)), no?

    Here is what RIM says:

    Pair BlackBerry® PlayBook™ with a BlackBerry smartphone
    via secure Bluetooth® connection for full access to:

    Push technology

    Email, calendar, BBM™, tasks, documents and more

    BlackBerry security and data efficiency

    So you only have limited access to these things without a BlackBerry? It seems it works with apps and web content, but some things require a BlackBerry, not just any smart phone but RIM’s smartphones. Anything north of $200 seems overpriced for this to me.

  • An OmniFocus Theme

    I had completely forgot about this theme I made a while back until Federico Viticci brought it up the other day. I no longer use this theme myself, I use a modified version of Shawn Blanc’s theme and you can grab it here, but you need to have the FF DIN font family to get the look.

    If you have problems downloading the file, the original file, is here.

  • AirPrint Dead? Maybe.

    I try to stay out of the rumor game but I think MacStories is on to something here. It seems like Apple may be killing the ability to print via shared Mac OS X printers. That is, you can still print in iOS 4.2 with compatible wireless printers, but going through Mac OS X is dead for now.

    When Apple released the iOS 4.2 gold master they also pulled the iOS developer access to a beta version of Mac OS X 10.6.5, iOS developers are no longer able to get this version of Mac OS X. There also seems to be no reference to this type of printing that I can find on the online iOS documents. Apple Tech Support according to Federico Viticci of MacStories seems to confirm this.

    If true this is a major setback for iOS, and something that Apple needs to get working on. I would not be surprised to learn that this will becoming in a separate update to Mac OS X. But that begs the question – why do we need 10.6.5 before we get iOS 4.2, like so many sites are reporting…

  • Facebook, Google and Data Portability

    I don’t often read Robert Scoble, but he makes a great point here:

    Google has already lost its database to Facebook. It’s now posturing and doing that poorly. A friend said Google should be cheered for finally standing up. Oh, yeah, that’s like cheering the zookeeper for finally closing the gate after all the animals get out. It’s over. Google allowed the biggest identity theft migration we’ll ever see in our lifetimes. Those animals aren’t going back in the zoo. How do I sign on Techcrunch today? With my Facebook identity, not my Google one.

    and:

    Tonight I tried to call someone from my phone’s contact list. The number was dead. I went to Facebook, grabbed his new number there and I even made the call right from the Facebook iPhone app.

    People used to be so gung ho about data portability and allowing information to flow between networks – I miss those days.

  • 15 Ways to Winterize Your Home

    As someone who manages real estate for a living I can confirm that these are some great tips for everyone. Especially getting your furnace and vents checked and cleaned, you would not believe how many times that is the cause of a loss of heat. Your heat by the way never goes out when it is warm, it will always happen on the coldest week when the HVAC techs are at their busiest.

  • Dave Caolo on Mac OS 10.7 Lion

    Dave Caolo:

    Just expect the best of the iOS to find a home on the Mac.

  • Quick Thoughts on ‘Computing Environments’ & Fiddling

    LifeHacker posted last evening about creating a writing system that works, and Adam Pash in that post said this:

    Distraction-free writing environments are all the rage, but here’s the thing: You can set up a writing environment so free from distractions it’s the writing equivalent of a sensory deprivation tank, but if all that fiddling places any barrier between you and your goal—to actually write—it’s not worth it.

    I couldn’t agree more with what Pash is saying here, but it applies to more than just ‘writing environments’, I think you can apply that same theory to computing devices in general. There are so many apps out there that allow you to tweak the colors and fonts to your hearts desire, but in the end they are worthless unless you actually start using the app for something productive.

    One such app is OmniFocus, I have said this many times, you can waste hours fiddling with the looks of the app, and not actually performing any of the actions that OmniFocus is storing for you. Ditto with Mac OS, how much time have you wasted adjusting the size of the dock, your icons, or more likely the background image that you are using? Ditto iOS – how much time has been wasted perfectly arranging icons on the pages, or selecting the best background image? How much time have you wasted arrange and routing cords leading to and from your computer? How many distraction free apps have you tried this week?

    That answer to all of the above questions for most people (myself included) is: too much, too much time.

    We all do it, because maybe just maybe if we get that font size and just the right font it will make everything better and the better things are the more you get done. Except that it is all a waste of time, the best use of anyones time is doing what they need to do, then doing what they want to do.

    I wasted 30 minutes last night making a new theme for OmniFocus, but really that time wasn’t wasted because I had nothing else pressing that needed to be done. I did it because I wanted to and had the time to do it.

    I am not saying that fiddling with settings is a huge waste of time, nor am I saying that we should never fiddle with settings or make apps that have settings. All I am saying is that perhaps we should pay a little more attention to doing and a little less attention to settings.

  • 15 Secrets of Transmit 4

    The Panic blog:

    It’s a minor point, but worth mentioning — if you use Quick Look on any image, local or remote, we’ll put the dimensions in the title bar.

    I use that almost daily, some great tips here and really if you need FTB access and aren’t using Transmit, then you are missing out.

