The Brooks Review

Author: Ben Brooks

  • Finding the Right Backpack Material

    I’m not a huge fan of the way Evergoods bags look, but damn if I don’t appreciate this nerd level of caring.

  • My iPad Writing Setup in 2019: Using a Stand, Keyboard, and Ulysses

    Good setup and delightfully simple. But someone get that guy a better keyboard.

  • Snack Pick of the Week: 3/11/19

    ‘Tis the season: Girl Scout cookie season that is. I bought my traditional overstocking of the best cookie they make: Thin Mints. And that is our snack pick of the week.

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  • Ulysses 15, Better than Ever

    Image previews for all! Ulysses has always done this polarizing thing among Markdown purists: they previewed images you put in your document. If you step back, this was and is a great innovation and one that I have always loved, but never been able to use.

    Until now. With Ulysses 15 the app will now preview images from remote web locations, even if that web location is hosted in Australia — truly global.

    Joking aside, this is the one feature they added this time around which has really impacted me in a good way. I love this feature, this app, and it keeps getting better.

    Side note: I complained about how this changed some of the image adding flow. A smart person at Ulysses, let’s call him Max for the purpose of this article, chuckled and wondered why I inserted images the hard way. Turns out if you have an image URL on the pasteboard, you can just paste that URL in any part of the document and Ulysses magically makes this work like you inserted the image. How cool is that? Thanks “Max”, if that’s even your real name.

    Yes, I know you can paste URLs on to text to make a link, I literally never tried it with images I guess.

  • Member Post for 3/11/19

    This week: an update on USB cables, a new feature I am working on and would like feedback from you, and lastly some additional management tips.

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  • Why Daylight Saving Time Is a Good Thing

    The title of this link is likely to be extremely unpopular among those who read this site. The common belief basically amounts to “fuck daylight saving time” and I certainly have held that opinion for a while. Especially this morning.

    However this article is an extremely interesting counter point to the common refrain. Worth your time.

  • Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

    This post is meh, but this quote from Kevin Roose is gold:

    I even use an app to pretend to meditate.

    Perfect.

  • The Axios Harris Poll 100

    Interesting poll:

    The Axios Harris Poll 100 ranks the reputations of the most visible companies in the United States. The survey is conducted among 18,228 Americans in a nationally representative sample. Powered by twenty years of proprietary research from The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient, The Axios Harris Poll 100 is a measurement of what real people think right now about the companies in our cultural conversation.

    Amazon is at #2, while Apple is down at #32. What’s amazing though is Facebook, which dropped from #51 last year to #94 this year.

    Comcast is #91 this year. Spirit Airlines is #90.

    If you’ve had the misfortune to interact with either of those companies you should be amazed Facebook is lower then them, but also proud that people recognize how shit Facebook really is. The US Government is #100, which seems a tad high.

  • MACV-1s, are they any good?

    When I wrote my first impressions of the MACV-1s it was a mix of underwhelmed, and pleasantly surprised. But that was many miles ago, and I still wear these boots almost everyday. So it’s about time to answer the big question: are they any good?

    I think for like monetary reasons, you are supposed to not reveal things until the end of the post, but yes they are quite good and worth the money. There’s some caveats to that, of course, but suffice to say I am thinking/wanting to pick up a pair in Coyote as well. I really like them, so let’s dive into the nitty gritty then.

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  • Member Post for 3/4/19

    This week I have two topics: the first is a theory that we are coming to a point where we will all be forced to wear activity trackers to be able to get basic services; the second is work;life balance.

    Enjoy.

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  • Misuse of Eastern Ideas

    I don’t love this post from Amy Olberding, because I don’t think it applies s neatly to Marie Kondo as it does to the examples of Sun Tzu in the article (which is misused and the analysis is spot on). With Kondo it is a bit different but bordering on stupidity at this point, that said I still think many people I know should read Kondo’s book.

    Anyways, the entire reason for this link is so I can quote this bit:

    Kondo is, in several ways, a Mr Miyagi for the anxious, late-capitalist, consumerist age.

  • Reasons Why Men Should Carry a Purse

    I mean you can just carry a bag, but for the love of everything don’t call it a man-purse or a murse. There’s just no need. You know what’s a good name: ‘hand bag’.

  • Cutting the Five Tech Giants

    Kashmir Hill on the experience:

    I’ve just traded one huge corporation seeking to monetize my searches for another, less competent one.

    I think that’s astute and something most people miss when they try to cut out too many of the big companies. It’s fair to say that you should cut out Google and Facebook as much as you can. Amazon seems like it will protect your data better than Kroger, and Apple better than any startup. That said, Hill’s series on all of this is worth the read.

  • Changing my Coffee Routine & Setup

    I used to really hate coffee, so instead I drank obscene amounts of Pepsi to fill my caffeine needs. But as part of getting healthier I stopped drinking soda at home, but this still meant needing caffeine — so I moved to coffee. My wife and I initially did this with a Starbucks Verismo machine (Erin would like me to clarify that she has liked coffee since college and Spain), which is like half Keurig and half Nespresso. It makes solid coffee, but the pods are hard to find (mostly from Starbucks stores, though now I see Amazon has a ready stock, but they were always on sale at the stores) and very expensive ($1.50 a pod typically). However the convenience was impossible for us to ignore.

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  • Snack Pick of the Week: 2/25/19

    Alright, you’re going to need to hear me out on this one — but it is one of my favorite go to snacks. It’s just not one that many of you who don’t work from home will be able to easily accomplish. This week’s snack pick is: cold nachos.

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  • iPad Productivity Report — 2/25/19

    This week: a look at how I have started to take better *looking* iPad notes, my transition *back* from physical notebooks, and a quick note on some of the content shifts a couple people have pointed out.

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  • GORUCK Spring Cleaning Sale

    Some good deals on select items from GORUCK in their Spring Cleaning Sale. The Kid Ruck is down to $125, which makes it a good buy again. Even better is the GR2, which is back down to its old price of $395 — so if you want the best large sized travel backpack, I’d jump on that one.

  • Below Deck

    So if 90 Day Fiancé is the second best show on TV, what’s the best? That honor goes to Below Deck, the best show on TV right now. Forget about Game of Thrones, it’s solid, definitely a top 10, but Below Deck is far better. Allow me to explain.

    Below Deck is what I call a quasi-reality show. The people are real, not actors, and while parts are likely scripted — the situations are amazing. What you get is a look at the behind the scenes workings of a luxury lifestyle not many people will ever be able to afford to take part in. Groups of people renting 150’+ Yachts with a private crew, chef, and all-inclusive-vacation in tropical locales. These cruises are hundreds of thousands of dollars to charter, but word is those who agree to be on the show get 50% off. While the crew themselves work at a slavish pace to earn big tips.

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  • Snack Pick of the Week: 2/19/19

    You’re going to want to act fast on this snack pick, because this is a limited availability item. Obviously, that only adds to making this taste better. So this week the snack pick is Taco Bell’s Nacho Fries.

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  • Member-Only Post for 2/18/19

    This week I talk a bit about lifestyle changes which have come through in my travel setup with my new role. I also share some thoughts I have been storing in a list for a couple years around being ‘a boss’. Lastly, I know you are really wanting an update on my new keyboard, so I don’t disappoint there.

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