The Brooks Review

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

Recent Articles

  • Apple and IBM Storm the Enterprise

    Tim Bajarin: In fact, they invoke a level of trust in IT that is tough to beat. IBM’s endorsement of iOS and the devices that use it speaks a lot to how much they respect Apple’s technology and are willing to stand behind these products as part of their major IT solutions programs. Given the…

    Tim Bajarin:

    In fact, they invoke a level of trust in IT that is tough to beat. IBM’s endorsement of iOS and the devices that use it speaks a lot to how much they respect Apple’s technology and are willing to stand behind these products as part of their major IT solutions programs. Given the power and clout of both companies, I suspect this will become one of the most important and powerful tech partnerships we have ever seen.

    Apple doesn’t market to enterprise, but IBM is enterprise. Apple an now continue to focus on consumers, and let IBM focus on the enterprise. Apple just expanded the size of their market tremendously. Smart play.

  • Forecast.io LaunchBar Action

    Pretty neat way of getting weather Forecasts in LaunchBar. ((Note: It is a bit slow and not that intuitive, but I can’t say if that is because of a problem with the plugin or the fact that I have a beta OS, and beta LaunchBar installed.))

    Pretty neat way of getting weather Forecasts in LaunchBar. ((Note: It is a bit slow and not that intuitive, but I can’t say if that is because of a problem with the plugin or the fact that I have a beta OS, and beta LaunchBar installed.))

  • Indie Developers Get in Touch

    I’m doing a new thing over on ye olde podcast, as I have decided to only sell one advertiser spot per show instead of the originally conceived two spots. There’s two reasons for this: It’s hard enough to just sell one spot per week. I’ve come up with a better use for the second ad…

    I’m doing a new thing over on ye olde podcast, as I have decided to only sell one advertiser spot per show instead of the originally conceived two spots.

    There’s two reasons for this:

    1. It’s hard enough to just sell one spot per week.
    2. I’ve come up with a better use for the second ad spot. (I think.)

    That better use is that I will give away the second ad spot to any indie developer that wants it, but they have to meet my criteria:

    1. The app has to be good.
    2. The app has to be unknown to me.
    3. You can’t be a big corporation, but you can be a team.

    So far I have done this once, and am about to do it again. The podcast has just over 2,700 listners at this writing, but it’s growing daily. This seems like a good use of everyones time as I have been finding some really great little apps because of it. Not all make the cut, but of the ones that do, I pick randomly the order I feature them.

    If you want to be considered just get in touch with me. If you don’t qualify, but want to sponsor the show, there are deals to be had for multiple shows — current rate is $300 per show. Get in touch if you want to talk about that.

    Thanks for your support, and here’s to hoping that we all find some great apps, from some developers who are deserving of a little more attention.

  • Spillo

    Great new app for your Mac to use Pinboard natively. I actually don’t care if I use a service on the web or as a native app, but the important thing here is that Pinboard looks like absolute hell. Spillo, looks great in comparison. Haven’t used it much, but it seems to be fast and…

    Great new app for your Mac to use Pinboard natively. I actually don’t care if I use a service on the web or as a native app, but the important thing here is that Pinboard looks like absolute hell. Spillo, looks great in comparison.

    Haven’t used it much, but it seems to be fast and looks better — which really is key here.

  • We Strenuously Factchecked the Entire Premise of Sex Tape

    This is great work from GQ. I hate stupid movie plots like this.

    This is great work from GQ. I hate stupid movie plots like this.

  • Seagate x Sync

    Cool new NAS offerings that have native BitTorrent Sync functionality baked in. Now we just need a Macminicolo.net like service for these.

    Cool new NAS offerings that have native BitTorrent Sync functionality baked in. Now we just need a Macminicolo.net like service for these.

  • Climatology Android App

    The description: Climatology gives you climate information for anywhere on Earth: temperature, rain and sunniness. Whether finding where are the warm, dry places to go on holiday in December, or avoiding rain for your wedding, to finding out what the climate is like in Kazakhstan in April, > Climatology allows you to discover the information…

    The description:

    Climatology gives you climate information for anywhere on Earth: temperature, rain and sunniness. Whether finding where are the warm, dry places to go on holiday in December, or avoiding rain for your wedding, to finding out what the climate is like in Kazakhstan in April, > Climatology allows you to discover the information you want.

    Sounds pretty neat, and looks nice too.

    It’s made by Microsoft, which is the biggest surprise of it all. (Kind of like Forecast.io’s Time Machine feature.)

  • Further Interruption Survey Analysis

    A while back I posted about how likely people are to interrupt each other given the device/thing that person is using. Richard Koopmann analyzed the survey data and together we put out this post. A loyal reader pointed out that Koopmann’s data analysis had a few flaws, all minor, and none that effected the conclusion.…

    A while back I posted about how likely people are to interrupt each other given the device/thing that person is using. Richard Koopmann analyzed the survey data and together we put out this post.

    A loyal reader pointed out that Koopmann’s data analysis had a few flaws, all minor, and none that effected the conclusion. This, however was not ok with Mr. Koopmann, who has spent considerable time to re-write and calculate his analysis. It’s so robust I gave it it’s own page.

    Take a look.

  • Smile of the Century

    Dan Lewis in his daily email newsletter: Somehow, we learned on a subconscious level to treat the emoticon as if the person who typed it was actually smiling at us. Fascinating, I wonder how emoji effects this. Does it further entrench the ‘smile’?

    Dan Lewis in his daily email newsletter:

    Somehow, we learned on a subconscious level to treat the emoticon as if the person who typed it was actually smiling at us.

    Fascinating, I wonder how emoji effects this. Does it further entrench the ‘smile’?

