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

  • Hey RIM, You Suck -Your Owners

    Jaguar Financial Corporation in a press release: >Jaguar Financial Corporation (“Jaguar”) (TSX: JFC), a shareholder of Research In Motion Limited (“RIM” or the “Company”), on behalf of itself and other supportive shareholders, today called upon the Directors of RIM to establish and carry out a formal process for the maximization of shareholder value. This value…

    Jaguar Financial Corporation in a press release:
    >Jaguar Financial Corporation (“Jaguar”) (TSX: JFC), a shareholder of Research In Motion Limited (“RIM” or the “Company”), on behalf of itself and other supportive shareholders, today called upon the Directors of RIM to establish and carry out a formal process for the maximization of shareholder value. This value maximization process would include the pursuit of all options including a potential sale of the Company or a monetization of the RIM patent portfolio by a spin-out to RIM shareholders.

    They cite the 80.3% loss in value since 2008, “corporate governance” concerns, and a general lack of innovation. I am sure *one* of the CEOs can weasel out of this.

  • TouchPad Blue Light Special

    Derek Kessler reporting on a Digitimes story that is, alas, behind a paywall: >True to form, Digitimes claims to have the details, stating that HP’s plan is for the second wave of TouchPads to land in late October (and you thought it was outdated when it launched in July), with somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000…

    Derek Kessler reporting on a Digitimes story that is, alas, behind a paywall:

    >True to form, Digitimes claims to have the details, stating that HP’s plan is for the second wave of TouchPads to land in late October (and you thought it was outdated when it launched in July), with somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 units to be produced.

    There is other juicy information in the report too.

  • GoDaddy’s New “Selective DNS Blackouts” Policy

    Great post that should give you all the reason you need to get out of GoDaddy’s clasp. I have moved 90% of my domains to [Dynadot](http://www.dynadot.com) — whom has been great thus far (way better than GoDaddy).

    Great post that should give you all the reason you need to get out of GoDaddy’s clasp. I have moved 90% of my domains to [Dynadot](http://www.dynadot.com) — whom has been great thus far (way better than GoDaddy).

  • iPad Survey

    If you have a moment I would really appreciate your help with some research on iPad usage. (It’s a quick survey.)

    If you have a moment I would really appreciate your help with some research on iPad usage. (It’s a quick survey.)

  • How Microsoft Misunderstands the Concept of User Research

    Mattias Östergren >What happens when you try to design a new version of an application based solely on the most commonly used features of an older version, instead of focusing on what the users are really trying to accomplish with it? Microsoft.

    Mattias Östergren
    >What happens when you try to design a new version of an application based solely on the most commonly used features of an older version, instead of focusing on what the users are really trying to accomplish with it?

    Microsoft.

  • Michael Arrington’s Audacious Venture

    A great look at what CrunchFund means to TechCrunch and the readers of the site and the companies who depend on the coverage from it. Long and short of it: there’s bias everywhere, but a special kind of bias over at Arrington’s TechCrunch.

    A great look at what CrunchFund means to TechCrunch and the readers of the site and the companies who depend on the coverage from it.

    Long and short of it: there’s bias everywhere, but a special kind of bias over at Arrington’s TechCrunch.

  • [SPONSOR] Wx: Award Winning Weather

    Wx is an award winning US weather app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone with forecasts, alerts, radar, maps, and more. Read more about Wx and check out other iOS and Mac apps by [Hunter Research and Technology](http://hrtapps.com/).

    Wx is an award winning US weather app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone with forecasts, alerts, radar, maps, and more. Read more about Wx and check out other iOS and Mac apps by [Hunter Research and Technology](http://hrtapps.com/).

  • Geeklets: Weather and Forecast

    If you are a Geektool user then you better check these out — best I have seen.

    If you are a Geektool user then you better check these out — best I have seen.

  • RSS Usage

    Marco Arment, responding to [Jacqui Cheng’s absurd notion](http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/09/why-keeping-up-with-rss-is-poisonous-to-productivity-sanity.ars) that RSS is “poisonous”, makes the statement: >You should be able to go on a disconnected vacation for three days, come back, and be able to skim most of your RSS-item titles reasonably without just giving up and marking all as read. You shouldn’t come back to…

    Marco Arment, responding to [Jacqui Cheng’s absurd notion](http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/09/why-keeping-up-with-rss-is-poisonous-to-productivity-sanity.ars) that RSS is “poisonous”, makes the statement:

    >You should be able to go on a disconnected vacation for three days, come back, and be able to skim most of your RSS-item titles reasonably without just giving up and marking all as read. You shouldn’t come back to hundreds or thousands of unread articles.

    I’ve been out, away from my computer all day. It is Sunday on a U.S. holiday weekend and I last checked RSS over 10 hours ago, likely longer. I have 232 unread items. Any other day of the week and it would likely be well over 600. I subscribe to almost 600 feeds, some updated constantly, others not.

    To claim that RSS is bad for you if you subscribe to too many feeds is absurd.

    What’s bad for you is letting a tool like RSS overwhelm you, take over your life if you will. I have gone away for 3 days, as Marco suggests, and come back to thousands of RSS items, I read them all in time and it never bothered me. ((As Marco suggests I don’t allow red badges. Reeder for Mac doesn’t do that, and in fact has a very nice subtle indicator in the Dock.))

    If it bothers you, then blaming the tool is **not** the solution to this problem.

    A tool is a tool. Should I get mad at my car because there are thousands of miles of road I haven’t driven yet to drive? No.

