The Brooks Review

Category: Articles

  • Member Journal — 10/7/19

    This week: a look at what is better about Apple Maps, and where it still falls down; Texas’ Postmates; small screen computing; Microsoft’s Duo; and sleep science.

    ## Apple Maps Updates

    Apple’s mapping software was been in the spotlight the last week, with updates to the NE section of the US following a series of updates to various other coastal areas of the US. Which brings us to two articles, the first:

    [Apple Maps is better than Google Maps?](https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/google-dominated-this-product-for-a-decade-apple-just-unveiled-its-plan-to-make-it-obsolete.html) In this post Jason Aten argues that Apple is on the path to take down Google Maps. Aten concludes by saying Apple Maps is now a ‘worthy contender’ and in a lot of ways he is right. Which brings us to the next post:

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  • Member Journal — 9/30/19

    This week: $5 off, podcast ad blocker that all apps should use, where we are with iPhone, iPhone 11 Pro briefly, and iPadOS notes.

    ## A Podcast and Radio Ad Blocker

    [Oh wow, this is great.](https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-to-read-the-news) It is an ad blocker for podcasts and radio, which uses some audio like matching stuff to snuff out ads in audio. That’s pretty amazing.

    Now we will see who owns the podcasting apps. And I am not really joking, because this is a great feature and something every podcast app *should* implement, except if like the owners of the app make money from podcasting, right?

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  • A Few Really Good Things

    We are coming up on the part of the year where things get a little hectic for me — I don’t know why, but this is the trend. And thus I tend to not really get a bunch of new stuff to review and test during the last few months of the year. Who knows if this year is different, but now seems like a good time to write this post.

    It’s time to point out a few really good things I have come across in my time writing this site (9.5 years for those wondering). Things which you can spend your money on without worry, and know that it’s good, will last, and worth every penny.

    These are the items I feel confident fully endorsing the ever loving crap out of.

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  • Member Journal — 9/23/19

    This week: how I dealt with a natural disaster without social media; USB-C Pro; I comment on a few of anti-office and hipster articles; where to park; and Usain Bolt.

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  • Member Journal — 9/16/19

    This week: things about being back in an office, Dan Cooper, immortal savings, making $350k and middle class, and lastly what does it mean to have an MDM device.

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  • Stuart & Lau Cary vs Filson Original Briefcase

    When I initially reviewed the Stuart & Lau Cary briefcase, I mentioned how it was, in a lot of ways, a modern take on the classic Filson Original Briefcase. Modern materials, layout and everything else.

    As time has worn on I have come to the conclusion that the Cary is better, but the Filson has my heart.

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  • Member Journal — 9/9/19

    This week: a smattering of thoughts on the parts of remote work no one talks about, screen time usefulness, iPadOS gestures, coincidences, and my pitch for you to wear better pants.

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  • Spinnaker Fleuss

    I picked this watch up on Reddit for a really low price, and decided to give it a whirl as my go to weekend watch. I’ve had it I for about a month, and am moving on, but not because of any flaws with the watch itself. It’s pretty neat, and a heck of a deal.

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  • Armida A6

    I have been looking for a watch to compliment my others — something to wear 95% of the time from office to home. Simple, versatile, and basically what is referred to as a ‘tool watch’ — I always wanted to stay under $700. So I ended up getting this Armida A6, an homage to the Rolex Explorer which is currently very popular. The watch is fantastic, but it’s its own thing and ultimately, sadly, it doesn’t fit the bill for what I want.

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  • Member Journal — 9/2/19

    This week: full iPad segregation, self-improvement the glorified hobby, Speedmaster wearers amirite, iconic watches, and Justin Blanton is blogging again.

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  • Benchmade Mini-Griptillian

    I’ve been needing to review this knife for a while. This is especially bad since I love Benchmade knifes and think they are one of the best knife companies out there — eat your hearts out Spyderco fans, Benchmade is superior. I’ll give you a simple reason: most Benchmade knives are ambidextrous, most Spyderco knives are made for right handed people.

    Anyways, the ‘mini-grip’ as it is known is often heralded as one of the better, if not best, everyday carry knife options out there. It’s versatile, inexpensive (relatively), and well made. Let’s see how it stacks up…

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  • Synik vs GR1 vs CPL 24

    Many have been asking me to compare Tom Bihn’s new bag against the GR1 and the CPL 24 I recently reviewed, but those 1:1 comparisons can make it hard to remain in perspective of all the bags out there. So I think a better way to look at this is in the common context of use cases and what is best for those. I’ve broken this down to four categories, and let’s talk about which is best for each before we wrap up with an overall look at things. I’ve also limited this to just the Synik 22/30, CPL 24, and GR1 21/26 as those are the best backpacks on the market currently. ((Prove me wrong, seriously.))

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  • Member’s Journal — 8/26/19

    This week: toggling Bluetooth, vibrating to keystrokes, what is harmful, a potpourri of computing notes, and 10 things about Houston.

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  • Member Journal — 8/19/19

    This week: why I no longer trust The Wirecutter, socks for sock less shoes, my thoughts on paper and pen note taking, Keyboard Maestro 9, iOS 13 thing I love, and Gruber wakes up.

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  • Tom Bihn’s New Synik 22 and 30

    Note: Tom Bihn sent me these bags to gather early feedback, and allow me time to review them fully.

    For almost a decade, Tom Bihn’s Synapse lineup of backpacks have found themselves among the top performers for true backpack nerds. I had my father review it last year and I posted my review a while later, but despite the fact that those are all recent posts — it’s been around.

    The chief request of Tom Bihn over all those years of success with the Synapse has been: to make it a clam shell opening. You see with backpacks there’s three camps of people: those whose prefer top-loading backpacks (roughly what the Synapse is, but more Shadow Guide), those who prefer a full opening clam shell like the GORUCK GR1, and of course there are those with no preference who don’t actually qualify as backpack nerds. The Synapse always sat a bit in the middle, never quite satisfying any one group, but roughly working for every group. In that way it was clever.

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  • Member Journal — 8/12/19

    This week: a reckoning for activity trackers, yep, iOS 13 reactions, iPad OS thoughts, my iPad workflow update, and lax enforcement.

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  • Members Journal — 8/5/19

    This week: where does my iPad usage stand, what is an expert, social media and moderating it, anxiety driven apps, and a touch of Silicon Valley ‘disruption’.

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  • Whoop and Activity Trackers

    As members are aware, I recently ordered a Whoop 3.0 activity tracker. This marks the first time I am dipping my toes back into activity trackers since I gave up my Apple Watch. So it is worth talking about what my hopes are, before we dive into this device/service and ultimately wrap up with general thoughts on activity trackers all together.

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  • Member Journal — 7/30/19

    This week: lack of swearing now, EDC cult, Amazon is testing my trust, Instagram is shady, and watches watches watches.

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  • I’m Done With Food Delivery Services

    We can blame this one on Postmates, but really it was only the straw that broke the camels back for me. Uber Eats, Door Dash, Postmates, Grubhub — all of them are completely shit services which are actually pretty sketchy and worrisome, so I am done with them.

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