The Brooks Review

Author: Ben Brooks

  • ZAGGmate Case for iPad Has Great Keyboard Inside

    John Martellaro on the ZAGGmate iPad keyboard case:

    I was worried that the outside of my hands would feel the edges of the case, near the cursor and shift keys, but it turns out to be not an issue.

    I am unconvinced that this would be anything but uncomfortable to use. Looking at the pictures it is smaller than a full size keyboard and looks to have edges that would cram your hands in the small typing area. I haven’t seen one close up, but based on the looks of it I don’t know why would buy this over some stand alone bluetooth keyboard that folds up smaller and is full sized. ((The iPad isn’t a netbook after all.))

  • iPad Stash

    I only use a case for my iPad on the weekends. ((I do this because the iPad spends most of the weekends sliding around the couch and coffee table areas and I need to protect it from cats that run amok.)) I currently use the Apple Case for iPad and it does a nice job. This case those may make me rethink my choice.

  • The Apple Wireless Keyboard

    A great review of a great product from Oliver Hulland on the Apple Wireless Keyboard:

    Simply put, it is one of those products that disappears when in use, allowing you to do what you need to do efficiently.

    This is the keyboard that I use everyday — I love the Apple Wireless Keyboard. It really is a fantastic product — admittedly I am not a keyboard snob like some.

  • I Wonder Why Apple Killed Split Screen iPhone Email

    A great screenshot of the Apple mail program in iOS from 2007. I honestly don’t remember that being shown at all, but it should be no surprise that in actual use it would not be that great.

  • Derek Lunde’s iPad Life

    I would like to welcome one of my best friends and fellow Mac lover Derek Lunde to my iPad Life interview series. You can find out a more about Derek on his Tumblr.

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

    My name is Derek Lunde, and I am a husband slash April Fools Baby. I have a cat who is addicted to carbohydrates, and she is a good reminder for me to go to the gym (another hobby I’ve learned to enjoy in lieu of caffeine in the morning). By day, I run the Visual Communication and Strategy practice at one of Washington state’s largest design firms, BCRA. My time is commonly split between advising our clients on marketing strategies and managing our team of designers, copywriters and project managers.

    I live in a cozy flat overlooking downtown Seattle.

    What was your reaction when the iPad was launched?

    My first reaction when the iPad was announced (we’ll get to the launch in a second), was “OMG, the name’s a joke, right?” It wasn’t until peripheral items like the iMaxi were announced that I came to grips with this less-than-appetizing moniker.

    When the iPad was launched, I kicked myself for not pre-ordering one. Mostly this was because my wait outside the Apple Store in Bellevue Square Mall on launch day was about five hours (need I mention I was surrounded by Microsofties the whole time). As a marketing person, I was in complete amazement over the perfectly synchronized efforts in promotion and sales with strategic product placement, media reviews and articles published locally and internationally. What also amazed me was the skepticism that existed among many “expert analysts” on Wall Street (for example…).

    As I look back on the launch, I never could’ve imagined the new micro-economies that have evolved out of the release of the iPad.

    Which model did you order and why?

    16GB WiFi. It was the cheapest model, which helped me get approval from wifey. But, looking back, I wished I would’ve researched the 3G plan details a bit more. The convenience of signing up month-to-month for service just didn’t click with me at the time, and in hind sight I probably would’ve waited to get a 3G model instead. I do prefer the look of the WiFi only model over the 3G and its black antenna bar. Obviously, impatience also had a lot to do with it.

    How are you using the iPad on a daily basis?

    In the morning, the iPad is my excuse to take a quick couch break in between the gym and heading into the office. I check twitter, weather, and feature stories through Pulse.

    In the office, I like to use the iPad to check in on personal projects and follow the social networks. Of course, it has replaced a paper notepad in meetings and was used as a guinea pig for our firm’s adoption of the iPad as a portfolio marketing tool. I also use it as a quasi-second workstation when necessary for simple multi-tasking or research.

    At night, I’m checking emails, FB, and twitter with it. Most importantly…Sim City. Lunde Metropolis, run by Mayor Adam West, is growing quickly. It has plenty of utility capacity, is still lacking a museum, and can respond to fire emergencies in 2 minutes.

