The Brooks Review

Category: Links

  • Microsoft Unveils a (Somewhat) Tablet-Friendly Version of Windows

    If by somewhat you mean it has another convoluted new name.

  • Griffey Retires

    So long to a legend for Mariners fans and baseball fans across the world.

  • Verizon Wireless currently testing Apple iPads

    Anyone other than BGR and I would not believe it. This doesn’t surprise me Apple tested intel chips for years before the change was made. This is probably more of a backup right now than anything else. Just my guess though.

  • Yahoo faces privacy test with new e-mail features

    Michael Liedtke:

    Yahoo Inc. is hoping to turn on a new sharing option in its popular e-mail service without shocking users who prize their privacy.

    That’s why the Internet company is advising its 280 million e-mail accountholders to review their privacy settings along with their incoming messages.

    Yahoo posted the privacy reminder this week as it prepares to unveil new features that will share its e-mail users’ online activities and interests with people listed in their address books unless they take steps to prevent the information from being broadcast. The new sharing tools will be appearing in people’s e-mail accounts this month.

    This is not the right thing to do. You should allow people to opt in always, not make them have to opt out.

  • Microsoft Responds to Google Dumping Windows: Our OS Is Secure

    Stan Schroeder:

    “When it comes to security, even hackers admit we’re doing a better job making our products more secure than anyone else. And it’s not just the hackers; third party influentials and industry leaders like Cisco tell us regularly that our focus and investment continues to surpass others,” Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc says in a blog post.

    He also lists some facts to support his claim, citing several security improvements in Windows 7, like Parental Controls, Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), BitLocker disc encryption and an enhanced Windows Firewall. Furthermore, Microsoft ships software and security updates “as soon as possible through Windows Update and Microsoft Update to keep our customers safe,” he says.

    Two problems:

    1. Most are still using XP so it doesn’t matter how secure Win 7 is.
    2. Doing better and being secure are two entirely different things.

  • Disney Puts Movie Tickets on a Facebook Site – NYTimes.com

    Brooks Barnes:

    The Walt Disney Company has created what it believes is a first-of-its-kind application allowing Facebook users to buy tickets to “Toy Story 3” without leaving the social networking site and while, at the same time, prodding their friends to come along.

    The application, called Disney Tickets Together, could transform how Hollywood sells movie tickets by combining purchases with the powerful forces of social networking. When you buy a ticket through Disney’s application, for instance, it alerts your Facebook friends and prompts you to invite them to buy tickets of their own.

    This is going to catch on.

  • Amazon.com Said to Introduce Thinner Kindle in August

    Peter Burrows and Joseph Galante:

    The new version will have sharper contrast that makes e-books look more like real books, the people familiar with the product said. The delay during page turns also will be shortened.

  • Apple Rumored to Begin Paying Foxconn Employees More

    Laura June:

    Chinese website Zol — which is owned by CBS Interactive — is reporting that Apple may be moving toward a model of paying Foxconn employees direct subsidies, in the form of small percentages of the profits from whatever product line they work on.

    Interesting, and this would be really great if Apple started doing this. However I am guessing Apple will not be writing the check directly, FoxConn will still do that (for accounting and legal reasons).

  • Borders Adds $120 E-Reader to Its Shelves

    Christina Warren:

    While the Libre Pro isn’t the flashiest e-reader on the market — it uses an LCD screen rather than eInk, for instance — it is one of the cheapest. It also builds into Borders’s overall strategy of offering a variety of different e-reader options to customers at all price points. Borders says it plans on offering up to 10 different devices by the end of the year.

    There is another name for the Libre Pro, that name is CRAP. It isn’t even e-ink so the screen will look terrible. Save your money. Way to not be left out by selling crap Borders.

  • AT&T Caps Phone Data Usage With New Wireless Plans | Seattle Times Newspaper

    Peter Svensson:

    One new plan will cost $25 per month and offer 2 gigabytes of data per month, which AT&T says will be enough for 98 percent of its smart phone customers. Additional gigabytes will cost $10 each.

