Recent Articles

[David Sirota][1]:

> To spotlight this bias, CJR looked at NSA-related reporting by America’s four largest newspapers. Aggregating all of the coverage, the journalism watchdog organization found that there has been a clear slant in favor of the government’s defense of mass spying.

That’s to be expected as large press organizations try not to piss off governments to the point where they lose coveted spots in the press corps. However, I think the most damning part of Sirota’s piece is this:

> Assessing the whole situation, the Federal Communications Commission recently concluded that there is a fundamental “power shift” happening in the media right now—one in which media organizations are “more reliant on news doled out by press release or official statement, which means that they report the news powerful institutions want us to know rather than what has been concealed.”

To me that is far more egregious than not pissing off the government — that’s just lazy.

[1]: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/how-the-nsa-exposed-the-medias-biggest-bias

Really [great post from Rian van der Merwe][1] about growing a blog audience:

> This is a story about deciding to take a route that avoids most of these traditional content marketing methods. It’s a story of how a struggling blog with an insignificant number of readers has become not only a source of great joy and expression for me, but also a source of non-insignificant income. This is definitely not a story about how to get to 1 million page views a month. It’s a story about how to make your page views count.

Getting traffic is pretty much a black art, tanking your traffic is easy though. ((Just add a paywall.)) I don’t agree with everything in this post (but the shoutout was all too kind), but what I do know is that people can tell when you don’t care. It simply isn’t interesting to read blog posts about topics the author doesn’t care about — if the author doesn’t care, why should you?

I think that is where larger, multi-author, sites get into trouble — it becomes more about “freshness” and less about writing about topics the writers are interested in. Watch out for that.

[1]: http://www.elezea.com/2013/11/how-to-build-an-audience/

*White, 64GB, Verizon LTE* — that’s the iPad Air I picked up for myself on November 1st and I was expecting a lot from this device.

For me the iPad Air is replacing two iPads, not just one. Both my mini and my aging iPad 3 are going on in life as hand-me-downs, as the Air becomes my only iPad. Since getting the iPad Air I have spent an inordinate amount of time working from it — I haven’t used my Mac at home since I got it.

Typically that would have been purposeful, allowing me to boast about my rigorous testing here in this quasi-review I am writing. Typically you expect me to now say that I am posting/writing this from the Air, well, sorry I am writing this on my retina MacBook Pro because that’s just where I happen to be.

But once I get home for the day, for the weekend, once I am home in general — I just can’t see a need for any other device than the iPad Air. Which just so happens to be a huge benefit. No, not because of battery life, space, weight, or any of the other bullshit that is all to easy to sling around about a new device.

It’s a huge benefit to me personally because, with our family growing, and my wife’s business growing, we need to rearrange our house a bit. Currently my wife and I share an office space in what would normally be a formal living room — but I enclosed it into a lovely, if large, shared office. Now with kiddo number two on the way, we need the guest room as another kids room — but we still need a guest room. So my portion of the shared office is now becoming that guest room.

It will mark the first time since high school that I don’t have a dedicated home office with a large desk and a comfy chair. I’ll be taking up residence in the kitchen, at a small built-in desk someone thought was clever to build in there (not me). Truthfully though, I don’t plan on using my laptop at home for much. It will do its nightly backups, and serve as a photo editor for RAW images (I don’t think the iPad can import those… yet). Other than that, if the past few days are any indication, there isn’t much other need for a laptop at home for me.

The iPad mini always felt to cramped, and yes, non-retina was a bummer — but the biggest issue was size. It was fantastic to hold, and carry, but to use for *stuff* it just was OK. I actually think my iPhone did/does a better job at many tasks like writing. ((Just ask Patrick Rhone.))

The iPad 3 I had was slow, but more than that it was just heavy. I loved the size of the display, but the weight would kill you. I didn’t want to carry it around the house at all because it just felt too heavy — too ridiculous — to be lugging around.

All of that has been solved with the Air. Yeah, sure it is fast. Yes it is new and shiny.

*But* more than all of that, the thinning of the bezel makes the screen pop more — makes it feel larger — and the thinning of the device (both weight and size) makes this iPad feel like a wonder to hold. It’s something that you still can’t believe works, and works well at that.

For the first time since I got the original iPad I am presented with a device that I actively *want* to use for things — not just a device that I have if I need it. It reminds me of 2007 and 2010 all over again. It’s more than just a new and shiny toy, it’s about a device that works so perfectly well that you cannot help but find uses for it — all for the very sake of wanting to use it more.

When you have something that is just a true joy to use — in every respect — you ended up contriving more and more situations for you to use that thing. That’s the iPad Air in a nutshell.

