New backpack from Goruck:
> GR0 is exactly proportionate to GR1, only 5 liters smaller. Fitwise, if you’re under 6’ tall, GR0. Over 6’ tall, GR1. GR0 has all the same features as GR1, including 3 rows of MOLLE webbing and compatibility with the GR1 Field Pocket.
Sounds like a great option for smaller people.
*Side note: I am currently testing the SK26 to confirm my [“bags” conclusion](https://brooksreview.net/2013/09/bags-again/).*
Dr. Drang:
>The most surprising thing to me was that battery capacity actually went down after the original iPhone and didn’t become substantially greater than that initial capacity until the 5s. The huge increase in processing capability over the past 6 years has come with only a 15% increase in battery capacity.
If you consider that iPhone battery performance has gotten better over that same time while the overall speed has improved significantly (and screen resolution), well it is hard not to be impressed. I’d love to see the same analysis done for an Android phone.
> Nothing but sales will come in the long run from you holding one of our cans of delicious AriZona Iced Tea like a big, hard cock and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way costing us anything for this advertising. Thank you for taking a picture with the label out so people can see that 99 cents for a tall can of iced tea is a great value (even for you) and then also the thing where you hold it like a thick boner and stick your tongue out. Just fantastic stuff all around.
John Carey on the Fujifilm X-Pro1:
>What Fuji has done is stepped into a quickly changing and infamously finicky market space and laid into place the intention to keep alive the long standing essence of photography while still managing to maintain a clear strategy in keeping various levels of more casual shooters fulfilled as they work their way backwards from the flagship X-Pro1, a camera released over a year ago yet rather than haphazardly releasing a predecessor, has chosen to refine and improve on its existing tech through firmware updates and trying out ideas on the other cameras in the line as well as through a continuously expanding native lens selection.
Great read for anyone thinking about downsizing from a dSLR. I keep my 5D in my car, but rarely (if ever) use it. My iPhone and GX1, they get used *all* the time.
Bruce Schneier:
>It becomes increasingly difficult to attack their systems and defend our systems, because everything is using the same systems: Microsoft Windows, Cisco routers, HTML, TCP/IP, iPhones, Intel chips, and so on. Finding a vulnerability — or creating one — and keeping it secret to attack the bad guys necessarily leaves the good guys more vulnerable.
Matthew Ingram:
> More than the number of users, Twitter’s future rests on the amount of engagement it can show those users having with content from advertisers — and the data it can provide to those advertisers and partners such as TV networks.
I don’t like Twitter, but I think it is a stronger business than Facebook. That said, I don’t see how their business (the part that makes money, ads) is sustainable while they allow third party services to use the API. The most “engaged” users are the ones actively trying to avoid ads. That’s the biggest threat to Twitter making money.
Jason Samenow:
> In an official public forecast discussion, the Anchorage National Weather Service office – whose employees are working without knowledge of when they will be paid during the ongoing Federal shutdown – encoded this secret message: “Please pay us.”
Love it.
Ivan Vicevic:
> Dennis M. Hope is, at first glance, just a normal guy. But what makes him unique is that he’s the President of the Galactic Government, and the owner of the Moon, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Io (one of Jupiter’s moons). He makes his living selling acres on the Moon and on Mars.
His clients include former Presidents — as in U.S. Presidents.
As of today, Kyle and I have decided to make Begin free. We are keeping the in-app purchase to support the app.
You can read more on the announcement post, but the biggest reason we made it free was to garner enough revenue to actively develop the app for the long term.
[Go check it out](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/begin-your-daily-todo-list/id687455038?ls=1&mt=8), no reason not to now.
Wikipedia entry on Australia’s ‘double dissolution’ provision:
> The double dissolution provision comes into play if the Senate and House twice fail to agree on a piece of legislation (in section 57 called “a proposed law”, and commonly referred to as a “trigger”). The government may use this trigger (or any number of triggers) to recommend the Governor-General dissolve the House and the entire Senate – pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution – and issue writs for an election in which every seat in the Parliament is contested.
This would be great to have in the United States, and probably would mean a lot more shit would get done.
Just posted the first in a series of posts about Begin, and the decisions that lead to the shipping version of the app. The first post focuses on why Begin is only today and tomorrow. (Of course, it also includes some early screenshots.)
Good cause, donate if you can.
Nick Heer:
> A much simpler and more honest approach would be to either “recommend” a product, or to “not recommend” it. Perhaps there could also be a “highly recommended” ranking, for particularly good things (and, for the pessimists out there, an “avoid” ranking, for truly terrible things). This system appears to be more vague, but it is no less accurate than an arbitrary number score.
The simple yes or no when recommending a product is the most honest way to end a review.
Just released, App.net based, Instagram-like, photo sharing app. I tested this a few times while it was in development and it really is a nice app. It’s free with in-app purchase for buying some lovely photo filters to add to the base set.
You can still share to Twitter, Facebook, and App.net too. I can’t think of a single reason to use Instagram over this, and several reasons to run screaming from Instagram.
A little “selfish” promotion, Nathan Snelgrove writing about [Begin](http://beginapp.co):
> This is solely about managing your daily tasks, not micromanaging every detail.
That’s the thing that surprised me the most about Begin when I was working with Kyle on it. Begin actually compliments OmniFocus really well in my workflow. Allowing me to plan projects and keep track of on-going and longterm items in OmniFocus, while I take care of the minutia of the day-to-day in Begin.
Also, and I can’t beat this drum loud enough, the Solarized Light theme is pure beauty (no, I didn’t design the theme):
> The Solarized Light and Solarized Dark themes are my favourite. They’re similar to the Light and Dark themes, but just different enough to appear more alive and lifelike. The Solarized Light theme looks very similar to paper, and it’s become the one I’ve been constantly using.
Absolutely *no* screenshot does Solarized light justice, you really need to see it in person — live on the app.
Brett Terpstra has launched Marked 2 — outside the Mac App Store — and has some great new stuff packed in the update. My favorite is the support for MarsEdit, as well as the clipboard previewing. Great stuff and $12 seems like a bargain.
Chris Gonzales:
> Simplenote has become the perfect note-taking app for me. It allows me to very quickly and easily jot down whatever’s in my head before I forget it, which is hugely invaluable to me. On top of that, finding anything I’m looking for from previous notes couldn’t be easier.
Marc Rogers:
> First you have to obtain a suitable print. A suitable print needs to be unsmudged and be a complete print of the correct finger that unlocks a phone. If you use your thumb to unlock it, the way Apple designed it, then you are looking for the finger which is least likely to leave a decent print on the iPhone.
If you don’t read this you are not allowed to talk about Touch ID security.
Just as the headline says, someone can use your iPhone to call anyone, but it’s not by unlocking your phone. Honestly, if someone gets a hold of your phone do you really care if they use it to call someone? That’s the least of my worries.
Anyways. I am linking to this post from Andy Greenberg because it contains the most wrongheaded and jacktastic quote I have seen in a while, from the person who found the exploit:
> “I think this is a part of iOS that they’re [Apple] not paying much attention to,” Daoud says. “They’re more interested in copying Samsung on new things than fixing their bugs.”
*Nailed it.* Douchebag.
Update: I am hearing from a few people that 7.0.1 actually fixes this, but I have yet to see verification of this.
Hayley Tsukayama:
> Several months after calling for legislation to unlock cellphones, the White House filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday asking that all wireless carriers be required to unlock all mobile devices so that users can easily switch between carriers.
*Nice.*