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

  • ‘Your iPhone Will Talk to Stores While You Shop’

    Lex Berko: > What Apple has said with certainty is that it will not be storing the Beacon-collected data for itself. But in an age where data is among the most coveted of possessions, it’s not a huge escalation to imagine that someone will in the very near future. I think this is the real…

    Lex Berko:

    > What Apple has said with certainty is that it will not be storing the Beacon-collected data for itself. But in an age where data is among the most coveted of possessions, it’s not a huge escalation to imagine that someone will in the very near future.

    I think this is the real concern. Not that Apple will collect the data, but that others will — and they *will*. It would have been great for Apple to have designed the system in a way that doesn’t allow people to collect any data. ((Maybe they have, I don’t know one way or another.))

  • ‘Someone’s Been Siphoning Data Through a Huge Security Hole in the Internet’

    Kim Zetter: > Earlier this year, researchers say, someone mysteriously hijacked internet traffic headed to government agencies, corporate offices and other recipients in the U.S. and elsewhere and redirected it to Belarus and Iceland, before sending it on its way to its legitimate destinations. They did so repeatedly over several months. But luckily someone did…

    Kim Zetter:

    > Earlier this year, researchers say, someone mysteriously hijacked internet traffic headed to government agencies, corporate offices and other recipients in the U.S. and elsewhere and redirected it to Belarus and Iceland, before sending it on its way to its legitimate destinations. They did so repeatedly over several months. But luckily someone did notice.

  • ‘The simple fix that could heal the patent system.’

    James Bessen: > But this ignores a peculiar feature of U.S. patent law: The Patent Office cannot actually reject any patent application. Oh, a patent examiner can issue a “rejection” letter, but the applicant can keep an application alive simply by filing a response. In turn, the patent examiner can then issue a “final rejection.”…

    James Bessen:

    > But this ignores a peculiar feature of U.S. patent law: The Patent Office cannot actually reject any patent application. Oh, a patent examiner can issue a “rejection” letter, but the applicant can keep an application alive simply by filing a response. In turn, the patent examiner can then issue a “final rejection.” But this, too, is doublespeak: All the patent applicant has to do is file a “continuation” under one of several possible procedures in order to keep the patent application pending for as long as 20 years.

    No way we could have foreseen that being a problem later on. *No way* I say.

  • Update to Goruck GR1 Field Pocket Post

    A sharp-eyed reader reminded me that I have gotten lazy about adding photos to my post. I just updated the Field Pocket post with some photos. Apologies.

    A sharp-eyed reader reminded me that I have gotten lazy about adding photos to my post. I just updated the Field Pocket post with some photos.

    Apologies.

  • ‘Apple’s Star Chamber’

    WSJ: > The arrangement is flatly unconstitutional. *Popcorn.* (via DF)

    WSJ:

    > The arrangement is flatly unconstitutional.

    *Popcorn.*

    (via DF)

  • Cano to Mariners for $240 Million Over Ten Years

    Thank God for baseball season again. Dave Cameron: > It could also be a total disaster, though. If the other moves don’t come together, or simply aren’t enough to turn a bad team into a good team, the Mariners could easily have the best second baseman in baseball surrounded by a supporting cast that still…

    Thank God for baseball season again. Dave Cameron:

    > It could also be a total disaster, though. If the other moves don’t come together, or simply aren’t enough to turn a bad team into a good team, the Mariners could easily have the best second baseman in baseball surrounded by a supporting cast that still doesn’t leave them with a better than .500 club. And this team is very vulnerable to injuries, especially to either Cano or Hernandez, who represent a huge chunk of the team’s chances of contention. A prolonged DL stint by either one probably sinks their season.

    I hate long contracts. Five years seems like far too long for baseball. (But salary and contract lengths have gotten crazy.) I hope this works out, but then again, Mariners.

    Go Ms?

  • ‘BitTorrent Sync Hits 2 Million User Mark’

    Eric Klinker on the BitTorrent Sync blog: > Today, Sync is moving over 20 gigabytes per person. And that’s a pretty powerful thing. Dropbox’s cloud-based platform stores less than 0.42 gigabytes per user. Wow. It really is a fantastic service. I’d love to see more iOS developer support though.

    Eric Klinker on the BitTorrent Sync blog:

    > Today, Sync is moving over 20 gigabytes per person. And that’s a pretty powerful thing. Dropbox’s cloud-based platform stores less than 0.42 gigabytes per user.

    Wow. It really is a fantastic service. I’d love to see more iOS developer support though.

  • ‘The Value of Content’

    Simply fantastic post from Andy Beaumont: > The web has seemingly evolved into something that actively antagonises people — why would anyone in their right mind hide the content that visitors are there to see? (via DF)

    Simply fantastic post from Andy Beaumont:

    > The web has seemingly evolved into something that actively antagonises people — why would anyone in their right mind hide the content that visitors are there to see?

    (via DF)

  • ‘Fascinating Historical Events That Happened Around The Same Time’

    Lives up to the title.

    Lives up to the title.

  • ‘NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show’

    Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani: > The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have…

    Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani:

    > The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.

    Here’s the fun part:

    > NSA Director Keith Alexander disclosed in Senate testimony in October that the NSA had run a pilot project in 2010 and 2011 to collect “samples” of U.S. cellphone location data. The data collected were never available for intelligence analysis purposes, and the project was discontinued because it had no “operational value,” he said.

  • ‘FCC Chair: ISPs Should Be Able to Charge Netflix for Internet Fast Lane’

    Jon Brodkin: > Newly anointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said this week that it would be OK for Internet service providers to charge Netflix and other companies for a faster lane to consumers. [If only we could have seen that coming](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/new-fcc-chairman-is-former-lobbyist-for-cable-and-wireless-industries/).

