The Brooks Review

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Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022
Grand Seiko SBGX261February 23, 2023
The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025

Recent Articles

  • Let It Be

    I am so sorry for that title — so very sorry to all those parents out there.

    I’ve started to notice and interesting trend among the people I follow on Twitter and people converse with in my small nerdverse™. The trend goes something like this: “Does anyone know how to make X app, look/work/feel/do something like Y app?”

    In other words they are looking at using a new application, but something about that new application doesn’t work how they want it to work, based only on other applications they have used in the past. It could be the UI itself, a niche feature, or any number of other things.

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  • Never trust a computer you can’t lift

    There are very few, a select few, people that put up with me. One of them is Stephen Hackett — and truthfully he is a great guy. He’s decided to go full time with his site and Relay FM. He’s started a T-Shirt drive because THAT IS WHAT YOU DO. Anyways, go buy a bunch…

    There are very few, a select few, people that put up with me. One of them is Stephen Hackett — and truthfully he is a great guy. He’s decided to go full time with his site and Relay FM.

    He’s started a T-Shirt drive because THAT IS WHAT YOU DO. Anyways, go buy a bunch and support the most authoritative source on the web for old Mac support. ((Sorry Brand, you win for Newtons though.))

  • Coda for iOS

    I’ve had the pleasure of testing this app for sometime now, and it really is stellar. One of the best iPad apps, and now it is on the iPhone. Coda on iOS is how I update the status page for this site.

    I’ve had the pleasure of testing this app for sometime now, and it really is stellar. One of the best iPad apps, and now it is on the iPhone. Coda on iOS is how I update the status page for this site.

  • Importance of Sleep

    This three part series on sleep has been making the rounds and just last night I read through all three. Wow, really interesting stuff and something I think everyone should read. Needless to say I went to bed a bit earlier last night.

    This three part series on sleep has been making the rounds and just last night I read through all three. Wow, really interesting stuff and something I think everyone should read.

    Needless to say I went to bed a bit earlier last night.

  • Ulysses 2.1 for Mac and iPad

    Great update that brings backups to Ulysses. I’ve been using it for a while and it’s yet another solid update to the best writing app money can buy.

    Great update that brings backups to Ulysses. I’ve been using it for a while and it’s yet another solid update to the best writing app money can buy.

  • A Simple Toiletry Trick

    Don’t forget your toiletries again.

    Years ago I read an article (which I sadly can’t find) about keeping your toiletry bag fully stocked at all times. I took that to heart and have, since reading that, always kept my toiletries bag ready to go.

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  • Push-Triggered Sync in OmniFocus

    Yet another reason why OmniFocus is amazing, this new push based sync system works with custom WebDAV syncing too. Full security and full convenience.

    Yet another reason why OmniFocus is amazing, this new push based sync system works with custom WebDAV syncing too. Full security and full convenience.

  • Quote of the Day: Shawn Blanc

    “If you’re also slowing down this summer to think about what’s in store for the next season of life, instead of trying to figure out how you’re going to do it all, maybe try to do one thing really well.” — Shawn Blanc

    “If you’re also slowing down this summer to think about what’s in store for the next season of life, instead of trying to figure out how you’re going to do it all, maybe try to do one thing really well.”

  • How to Cut Children’s Screen Time

    Jane E. Brody reporting: One girl among the 1,000 children she interviewed in preparing her book said, “I feel like I’m just boring. I’m boring my dad because he will take any text, any call, any time, even on the ski lift.” A 4-year-old called her father’s smartphone a “stupid phone.” It turns my stomach…

    Jane E. Brody reporting:

    One girl among the 1,000 children she interviewed in preparing her book said, “I feel like I’m just boring. I’m boring my dad because he will take any text, any call, any time, even on the ski lift.” A 4-year-old called her father’s smartphone a “stupid phone.”

    It turns my stomach to think my kids might ever feel like that.

  • Close your laptop. Handwriting could make you smarter.

    I’ve found this to be the case in my own life, and it is the primary reason why I take most notes by hand during calls and meetings. I’ve even found that I don’t need to refer to notes as often when I take them by hand. The downside to all of this though is:…

    I’ve found this to be the case in my own life, and it is the primary reason why I take most notes by hand during calls and meetings. I’ve even found that I don’t need to refer to notes as often when I take them by hand.

    The downside to all of this though is: search. It is a real pain to search through my notes and find what I am looking for, when they are hand written.

  • Daily Summary Email from OmniFocus

    Getting ready for the day with OmniFocus.