  • Busy NYC Restaurant Solves Major Mystery by Reviewing Old Surveillance

    In 2004 customers took an average of 8 minutes to order, but ten years later they take an average of 21 minutes. All because they are dicking around on their phones. Overall eating times increased by 50 minutes and it's mostly related to time spent on phones. Amazing and sad.

    In 2004 customers took an average of 8 minutes to order, but ten years later they take an average of 21 minutes. All because they are dicking around on their phones. Overall eating times increased by 50 minutes and it's mostly related to time spent on phones. Amazing and sad.

  • TBR Podcast Sponsorships

    My new podcast has over 2,500 listeners now, so if you have a product to promote now is the time. Click through for the details and pricing.

    My new podcast has over 2,500 listeners now, so if you have a product to promote now is the time. Click through for the details and pricing.

  • Make it Pretty

    Dave Wiskus: Design is how it works. If you were only hiring a designer to make your app pretty, you were already focused on the wrong problem.

    Dave Wiskus:

    Design is how it works. If you were only hiring a designer to make your app pretty, you were already focused on the wrong problem.

  • Yahoo May Make Something Cool

    Jamie Condliffe: In a research paper published to arXiv, Daniele Quercia from Yahoo Labs explains how a new algorithm could optimize directions for beauty. “The goal of this work is to automatically suggest routes that are not only short but also emotionally pleasant,” he writes. Personally I would love this.

    Jamie Condliffe:

    In a research paper published to arXiv, Daniele Quercia from Yahoo Labs explains how a new algorithm could optimize directions for beauty. “The goal of this work is to automatically suggest routes that are not only short but also emotionally pleasant,” he writes.

    Personally I would love this.

  • Wearing Android

    Justin Williams: To do pretty much all of the things I actually want to do with this thing on my wrist, I don’t need a big honking screen. I just need a lot of sensors. The same sensors that are in your phone, just crammed into a tiny bracelet. Pairs well with the latest episode…

    Justin Williams:

    To do pretty much all of the things I actually want to do with this thing on my wrist, I don’t need a big honking screen. I just need a lot of sensors. The same sensors that are in your phone, just crammed into a tiny bracelet.

    Pairs well with the latest episode of the podcast.

  • On Working From Home and Running a Business

    I run a small business in addition to the business that is this website, and Shawn’s advice is spot on. Read the entire thing if you work for ourself.

    I run a small business in addition to the business that is this website, and Shawn’s advice is spot on. Read the entire thing if you work for ourself.

  • Senator Asks FTC to Look Into Facebook Mood Experiment

    Amy Schatz: Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia asked the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to look into whether Facebook’s experiment on the ability to manipulate emotions on Facebook using the data of 700,000 unwitting users may have violated the company’s privacy agreement with the federal government. Finally, but really go look at the Facebook…

    Amy Schatz:

    Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia asked the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to look into whether Facebook’s experiment on the ability to manipulate emotions on Facebook using the data of 700,000 unwitting users may have violated the company’s privacy agreement with the federal government.

    Finally, but really go look at the Facebook response. They are practically flipping everyone off with that statement.

  • The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People

    Very cool little set of data. I’m all for the Kurt Vonnegut schedule.

    Very cool little set of data. I’m all for the Kurt Vonnegut schedule.

  • Summer Backpack Troubles

    Every summer I run into the same problem with every backpack I use: the backpack wrinkles up my shirt and makes my back sweat. My shirt gets wrinkled not just on the back, but on the shoulders and anywhere else the straps touch. And these wrinkles set because they are effectively being steamed in from…

    Every summer I run into the same problem with every backpack I use: the backpack wrinkles up my shirt and makes my back sweat. My shirt gets wrinkled not just on the back, but on the shoulders and anywhere else the straps touch. And these wrinkles set because they are effectively being steamed in from the sweat off my body.

    So I end up carrying a backpack that I love, but it making me look like a sweaty disheveled guy. That’s just not ok with me. I like looking put together, and that doesn’t seem possible on hot days with a backpack.

    The thing about this is that it’s not really something that can be solved or designed around. Trust me, the lightest and meshy-est of hiking daypacks cause the same issues. It’s just a fact of backpack life it seems.

    Solutions

    There are none, except to do what I do on hot days: use a shoulder/briefcase. It’s not ideal, but when I know the weather is getting up there I simply switch bags (to the Founder’s Briefcase right now). I’d rather use a bag that doesn’t make me look disheveled than one that can’t help but make me look disheveled.

    Still, it drives me nuts.

  • With Big Data Comes Big Responsibility

    Om Malik: While many of the technologies will indeed make it easier for us to live in the future, but what about the side effects and the impacts of these technologies on our society, it’s fabric and the economy at large. It is rather irresponsible that we are not pushing back by asking tougher questions…

    Om Malik:

    While many of the technologies will indeed make it easier for us to live in the future, but what about the side effects and the impacts of these technologies on our society, it’s fabric and the economy at large. It is rather irresponsible that we are not pushing back by asking tougher questions from companies that are likely to dominate our future, because if we don’t, we will fail to have a proper public discourse, and will deserve the bleak future we fear the most.

  • The Brooks Review Podcast: Episode Two – From The Nipple Up

    This week I am joined by Stephen Hackett of 512pixels.net, and The Prompt. We discuss wearables and how fashion is going to make this a tough market to crack, and diving into the unknown waters of what Apple may offer. Brought to you by: Macminicolo.net and Mind Vault

    This week I am joined by Stephen Hackett of 512pixels.net, and The Prompt. We discuss wearables and how fashion is going to make this a tough market to crack, and diving into the unknown waters of what Apple may offer.

    Brought to you by: