The Brooks Review

Month: June 2015

  • Microblogging with WordPress

    Big fan of Manton’s approach, and I adopted it myself not to long ago.

  • Spoken: Negativity

    A little audio snippet I posted to Spoken.

  • Dark Sky 5

    You've likely seen that Dark Sky version 5 is out. It's quite a change and it's awesome. Custom weather alerts. Push notification forecasts for the day.

    So many cool things. Do everyone a favor and head into the report button and turn on auto pressure reporting — a clever thing they are doing to improve accuracy for everyone. Love this app.

  • On Writing

    [toc]

    A lot of people only see me from the perspective of this website, and so to the readers of this site, I am a writer. Naturally then, a lot of the email from this site whittles down to: how do you write so much? ((For the record I do not think I write very much.))

    So much?

    (more…)

  • Badge That App

    Justin Blanton on notification badges:

    I look at it 1000 times a day to get stuff done and manage my time.

    He makes solid points, I’m turning back on some badges.

  • Travel Apps & Tools

    I’ve found myself traveling a lot more this year, and as such I’ve been able to test out some things that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to in a true travel environment. In most cases I demand two things when I travel: small and reliable.

    With that said, here’s a random list of crap that I’ve really liked when traveling this year.

    (more…)

  • Twitterrific 5.12 Adds a Host of New Features & Improvements

    Including a bottom navbar which means there is no logical reason for Twitterrific to not be your main Twitter client.

  • It’s a Jungle Out There? Carry a Pocketknife

    Some time ago the New York Times reached out to interview me about pocket knives. I had no clue what they were working on, but here it is. Neat.

  • Privacy, Security, and User Experience

    Dustin Curtis on Apple’s stance on privacy and security, versus Google’s arguing that giving up privacy to Google is a far better solution:

    As long as people understand the potential risks, the answer to the second question is almost always, “Yes.” And with the emergence of artificial intelligence, the answer to that question will become increasingly more clear. The vast improvements in user experience far, far outweigh the potential security risks to private information.

    I obviously disagree with this notion. But I defer to someone with far better knowledge than I, Edward Snowden:

    Technologists have worked tirelessly to re-engineer the security of the devices that surround us, along with the language of the Internet itself. Secret flaws in critical infrastructure that had been exploited by governments to facilitate mass surveillance have been detected and corrected. Basic technical safeguards such as encryption — once considered esoteric and unnecessary — are now enabled by default in the products of pioneering companies like Apple, ensuring that even if your phone is stolen, your private life remains private. Such structural technological changes can ensure access to basic privacies beyond borders, insulating ordinary citizens from the arbitrary passage of anti-privacy laws, such as those now descending upon Russia.

    Once the information is out there, it is out there. You can’t reel it back in. Google has it all and knows how to find it all, which means it can be exploited.

    If Apple isn’t storing it, and even has a hard time making sure I get all my iMessages across devices ((Which I have never had a problem with, personally.)), then that seems like a small price to pay to protect myself in a small way from the exposure I get with Google.

  • Initial Thoughts on iOS 9’s iPad Multitasking

    Federico Viticci:

    The iPad is on the cusp of becoming a completely new computer. This is not an overstatement. Anyone who uses the iPad enough has known for a long time that the device could be capable of a lot more, and iOS 9 is Apple's answer.
    Very exciting stuff.

  • The Apple Watch

    I didn’t know what to expect, and in a lot of ways I still don’t know what to expect, from the Apple Watch. I’m a person who wears a watch everyday, so looking at my wrist for the time is habit. And like many others, I wasn’t sure I wanted an Apple Watch, well I wanted one, but wasn’t convinced I needed one.

    Still, I got one.

    And it is, by far, smaller than I thought it would be. I thought it would be some bulbous G-Shock style gadget, but it’s small and sleek. So sleek that my chronograph automatic sits off my wrist higher.

    (more…)

  • The World Says No to Surveillance

    Edward Snowden:

    Yet the balance of power is beginning to shift. We are witnessing the emergence of a post-terror generation, one that rejects a worldview defined by a singular tragedy. For the first time since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we see the outline of a politics that turns away from reaction and fear in favor of resilience and reason.

  • The Note

    Love this post on Shawn's writing routine.

  • Micro Snitch

    Speaking of new apps, this is a great new app that I have been testing. It shows you if there is anything using your microphone or webcam. Love it.

  • Re:quest — Get Answers Fast

    Today we (at MartianCraft) launched Re:quest, an app I have been working on for the past two and a half months with a very talented team of people. It’s a free app and very useful. Give it a download and see what you think.

    UPDATE: We wrote about the launch on the MartianCraft blog.

  • Visualize a Photo Before You Snap

    I asked my wife to explain how she took this photo, damn if I don’t see things the way she does.

  • Apple’s Tim Cook Delivers Blistering Speech On Encryption, Privacy

    Tim Cook, as reported by Matthew Panzarino:

    “We shouldn’t ask our customers to make a tradeoff between privacy and security. We need to offer them the best of both,” Cook wrapped up. “Ultimately, protecting someone else’s data protects all of us.”

  • Capturing Light

    My wife is going to presenting at the San Francisco Apple Store on June 10th, at 6:00pm. Take a look at the linked page to make a reservation.