The Brooks Review

Category: Links

  • Hazel 3

    A fantastic update to an app that I use everyday without even seeing or thinking about. It’s right up there with Keyboard Maestro and LaunchBar for me. Go buy it. Now.

  • New Instapaper Bookmarklet With Multi-Page Article Saving

    Marco Arment on the Instapaper blog:
    >The new bookmarklet now also supports automatic saving of every page in multi-page articles.

    That’s sweet, but the new `Saved` graphic is even sweeter — seeing it was the best part of my morning.

  • Windows Desktop UI Concept

    I don’t know how useable this work from `Sputnik8` would be, but it looks damned pretty.

  • ‘Regarding MS Office for iPad’

    I missed all the hubbub about Office and the iPad, but this is a great take from Guy English, starting with this:

    >“Does it run Office?”

    >“Yes, it’s on the App Store.”

    I think that sums up why Office matters for Apple and Microsoft.

  • OmniOutliner for iPad v1.2

    The release notes:
    >The document picker has been redesigned to allow quicker access to files and easier file management. Tap on the edit button and select a file(s) to access the sharing, duplicate, and delete options.

    The document picker is so much better I felt the need to post about this update. Still no iCloud support as far as I can see though — I really want that.

  • ‘The Problem With Dumb Pipes’

    Trevor Gilbert makes a really strong argument for not turning cell networks into “dump pipes”:
    >You may think that AT&T slows down speeds because it really likes to be mean and hates the customer. In truth, it is because it needs to make money to exist at all. It needs to grow to survive. Not every company can be Apple, and make products that not only are profitable but lovable. Some companies are relegated to the role of simple profit-seeking. A role that doesn’t endear it to the public, but one that does generally get shareholders on board.

  • The Financial Times’ Paid Subscription Model

    Robert Andrews:
    >In the U.S., print circulation was overtaken by these digital subscribers for the first time.

    Impressive, especially considering they don’t have an app in the App Store any longer. A large part of me thinks that paid subscriptions, rather than advertising, is the way to go.

  • ‘Verisign Seizes .Com Domain Registered via Foreign Registrar on Behalf of US Authorities’

    Mark Jeftovic:
    >But at the end of the day what has happened is that US law (in fact, Maryland state law) as been imposed on a .com domain operating outside the USA, which is the subtext we were very worried about when we commented on SOPA. Even though SOPA is currently in limbo, the reality that US law can now be asserted over all domains registered under .com, .net, org, .biz and maybe .info (Afilias is headquartered in Ireland by operates out of the US).

  • TSA: Fail

    Speaking of the TSA, check out what Steve Moore, former FBI agent, has to say about them:
    >TSA has never, (and I invite them to prove me wrong), foiled a terrorist plot or stopped an attack on an airliner. Ever. They crow about weapons found and insinuate that this means they stopped terrorism. They claim that they can’t comment due to “national security” implications. In fact, if they had foiled a plot, criminal charges would have to be filed. Ever hear of terrorism charges being filed because of something found during a TSA screening? No, because it’s never happened. Trust me, if TSA had ever foiled a terrorist plot, they would buy full-page ads in every newspaper in the United States to prove their importance and increase their budget.

    Read his entire post, also his [bio](http://www.blogger.com/profile/13676101961585480429).

  • TSA Leaves Metal Detector Unattended

    Mallory Hoff:
    >According to TSA officials, “a walk-through metal detector was left unattended for less than one minute.”

    lol.

  • MLB at Bat 2012 Goes Free, Uses Monthly in-App Subscriptions

    It’s a fantastic app — an instant home screen app for me.

  • ‘Google Cable TV Coming to Kansas City’

    MG Siegler with a reminder:
    >The types of deals needed for content plays don’t seem to exactly be Google’s strong suit.

    I hadn’t thought about that when I first heard about the Google TV service, but man it could be a sad offering given Google’s track record.

  • Old Fashioned 101

    Martin Doudoroff:
    >You do not mash up fruit of any kind in an Old Fashioned.

    I’ve never had a pure Old Fashioned if this is the case…

    [via Kottke]

  • Gmail Signups

    It now takes a credit card to get a Gmail account — how anyone is OK with that is beyond me. If a free service ever asks me for my credit card, I immediately know that the service is “free”, not free.

    Update: A couple of people have told me that: a) this is optional and/or b) this is due to Google wallet integration. Either way it is not ideal. With regard to iTunes requiring a credit card, I’d argue that you buy things with an iTunes account and not necessarily with a Gmail account.

  • ‘Apple Loophole Gives Developers Access to Photos’

    Nick Bilton:
    >“Conceivably, an app with access to location data could put together a history of where the user has been based on photo location,” said David E. Chen, co-founder of Curio, a company that develops iOS apps. “The location history, as well as your photos and videos, could be uploaded to a server. Once the data is off of the iOS device, Apple has virtually no ability to monitor or limit its use.”

    Anyone know of any apps in the App Store that are actually uploading all the photos to a remote server without the user explicitly asking the app to do so?

    This isn’t a *good* thing, but in this one instance we may be making a mountain out of a mole hill.

  • iPad Event March 7

    Should I line up now?

  • Ars Technica Goes Misleading Headline Style

    Jacqui Cheng goes with this headline “Mercedes Benz to integrate Apple’s Siri for hands-free commands”, which made me stop and be all like “no way, rad” then I read this in her post:
    >According to the IBTimes, Drive Kit Plus integrates with Mercedes’ app called “Digital Drivestyle” that projects the iPhone’s screen onto the car’s in-car screen. At that point, drivers can use Siri to perform any command that Siri can already do, like make appointments, send messages, and perform Web lookups.

    So it actually sounds more like Mercedes is integrating the iPhone as the central computer for the car, not that they are licensing Siri from Apple and thus having Siri integrated into the car.

    There’s a big difference between the two.

  • John Gruber on Android Tablets

    Gruber asks:
    >Just me or does it seem like you see a lot more than five iPads per Android tablet in the wild? (A guess: a lot of junky 7-inch Android tablets gathering dust in drawers.)

    It’s not just Gruber, I rarely see them. My guess: buyer’s remorse.

  • Marco Arment on Andy Rubin’s Statements About Android Tablets in 2012

    Arment:
    >It’s magical thinking

    Indeed.

  • Nokia’s PureView

    Ian Delaney on the Official Nokia blog about the [aforementioned](https://brooksreview.net/2012/02/come-on-2/) 41-megapixel camera:

    >Otherwise, you can use ‘Creative Shooting Mode’ to capture images at high resolution – 38 megapixels; then reframe, crop and zoom to find the best “picture within the picture” after the image has been shot and before saving it at convenient sizes for sharing and storage.

    So it shoots the pictures at 41MP and converts that to 5MP to make things more manageable, but there is a mode where you can shoot all out at 38MP. Now that is confusing, but also pretty impressive.