The Brooks Review

Category: Links

  • Counterfeit Pilot IDs and Uniforms Will Now Be Sufficient to Bypass Airport Security

    Bruce Schneier on the TSA decision not to screen pilots:
    >But the TSA isn’t in a position to screen pilots; all they can decide to do is to not screen people who are in pilot uniforms with pilot IDs. And it’s far safer to just screen everybody than to trust that TSA agents will be able figure out who is a real pilot and who is someone just pretending to be a pilot.

    I don’t have a problem with the idea of the TSA — I have a problem with the hiring standards to become a TSA agent. ((For example: I searched through the job openings for a basic screener with the TSA. No where in there are basic educational requirements. Basically you need to be a citizen, pass a basic background check and pass a TSA training course. I may be elitist in saying this, but those that are protecting our air travel — well — I just think they should be required to at least have an Associates Degree, at least.))

  • App Store Review Culture and Entitlement

    David Chartier on App Store reviews:
    >Maybe leaving these nasty reviews in the App Store is the first way a lot of people have felt any kind of power around technology in a really long time.

    That’s certainly part of it.

  • Webcolumn

    I cringe every time someone mentions that I “blog”. I hate the term because the term to me means posting pictures of people doing stupid stuff and the food you ate for lunch. I tell people: “I write a website”. It was the best I could think of, but Skoda — he’s using ‘webcolumn’ now.

    I quite like that.

  • FTC Focuses Google Probe on Android, Web Search

    The FTC and EU are looking into the anti-competitive practices that Google is allegedly doing. Apple is suing every Android “partner” they can get their hands on. Ditto Microsoft. Ditto Intellectual Ventures.

    Google is getting squeezed from every side — they are getting cornered.

    Reminds me of [this post I wrote in August 2010](https://brooksreview.net/2010/08/google-predictions/). (At least I got #1 right — so far.)

  • Elliot Jay Stocks’ New Mac Set-Up

    On the most recent episode of The B&B Podcast I talked about how I may go back to the desktop + laptop routine. I have received some questions of how that would look, and basically it would be the exact same setup that Elliot Jay Stocks has right now.

    It seems like the perfect setup to me if I only had one office. Until I get rid of this second office a 13″ MacBook Air will be my best solution (given a limited budget).

  • Siegler on: ‘Facebook Messenger, SMS and iMessage’

    MG Siegler responded to [my post this morning](https://brooksreview.net/2011/08/sms/) about my feelings on Facebook Messenger and iMessage. The main question here is what happens to SMS when iMessage reaches 100% adoption. The answer: probably nothing.

    Meaning unless iMessage is open to be able for use on every device, then SMS is a more open, and thus likely, a more popular solution. The Facebook Messenger approach is to create a standalone app that *is* on every major platform and use the massive user base to make the app popular.

    Two completely different approaches with Facebook Messenger having the potential to have the most impact on the SMS industry.

  • Dressing Well

    George Hobica:

    >But everything else being equal (same frequent flier status, etc.), when a flight is oversold in economy and the airline needs to upgrade someone, are they going to choose the passenger in the tank top or the one wearing the nice dress or suit? You already know the answer, (but as always, it doesn’t hurt to be extra nice to any staff you should encounter).

    **Pro tip**: Dressing well gets you better service almost anywhere you go (restaurants, not the DMV, meetings, flying, travel). I don’t wear suits when I fly, but I also don’t wear PJ’s — I make sure to wear a nice looking outfit by today’s standards and by the standards of my age group (often slacks or nicer-than-jeans pants with a button down shirt).

    You would be amazed at what better service you get when you put care into your outward appearance, even if you stop short of wearing a suit. Yes dressier clothes may not be as comfortable, but planes are uncomfortable anyways. Just remember: wearing a suit and sitting in first-class will always be more comfortable than your PJ’s in the sardine seat section.

  • Microsoft Video from MGXFY12

    If this was what Microsoft’s advertising department was airing on TV — well things would be going a lot better for them.

    Update: Looks like they pulled the video, can’t seem to find that same video elsewhere.

