The Brooks Review

Month: November 2018

  • Work-Life Balance

    Speaking of lifestyle changes, this post at Working Mother, has this tidbit that bothers me:

    Instead of work and life outside of the office being two totally separate parts of our lives, Bezos envisions a more harmonic relationship between the two. In his world, work and life outside of work are reciprocal rather than competing, compartmentalized parts.

    First, this coming from Bezos is fucking rich. Secondly, I think this is still not the right way to think about it. Work and ‘life’ should not be things that happen at set points during the day. I often told people when bringing them on in my last job, that I didn’t care when they work or for how long, just get the job done and do it well.

    I told them that if that meant leaving for an hour mid-morning to grocery shop, and then working later, that’s great. Life shouldn’t be hard, as a “boss” I always felt it was asinine to make life harder by making someone be chained to set hours when they “have” to work.

  • Men’s Health on Standing versus Sitting

    Men’s Health has a follow up to that NYT post. From Michael Frederickson, M.D.:

    It really has to be a lifestyle. Not “okay, I’ll sit all day (even though it’s really bad) and then I’ll try and make up for at another time.” Think about your lifestyle and how you can work around inactive periods.

    Indeed.

  • NYT: Standing Desks are Overrated

    Aaron E. Carroll:

    But standing is not exercise. Many health groups recommend that people at work take frequent walking breaks. Replacing sitting with standing does not fulfill that recommendation and may even mislead people into thinking they’re doing enough activity.

    Standing desks are “overrated” in the same way that any other health advice is: it’s not a panacea so stop treating it like one. That said, reading this article, I can’t help but think the advice is: change positions often. As a long time standing desk user I think you are far more likely to change positions often when standing than when sitting. Say, 100% more likely, as that’s quotable.

  • Orient Bambino Small Seconds

    Among the watches available for people who want something very inexpensive, but mechanical and which also doesn’t suck for one reason or another — they always end up getting recommended an Orient Bambino. The Bambino is a bit of a wunderkind, with a huge array of options and colors available, while coming it at an absurdly low price typically under $200, but far more often able to be found discounted below $120. Right now there are options on Amazon with Prime shipping for $114. That’s a bargain for any well made watch, let alone one with an automatic movement.

    I’ve had my Small Seconds now for a while and I’ve become quite fond on it. Let’s dive in.

    (more…)

  • Bond Travel Gear’s Travel Wallet

    I’ve been keeping a close eye on Bond Travel Gear since testing out their excellent Tool Roll a while back. This Travel Wallet caught my eye as a potentially great little organizer pouch. I picked one up to test, and have been quite pleased with it over the last several weeks.

    (more…)

  • The ‘Fuck All’ Nature of iPad Work

    November 15th started off like any other day, and then Tom Warren, a verified twitter user (I suspect that’s important to him, so I’ll note it), [tweeted](https://mobile.twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1063216386573504512):

    > Nilay made this point on Vergecast, but the people who have replaced their laptops with an iPad are people who do fuck all work. The rest of us hard working people use a laptop, because we have real stuff to do other than send emails and fart around. Don’t @ me `¯\_(ツ)_/¯`

    I respected his wishes not to “@“ him, and am instead posting some longer thoughts here. Before we dive into this, I do want to point out the best response to that [tweet from Steve Troughton-Smith](https://mobile.twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/1063220129931149314):

    > Real hard-working people don’t use a computer at all 😛 You don’t know how easy you’ve got it

    That’s a very kind way of telling both Warren and Nilay Patel to fuck off. A less kind way is to say that — as someone (me) who has worked manual labor in construction for years, has started two companies which were very small (2-3 employees) and as someone who has run a tech company — that Patel and Warren can fuck right off with that arrogant bullshit they spout everyday. How a website dedicated to technology can so loathe new technology is beyond comprehension.

    It is, though, worth actually diving into this topic of “real” work versus “fuck all” work.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • Nik’s Minimalist Wallets from Tom Bihn

    Note: Tom Bihn sent me three wallets for review purposes.

