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

  • The National Defense Authorization Act Is the Greatest Threat to Civil Liberties Americans Face

    E.D. Kain for Forbes: >If Obama does one thing for the remainder of his presidency let it be a veto of the National Defense Authorization Act – a law recently passed by the Senate currently which would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door…

    E.D. Kain for Forbes:
    >If Obama does one thing for the remainder of his presidency let it be a veto of the National Defense Authorization Act – a law recently passed by the Senate currently which would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door for trial-free, indefinite detention of anyone, including American citizens, so long as the government calls them terrorists.

    I particularly like how [Wired’s Spencer Ackerman puts it](http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/12/senate-military-detention/):

    >Here’s the best thing that can be said about the new detention powers the Senate has tucked into next year’s defense bill: They don’t force the military to detain American citizens indefinitely without a trial. They just let the military do that.

    This is not a good thing. [Obama is poised to veto this](http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/president-obama-veto-the-defense-authorization-act/), but we should still be loud about wanting it vetoed.

    [via My Wife]

  • Bloggers Are Journalists in Washington State

    Just an FYI to Washington State bloggers. From the sounds of it we would be protected by shield laws.

    Just an FYI to Washington State bloggers. From the sounds of it we would be protected by shield laws.

  • Oregon Blogger, Isn’t a Journalist, Concludes U.S. Court

    Curtis Cartier: >A U.S. District Court judge in Portland [Oregon] has drawn a line in the sand between “journalist” and “blogger.” And for Crystal Cox, a woman on the latter end of that comparison, the distinction has cost her $2.5 million. There are two things to point out: 1. She represented herself and I see…

    Curtis Cartier:
    >A U.S. District Court judge in Portland [Oregon] has drawn a line in the sand between “journalist” and “blogger.” And for Crystal Cox, a woman on the latter end of that comparison, the distinction has cost her $2.5 million.

    There are two things to point out:

    1. She represented herself and I see that as a big mistake.
    2. The case is for defamation where she claims that she has a source that she will not reveal.

    What it comes down to is that she represented her claims as factual (according to the ruling) and would not reveal the source to prove that the claims were indeed factual. I wouldn’t reveal my source either, but I would certainly hire an attorney — or two.

  • Quote of the Day: John Appleby

    “First, Founder and former co-editor Michael Arrington sold out to AOL then whined about their involvement. What amazes me here is first, his naivety, and second his desire for self-importance.” — John Appleby

    “First, Founder and former co-editor Michael Arrington sold out to AOL then whined about their involvement. What amazes me here is first, his naivety, and second his desire for self-importance.”

  • EU Urges US to Bolster Data Protection Practices Newspaper

    Slobodan Lekic for the AP: >The EU wants the United States to strengthen data protection practices in order to create a uniform “privacy landscape” on both sides of the Atlantic, a top official said Tuesday. >Internet companies in Europe are now offering cloud computing services whose selling point is that they shelter users from the…

    Slobodan Lekic for the AP:
    >The EU wants the United States to strengthen data protection practices in order to create a uniform “privacy landscape” on both sides of the Atlantic, a top official said Tuesday.

    >Internet companies in Europe are now offering cloud computing services whose selling point is that they shelter users from the U.S. Patriot Act, European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding noted. The anti-terrorism law has been widely criticized by civil libertarians.

    I hadn’t thought about this much before, but I can see how it would make a non-US resident/user/citizen uneasy using a service like Dropbox.

  • Determine Which Base Station You’re Connected to on a Bridged Network

    A good tip that will come in handy for me. I’d also like to note that you can grab the BSSID by OPT-Clicking the WiFi status in the menubar. But you already know that.

    A good tip that will come in handy for me.

    I’d also like to note that you can grab the BSSID by OPT-Clicking the WiFi status in the menubar. But you already know that.

  • The Arctic Butterfly

    About a month and a half ago I noticed that there was visible dust on most the images that I was shooting with my aging Canon 5D. ((I saying aging because the camera is circa 2003. I do not saying aging because the camera is not up to today’s standards. I still very much love…

    About a month and a half ago I noticed that there was visible dust on most the images that I was shooting with my aging Canon 5D. ((I saying aging because the camera is circa 2003. I do not saying aging because the camera is not up to today’s standards. I still very much love this camera.)) As days past I noticed that the problem was actually very pronounced.

