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

  • Germany to Outlaw Employers Checking Out Job Candidates on Facebook, but Googling Is OK

    In business school we all had to take a class about interviewing potential hires, during which they told us that we should never look at the name or a picture so that we remain objective. We all know of course that this rarely if ever happens, bias sinks in every where and I believe that…

    In business school we all had to take a class about interviewing potential hires, during which they told us that we should never look at the name or a picture so that we remain objective. We all know of course that this rarely if ever happens, bias sinks in every where and I believe that it should.

    Do you really want to work for someone that would much rather have the opposite sex doing your job, or a different race? What about a person that would prefer a more outgoing personality, or a more subdued one? We all want to love what we do, and a huge part of that is loving the company that we work for. This Facebook bull will never hold up, Germany will never be able to enforce it so in the end it doesn’t matter.

    Don’t get bent out of shape if someone doesn’t hire you because what they found out about you, chances are they just saved you from a miserable job.

    [via Hacker News]

  • Acer Chairman Expects iPad Market Share to Drop to 20%

    DigiTimes: In a Chinese-language interview with the Economic Daily News (EDN), JT Wang, chairman of Acer, said that he expects Apple’s iPad market share to drop from close to 100% currently to only 20%-30% after the tablet PC market stabilizes. He may have to eat those words, though I may have to eat these words.…

    DigiTimes:

    In a Chinese-language interview with the Economic Daily News (EDN), JT Wang, chairman of Acer, said that he expects Apple’s iPad market share to drop from close to 100% currently to only 20%-30% after the tablet PC market stabilizes.

    He may have to eat those words, though I may have to eat these words.

    [via AppleInsider]

  • Simplenote Gets Updated, Stays Simple

    Consistently one of the best apps for the iPhone and iPad. Paick Rhone says it best so be sure to read this post of his about e update. Also I love the new icon.

    Consistently one of the best apps for the iPhone and iPad. Paick Rhone says it best so be sure to read this post of his about e update. Also I love the new icon.

  • Google Adds Push Support to iPhone App

    Great workaround for Google and the iPhone to play nice. I would love to see other companies start to build this into their apps (Basecamp).

    Great workaround for Google and the iPhone to play nice. I would love to see other companies start to build this into their apps (Basecamp).

  • American’s Suck at Vacation

    Lexington (The Economist): These show that in 2009 the average American adult received about 13 days of holiday, whereas the average Briton enjoyed a luxurious 26. The average “working” Frenchman, infuriatingly, had 38 days. Worse yet, more than a third of Americans do not even take all the days they are allowed. In 2009, harrumphs…

    Lexington (The Economist):

    These show that in 2009 the average American adult received about 13 days of holiday, whereas the average Briton enjoyed a luxurious 26. The average “working” Frenchman, infuriatingly, had 38 days. Worse yet, more than a third of Americans do not even take all the days they are allowed. In 2009, harrumphs Expedia, Americans “gave back” a total of 436m vacation days. In fairness, America does indulge its children: their school year is one of the shortest in the world, as is their school day. But the indulgence ends with adulthood.

    My wife and I try to take as much vacation as possible, only limited by her jobs terrible vacation policy. You should try to use yours up to, if only to take a long weekend camping somewhere.

    [via Hacker News]

  • Facebook iPhone App Gets Privacy On The Go

    Great to see Facebook making this little changes, but when are they going to make the bigger policy changes that they need to make?

    Great to see Facebook making this little changes, but when are they going to make the bigger policy changes that they need to make?

  • Seth Godin on Publishing

    Godin: To be succinct: I’m not sure that I serve my audience (you) by worrying about how a new approach is going to help or hurt Barnes & Noble.

    Godin:

    To be succinct: I’m not sure that I serve my audience (you) by worrying about how a new approach is going to help or hurt Barnes & Noble.

  • MultiFl0w Brings Exposé-Like Multitasking To Jailbroken iPhones

    Looks really cool, but I don’t get how it is more useful that the app switching is in iOS 4?

    Looks really cool, but I don’t get how it is more useful that the app switching is in iOS 4?

  • Use Voicemail More Effectively at Work

    Lifehacker: The short version: When you call up a coworker and get their voicemail, make sure that you are prepared to leave an effective message, and make sure that a voicemail message is the appropriate way to contact your coworker. Succinct, purposeful communication, regardless of the medium, is effective and keeps everyone productive.

    Lifehacker:

    The short version: When you call up a coworker and get their voicemail, make sure that you are prepared to leave an effective message, and make sure that a voicemail message is the appropriate way to contact your coworker. Succinct, purposeful communication, regardless of the medium, is effective and keeps everyone productive.

  • E-mail Classifier

    Hillary Mason, via a NYT interview: I think e-mail should be sorted by importance, not by time I love it, and want it. [via iA on Twitter]

    Hillary Mason, via a NYT interview:

    I think e-mail should be sorted by importance, not by time

    I love it, and want it.

    [via iA on Twitter]

  • How Not to Be a Boss, How to Potentially Be Sued

    Last night my wife was watching the show “Spin Crowd” about some dip shits running a PR firm in LA. The boss spent the opening of the show berating a new employee over how she looked, apparently she did not look slutty enough for him. It was a horrible mess, and I kept wondering when…

    Last night my wife was watching the show “Spin Crowd” about some dip shits running a PR firm in LA. The boss spent the opening of the show berating a new employee over how she looked, apparently she did not look slutty enough for him. It was a horrible mess, and I kept wondering when the show would cut to him being sued for this blatant sexual harassment.

    This woman should sue him now, pathetic boss, pathetic television.

  • Advice from Frank Chimero

    Chimero: Stop trying to be cool: it is stifling. Read this entire post before you start work this Monday, it will change your entire perspective.