[This report from Apple will be making the rounds][1]. In the report Apple discloses as much information as they say they can about government information requests. Overall, not much new is learned — except perhaps that given the customer database size Apple has, the requests are very few relatively speaking (Apple says between 2000-3000 accounts are effected, and many report that Apple holds 600 million credit cards in the iTunes system).

The best part about the report, and the reason why I am linking to it, is the masterful job Apple does at shaming people/entities/corporations/governments in a public document without outrightly coming out to shame them.

Take this obvious dig at Google for example:

> Perhaps most important, our business does not depend on collecting personal data. We have no interest in amassing personal information about our customers. We protect personal conversations by providing end-to-end encryption over iMessage and FaceTime. We do not store location data, Maps searches, or Siri requests in any identifiable form.

Yeah, *Larry Page*. Or this dig at Google again (later in the document):

> Unlike many other companies dealing with requests for customer data from government agencies, Apple’s main business is not about collecting information.

Now, in this report, it is not just Google, and companies like Google, that Apple is slinging some mud at — it’s also the United States government. While Apple outwardly disagrees with the limited reporting and the vague nature of requests, the biggest slam is in their first table.

That table lists the account requests Apple received from every country which has sent one to Apple. Each country has a detailed and accurate numerical breakdown of the requests, accounts effected, and compliance numbers — conveniently Apple put these into a nice percentage to see what percentage Apple is rejecting.

*Except* for the United States, where the data is laughably in a vague range, per the demand of the United States. (Increments of 1000.)

Apple *could* have omitted other countries, not done the percentage thing, or made the data look generally less stupid from the United States, but they didn’t.

Instead Apple left the data as is, reported the way Apple wants to report the actual numbers, so that the entire world can see how asinine the United States is being about allowing a company to report numbers. Numbers, not names of people, just numbers. What good does it do any terrorist if they know the number is 1, or 999?

I just love this side of Apple.

[1]: http://www.apple.com/pr/pdf/131105reportongovernmentinforequests2.pdf

A surprising number of readers contacted me to share their favorite undershirts, or to suggest others they thought I should try. Most of these shirts raised the price point considerably. This past month I tested four more shirts, which I wore and washed aggressively to test their durability. A prolonged test will likely reveal flaws that were not obvious in just a month.

## RibbedTee

Mike Schwarz, the founder of RibbedTee, reached out to me after he read about my woes with his shirts last time. He felt that based on the date of my order (back in 2011) I had received shirts from a bad batch (something wrong with the fabric that caused too much shrinking). He offered to send me some to try, but he also gave me links to reviews of other shirts that I might like.

Because of Mike’s “Macy’s Santa” attitude, I accepted four new [RibbedTee][1] shirts from him (two white, two gray) gratis.

The difference in these shirts was obvious. The new shirts were much longer and felt more comfortable. I immediately threw them into my washing machine, set the water temperature to “sanitize” and turned on steam mode for good measure. After the wash I tossed the shirts into the dryer and set the heat to “anti-bacterial”. I didn’t notice any shrink, so I would expect these shirts to retain their shape over time.

With the length of the shirts sorted out, fitting my body nicely, it was time to test for my last major complaint: armpit area comfort. This is still a point of contention for me with these shirts. The shirts are meant to hug your body closely, which they do in all areas *except* the armpit area. Perhaps this is a personal issue but I always *feel* like the sleeves are bunching into my armpits (they don’t actually bunch), which is simply uncomfortable. During a full day’s wear the issue becomes less noticeable until I start to sweat, at which point I’m reminded of the annoyance. I can wear them all day, but from time to time I do that thing where you tug at your undershirt and look like an idiot.

I think a lot of people will find RibbedTee to be their ideal shirt. They hide well under a dress shirt, making them well suited for those wearing properly fitted dress shirts on a daily basis. They are reasonably priced but are not cheap.

Personally, I’ll keep a couple on hand for formal occasions but not for everyday wear.

## Dockers

Next up is the [Dockers v-neck tall][2]. Again (depending on Amazon) the shirts are roughly $10 each and come in packs of three. I ordered one pack of shirts.

You should immediately notice that these shirts are made from a thicker material, especially given their low price. They fit comfortably, hugging your body slightly more than a standard t-shirt.

Where these shirts fail for me is the v-neck. The neck opening is narrow, so while you don’t see the undershirt where your shirt collar gapes open, the v-neck collar has a tendency to work its way up the left or right side of your neck. Maybe I have mutant shoulders, but it took me a bit of effort to get this shirt situated well underneath my dress shirt.

Once correctly positioned the shirt tends to stay in place very well. It’s thick enough to wear as a normal t-shirt if needed. ((Other than the issue of wearing a v-neck t-shirt.)) This is the most casual, t-shirt-like, undershirt that I tested.

Overall this is a solid shirt. It holds up well and wears comfortably at a very low price. However, the neckline of the shirt doesn’t work well for me, which is a deal-breaker. I’d rather wear the RibbedTee shirt.

