The Brooks Review

Top Posts

Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
Grand Seiko SBGX261February 23, 2023
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

Recent Articles

  • Ben Brooks /now

    Love this little /now page movement. I created my own.

    Love this little /now page movement. I created my own.

  • Review: GORUCK Bullet 10L

    Nat Wagstaff: It feels like the Bullet has been honed and refined, right down to the core essence of what you’d want a ruck to do. All bulk and excess weight didn’t make the cut and you’re left with a product that gives you a refreshing experience. Agreed.

    Nat Wagstaff:

    It feels like the Bullet has been honed and refined, right down to the core essence of what you’d want a ruck to do. All bulk and excess weight didn’t make the cut and you’re left with a product that gives you a refreshing experience.

    Agreed.

  • Alto’s Adventure is out on Apple TV

    Awesome, I bet it looks great.

    Awesome, I bet it looks great.

  • Mextures, Snapseed and Pixelmator

    It's crazy to me the amount of cool stuff Erin creates on her iPhone. She only ever uses her Mac for writing.

    It's crazy to me the amount of cool stuff Erin creates on her iPhone. She only ever uses her Mac for writing.

  • Write Like You Talk

    Paul Graham: It seems to be hard for most people to write in spoken language.

    Paul Graham:

    It seems to be hard for most people to write in spoken language.

  • More Amazon Stuff: Amazon Elements Baby Wipes

    I won’t say that I have tried all the wipes out there, but of the ones that I have tried, I like these. They have three things going for them: Cheap Subscribe & Save (auto delivery) They are better than Costco brand. Both my wife and I prefer these to any other wipes we would…

    I won’t say that I have tried all the wipes out there, but of the ones that I have tried, I like these. They have three things going for them:

    1. Cheap
    2. Subscribe & Save (auto delivery)
    3. They are better than Costco brand.

    Both my wife and I prefer these to any other wipes we would buy.

  • Amazon Item: Matador Pocket Blanket

    I finally picked a couple of these up for the family and they are super nice. That’s why I am telling you about them now that picnic season is well over. Hmm. Anyways, I thought the biggest issue would be folding them back up into the little pouch, but that’s no issue. The blanket has…

    I finally picked a couple of these up for the family and they are super nice. That’s why I am telling you about them now that picnic season is well over. Hmm.

    Anyways, I thought the biggest issue would be folding them back up into the little pouch, but that’s no issue. The blanket has little guides sewn in which work really well. Very happy with this blanket.

    Best of all, I can keep two of them in the car and you wouldn’t know it.

  • Fixing Evernote

    Bradley Chambers: For a service I pay for, Evernote had become quite annoying. Instead of making its core features even better, it adding features like Work Chat, and became seriously annoying with notifications about explaining new features….over and over again.

    Bradley Chambers:

    For a service I pay for, Evernote had become quite annoying. Instead of making its core features even better, it adding features like Work Chat, and became seriously annoying with notifications about explaining new features….over and over again.

  • Incase ICON Backpack

    A fantastic backpack, purpose built for digital haulers.

    Note: This item was provided to me from Incase for the purpose of this review.

    There’s really two extremes to bag design, the first is a big vast pit in which to throw things — like a duffle bag. The other end of the spectrum is bags that have a pocket for each specific thing, perfectly tailored to those items: pens, business cards, laptop, charger, Kindle, tablet, and the list can go on and on.

    Most the the bags which I have tested to date, fall on the side of being a large open bag. They typically are not well structured bags, and they typically are not solely designed to carry electronics.

    (more…)

  • Arriving at San Francisco

    Over on The Syndicate, we published the second part of Nick Keppol’s deep dive on San Francisco — and man did I learn some stuff about the typeface.

    Over on The Syndicate, we published the second part of Nick Keppol’s deep dive on San Francisco — and man did I learn some stuff about the typeface.

  • Stop Force Closing Apps on Your Iphone

    Neil Hughes: The only time you should force an app to close is if it becomes unresponsive or erratic. Preach it.

    Neil Hughes:

    The only time you should force an app to close is if it becomes unresponsive or erratic.

    Preach it.

  • Regret

    Do the right thing.

    Update on 11-25-15

    The events of the past few days have brought to light, and to my personal attention, many new facts and stories I did not previously know about the person going by the name “Samantha Bielefeld” and because of this new evidence I have a much different take on the situation. I still believe many valid points were made by this person, and that gendered and personal attacks are never warranted — I stand by that.

    However, given what I now know I cannot in good conscience continue to defend this person. I apologize for my misplaced trust and hope to elaborate on this more at a later time. I have a long standing policy of not deleting posts once they are published, and that policy still stands. Again, my apologies. You all trust me, and in this circumstance I have failed you.

    Often, as writers, we end up with a mix of: good, mediocre, and sometimes bad stuff out there in the world for others to see. I know I have my fair share of it on this site. What usually follows the mediocre and bad, is a sense of regret.