    Tom Bihn has released a collection of four minimalist wallets, which are all very similar, but seek to accommodate the differing needs of people. I’ve been testing these wallets now for two weeks and have a pretty good feel for them. Each variant is numbered 1 through 4. I’ve been testing numbers 1, 2, and 3 — but mostly size of #1 as I prefer a very small wallet.

    (more…)

  • Timex Expedition Scout — Inexpensive Field Watch

    I’ve covered a diver, and a digital, which brings us to the last inexpensive watch, and the best looking: a field watch. Specifically the classic Timex Expedition Scout, which can actually be had for under $40 at a mind blowing $37. I know, the excitement is real. The catch: unlike the others with near perfect Amazon ratings, this is an average 3.8 stars with over 2,900 reviews. That’s not great, but I think it’s a bit unfair.

    Bottom line: it looks better than the others, but it ticks quite loudly. Like, actually loud.

    (more…)

  • Building Technology for Good

    Wilneida Negrón:

    By then, my experience working as a therapist, social worker, immigrant rights advocate, and social movement researcher had made me deeply skeptical of Mark Zuckerberg’s “move fast and break things” ethos, which has defined Silicon Valley. While this mantra is credited with ushering in an era of incredible innovation–the products, platforms, and tools developed by “tech giants”–I saw how it reinforced the ways our social, economic, and political systems and institutions can privilege some groups over others, and reproduce bias and inequality.

    Here’s something to think about: Apple has almost the inverse ethos as Facebook. Both Facebook and iPhone have massively transformed the world. Which has transformed it for better, which for worse?

    I’m not sure there is a clear answer, however my gut says that Facebook is more net negative than iPhone. I wonder how much of that could have been avoided if more consideration was given while building out the Facebook, as was given when Apple built iPhone.

  • Knit Velcro Patch Caps from All Day Ruckoff

    Speaking of All Day Ruckoff, I just picked up one of these new knit caps. Damn is it nice, and perhaps the warmest cap I’ve owned. I’ll be using this for my early morning rucks.

  • GORUCK Gear & Colorway Directory at All Day Ruckoff

    A huge benefit for people like me. And damn, there’s been some sweet colors out there. The new 10L Bullet Ruck colors are stellar. Great resource from All Day Ruckoff.

  • ProtonVPN

    I’ve been using ProtonVPN for, I think, over a month now and it’s been really great. They just pushed out their iOS app, which makes the service far better.

  • 2018 Gift Guide: 10 Gifts Worth Giving

    This is a gift guide designed to optimize my affiliate revenue over the next 6 weeks. Also, I hand picked these items and I think they are really great. Whichever makes you feel better.

    (more…)

  • GORUCK Black Friday Sale Week

    Some insanely good deals on GORUCK Gear now through Sunday. Most non-black bags are lower in price than they were before the price increases. Get a GR1 or a 10L Bullet Ruck for a bargain. Oh and the Bullets are available in color combinations I’ve never seen before, and in an amount of combinations I am frankly shocked at. Some damn cool color options.

    Don’t forget about the GORUCK clothing if you need rucking or outdoors clothes, every item I’ve ever tested is far better than I expected.

  • Using an iPad Software Keyboard Full Time

    On November 1st, I wrote about how Apple’s new Keyboard Folio doesn’t make a lot of sense for the money, and I made a small note at the end of that post:

    > Fundamentally, typing on a slab of glass should be possible on the slab of glass.

    Shortly after publishing, I cleaned off my desk, and put away all my keyboards. I’ve been using only the software keyboard on my 12.9” iPad Pro since then. Let’s see how that’s been going.

    ## First, Why ?

    Ideally you don’t have to carry around or use a keyboard, right? Ideally the *device itself* is enough for everything you need to do. Which means you need to be able to input text without an accessory. So you either dictate everything or use the software keyboard. I started by testing the software keyboard, because I wanted to know where and how it fails.

    ## Speed and Accuracy

    Going into this I knew it would work, because many before me have done this. Hell, there’s been entire novels written on smartphones, so surely a bigger keyboard on the 12.9” would be just fine. What I was surprised by was the accuracy and speed with which I could type. It’s not faster or better than other methods, but it’s a far cry from being the deal breaker I assume it would be — it has lasted me 19 days now.