  • The 37signals Suite

    For $99/mo you can now get Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack and Campfire for your business, all as part of one account. A great and welcomed feature.

  • Boy Genius Reports Samsung Galaxy Tab impressions

    Jonathan Geller:

    Seven inches of display on a tablet, for us, feels pretty odd and makes using the device pretty uncomfortable. It’s a very weird in-between feeling; we can’t decide it feels like a smartphone that is too big or a tablet that is too small. We still can’t figure out the best way to use the keyboard in portrait mode. Hold it with both hands and try and thumb type? Hold the tablet in one hand and only use one hand to type? Use Swype?

    I thought so.

    [via DF]

  • iWork ’11 to Be Mac App Store Only?

    Neil Hughes and Kasper Jade reporting on iWork ’11 (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) found out it was ready to launch at the back to the Mac event, but:

    Apple’s revised plans currently call for the company to launch the new productivity suite alongside the forthcoming Mac App Store, these same people say. The applications included in the bundle — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — will be available for purchase individually when the Mac App Store debuts.

    Those familiar with the matter said it remains undecided whether Apple will also release a retail box version of the iWork suite, as it has been sold previously. Alternatively, it could become the first piece of major Mac software from the Cupertino-based company to be available exclusively online.

    If the suite is done this makes a lot of sense, Apple would want to give customers a compelling reason to sign up and use the Mac App Store right away. Making the Mac App Store the only place to buy the latest version of iWork would give customers a great reason to try out the App Store.

  • Redux – Mobile Working Thoughts

    Sunday, after a long weekend down in Oregon, I was having lunch with friends and one asked whether I had gotten the new MacBook Air yet. When I told him that I did get it, he asked why I needed an iPad still. A question that I was short on answers.

    The logic he was using is sound, an iPad and MacBook Air are both very mobile machines and since the MacBook Air is more powerful and almost as mobile why would I need both an iPad and MacBook Air. At least this is what I assume to be the logic that he was using.

    The answer though is not straightforward, I don’t need both, yet at the same time I do need both. It is massively confusing, not just for people who look at my setup, but for me as well.

    When deciding what to pack for my trip down to Oregon I was torn whether I should leave the Air at home or the iPad, or just bring them both. I am very glad I brought them both and here is why.

    It turns out that I stay active blogging and am more apt at jotting down quick thoughts when I have a computer with a keyboard with me. That isn’t to say I did a whole lot that readers saw, but behind the scenes I was able to do a lot of work on the Air. That work probably would have been put on hold until I got back to a computer as somethings are just not that easy to do on the iPad (linked posts for example are terribly annoying on the iPad).

    Additionally it was great having both devices as my Wife and I were switching between them, she was using Chrome to view analytics for her company in Google while I would switch to the iPad to keep reading. It was incredibly nice that we both could do everything that we needed and wanted to do without having to inconvenience the other. The iPad serves as a great computer for casual reading and browsing for just about anyone.

    The iPad is great for wasting small portions of time, the Air not so much. Yes, it is easy enough to pull out the Air and get working on it, but it is far easier to just pull out the iPad. It seems to me that the iPad is made for taking care of the minutia of the day when you only have a short amount of time. By that I mean things like checking RSS feeds, Twitter, Email and OmniFocus are far easier and faster to do with the iPad than they are on the Air in short bursts.

    That said everything that I can do on the iPad, I can do faster on the Air, once I get it set up. If I am standing and waiting or lounging on a couch, the iPad is far more convenient to use. If I have a table or more time the Air is a way better option. You never know what situation you may be in, and for only 1.5lbs more I could find a tool to fit most any situation.

    In the future I look forward to traveling with both the Air and the iPad in my bag – they both fill very specific needs and they suit those needs well.

    The Air:

    • Writing
    • Coding
    • Video Chat
    • When you need Flash
    • Photo Editing
    • Photo Uploading
    • Server management
    • Serious Email
    • Task management

    The iPad:

    • Reading
    • Staying updated
    • Light email
    • Twitter
    • Task Overviews
    • Entertainment (e.g. Angry Birds)

    The overlap is not as much as one would assume.

  • Andrew Hyde: Two Months with iPad as My Computer

    Andrew Hyde sold everything he owned except for 15 items and decided to travel the world. Two things he kept were his iPad and a bluetooth keyboard, he just switched to a MacBook Air and as he says:

    iPad as a toy? Oh yeah, best product out there. iPad as a computing device. When things go wrong, they go really, really wrong.

    He brings up some really interesting points, so be sure to read the whole article as it is not that long.

  • Facebook Distaste

    I got a couple of emails over the past week that asked why I never update my Facebook page, and encouraging me to do so. The problem though I that I deleted my Facebook page oh so long ago so needless to say I was really confused.

    Turns out that I only deleted my personal Facebook profile that whatever else was associated with that account. When I started The Brooks Review I made a Facebook ‘fan page’ for it on a completely new account so that it need not be linked to my personal account. It was that page that was still active on Facebook.

    I have now corrected that oversight.

    (That means I deleted that page too, because I loathe Facebook.)