    Jon Brodkin:

    > Newly anointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said this week that it would be OK for Internet service providers to charge Netflix and other companies for a faster lane to consumers.

    [If only we could have seen that coming](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/new-fcc-chairman-is-former-lobbyist-for-cable-and-wireless-industries/).

  • ‘Tablets at Restaurants: Applebee’s, Chili’s Race to Eliminate Human Interaction’

    [Rather sensationalist headline on this post from Will Oremus][1]: > Score one for the machines. On Tuesday, Applebee’s announced plans to install a tablet at every table in its 1,860 restaurants across the United States. Customers will be able to use the devices to order food, pay the bill, and ignore their dining companions by…

    [Rather sensationalist headline on this post from Will Oremus][1]:

    > Score one for the machines. On Tuesday, Applebee’s announced plans to install a tablet at every table in its 1,860 restaurants across the United States. Customers will be able to use the devices to order food, pay the bill, and ignore their dining companions by playing video games.

    I am all for this, in fact I would pay more to not have to interact with servers — instead getting a tablet. Do you know why?

    Because we waited 25 minutes the other night at Red Robin to place our order. That’s after placing a drink order and waiting 15 minutes for soda. Total time to order our food: 40 minutes. Anyone who has a kid knows how bad that is — then we had to wait for the food, which took forever.

    Chain restaurants, the kind you take kids to, are massively under staffed. This under staffing leads to really shitty experiences and that drives me nuts. Bring on tablets, that or airline server call buttons. I’d take either.

    [1]: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/12/03/tablets_at_restaurants_applebee_s_chili_s_race_to_eliminate_human_interaction.html

  • The Information Launches

    $39 a month, or $399 a year. *Good luck with that.*

    $39 a month, or $399 a year.

    *Good luck with that.*

  • GORUCK GR1 Field Pocket

    This handy add on makes a great camera pouch inside your GR1.

    Since I decided to make the GR1 my full-time backpack from now on (hopefully this is it for me), I decided to also pick up a GR1 Field Pocket (I also grabbed a couple reverse flag patches, one for the GR1 and one for the Field Pocket). The field pocket I picked up is ‘Coyote’ colored, which I chose just to make the pocket visible inside the bag. Overall the color is just fine — I wouldn’t want my entire bag that color, but inside the bag it makes for a nice accent.
    (more…)

  • Quote of the Day: Alex King

    “Borrowing from “the best camera is the one you have with you”, we wanted to make sure that the best device for reading Rands in Repose was the one you had with you.” — Alex King

    “Borrowing from “the best camera is the one you have with you”, we wanted to make sure that the best device for reading Rands in Repose was the one you had with you.”

  • ‘Touch ID’

    Dr. Drang: > So am I fooling myself, or is it possible that Touch ID’s recognition gets worse with time? I’ve noticed that here too, there’s a substantial improvement to be had by re-adding your finger prints. My guess was that it was due to weather changes effecting the moisture in my fingers that shift…

    Dr. Drang:

    > So am I fooling myself, or is it possible that Touch ID’s recognition gets worse with time?

    I’ve noticed that here too, there’s a substantial improvement to be had by re-adding your finger prints. My guess was that it was due to weather changes effecting the moisture in my fingers that shift the ‘look’ of my fingerprints slightly. I have no proof of that though.

  • Jumping Air Gaps

    Dan Goodin: > The proof-of-concept software—or malicious trojans that adopt the same high-frequency communication methods—could prove especially adept in penetrating highly sensitive environments that routinely place an “air gap” between computers and the outside world. Using nothing more than the built-in microphones and speakers of standard computers, the researchers were able to transmit passwords and…

    Dan Goodin:

    > The proof-of-concept software—or malicious trojans that adopt the same high-frequency communication methods—could prove especially adept in penetrating highly sensitive environments that routinely place an “air gap” between computers and the outside world. Using nothing more than the built-in microphones and speakers of standard computers, the researchers were able to transmit passwords and other small amounts of data from distances of almost 65 feet.

  • Quote of the Day: Shane Cole

    “Microsoft and Google’s solutions seem to exist solely to quell the heartburn brought on corporate IT departments by anxious executives who use iOS devices but need a way to make simple changes to documents on the fly.” – Shane Cole

    “Microsoft and Google’s solutions seem to exist solely to quell the heartburn brought on corporate IT departments by anxious executives who use iOS devices but need a way to make simple changes to documents on the fly.”

  • ‘Australian Spy Agency Offered to Share Data About Ordinary Citizens’

    Ewen MacAskill, James Ball and Katharine Murphy: > Australia’s surveillance agency offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden. > The document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share “medical, legal or religious information”, and increases concern that the…

    Ewen MacAskill, James Ball and Katharine Murphy:

    > Australia’s surveillance agency offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
    > The document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share “medical, legal or religious information”, and increases concern that the agency could be operating outside its legal mandate, according to the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC.

    *See*, it’s not *just* the United States acting all shady.

  • ‘That Viral “Poverty Thoughts” Essay Is Totally Ridiculous’

    Angelica Leicht: > What Linda is doing here is infuriating. There are people donating to her that don’t realize she’s full of shit. People who have good intentions and big hearts and are attempting to make a difference in the life of a person who, by the sound of it, is living in some pretty…

    Angelica Leicht:

    > What Linda is doing here is infuriating. There are people donating to her that don’t realize she’s full of shit. People who have good intentions and big hearts and are attempting to make a difference in the life of a person who, by the sound of it, is living in some pretty dire surroundings. But folks, these are made-up dire surroundings. Stop giving her money.