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

    Pulse: still a great news feed summary tool. I check this once per day in the morning.
    Twitter: love the interface. I check this a lot.
    Flipboard: nice way to display social network and news feeds. I check this once per day at night.
    Keynote: much of my work involves pitch-decks, and the functionality would leave PowerPoint with two black eyes in a cage match.
    Looptastic HD: as one who wants to reincarnate as a DJ, this is a fun app to get lost in for way too long.

    Lunde iPad Homescreen

    Which app is your favorite?

    iBooks: it’s an old skool choice, but it’s simple, clean, and yet robust enough to do the little things. BBC News and Twitter are a close second in terms of usability.

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

    The Roots I-Sleeve leather case is great for people who like to use the iPad naked, but want a soft, stylish, simple case. And, it fits super snugly (a top concern of mine). I just bought the Tumi T-Tech Empire Freedom bag (aka murse) to carry my stuff around, and coincidentally the bag has a perfectly sized pouch the iPad can slip into. I haven’t purchased a stand yet, but would love a few suggestions.

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

    SD or MicroSD card slot: It’s lame to have to carry around an adapter for that – especially on vacation and taking pics.

    Retina display: Why not? Might as well go for the gusto.

    Backing that doesn’t make my hand sweat, picks up scratches less easily, and can be gripped a little bit better than the aluminum: I like the look right now, but it’s less functional than it could be.

    I want to thank Derek again for taking the time to do this, and you all should be following him on Twitter where he is @derekjlunde. Lastly I think we can all agree that he should be writing a regular blog — so once you follow him be sure to let him know that you want to see more of his writing.

    More iPad Life

    To see more people’s iPad Lives take a look here.

  • AOL Acquiring HuffPo For $315 million

    David Kaplan on a smart acquisition by AOL:

    As part of the deal, Arianna Huffington, HuffPo’s co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, will be named president and EIC of The Huffington Post Media Group. The new unit will house Huffington Post and AOL content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, StyleList, and other sites.

    That is a scary thought for every site listed there. I am no Arianna Huffington fan and I worry about sites like Engadget and TechCrunch — never heard of the other sites, MapQuest? ((Clearly I am joking.))

  • Quote of the Day: Jerry Seinfeld

    “Everything was just a wild guess. And it takes a while to get confident that you’re guessing pretty good.”

  • Chris Bowler On File Browsing

    Chris Bowler on managing files in Transmit on OS X:

    Because it has two panes, each of which can be used for local or remote locations, it’s perfect for moving files from one folder to another. This is certainly faster than using 2 Finder windows.

    When I asked on Twitter the other day about PathFinder I received a bunch of responses that were all over the board. Then Chris DM’d me to tell me to use Transmit and that he would be writing it up. So here it is — a great trick and an excellent Program.

  • Send your Instapaper reading log to Readability

    Marco just took the feature live, head on over to your Instapaper account screen to link the two accounts. Well done.

  • Turn Off the Clock on Your Menu Bar

    Scott Klein has written up a great post on the benefits of removing the clock from your Menubar. A few months back now I did the same thing, but the clock eventually made it back into the menubar. I loved not seeing the time, but I also hated not seeing the time.

    What I found is that it became a great way for me to not count how much time I had to do things (e.g. I have only an hour until the meeting!). I decided to put the clock back into the Menubar because sometimes you just need to know how much time you have to do something and sometimes you need a reference point for when things happened during the day.

    I highly encourage you to try removing the clock if you find yourself constantly staring at it. Since putting the clock back in my Menubar I have found that I don’t look at it nearly as much as I used to.

  • Quote of the Day: Marcelo Somers

    “If you go into blogging wanting to make money you will fail (or at least write some terrible content).”

    I think you can substitute “blogging” for a lot of other endeavors you might take on in your life.

  • OmniFocus plugin for Mailplane

    Mailplane brings Gmail to your Mac desktop and they also have an OmniFocus plugin, very cool.

    [Thanks to @Viticci for the tip.]

  • Kourosh Dini: On Integrating Email in OmniFocus

    A great tip for Gmail users wanting to create a follow-up task in OmniFocus (or Things) that will link back to a particular email.