    Chimero:

    Stop trying to be cool: it is stifling.

    Read this entire post before you start work this Monday, it will change your entire perspective.

  • Stop Recieving Paper Junk Mail

    Simple Organized Life: Junk mail accounts for over 40 million tons of paper waste in this country each year. To help lower the amount of waste and to reduce the amount of paper you have to deal with at home, make sure you sign up/register with each of the following services (all are free): Catalog…

    Simple Organized Life:

    Junk mail accounts for over 40 million tons of paper waste in this country each year. To help lower the amount of waste and to reduce the amount of paper you have to deal with at home, make sure you sign up/register with each of the following services (all are free):

    • Catalog Choice – Stop receiving catalogs from companies you would never buy anything from.
    • DirectMail – Stop the junk mail and advertisements.
    • OptOutPrescreen – Stop credit card offers.
    • DMA Consumers – Another direct mail list to remove yourself from.
    • Do Not Mail – Petition site to create a national Do Not Mail registry.

    Great tips, take the time to do this today.

  • Quick Hack to Make Your Boss (and you) More Productive

    Mark Suster: And the funny thing – by the time you were ready to walk through 7-8 issues with your boss you realize that you had already figured out 3 or 4 of them on your own. With a bit of patience it’s surprising just how many times you find answers to your own issues…

    Mark Suster:

    And the funny thing – by the time you were ready to walk through 7-8 issues with your boss you realize that you had already figured out 3 or 4 of them on your own. With a bit of patience it’s surprising just how many times you find answers to your own issues if you just try (seems like a lesson I’m trying to teach my 7 and 4 year olds these days).

  • Minimal Mac on Via: The Endangered Species

    Patrick Rhone: Attribution and acknowledgement of sourcing are not only the right thing to do, the honorable thing to do, they are the very strands in the thing we call the web. They are what connect it all together. They help to explain how I got here from there and why. They also help you…

    Patrick Rhone:

    Attribution and acknowledgement of sourcing are not only the right thing to do, the honorable thing to do, they are the very strands in the thing we call the web. They are what connect it all together. They help to explain how I got here from there and why. They also help you navigate back down that thread and, hopefully, onto other places filled with wonder, curiosity and delight.

    I started to do this, and even have a CSS style for it, but thus far have been terrible at remembering to say where I found out about some links. I am going to be better from here on out, Rhone is absolutely right here. (Incidentally I found this link from the Minimal Mac twitter account, and my RSS reader)

  • What I Carry – Fridays & Weekend Bag

    Continuing on from my pockets to my lightweight weekend and Friday bag: Case: Booq Boa Push Apple iPad 16gb Wi-Fi Verizon MiFi Bose Headphones Sharpie Pen (blue) Sharpie Liquid Pencil Mini Moleskin Business Cards All in all a pretty light and ultra-mobile setup that I try to use on Fridays and the weekends (only if…

    Continuing on from my pockets to my lightweight weekend and Friday bag:

    What I Carry Fridays - Sunday

    • Case: Booq Boa Push
    • Apple iPad 16gb Wi-Fi
    • Verizon MiFi
    • Bose Headphones
    • Sharpie Pen (blue)
    • Sharpie Liquid Pencil
    • Mini Moleskin
    • Business Cards

    All in all a pretty light and ultra-mobile setup that I try to use on Fridays and the weekends (only if needed).

  • Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Accused of Rape [UPDATED]

    Asssange’s response to date has been that of a paranoid egotistic ass. [Updated: 8/21/10 at 9:08 AM] New York Times is reporting that authorities have with drawn their warrant for Assange’s arrest.

    Asssange’s response to date has been that of a paranoid egotistic ass.

    [Updated: 8/21/10 at 9:08 AM] New York Times is reporting that authorities have with drawn their warrant for Assange’s arrest.

  • There Is No Justice

    Brian Lam on Twitter (the Gizmodo guy partly behind the stolen iPhone 4): left my phone at lunch, lady turned it in. good thing we were nice, earlier, and gave her the chair she asked for #karma Wow, you mean they didn’t sell it to the highest bidder? The link is to the Google cache…

    Brian Lam on Twitter (the Gizmodo guy partly behind the stolen iPhone 4):

    left my phone at lunch, lady turned it in. good thing we were nice, earlier, and gave her the chair she asked for #karma

    Wow, you mean they didn’t sell it to the highest bidder? The link is to the Google cache as Lam has locked his Twitter account, also Gruber got a screenshot of it here.

  • Daring Fireball: Creep Executive Officer

    John Gruber: More and more, I get the feeling that if there’s a rift between the old “Don’t be evil” Google and the new “Let’s do whatever we want” Google, that it’s a rift between Schmidt and Larry/Sergey — if not personally, then at least culturally within the company. On the one side, the Larry/Sergey…

    John Gruber:

    More and more, I get the feeling that if there’s a rift between the old “Don’t be evil” Google and the new “Let’s do whatever we want” Google, that it’s a rift between Schmidt and Larry/Sergey — if not personally, then at least culturally within the company. On the one side, the Larry/Sergey Google that makes amazing cool things — the search engine, Gmail, Android. On the other, the Schmidt Google that, in its efforts to serve ads as efficiently as possible, no longer seems concerned with the traditional Western concept of personal privacy.

    Great analysis.

  • HP Board Sued Over Hurd Payout

    Paul McDougall reporting for InformationWeek: “In announcing his resignation, Hurd acknowledged that ‘there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect, and integrity that I have espoused at HP,’” Levine notes in his complaint. This simple statement could really come back to bite HP in the…

    Paul McDougall reporting for InformationWeek:

    “In announcing his resignation, Hurd acknowledged that ‘there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect, and integrity that I have espoused at HP,’” Levine notes in his complaint.

    This simple statement could really come back to bite HP in the ass.