    For speed, I’ve found that I am fast enough, but not nearly as fast as I am on a hardware keyboard. That said, it’s only been two and a half weeks, and I am sure I will get faster. When I’m really not thinking about it, I can move quite quickly.

    Accuracy is the big issue, or I assumed it would be. Finger placement is the hardest part of typing on the glass. You have to trust the system, you have to keep going even when you see an error, because there’s a really good chance the system will fix that error for you. All in all, I am not sure I am any less accurate than I am on the Smart Keyboard cover, it’s just different errors than before.

    Which really brings me to the big part of typing on the software keyboard: confidence. You have to be confident in where your fingers are landing and with the system itself. If you slightly miss, that’s ok because the system will likely fix it for you. You also need to not look at your fingers and trust where they are and that they know what they are doing. Which is why I think this only works on the 12.9” model as the smaller iPad models don’t have a good enough layout for most people to be able to use them how they need to be used.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • Casio G-SHOCK DW5600E-1V — The Classic at a low price

    I last talked about a classic and cheap Casio diver watch, today I’m talking about perhaps the most classic looking G-Shock, which is also absurdly cheap. And even at that, it has 2,638 reviews on Amazon with a 4.6 star average. So people like it. I got one to find out why.

    Bottom line: if you like the look, there’s probably no better watch for the money.

    (more…)

  • Casio MDV106-1AV — Inexpensive Diver

    Casio is well known for their watches, but most will think of their digital watches first. They do have this model though, the ‘MDV106’, which sells for $41 on Amazon with free Prime shipping. But here’s the thing, it has 2,258 reviews which average at 4.6 stars out of 5. In other words, it’s a good product. So I bought one to see just how it compares to many of my more expensive watches.

    Bottom line: it’s a hell of a good value. And a good watch too.

    (more…)

  • The Big iPad

    This is a really good post from Matt Gemmell on the new iPads. Despite my quoting below please do read the entire post. Ok, now some choice quotes from Gemmell.

    Gemmell on reviewers who don’t use the iPad Pro full time:

    They draw conclusions that are intellectually dishonest. Watch out for that.

    And who that group is, is of the biggest annoyance to me:

    This group includes the apparent majority of tech journalists, most of whom seem to have an annual ritual of spending one week with the newest iPad, and then saying it’s not a laptop replacement yet in some general sense. How would you even know? I certainly didn’t until six months or so in.

    Exactly. On this next point from Gemmell, I beg to differ a bit:

    There’s no point complaining about price.

    I think there’s no point in complaining about value but the cost of goods is absolutely something we should never just be like “it is what it is”. The new iPads are fucking expensive, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth that price. Just that they cost a heck of a lot of money to buy and one should never hide from that fact.

    And then there’s this:

    I think that virtually no-one who’s serious about typing uses a software keyboard on a piece of glass, no matter how big it is.

    Wanna bet?

  • iPad and Surface Competition

    Ross Rubin has a solid post about the differences between Surface and iPad, but this bit about value to developers is key:

    That said, the long-term incentive for at least Mac developers to adapt the full power of their apps for the iPad seems clear. The level of mastery Apple has achieved in silicon–combined with the emerging ability to bring iOS apps to the Mac–points to a future where the Mac could more or less be an iOS development target that uses a trackpad instead of a touch screen.

    I look at it like this, if you make a Mac app that doesn’t have a full featured iPad (and iPhone if it makes sense) app, then you are basically waiting to go out of business. You’re working in a marketing that is shrinking, even as sales of Macs grows. The same is not true for the iPad.

    Lastly, I’d be remiss in not quoting this bit that made me chuckle:

    Even today, someone who uses an iPad as their main computer is viewed as a kind of avant garde minimalist.

  • We Are Overbuying Everything

    A post I recently read about overbuying cars, wherein you come in with a budget of X per month and leave having bought a car of X+30% per month for about two years longer than you wanted too, had me thinking a lot about how this applies to everything we do in life. Because we want the best, we want the shiny, the new, the features. We want it all.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.