Month: April 2012

Categories:

Member Content:

Newsletter:

  • FlyRights

    New app to file complaints directly to the TSA & DHS. Something tells me the TSA/DHS is not going to enjoy this app being out there. I don’t know — call me crazy — I just get that sense. [via Lots of Emailers]

  • Google’s Secret Weapon

    John Moltz: >Basically, you dock your phone and it becomes your desktop computer. Which surely couldn’t lead to any kind of compromised user experience. I wonder what it would be like playing back a Flash YouTube video from your phone that is powering a 24″ screen — I mean phones don’t have fans, so the […]

  • Apple’s Response on Its Tax Practices

    Man is this response seething with contempt… Love it.

  • Dropbox’s Photo Intercept

    A new “feature” of Dropbox is that it shows a nag screen when it detects a photo card being attached to your Mac — it’s an annoying and B.S. move if you ask me. See also: This Dropbox BS where they highjacked the auto-sync from device to Aperture/iPhoto to display an ad is crap. Thinking […]

  • The iPhone Sink Hole

    Shawn Blanc: >Suppose our iPhones only had apps like Simplenote, Agenda, OmniFocus, the camera, maps, and the SMS and phone apps. If that were the case, would we still be so prone to pull our phones out? How often would we reach for our iPhones if they were absent of any and all apps that […]

  • ‘Every Nation Gets the TSA It Deserves’

    James Fallows conveys a statement from David Moles about why the TSA is the way it is and likely will not be changed anytime soon: >But there’s a much simpler explanation, which is that, unlike you and me (and, I assume, unlike your conservative correspondent) most people in this country don’t fly very much, and […]

  • ‘Why My iPad Is NOT My Laptop.’

    Isaiah with a counter to Shawn’s (and others’s) post about the iPad [replacing a laptop](http://brooksreview.net/2012/04/ipad-mac/): >The problem is that writing, posting to a blog, and reading blogs are some of the tasks that an iPad is perfectly suited to do. So there seems to be no end to the number of writers that can tell […]

  • Quote of the Day: Rebecca Dana

    “If only buzz were revenue, Tumblr would be bigger than Walmart.” — Rebecca Dana

  • Why the iPad Is Shawn Blanc’s New Laptop

    Shawn Blanc: >It is not a sacrifice to use the iPad as a primary device. Indeed, it is not. For me it works fantastically well as my portable computer — so much so that my next computer probably won’t be a laptop.

  • ‘This Is What True Multitasking in iOS 6 Should Look Like’

    John Brownlee on Quasar by Pedro Franceschi: >I’ve been saying since last year that this is a killer feature Apple should try to lift in iOS 6, but up until now, all we’ve seen are jailbreak hacks sloppily emulate the functionality. No longer. A hack has finally come along that does it right. Brownlee has […]

  • ‘Microsoft Minute’

    Urban Dictionary: >A unit of time ranging in value from one realtime minute to several hours. [via My Dad]

  • ‘Is RIM Behind the Embarrassing Wake Up Campaign?’

    They just may be, too good.

  • ‘DuckDuckGone’

    Dr. Drang on why he switched back to Google from DuckDuckGo: >The main reason I’ve switched back is that I prefer Google’s results. DuckDuckGo doesn’t give that mix of regular links, links to news stories, and links to images that a typical Google search gives. That’s a really good point because it can be really […]

  • ‘Alarmed’ [Ed Bott Warning]

    Ed Bott on some “new” Mac malware data: >Breaking down the data even further, I was alarmed to see how many of the infected Macs are running outdated versions of OS X. Really, *really*? What, Mr. Bott, do you think updates are for?

  • Clear, Games, and Themes

    Stephen Hackett on my ‘[Gamification is for Dicks](http://brooksreview.net/2012/04/gamification-dicks/)’ post: >Ben’s choice of words aside, I don’t think the addition of “secret” UI themes in Clear is a bad thing. The app itself — its gestures, etc. — are playful and light. The “gamification” doesn’t get in the way of using the app, and the “awards” […]

  • Gamification is for Dicks

    It’s that thing where an app developer thinks it would be really neat to make parts of their non-game app into a game. I hate it, and I think it’s bullshit. Actually, I have hated it for a while, but this is the catalyst for my rant today: >So what’s your favourite “secret” theme in […]

  • House Passes Controversial Cybersecurity Measure CISPA

    David Kravets: >In short, the measure seeks to undo privacy laws that generally forbid ISPs from disclosing customer communications with anybody else unless with a court order. *Fantastic*.

  • Quote of the Day: MG Siegler

    “Google planned to take 33% of the total tablet market in 2011. Yet they barely have 33% of just the Android tablet market.” — MG Siegler

  • Camera Awesome

    Tim Moynihan about Camera Awesome: >Another useful option for capturing short videos of laughing babies and/or game-winning-hit scenarios at baseball games, Camera Awesome’s video options include a “Precord Video” setting that automatically buffers and saves 5 seconds of video *before* you press the record button. That actually is a pretty neat trick — though I […]

  • Placeme

    Rachel Metz: >Called Placeme, the free app takes advantage of the smart phone’s sensors and its GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities to figure out where I go and for how long, and stores this data in a private log on my iPhone. >It may sound creepy or unnecessary, but as more people carry smart phones with […]