    If you don’t like RSS don’t use it. If you want to use it but don’t want to have thousands of items, then use it like Marco does. ((I have no problem with Marco’s method, or Cheng’s method. I just have a problem with blanket statements that blame a tool and not the user, when it is clearly a user issue.)) Or use it like I do and check the feeds more often.

    But don’t blame RSS. ((I almost can’t believe I have to write this.))

    The best advice I can give you if RSS is too much, but you don’t want to miss out on the latest: follow [this Twitter account](https://twitter.com/#!/newsyc20).

  • HTC Status™

    I have been seeing this phone on TV commercials a lot lately, and it bugged me enough to check out the website for it, that’s when I read this: >You know those priceless moments with your friends on Facebook—that quick pic, inside joke, or perfectly timed post? The HTC Status™ has a Facebook share button…

    I have been seeing this phone on TV commercials a lot lately, and it bugged me enough to check out the website for it, that’s when I read this:

    >You know those priceless moments with your friends on Facebook—that quick pic, inside joke, or perfectly timed post? The HTC Status™ has a Facebook share button that makes those moments happen more often, keeping you at the center of your social circle. One second you’re sharing, the next second your friends are commenting.

    Basically it sounds like owning this phone creates more priceless moments in your life. ((You can’t make this stuff up.))

  • Andy Rubin Got Inspiration for Android Framework While Working at Apple

    Florian Mueller with the latest in patent wars: >But Apple now asserts — in a filing with the ITC, which means Apple has a legal obligation to make truthful representations of fact — that Rubin’s superiors at Apple were the inventors of that realtime API patent and he worked for them at the very time…

    Florian Mueller with the latest in patent wars:
    >But Apple now asserts — in a filing with the ITC, which means Apple has a legal obligation to make truthful representations of fact — that Rubin’s superiors at Apple were the inventors of that realtime API patent and he worked for them at the very time they made that invention.

    This is actually a post — no matter how boring patents are to you — that you need to read. It is pretty interesting stuff and really paints Rubin as a “bad guy” in these patent cases.

  • Siegler’s Hands-On with the Amazon Tablet

    MG Siegler on the version of Android and associated apps on the device: >They are not working with Google on this. At all. From the sounds of it I may have greatly underestimated Amazon’s ability to create a decent UI. I still reserve judgment. But $250? Seems a bit high to hit mass-market appeal, even…

    MG Siegler on the version of Android and associated apps on the device:

    >They are not working with Google on this. At all.

    From the sounds of it I may have greatly underestimated Amazon’s ability to create a decent UI. I still reserve judgment. But $250? Seems a bit high to hit mass-market appeal, even on that magic Amazon front page.

    All in all I think Shawn was right on the latest (#25) episode of our podcast: this is a device people will buy just to say that they have a “tablet”.

  • The B&B Podcast – Episode 25: WhaatsAaaapp?

    As it turns out Shawn is quite the movie critic and we also take you on a tour of Kickstarter projects. Also: Amazon tablets, moving Dashboard widgets and iCloud. Oh and Shawn tried to iMessage me during the show.

    As it turns out Shawn is quite the movie critic and we also take you on a tour of Kickstarter projects. Also: Amazon tablets, moving Dashboard widgets and iCloud. Oh and Shawn tried to iMessage me during the show.

  • Quote of the Day: MG Siegler

    “Microsoft’s problem is that the public isn’t stupid.” — MG Siegler

    “Microsoft’s problem is that the public isn’t stupid.”

  • Sponsoring TBR

    Just a quick note: there is only one slot left to sponsor the RSS feed for September. Current subscriber count is 5,800 readers . All smarter than your average bear. Get in touch if you are interested (other dates available too).

    Just a quick note: there is only one slot left to sponsor the RSS feed for September. Current subscriber count is 5,800 readers . All smarter than your average bear.

    Get in touch if you are interested (other dates available too).

  • WeatherSnitch

    My thanks to WeatherSnitch for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote their latest version of the app. WeatherSnitch has long been one of my favorite iOS weather apps — it’s month view offers one of the best weather forecast views of any app. Give it a look-see and see what you think.

    My thanks to WeatherSnitch for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote their latest version of the app. WeatherSnitch has long been one of my favorite iOS weather apps — it’s month view offers one of the best weather forecast views of any app.

    Give it a look-see and see what you think.

  • Which Girl Scout Cookies Score the Most Brownie Points?

    Interesting break down. For the record I purchased 8 boxes of Thin Mints for my own consumption last year — I will not make that mistake again as it is clear now that more were needed.

    Interesting break down. For the record I purchased 8 boxes of Thin Mints for my own consumption last year — I will not make that mistake again as it is clear now that more were needed.

  • Improving Alarms in Clock App

    I second this motion, I always have to change my ringer volume before I fall asleep so that I don’t have a heart attack when it goes off the next morning.

    I second this motion, I always have to change my ringer volume before I fall asleep so that I don’t have a heart attack when it goes off the next morning.

  • How to Get Rid of DigiNotar Digital Certificates From OS X

    Best get rid of this certificate for the time being and this is a nice write up on how to do just that.

    Best get rid of this certificate for the time being and this is a nice write up on how to do just that.

  • A Markdown Primer

    Following-up on my post [yesterday](https://brooksreview.net/2011/08/terpstra/), TJ Luoma has an old, but great Markdown Primer for those interested in learning an incredibly useful language.

    Following-up on my post [yesterday](https://brooksreview.net/2011/08/terpstra/), TJ Luoma has an old, but great Markdown Primer for those interested in learning an incredibly useful language.