    I removed the lens and flipped the mirror up. Using a [Rocket Blower](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013J0502/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=brooksreview-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0013J0502) I blew the sensor as clean as I could and tried again. Now the problem was noticeably worse. I tried several more times to blow it clean, but nothing worked.

    I really didn’t want to clean the sensor myself. I knew that it was a fragile piece of the camera — I just wanted someone else to clean it.

    A few people on Twitter suggested that I give [Sensor Swabs](http://www.photosol.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=4) a go. I was told they were easy to use. I promptly wen to Amazon to order, but couldn’t get the cleaning solution component before the weekend (no Prime) and I wanted to work on the cleaning before the weekend.

    I called a local photo store ([Glazer’s](http://www.glazerscamera.com/) they rock) to see if they would clean the sensor. The sales rep said no, but they sold stuff to clean it — and again — it was easy.

    Ok I thought let’s clean it myself. I never make it home in time to get to Glazer’s so I stopped by a local camera store near my office: [Robi’s](http://www.rainierphoto.com/index.html).

    After talking with the two sales associates they did their job and sold me a much more expensive cleaning solution: [The Arctic Butterfly](http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=707).

    What actually sold me was that the Butterfly is a statically charged brush instead of a swab and solution that you wipe across the sensor. This seemed like less risky solution — so I bought one.

    The two sales associates said that if it didn’t do the trick I should send the camera somewhere to be cleaned — likely whatever would not come off would be really stuck. My fear was that I would have to do just that: send in the camera.

    I used the Arctic Butterfly twice on the camera sensor and then reassembled the camera. Boom it was perfectly clean.

    I’m not saying the sensor was better. I am saying the sensor was dust free — like new.

    The best part is that the Butterfly is completely reusable — unlike the Sensor Swabs. It is also one size fits all and is something you can easily stash in your camera bag.

    I don’t know how the Sensor Swabs work, but I do know that this method worked fantastically for me. I highly recommend that you get one of these for your camera kit if you are a dSLR shooter.

    At some point your sensor will get a speck of dust on it that will annoy the crap out of you.

    #### Buy It Here

    [Buy it from Amazon and I get a small kick back](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004OPWQEA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=brooksreview-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004OPWQEA).

    ### Note ###

    I also used this to clean out the viewfinder — which is a bit tricky to get apart. After cleaning that my camera now looks completely dust free.

  • Amazon’s Kindle Fire Lets Kids Charge Up a Storm

    Mitch Lipka reporting on the Kindle Fire’s lack of a password prompt before you buy things, especially items from Amazon.com: >Others suggest turning off the wireless, which would allow only the use of previously downloaded items, such as books and games. Some forums on Amazon are filled with user after user trying to come up…

    Mitch Lipka reporting on the Kindle Fire’s lack of a password prompt before you buy things, especially items from Amazon.com:
    >Others suggest turning off the wireless, which would allow only the use of previously downloaded items, such as books and games. Some forums on Amazon are filled with user after user trying to come up with ways to beat the system with limited success, including turning off the “1-Click” option.

    This was very uncomfortable for me when I was testing the Fire. So much so that once I realized this could happen I set a passcode lock on it that only my wife knows. The Fire is not a kid friendly device in any way — yet because of the price I bet many kids will get them this Christmas.

    Parents should have fun with those bills.

    “The Kindle Fire: a great gift for kids that keeps giving and giving.”

    [via The Beard]

  • Antelope Island

    John Carey kicks off his guest desktop images with a fantastic shot. Carey’s Fiftyfootshadows has long been one of my absolute favorite sites for desktops. It is now my mission to get featured with a guest desktop. Anyways, be sure to check out [all desktops](http://fiftyfootshadows.net/category/desktops/) he has — every one is fantastic.

    John Carey kicks off his guest desktop images with a fantastic shot. Carey’s Fiftyfootshadows has long been one of my absolute favorite sites for desktops.

    It is now my mission to get featured with a guest desktop.

    Anyways, be sure to check out [all desktops](http://fiftyfootshadows.net/category/desktops/) he has — every one is fantastic.

