The Brooks Review

Category: Links

  • ‘Specialness’

    ST Holdings, LTD, a distributor for “over 200” music labels, on pulling its music from Spotify and other streaming services:
    >As a distributor we have to do what is best for our labels. The majority of which do not want their music on such services. They provide poor revenue and have a detrimental affect on sales. Add to that, the feeling that their music loses its specialness by its exploitation as a low value/free commodity. Quoting one of our labels “Let’s keep the music special, fuck Spotify”

    I mean, Radio is special, just not IP enabled radio. Can’t *you* see the difference?

    The Wire [notes](http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/7994/) about the music that ST Holdings serves: “specialises in techno, grime, dubstep, and bass music”

  • Hacker Says Texas Town Used Three Character Password to Secure Internet Facing SCADA System

    Paul Roberts relaying a comment from hacker “pr0f”:
    >”I’m sorry this ain’t a tale of advanced persistent threats and stuff, but frankly most compromises I’ve seen have been have been a result of gross stupidity, not incredible technical skill on the part of the attacker. Sorry to disappoint.”

    Or to state it more succinctly: people are idiots.

  • Ars Investigates If the iPhone 4S Can Replace a “Real” Digital Camera

    Chris Foresman:
    >Would a professional photographer replace her trusty DSLR with an iPhone 4S? No. But, might a casual snap shooter replace a pocket camera with an iPhone 4S? It’s pretty likely.

    Nice comparison, though I would have liked to seen more point and shoots and less smartphones.

  • Google Chrome and pre-installed web apps

    Wladimir Palant commenting on some things he found while digging around the Chrome browser:
    >Don’t get me wrong: Google Chrome is a great browser and it is easy to get excited about it, argue about benchmarks, brand-new standards and such. But sometimes you get a reminder: this is a Google product and it has to benefit Google. It isn’t merely about making the web better, it is also about promoting Google products and giving them an advantage over competing services.

  • Terpstra on the Nest

    Brett Terpstra:
    >The longest part of the installation was entering my wifi password using the dial, and even that was under a minute.

    I am buying a house just so that I can get one of these.

  • Netflix Picks Up New Episodes Of ‘Arrested Development’

    Nellie Andreeva:
    >Netflix has outbid an established pay cable network for the rights to new episodes of short-lived Arrested Development.

    Smart move. I’d like to see Netflix do more of this.

  • The B&B Podcast – Episode 35: Lunchbox Locker

    >In this episode Shawn and Ben talk about Jeeps, the Kindle Fire, the Kindle Touch, all the hoopla surrounding Readability and paying publishers, and the Jawbone UP.

  • Sprint Most Dropped iPhone Calls

    Jordan Golson:
    >For dropped calls, something for which AT&T has been consistently criticized, Sprint comes out worst. Metrico claims Verizon experienced a 2.1% call failure rate while AT&T had 2.8% and Sprint was worst at 3.7%.

    Also take a look at the chart for the network speeds, AT&T really comes out ahead in this test. While I don’t doubt it has issues in Manhattan and San Francisco, it overall is a pretty decent network it would seem.

  • OmniFocus + Siri

    From the geniuses at OmniGroup:

    >We could have said “Yay, Siri and OmniFocus can work together” and gone back to our long-term projects. Instead, a couple engineers got to talking “You know, if we… and then the server… and…” “Wow, I think that would totally work!”

    So damned sweet.

    **UPDATED**: I just had a chance to play with this and it really does work well. Much better than other solutions I have seen. Additionally it “completes” the task that you added to the Reminders app so that you don’t get a double notification. If you work at the OmniGroup and see me on the streets of Seattle I will happily buy you a drink.

  • Paul Thurrott Hates the Kindle Touch

    Here he is starting off his criticism:
    >In fact, I will go so far as to say that this device appears to have been designed by someone who has not only never used a Kindle, but is actively working to usurp the platform from inside. Amazon, find this mole and remove them with maximum prejudice. They have ruined a device that should have been excellent.

    **UPDATED**: I don’t agree with his assessment, sorry that wasn’t clear.

  • Actually, it’s 15

    Bryan Gruley and Cliff Edwards writing about Sony and its CEO Stringer for Businessweek:
    >Jeff Loff, a senior analyst with Macquarie Capital Securities in Tokyo, points out that Sony sells nine different 46-inch TV models in the U.S. and its mobile-phone joint venture with Ericsson offers more than 40 handsets. “Can you imagine how dilutive that is to your R&D?” he says. A Sony spokesman says the number of phones is being reduced, and notes that Samsung has 15 different 46-inch TVs.

    This article does a great job to spell out what’s wrong with Sony and why Stringer should not be in charge — though the Stringer bit I don’t think is the point of the article.

