The Brooks Review

Year: 2010

  • ‘Omnifocus Brings Desktop Caliber GTD To iPad’

    Brandon Pittman reviewing OmniFocus for the iPad:

    $20 for the iPhone version is fair and $40 for the iPad version can be justified because I actually feel like it’s of desktop quality, just on your iPad. I can’t get behind $80 for the Mac version of Omnifocus though. I use it the least of the three apps, and since you can sync the iPhone and iPad without a desktop version, unlike Things, using just the mobile versions in tandem is a completely viable solution.

    I couldn’t agree more, if I didn’t already have the Mac version of OmniFocus I would not buy it today. That said it does come in handy if you use your Mac all day and not the iPad – but for $80 I think I would figure out how to work in the iPad a bit more first.

  • Typedia’s Q & A with Mark Simonson

    Mark Simonson on the tools he uses for Font design:

    Eventually, I realized that the tools I had were more than good enough, had been good enough for a long time, and that all I was doing was procrastinating. I still get hung up about it sometimes, and I have to remind myself to get back to work.

    Typedia is just starting the Q&A series with Font designers and if you are a font nerd like me you will love it.

    [via Jason Santa Maria on Twitter]

  • AOL Officially Acquires TechCrunch

    The linked item is the press release, I didn’t read it because a) it looked boring b) it doesn’t matter. All that matters to me is that they continue to let MG Siegler do his thing, he is the best writer they have.

  • Microsoft Replacing Windows Live Spaces with WordPress.com

    This should be very interesting for WordPress – if they can handle this with no downtime it should be a huge win for everyone. I am curious though – why didn’t Microsoft just buy WordPress.com?

  • AOL Close to Buying TechCrunch? [Updated]

    Om Malik is reporting that the deal is close to being done, and it all reminded me of a tweet from a while back from Kevin Rose talking about TechCrunch being sold. I can’t find the tweet now (email if you can), essential Rose @replied to Arrington (the founder of TechCrunch) saying that he got his email and asked if he was really selling TechCrunch.

    [Updated: 9/28/10 at 10:29 AM] It’s official.

  • PlainText — Dropbox text editing for iPad & iPhone

    Hog Bay Software’s new Dropbox text file editor for the iPad is now available in the app store. It is free and ad supported an update will bring an ad-free version for a $4.99 in-app purchase price. I have been waiting for this little app for a while now – however it will be interesting to see how it stacks up to Writer for iA.

    On first glance it feels a lot like Simplenote, but a little more classic – by that I mean it seems the background is off-white, which makes the experience in PlainText my subdued and calm feeling. One major advantage it has over most other apps like this is the ability to pick the folder name it is linked to in Dropbox (as well as a lot of syncing toggles).

  • Stephen Hackett’s iPad Life

    Editors note: This is the first in what I hope to be a longer email interview series looking at how different people across the web are using their iPads on a daily basis.

    Tell me a little about yourself, what do you do, where do you live?

    My name is Stephen Hackett. I’m the IT/Multi-Media Director for the Salvation Army Kroc Center, which is due to open in about a year. The Kroc Center is a large community center focusing on arts, education, recreation and worship. I oversee pretty much anything that involves electricity or pixels. Back in the day, I was the Lead Genius at our local Apple Store and (more recently) served as the Service Manager at a local Apple-Authorized Service Provider.

    Speaking of Apple, I write about the company, journalism and design over at forkbombr.net.

    I live in my hometown of Memphis, TN. Yes, where Elvis is from. While I have never been to Graceland, I love this city and don’t plan on going anywhere. I have two kids, two bikes, a cat and am married to my high school sweetheart.

    I have a dog cow tattoo on my right ankle.

    What was your reaction when the iPad was launched?

    I initially felt underwhelmed and what I perceived to be a large iPod touch. However, the more I thought about, the more scaling up the iPhone OS (and not scaling down Mac OS X) made sense. Now, I’m really glad Apple decided on iOS to power the iPad.