  • Lion Adoption Rates

    Kris on the Omni Group blog:
    >As you can see from the following OmniGraphSketcher file, the percentage of Omni customers using Lion within the first 10 days of its release is nearly the same as those who began using Leopard within the first 100 days of its release.

    That’s pretty impressive adoption.

  • How 50 Big Companies Got Their Names

    Number thirty-six is a *little* off from an accuracy of the name relating to products standpoint.

  • Redesigning the Browser Window

    This is a pretty interesting concept and exactly what I am talking about with fullscreen apps. Fullscreen apps shouldn’t just be blown up versions of themselves — they should be creating an immersive experience for fullscreen users that actually changes the way the app works.

  • Tablet Returns

    Seth Clifford on tablet returns:
    >That doesn’t seem to be happening with iPads, because I think people’s expectations are set accordingly when they buy them. These are not full computing devices; they’re not built to be – and yet when you watch the commercials, what do you hear? The “full” internet. Flash. Do it all. Why wouldn’t people be disappointed when they can’t actually replace a computer with a device that promised they could?

    I think that’s a very astute observation. Apple sets the expectations (unapologetically) with all of it’s devices — they set those expectations pretty low. Every other tablet maker seems to advertise their devices as an all encompassing computer.

    It’s not that these computers aren’t all encompassing, but that they don’t do the all encompassing features as easily as a “regular” laptop is.

    [via DF]

  • The iShine

    Devir Kahan on the Apple-applied icon gloss in iOS (he dubs: iShine):
    >In my opinion, this Apple shine on all apps looks nothing short of terrible. It makes icons appear bubble-like and juvenile. By far and away the best icons are the ones without this annoying shine.

    When I finished reading this I thought for sure that he was wrong. I headed to my iPhone and searched for just one example of a good looking App icon that left the Apple shine in place — I failed to find one.

  • FileVault Tests on a 13″ MacBook Air

    Federico Viticci testing his new MacBook Air 13″ with and without FileVault:
    >My Geekbench results (run with the latest version of the app available, at 64-bit, with system daemons-only running in the background) report two points more to the test performed when FileVault was turned on.

    He also ran some nice “real world” tests and his conclusion is similar to mine: you don’t notice any performance difference. Here’s my advice with FileVault: turn it on and leave it on until you think to yourself “this computer is so slow that I need a new one.” Until you reach such a point there is no reason to have it off, that added security (including the upcoming remote wipe) is killer.

  • Myhrvold: Just Getting Started

    Dave Winer:
    >Also Myrvold has raised $5 billion and has only made $2 billion so far in settlements and judgements. His VCs no doubt expect a 10x return or greater. You can do the math. He’s got to extract at least another $48 billion. He’s just getting started. That ultimately has to chill the investment environment in tech.

    *Fun*.

  • Quick Look Gestures in Finder Let You Navigate Like a Pro

    Some more great gesture tricks — this time when you are using Quick Look. On another note: looks like I need to switch to a Magic trackpad at my office now too.

  • Fullscreen Safari Trick [Lion]

    This is a great trick when you use Safari in fullscreen mode (and it makes Safari in fullscreen mode a lot more useable). ((Note: this is the same trick that I told Shawn about on our latest [podcast](http://thebbpodcast.com/2011/08/episode-21-in-ear-monitors/).))

  • Drance FTW

    Wonder why so many hated “that” post by Google? Matt Drance sums it up perfectly.

  • Entitled

    John Gruber:
    >Google seems to feel entitled to copy whatever it wants.

    Which is exactly why I am souring on Google as a company.

  • PostCheck for Address Book

    My thanks to Brian Toth for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote his excellent PostCheck.

    PostCheck is a killer plug-in for Address Book on your Mac. Its goal is to properly format the addresses in your Address Book for shipping things with USPS. The killer (for me) part is that it will autofill in that pesky 4-digit addition that fancy people add to the zip codes.

    I dig this plug-in, it’s not something I use all the time — but it *is* something that just seems so Apple-like every time I use it. Why this is not a built-in feature I don’t know.

    At [$10](http://briantoth.com/postcheck/purchase) it is an instant buy in my book.