  • “Waiting is Death”

    John Gruber on the one minute and twenty seconds it takes to download the day’s content for the Daily: ((Note that while this is downloading you can do nothing else.))

    It is significant, because the first minute is the most important minute. That’s the minute where the reader makes their impression of The Daily. Waiting is death.

    I never got this far to see new content, but the Daily app in general is slower than a Ford Model T straight off the assembly line. In fact that Model T might have had more polish in its first iteration — that though may be a little too harsh.

    No, the Daily feels more like a Flash website scrolling on a PowerPC G4 Mac mini — yeah that’s about right.

  • I Want a Tricorder

    Curt Finch:

    The second potential tricorder is a hand-held medical scanner.  Harvard Medical School researchers have created a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) imaging machine, replacing cumbersome equipment previously used.

    We are so close…

  • Recommended Podcasts

    I received a good amount of email since yesterday’s post mentioning that I listen to podcasts on my way to and from work. Rather than list what I listen to several times in email, here is what I listen to and thus, what I recommend.

    Die Hard Fan Level

    • Back to Work: Dan Benjamin and Merlin Mann talk about productivity, well they kind of do.
    • Build and Analyze: Dan Benjamin and Marco Arment talk about iOS app development.
    • Hypercritical: Dan Benjamin and John Siracusa talk in depth about stuff. I mean really in depth.
    • Mac Power Users: David Sparks and Katie Floyd talk about workflows and tips for getting more power out of your Mac.
    • The Talk Show: Dan Benjamin and John Gruber talk about movies and baseball.

    I Listen to if the Topic is Good

    • The Big Web Show: Dan Benjamin and Jeffrey Zeldman talk with a guest about all sorts of stuff.
    • Enough / Minimal Mac: Patrick Rhone and Myke Hurley talk about what is an isn’t enough in computing and how you can find that.
    • The Macgasm Podcast: The Macgasm guys talk about all sorts of Apple stuff.
    • The Pipeline: Dan Benjamin interviews a person and talks about how they came to be.
    • WorkAwesome: Mostly interviews with guests about life, work and productivity.

    Only Two Video Podcasts

    • Beautiful Places in HD: Beautifully shot video of places you can really only see off the trail.
    • Chase Jarvis Photography: Chase is a local Seattle photographer, but is internationally recognized as cool. Chase’s work is amazing and his videos rival his photography and are full of great little tips and trick to learn.

  • Reveal Hidden Passwords in All Major Browsers

    A fantastic little bookmarklet from Andrew Worcester that removes those silly black dots so you can actually see the password you are typing. This won’t come in handy much for 1Password users, but I bet we can all relate to a time when we would really like to see what we are typing.

  • Quote of the Day: John Gruber

    “It never ceases to surprise me how different — how much more efficient — face-to-face communication is. You learn things, hear things, say things, and notice things in person that would have gone unlearned, unheard, unsaid, unnoticed otherwise.”

  • OneLessDrop

    A killer little widget to keep your charger cables from dropping off your desk. I so want to back it, but alas I am over budget on the amount of Kickstarter projects I allow myself to fund this month (and it is only 3 days into Feb.). Will you guys please fund it? ((Thanks!))

    Just look at this sexiness:

    Onelessdrophome02KS5602

  • The Daily, The Newspaper, The App, The “Newspaper App”

    Federico Viticci on The Daily app:

    Where The Daily only needs to get a lot better, though, is the app part. Put simply, The Daily as an iPad application is quite terrible. Not the “terrible” you’d expect from a Vietnamese developer who sells manga apps in the App Store, but the terrible you don’t want to see from an app that’s being heavily promoted by Apple, and that has been in the works as a strict collaboration between News Corp and Cupertino for months.

    That bit sums up my thoughts on the Daily quite nicely. In fact I think Viticci is spot on in his look at the app. There are a lot of things that I don’t get and putting aside the actual content, the app just isn’t that good. Will it improve? Who knows. Is the content worth it? Depends if you can bother to use it past the 5 infuriating minutes it takes to scroll a couple of stories.