    Honestly, the A4 chip got me more worked up than anything else. I love hardware, and this thing is the pinnacle of Apple’s design philosophy. There is nothing here that doesn’t need to be. Even the bezel is perfect. I was in love with the hardware from the moment Steve unveiled it on stage.

    Which model did you order and why?

    I wasn’t going to buy an iPad. However, about an hour before our Apple Store closed, I drove over to see them in person with another former-Genius buddy of mine. My initial “meh” attitude melted away instantly.

    I bought the the 16GB Wi-Fi model on the spot. I didn’t see the need for 3G, and haven’t come to regret going Wi-Fi only yet. I opted for the 16GB, as I don’t keep a lot of media on my devices. And spending the least amount of money let my wife tolerate the impulse buy a little better.

    How are you using the iPad on a daily basis?

    At work, I am in and out of meetings a lot. Calendar and Mail are wonderful to have handy. I use the Photos app to not only show off photos of my kids, but to share renderings and construction plans for the Kroc Center. I take notes all day long on it.

    At home, I use the iPad to check RSS feeds and email, check the weather and more. I really don’t use our family iMac for “little things” anymore.

    I read a lot on my iPad. Between Instapaper, iBooks and the Kindle app, I’m set. However, I don’t write a lot on my iPad. While blog post ideas may come to me on the go and get captured via the iPad, most of my writing takes place either at my iMac (via an Apple Extended II keyboard) or at my MacBook Pro.

    The battery life continues to impress me. Even my Mid-2009 MacBook Pro can’t keep up. The iPad is basically a tiny computer bolted to two giant batteries, and it shows. It blows my mind how little I have to charge it.

    Can you give me a quick run down of the apps that you use the most?

    Simplenote, Instapaper and Reeder are my most used third-party apps. (NetNewsWire was on that list until I discovered Reeder. Seriously, go download it. Now.)

    As far as built-in apps, I use Mail, Calendar, Photos and Safari the most.

    My current game of choice is Solipskier. It’s a wonderful little game involving a skier going really, really fast and making huge jumps to over-the-top music. My two year old could watch me play all day.

    Homescreen

    Which app is your favorite?

    Simplenote, as common as that answer probably is. I keep everything in there – meeting notes, ideas for blog posts, snippets of HTML and more. It’s fantastic.

    Do you have any bag/stand/case recommendations for people?

    Early on, I bought the InCase Convertible Book Jacket. It looks like a large Moleskine journal, and doubles as a stand. However, it was bulky and the iPad had a tendency to move around in the case a bit, which I found very annoying. I sold it after a few weeks of use.

    I bought the Timbuk2 Freestyle Netbook Messenger to carry the iPad around during the day. Timbuk2 has great products. It has a padded pocket for the iPad and space for papers and a paper notebook. Yes, it’s a man-purse. Don’t judge me.

    My wife recently made me a sleeve for the iPad. It lives in that while in my bag or for a little extra protection.

    I have the official Apple case, but I don’t use it much. I like my devices naked.

    What features do you want to see in a future iPad?

    On the hardware end of things, I know a FaceTime camera is a no-brainer when it comes to future iPads. I don’t really care about it, honestly. The biggest thing the current device lacks is enough RAM. And I’d be happy with a louder speaker.

    Software-wise, I really want to have AirPlay working in reverse. Why can’t I stream iTunes content from my iMac to my iPad across my wireless network? Don’t get me wrong, AirPlay seems like a killer feature for the new AppleTV. I just want it here, too.

    Ed. note: Big thanks again to Stephen for taking the time to answer my questions, be sure to hop over to Forkbombr.net and check his site out.

    More iPad Life

    See more people’s iPad Life interviews here.

  • RIM introduces Poorly Named Device

    Joshua Topolsky on RIM’s new tablet named ‘Playbook’:

    The device will connect via Bluetooth to BlackBerry devices, though the content is cached only temporarily on the PlayBook. More info is coming our way as we type, and we’ve got a full feature list, press release, and video after the break!