  • Press Release: European Commission Opens Formal Proceedings to Investigate Sales of E-Books

    What Paul Thurrott failed to link to, but TUAW found, is this press release that details the ebook investigation surrounding iBooks: >The European Commission has opened formal antitrust proceedings to investigate whether international publishers Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing, France), Harper Collins (News Corp., USA), Simon & Schuster (CBS Corp., USA), Penguin (Pearson Group, United Kingdom)…

    What Paul Thurrott failed to link to, but TUAW found, is this press release that details the ebook investigation surrounding iBooks:
    >The European Commission has opened formal antitrust proceedings to investigate whether international publishers Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing, France), Harper Collins (News Corp., USA), Simon & Schuster (CBS Corp., USA), Penguin (Pearson Group, United Kingdom) and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck (owner of inter alia Macmillan, Germany) have, possibly with the help of Apple, engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting the sale of e-books in the European Economic Area (EEA)1, in breach of EU antitrust rules.

    This paints a much less “Apple is evil” sentiment than [Thurrott’s stupid post did](https://brooksreview.net/2011/12/dickhead/).

  • Finally, Finally, Finally

    [Paul Thurrott pens a post](http://www.winsupersite.com/article/paul-thurrotts-wininfo/finally-apple-antitrust-probe-141507) this morning titled: “Finally, An Apple Antitrust Probe”. Always the source of fair and balanced reporting Thurrott takes this post one step further by not providing any links to back up his citations — except of course to other stories he has penned. Thurrott starts by stating: >Before Apple’s entry,…

    [Paul Thurrott pens a post](http://www.winsupersite.com/article/paul-thurrotts-wininfo/finally-apple-antitrust-probe-141507) this morning titled: “Finally, An Apple Antitrust Probe”. Always the source of fair and balanced reporting Thurrott takes this post one step further by not providing any links to back up his citations — except of course to other stories he has penned.

    Thurrott starts by stating:

    >Before Apple’s entry, publishers set the wholesale price of books, but retailers could determine the final selling price. But Apple changed that, allowing publishers for the first time to determine the final price at which eBooks were sold to consumers. As a result, the average selling price of new eBooks jumped from $9.99 to $14.99.

    Those bastards at Apple didn’t want to set the prices themselves! How dare they!

    In the very next sentence he states:

    >The EC will try to determine if the firms colluded to fix prices and restrict competition. Both charges should be easily proven.

    Oh now Thurrott is a European legal expert and knows all of the facts of the case. It’s a crying shame he writes a Windows site and not an Apple site — imagine all the insider knowledge he must possess to make such a claim. Further didn’t he just say it was the publishers that set the prices because Apple decided they didn’t want to?

    Next Thurrott talks about how Amazon gave in to the publishers wanting to raise prices to match Apple — funny thing is he never says it was Apple that colluded with Amazon to raise the prices. Nope, just the publisher wanting higher pricing.

    He cites further evidence from a class action suit filing in the U.S., quick note to my readers: unlike Thurrott you should be aware that filing a suit against someone in the U.S. does not — in fact — mean you are right by default.

    >And now, finally, a major regulatory body is investigating this issue.

    *Finally*. Hasn’t iBooks been out for like almost 1.5 years now, absurd!

    Don’t take this as me saying that Apple is in the clear here. But what sounds more like Apple: what Thurrott is claiming and what he quotes EC spokesperson Amelia Torres as saying “had the objective or effect of restricting competition and fixing the price of e-books at a high level in Europe”; or does it make more sense that, perhaps, Apple just agreed to let the publishers set the price of their own goods in the store (as Thurrott claimed in his own post).

    There is likely to be somethings that went wrong here, but I think it is idiotic of Thurrott to make the blanket claim that this will be “easily proven”.

  • How to View Private Facebook Photos

    So glad I am not on Facebook. Also here are [Mark Zuckerberg’s private photos](http://imgur.com/a/PrLrB). Update: I am hearing this has now been patched. [via Mike Rundle]

    So glad I am not on Facebook. Also here are [Mark Zuckerberg’s private photos](http://imgur.com/a/PrLrB).

    Update: I am hearing this has now been patched.

  • Productive Macs Productivity Software Bundle

    Worth it to snag a copy of Fantastical, BusyCal and LaunchBar if you don’t have those already.