    Some time ago I tried Todoist as a replacement for OmniFocus. It didn’t stick, largely because they don’t seem to take encryption seriously, so I was back on OmniFocus. But the one thing missing from OmniFocus that I loved about Todoist was the email I received every morning telling me the tasks for the day. It was a really nice way to look at my day’s overview before I sat down at my Mac.

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  • Nox

    A neat little app was just release from Cosmic Owl called Nox. This app can send you a notification for sunrise and sunset. I loved using it while we were at Disney to know when the sun would set — typically I had the app remind me 15 minutes before sunset. It gave me a…

    A neat little app was just release from Cosmic Owl called Nox. This app can send you a notification for sunrise and sunset. I loved using it while we were at Disney to know when the sun would set — typically I had the app remind me 15 minutes before sunset.

    It gave me a good sense of when I would be slightly less sweaty.

    Handy.

  • Getting my Daily To Do List Out of OmniFocus

    This is really neat and similar to what I do — except I have OmniFocus send me a daily email.

    This is really neat and similar to what I do — except I have OmniFocus send me a daily email.

  • The problem with calories

    Conor McClure with the smack down on health: The takeaway should be this: you don’t have to be a slave to the numbers to get the results you want. I would in fact argue the opposite: succumbing to the conventional wisdom of weight loss will only lead to unsustainable habits and disappointment. Take the long…

    Conor McClure with the smack down on health:

    The takeaway should be this: you don’t have to be a slave to the numbers to get the results you want. I would in fact argue the opposite: succumbing to the conventional wisdom of weight loss will only lead to unsustainable habits and disappointment. Take the long road, and be in it for life.

  • Personal Journaling

    Low commitment, low bullshit.

    I’ve struggled with the personal journal concept my entire life. It’s something that I envy when I see others doing it, even back when it was a spiral notebook journal, but no matter what I do, I can’t keep it up for more than a week or two.

    And I love Day One — it is a gorgeous app. I love many of the other journal type apps too. But none of them stick. And it’s not a problem with apps, it’s a problem with my approach.

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  • Starting Fresh

    I mean, I got some disk space back and learned somethings.

    Just about every 3-4 months I used to reformat my computer, doing a fresh install of the entire system. It was the best way to speed up the computer and clean out a borked registry.

    I am, of course, talking about when I used a PC. I could do the whole process in an evening, and thought it was just an elite skill I had.

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  • GPS in Airplane Mode

    Michael Tsai: Presumably the GPS does not perform as well without access to cellular towers or Wi-Fi. But this could potentially save a lot of battery life when you’re in an area with poor cell service. Plus, it would let you track your flight process while on an airplane, if you had the maps preloaded.…

    Michael Tsai:

    Presumably the GPS does not perform as well without access to cellular towers or Wi-Fi. But this could potentially save a lot of battery life when you’re in an area with poor cell service. Plus, it would let you track your flight process while on an airplane, if you had the maps preloaded.

    I can attest this is the case in 8.4, as my photos show from my recent flight. Phone completely in airplane mode, wifi off, all my photos are geotagged. Which is pretty neat as I snapped photos out of the plane and had no clue what I was looking at.

  • A Pixel-To-Pixel Showdown

    Alik Griffin comparing the Fuji X-T1 and Sony A7r: My take away from all this is that you have two RAW files that are geared for two different users and it comes down to preference. Would you rather apply noise reduction yourself in post and have a sharper image at low ISO, or would you…

    Alik Griffin comparing the Fuji X-T1 and Sony A7r:

    My take away from all this is that you have two RAW files that are geared for two different users and it comes down to preference. Would you rather apply noise reduction yourself in post and have a sharper image at low ISO, or would you rather have a cleaner image at high ISO to start with?  For me I would rather have clean high ISO since sharpness is a lot easier to apply than noise reduction. And I think most average Joe photographers would prefer this as well.

    As with cameras on your iPhone, these days it is less about the sensor and a lot more about the image processor. No doubt in my mind that Fuji is leading the way in that regard.

  • Design of a Site Meant to Be Read: Part Two

    Make people want to read your article. That’s step one.

    Over two years ago I wrote a post about how to design a site for reading experience. In that post I explored visual clutter by looking at ad placements, image use, and image placement, as a method of determining what attracts your eye, and thus detracts from the reading experience.

    My first stab at talking about a readable site was very focused on clutter, and yet very flawed, because of the fact that I looked just at clutter, and not more elements of the site design.

    A good, readable, design is far more than just clutter.

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  • The Quiet

    A few thoughts on how summer brings peace in the home.

    A few thoughts on how summer brings peace in the home.