## Fruit of the Loom

The [Fruit of the Loom v-neck tall][3] is another Amazon three-pack that costs about $13 for all *three* shirts. Naturally the quality is lower than the others tested. Even so, $13 for three shirts? I had to test these.

They really aren’t as bad as I expected. The neckline is actually great, but the material is quasi-transparent. I would wear them as a t-shirt around the house, or working in the yard, but that’s about the limit. Whereas the Docker’s shirt could be worn to the store without embarrassment, that’s not the case for this shirt. ((Other than the fact that you are wearing a plain white v-neck as a shirt, which (again) by itself is embarrassing.))

In fact, a couple weeks into testing I thought these would be the clear winner. Unfortunately they suffer the same fate as so many other cheap shirts: Poor shape retention. After just a few washes it became clear that this shirt will lose its shape over the course of a couple years.

That fact alone prevents me from recommending this shirt at all. However I should note that in addition to the poor shape retention this shirt also doesn’t “hide well” under a thin dress shirt. In other words: it will be apparent where your undershirt is, which is a big problem for me.

## UnderFit

Ben Brockland, founder of [UnderFit][4], also reached out to offer me one of his shirts to test. At $25 *each* I was happy to accept a review shirt. I told him my height and weight, then he picked the size and sent it to me. Normally I order large-tall, but since the shirts don’t come in tall sizes he sent an extra-large, which I’m glad of.

Clearly extra-large is the correct size for me in this shirt, so keep that in mind when selecting your size. Also, this shirt is not specifically made for tall people, but the XL fit me fine with no length complaints at all.

UnderFit’s biggest surprise was the texture of the fabric, which was so soft that I wanted to rub my face on it. That may sound odd, but it’s the best way to describe the feel of this shirt: You *will* want this next to your skin. ((Reviewing undershirts is not that exciting. I have to take my thrills where I find them.))

The UnderFit fabric is just *so* damned soft. Not “fuzzy” soft but smooth like silk, without the crappy qualities that silk brings.

If it wasn’t already obvious, my search for an undershirt stops here, with UnderFit. These shirts offer the best qualities of the RibbedTee and the best of a normal cotton t-shirt.

UnderFit shirts are thin and hug the body while remaining loose enough to allow freedom of movement, unlike the RibbedTee. Like the RibbedTee, the UnderFit shirt disappears beneath your dress shirt. The neck line is excellent and the fabric is top-notch. I was worried after the first wash that shape retention may be a problem but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all — and this is easily the most washed and worn shirt of this test round.

I only have one UnderFit shirt but I find my self doing more laundry so I can wear it more often.

The only problem with the UnderFit shirt is the price. At $25 each I’m looking at $250 to get fully stocked with UnderFit shirts. For some people this will make sense — if I wore suits daily this is *the* shirt I would wear under them — but for others the price will be too high.

## Wrap Up

Despite having a dozen more shirts suggested by readers I am stopping here. UnderFit is excellent and meets all my needs. RibbedTee is my runner-up for a pure undershirt. Dockers is my runner-up as an all around shirt, which also works well as an undershirt.

[1]: http://ribbedtee.com/store/product/classic-fit-white-v-neck-undershirt/
[2]: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007IRM1NM/ref=nosim&tag=brooksreview-20
[3]: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00CEH0MSM/ref=nosim&tag=brooksreview-20
[4]: http://www.underfitshirts.com

[Brian Tumulty](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/02/tsa-lax-shooting-armed-guards/3394601/):

> The union representing airport screeners for the Transportation Security Administration says Friday’s fatal shooting of an agent at Los Angeles International Airport highlights the need for armed security officers at every airport checkpoint.

Why stop there? Why not arm the ticketing agents, the bag handlers, and the custodian staff should definitely get AR-15s. The gate agents should get shotguns though, too close range for an AR. ((I very much feel for the family of the victim(s), but it’s this kind of reactionary thinking that makes the rest of the world laugh at us.))

The Washington Post had a [nice investigative article about Comcast donating to opponents of Seattle’s incumbent mayor, Mike McGinn](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/31/comcast-is-donating-heavily-to-defeat-the-mayor-who-is-bringing-gigabit-fiber-to-seattle/). (McGinn is trying to get gigabit fiber in a way that hurts the Comcast monopoly in Seattle.) The Post just added to that with [an interview with McGinn](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/01/seattle-mayor-i-have-comcast-and-i-would-like-better-service/), which begins:

> **First, I have a personal question. Who is your Internet provider and are happy with your service?**
> My Internet is provided by Comcast, and I know my family would like better service. I will speak for my gamer son as well.

And ends:

> **Do you have any specific comment on Comcast’s contributions to various PACs during this race?**
> I just think it speaks for itself.

God, I hate Comcast.