    Worth it to snag a copy of Fantastical, BusyCal and LaunchBar if you don’t have those already.

  • Inside iPhone 4S US Mobile Data: AT&T vs Sprint vs Verizon

    Apple Insider’s Daniel Eran Dilger reports on carrier speeds: >Bottom line: AT&T is already fastest in general, significantly faster on average, and has far more room to grow in progressively rolling out even faster speeds to existing iPhone users over the next couple years. He topped out at 5.4Mbps on the downlink. The fastest I…

    Apple Insider’s Daniel Eran Dilger reports on carrier speeds:
    >Bottom line: AT&T is already fastest in general, significantly faster on average, and has far more room to grow in progressively rolling out even faster speeds to existing iPhone users over the next couple years.

    He topped out at 5.4Mbps on the downlink. The fastest I have observed on my AT&T 4S is 6.38Mbps down. The data collected largely shows what should already be “known” given the network technologies at play.

  • ‘I Don’t Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore’

    Dan Pallotta on the absurd nature of our world: >There was a huge sign in the lobby that said, “Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectation.” The best way to start would be to take down that bullshit sign that just reminds me, as a customer, how cosmic the gap is between what businesses…

    Dan Pallotta on the absurd nature of our world:
    >There was a huge sign in the lobby that said, “Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectation.” The best way to start would be to take down that bullshit sign that just reminds me, as a customer, how cosmic the gap is between what businesses say and what they do. My expectation is not to have signs around that tell me you want to exceed my expectations.

  • Android Glitch Allows Hackers to Bug Phone Calls

    Dan Goodwin: >Computer scientists have discovered a weakness in smartphones running Google’s Android operating system that allows attackers to secretly record phone conversations, monitor geographic location data, and access other sensitive resources without permission. Yikes. [via DF]

    Dan Goodwin:
    >Computer scientists have discovered a weakness in smartphones running Google’s Android operating system that allows attackers to secretly record phone conversations, monitor geographic location data, and access other sensitive resources without permission.

    Yikes.

    [via DF]

  • Olympus Covered Up $1.67 Billion in Losses

    Samantha Murphy: >Olympus has been under fire since its CEO Michael Woodford was terminated about two months ago — just weeks after he joined the global camera maker — for publicly voicing his concerns about the company’s allegedly shady business acquisitions. Murphy notes the “covered up” losses date back 20 years. Yikes.

    Samantha Murphy:
    >Olympus has been under fire since its CEO Michael Woodford was terminated about two months ago — just weeks after he joined the global camera maker — for publicly voicing his concerns about the company’s allegedly shady business acquisitions.

    Murphy notes the “covered up” losses date back 20 years. Yikes.

  • Some Bad Advice

    Dan Seitz writing for Guyism.com about the tablets you should avoid this holiday shopping season: >The Apple iPad 2: Why are we recommending you not bother with this one? Because the iPad 3 is inevitable next year, and there might even be two of them. It’s not worth $500 for a device that will be…

    Dan Seitz writing for Guyism.com about the tablets you should avoid this holiday shopping season:
    >The Apple iPad 2: Why are we recommending you not bother with this one? Because the iPad 3 is inevitable next year, and there might even be two of them. It’s not worth $500 for a device that will be obsolete in three to five months.

    Stupid advice. Even if a new iPad came out in January the iPad 2 is still a great buy and will be useable for at least the next 2-3 years. The iPad 2 is the *only* tablet you should be buying.

  • Amazon Kindle Fire Owners Reporting Wi-Fi Bug

    I noticed that the Fire gets worse WiFi reception that just about any other device I have owned since 2008. It get’s one bar shy of full when placed about 10 feet from my router. This issue, however, is something that I have not experienced.

    I noticed that the Fire gets worse WiFi reception that just about any other device I have owned since 2008. It get’s one bar shy of full when placed about 10 feet from my router.

    This issue, however, is something that I have not experienced.

  • Splash Screens

    Brent Simmons illustrates what’s wrong with publishers today by sharing a story of a publication being willing to delay the app launch in order to accommodate the display of an animated splash screen. Amazing.

    Brent Simmons illustrates what’s wrong with publishers today by sharing a story of a publication being willing to delay the app launch in order to accommodate the display of an animated splash screen. Amazing.