    I also can’t help but wonder if this isn’t the rabbit hole that Google is heading down. Both are engineer focused and create a wide range of products and in Google’s case are continuing to move farther away from their profit center.

  • National Geographic Photo Contest 2011 – The Big Picture

    Some phenomenal photos.

  • Can Steve Jobs Be Replaced?

    Walter Isaacson in an interview with Nick Bilton:
    >He can’t be replaced by one person, but two people can replace him. Tim Cook is the business side of Steve’s brain. He’s meticulous, scientific and business-like. Jony Ive is the artistic, emotional, romantic side of Steve. The two of them together are an incredible team that will hold together very well.

  • To Occupy Such a Time as This

    James Shelley:
    >To occupy such a time as this is to realize that every issue before us is bigger than any particular brand of protest or strategy. If these are indeed the greatest cultural challenges that we and our children will face, then we do not only need the direct action of demonstrators to activate our collective consciousness, we also need to coordinate some practical, actionable strategies for addressing the issues themselves.

    Well said.

  • A human review of the Kindle Fire

    Marco Arment on the Fire:

    >Granted, I’ve only spent two days with it, so I can’t share any long-term impressions. But I’m honestly unlikely to have any, because this isn’t a device that makes me want to use it more. And that’s fatal.

    Exact same feeling that I had, though I didn’t notice the light leak issues that he did.

  • EU Adopts Resolution Against US Domain Seizures

    Ernesto at TorrentFreak:
    >According to the resolution these measures need to be countered as they endanger “the integrity of the global internet and freedom of communication.”

  • ‘Understanding Apple Fans’

    Mike Loukides starts by talking about how much he adores Android because it is open, the ends with this:
    >The price of openness may well be letting vendors break stuff. And I suppose I’m willing to pay that price. But I don’t have to be happy about it. I hope Google can figure out how to exert some control over what vendors do with Android; that would be good for the whole community. AT&T and other carriers are not helping Android, or themselves, by turning a great product into a second-rate one. And maybe I’m becoming soft in my old age, but I now understand what Apple fans hate about Android.

    I’d say he still doesn’t fully understand Apple fans. To understand Apple fans, you must first understand why this statement by Loukides is so absurd to Apple fans:

    >[…]at one point had a whole stack of Android phones sitting on my desk[…]

    That statement right there is a better example of everything that is wrong with the Android market, it’s more than just crap UI and carrier logos. It’s about every facet of Android and the market that it has created.

    You can argue all day long that:

    >[…]if Apple didn’t exist to be teach us what great design was, we’d certainly be happy with Android. Way, way better than any of the feature-phones I’ve used in the past.

    Sure, and I thought my Treo and BlackBerry were pretty great before iPhone. The fact isn’t that Android would be amazing if iPhone didn’t exist — it’s that Android still can’t come close to the polish of the iPhone after existing for 6 plus years. To say that an Android phone is “way, way better” than old feature phones, is setting the bar so low that it’s not even a valid comparison.

  • Ars on the Silk Browser

    Casey Johnston for Ars Technica did some more scientific studies on the speed of the Kindle Fire’s Silk browser:
    >The internal specs of the Kindle Fire are more than adequate for simple Web browsing, but browsing doesn’t happen with much urgency. To use a popular point of comparison, the Fire loaded pages two to three times slower than the iPad 2, for instance. And the Kindle Fire runs the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark in around 2,500 milliseconds, much slower than the iPad 2’s 1,700 milliseconds.

    Seem about right in my testing and to be honest I really think Silk is faster with the acceleration ‘off’.

  • Shawn Blanc Reviews The Kindle Touch

    Shawn Blanc:
    >But who says the Kindle has to replace the iPad? It’s not uncommon for people to own both. I know people who use their Kindle and their iPad. Of course, I also know others who abandoned their Kindle back in April 2010.

    >For me, I can see the Kindle becoming the reading device I keep on the coffee table and take on vacations. But, if I’m going to head out the door and am going to take just one device, you can bet it’ll be the iPad.

    I have always liked my Kindle 2, but what Shawn says here is really accurate. You have to be devoted to reading to find a use for a Kindle after you get an iPad — the iPad is far more useful and typically closer to you than your Kindle ever is.

    So while I love Kindles, and own a Kindle, they are pretty well unused in my home.

  • Verizon Tracking Phone Use

    Dan Seitz on recent Verizon privacy changes:
    >Yes, Verizon is literally tracking where you go and what you do with your phone.

    According to [TechCrunch](http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/16/verizon-opt-out/) AT&T does the same thing, but the user must opt-in. With Verizon the user has to opt-out.

    Verizon is doing it wrong.