    What a dumb name. What a stupid name. Blackpad was/is such a great name. Wait, it only caches files, what the hell do I do on an airplane when I am not allowed to use bluetooth? OH man.

    [Updated: 9/27/10 at 2:42 PM] Also on this name thing, they want it to be for serious business use, yet they have ‘play’ in the name. Dumbasses. (<=== I mean it)

  • Kno Creates 14-inch Tablet For Students

    They are making a 14-inch tablet aimed at students that they are hoping will be under $1000 to buy. I just don’t see a student wanting this over an iPad, but dumber things have happened.

  • How China’s Great Firewall Can Make Us More Productive

    Aza Raskin on a realization he had while behind China’s ‘great firewall’:

    The idea is very simple: every time you access a site which is procrastinatory it gets randomly slower. The first time in the day it goes at full speed, but by the fourth time you’ve looked at it, the site crawls sporadically like it’s behind the great firewall of China. Let’s call it the productivity proxy.

  • Parallels Desktop 6: The Ars Review

    Dave Girard:

    If you work in 3D or want to play Windows game, this is an essential upgrade.

    I have been using Parallels since it first came out for the Mac, I use it every work day to access our Windows only Property Management software. Parallels is for me a seamless solution, and with every update it gets faster and a lot better this update is no different.

  • ‘Ice Cream Cone of Happy’

    Frank Chimero on happiness:

    I don’t know how happiness is measured. It seems silly to ask “How happy are you?” On a scale of what to what? “Oh, you know, on a scale between Found Dime and Three-Day Weekend, I’d say I’m about an Ice Cream Cone of happy.”

  • Wiretapping the Internet

    Charlie Savage:

    Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.

    Now this is a good reason to call your congressman (or woman) to complain.

  • Segway boss Jimi Heselden dies in scooter cliff fall

    You can’t make this stuff up. On a serious note, my thoughts go out to his family and friends.

  • Atari 1200 & A300 Concept Sketches

    Some very neat concept sketches for Atari 1200 & A300.

    [via Core 77]

  • Six Reasons Why David Rowan’s Not On Facebook

    David Rowan:

    Some day you should take time to read those 5,830 words: it’s Facebook that owns the rights to do as it pleases with your data, and to sell access to it to whoever is willing to pay. Yes, it’s free to join — but with half a billion of us now using it to connect, it’s worth asking ourselves how far this “social utility” (its own term) is really acting in the best interests of society.

    Yep.

  • Plenoptic Lens [Video]

    This is amazing, a camera lens that captures infinite depth of field, meaning that you post production you can set where you want the focus to be. This is very, very cool.

    [via Matthew Buchanan on Twitter]

  • Landscape Docking on iPad Coming Soon?

    These pictures show the possibility of Apple adding a dock connector port on the landscape side as well as keeping one where it is. I love the idea, and would love to have the extra port – what I don’t love is how, well how less than attractive this would be.

    [via iA on Twitter]

  • ‘Ping Now Works With Your Actual iTunes Library. This Is A Thousand Times Better’

    MG Siegler on the Ping updates in iTunes 10.0.1:

    So is Ping perfect now? Of course not. There is still a ways to go as a social network. But the first release was laughably anti-social as most people spend time in iTunes listening to music they already own and not shopping for new music — or trying to find music they already own to share it via some convoluted method. Apple has fixed that.

  • ‘Task Management OverKill’

    Stephen M. Hackett talking about his search for the best task management solution:

    For me and my simple needs, Things and OmniFocus are overkill. With systems like this, I spend more time entering tasks than doing them. When I was using Things, by the time I was done going over the day’s to-do list, it was time for lunch. OmniFocus just gives me seizures.

    I can say that without a doubt I have had these same problems at times – OmniFocus is amazingly difficult to just ‘use’ instead of tinker with and can be confusing at times. That said, and as I have said before, OmniFocus is killer on the iPad – it is everything I need and more. The perfect solution for me, OmniFocus on my Mac and iPhone for capture and reference, OmniFocus on my iPad for true task management in a way that doesn’t get in my way.