    I cannot stand to have something wrong on this site. Even if at the time I thought I was dead right, it bugs me knowing it is there, and regret sets in. That doesn’t mean I regret having ever written something, but that I regret being wrong. It’s certainly an egotistical view, but I think it is true for most who publish online, whether in tweets or on a blog.

    (more…)

  • Responsibility

    Matt Gemmell: That was a shitty thing for me to do, because having a following doesn’t just make patronage work, or let you take creative risks in product monetisation; it’s also a responsibility. Now, that sucks, because you can’t possibly be held accountable for the actions of every sociopath who happened to click the Follow…

    Matt Gemmell:

    That was a shitty thing for me to do, because having a following doesn’t just make patronage work, or let you take creative risks in product monetisation; it’s also a responsibility.

    Now, that sucks, because you can’t possibly be held accountable for the actions of every sociopath who happened to click the Follow button on your Twitter profile. You can’t.

    I am so glad he wrote this. I’ve been struggling with a similar post, but Matt has said it far better than I could have. Well done.

    UPDATE 11-25-15: As with the other posts on this matter the new evidence coming forward calls into question the motives of the individual in such a way that I no longer feel as many people were, or are, in the wrong as they were.

  • Death to Analytics

    Analytics only give you extra stress, more pressure, and subtly shape what you write. It’s horrible.

    Over the years of writing here, I have tried just about every analytics package I could get my hands on. WordPress analytics, Google analytics, Reinvigorate, Clicky, Gaug.es, Mint, Piwik — the list goes on. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what the list is — I think most people assume that if you run a website, you need analytics on it. You need analytics to negotiate with advertisers, or because everyone else does it. I’ve never seen any other concrete reasons why.

    (more…)

  • Samantha and The Great Big Lie

    Great post, summarizing the irrational attacking of a writer for sharing level-headed criticism. Welch calls out many here who should be ashamed. You absolutely need to read this. If I’m honest, I’m ashamed I did not catch what was going on until it was far too late. I like to think that I could have…

    Great post, summarizing the irrational attacking of a writer for sharing level-headed criticism. Welch calls out many here who should be ashamed.

    You absolutely need to read this.

    If I’m honest, I’m ashamed I did not catch what was going on until it was far too late. I like to think that I could have helped more.

    UPDATE 11-25-15: While the analysis of this linked article is still valid, the attacks made against this person — attacks which did not center around gender — look in hindsight to be rational given recent events.

  • Notes on Notes.app

    I've been using Notes.app since I installed the first iOS 9 beta. It's truly good. (Though that texturing and text shadows look hideous.)

    I've been using Notes.app since I installed the first iOS 9 beta. It's truly good. (Though that texturing and text shadows look hideous.)

  • On Apple’s Insurmountable Platform Advantage

    Fantastic read.

    Fantastic read.

  • Rudoku from Cerebral Gardens

    Cerebral Gardens has released Rudoku which is a crazy number game. I’ve been lucky enough to have been playing it, and it is equal parts frustrating and amazing. Frustrating in that you think you are about to win and then — nope. I love the game and it is well worth your time to check…

    Cerebral Gardens has released Rudoku which is a crazy number game. I’ve been lucky enough to have been playing it, and it is equal parts frustrating and amazing. Frustrating in that you think you are about to win and then — nope.

    I love the game and it is well worth your time to check out. It’s fast to learn and anything but mind numbing. It’s one of the few games I keep on my iPhone.

    Another great title from a co-worker. Go get it.

  • The Elephant in the Room

    Samantha Bielefeld: The issue isn’t that Marco is successful, there are many app developers who would love to be in the same position. He has earned his time in the spotlight, and it’s only natural for him to take advantage of it. Though to state that anyone can simply do the same thing and be…

    Samantha Bielefeld:

    The issue isn’t that Marco is successful, there are many app developers who would love to be in the same position. He has earned his time in the spotlight, and it’s only natural for him to take advantage of it. Though to state that anyone can simply do the same thing and be successful, is just plain wrong.

    Some great points in here, something about Overcast’s new pricing model has felt off with me since I read about it. I think a lot of it is encapsulated in Bielefeld’s post.

    Launching apps, even if you have a name, is incredibly hard. What helps Arment is not so much that he can get the press coverage, but that his core audience is larger than most people’s. And it is that core audience which will spend money on whatever you do.

    (BTW, if you aren’t reading Bielefeld’s blog, there’s no better time to start.)

    UPDATE 11-25-15: While I think this linked post still makes very solid points, I can no longer in good conscience recommend reading the original source content’s author.

    For posterity the original link point to: http://samanthabielefeld.com/journal/the-elephant-in-the-room

  • Buy My Old Stuff

    I used to keep a page on this site to sell this stuff, but I really wanted a better storefront for it. So, of course I had to get a new domain. I am super proud of the domain. A few items on there now, more to be added later this week.

    I used to keep a page on this site to sell this stuff, but I really wanted a better storefront for it. So, of course I had to get a new domain. I am super proud of the domain.

    A few items on there now, more to be added later this week.