    A second plan will cost $15 per month for 200 megabytes of data, which AT&T says is enough for 65 percent of its smart phone customers. If they go over, they’ll pay another $15 for 200 megabytes.

    This is great for most people but only 2gb for tethering? That seems like weak sauce.

  • Apple CEO Steve Jobs Live from D8

    Cool, but I can’t stand Kara Swisher.

  • Pot, kettle, black? Microsoft voices concerns over Google

    Hahaha, Microsoft and Google both “tailor” results. That’s why you don’t look for bad things about each on their search engines. But Google clearly has a monopoly, whether it is engaging in anti-competitive practices is the real question.

  • App Turns iPhone Into Tethered Webcam (Warning: Windows Only)

    Eli Milchman:

    On the increasingly small off chance your computer doesn’t have it’s own webcam (or you’ve blowtorched it because those aliens from Tau Ceti II were spying on you), German developer Drahtwerk has a clever solution: an app that lets you turn your iPhone into a wifi-tethered webcam.

    iWebcamera ($5) includes a pause-mode, two quality options and a “send drivers by e-mail feature,” which is apparently some BS that Windows users need to deal with.

  • Apple Didn’t Beat Microsoft, Robbie Bach Did: Apple’s Secret 5th Column

    Rob Enderle:

    However, I also agree with much of what Geoffrey James says in “Top 10 Reasons Apple Beat Microsoft” — essentially, that Apple’s relative success really has more to do with decisions made at Microsoft than decisions made at Apple.

    Nope, not even close. Also Enderle and Thurrott are in the same boat of stupidity – but that is just my opinion.

  • Paul Thurrott: Understanding iPad

    Mr. Thurrott:

    The iPad is a new type of computing device, just as Apple claimed. It offers a premium user experience for certain kinds of tasks only, and comes with a premium price to match. It is aimed at those consumers who wish to send a message to others, much like Prius drivers or Whole Foods shoppers. These people value style and status above functionality or cost concerns, and will put up with missing features and annoyances like the overly glossy and reflective screen, because they want to be seen as technology savvy trendsetters. (Which, arguably, they are.) And to be fair, they will be rewarded over time with functional improvements, if Apple’s history with the iPod and iPhone is any indication.

    Apparently there are 2+ million of ‘these people’.

  • “Likejacking” Takes Off on Facebook

    Sarah Perez:

    After clicking through on a link, victims don’t get to see the promised content, but rather a blank page reading “click here to continue.” This page contains the clickjacking worm (Troj/Iframe-ET) embedded via an invisible link. Click anywhere on the page and the message is posted to your profile and News Feed, allowing the worm to further its spread.

  • MSI Wind-Pad Summed Up by Wired

    Charlie Sorrel:

    Care to guess which OS the all-plastic computer will run? Android? Chrome? Nope, it will be encumbered with a full-on desktop operating system in the shape of Windows 7. MSI has papered a thin software covering over the top in the shape of the Wind Touch UI, which should make things a little more finger-friendly. Windows 7 does technically support touch out of the box, but I have tried it and it pretty much sucks.

  • Woman Sues Google for Bad Directions

    Courtney Rubin:

    A woman is suing search engine Google, claiming its walking directions led her onto a major highway, where she was hit by a car. She’s seeking more than $100,000 in damages.

    I didn’t read past this line to know two things:

    1. This lady is an idiot.
    2. She was never taught to “stop, look, and listen”.

  • Protect your browser from “tabnabbing”

    TJ Luoma:

    Have you heard about “Tabnabbing”? It is the term for a new kind of attack, which can be summarized as grabbing a Web browser tab when you aren’t looking and making it appear as another site.

    Aza Raskin, lead designer for Firefox, created a page that illustrates this. If you click on that link and then ignore it for awhile (create and switch to another tab), Aza’s page will turn into a lookalike for Gmail.

    Interesting, I can see how this would work on people that keep a lot of tabs open.

  • Pulse: the iPad’s Most Gorgeous Newsreader

    No doubt that it is beautiful, but not that practical if you have more than a dozen news feeds you follow. Still, it is a great app to use for showing off the iPad.