The Brooks Review

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Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

Recent Articles

  • iPad Productivity Report — 1/21/19

    I moved to a one iPad Pro setup, and to the new 12.9” model.

    Over this holiday break my iPad Pro setup changed. I had no intention of switching my setup, but a generous gift of an 11” iPad Pro upended my thinking. As I’ve [written in the past](https://brooksreview.net/2018/10/the-new-ipad-pros-everything-i-wanted-and-nothing-i-needed/), there was no real need for me to upgrade my iPad hardware, but that’s not to say that the new devices aren’t very nice.

    So what happened next was simple, I decided to proceed with the 11” iPad Pro which had the base 64gb of storage (this is how I know first hand this is actually enough storage). I used that setup for a week and a half and sold off all my other iPads. And then, I changed my mind and swapped the 11” for a 12.9” model and since I was swapping I went ahead and increased the storage size for peace of mind down the road. So what I want to talk about this week is threefold: the 11” iPad size, the new 12.9” footprint, and some accessories I have added to my stable.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • Revamping iMessage Notifications

    Love these suggestions.

    Love these suggestions.

  • A Quick Update on Performance Clothing

    You really need to be wearing clothing that works better.

    I wrote a series of posts a while ago about my quest for finding better clothing for travel. That morphed into finding better clothing for everyday and all of that morphed into my launching a new site with my pal Steve, called Everyday Wear.

    (more…)

  • I Mentored Mark Zuckerberg. But I Can’t Stay Silent

    Roger McNamee: The people at Facebook live in their own bubble. Zuck has always believed that connecting everyone on earth was a mission so important that it justified any action necessary to accomplish it. Convinced of the nobility of their mission, Zuck and his employees seem to listen to criticism without changing their behavior. They…

    Roger McNamee:

    The people at Facebook live in their own bubble. Zuck has always believed that connecting everyone on earth was a mission so important that it justified any action necessary to accomplish it. Convinced of the nobility of their mission, Zuck and his employees seem to listen to criticism without changing their behavior. They respond to nearly every problem with the same approach that created the problem in the first place: more AI, more code, more short-term fixes. They do not do this because they are bad people. They do this because success has warped their perception of reality.

  • Are “healthy” snacks like veggie chips actually good for you?

    Only people who will be shocked by this are the ones who wasted money on these.

    Only people who will be shocked by this are the ones who wasted money on these.

  • Benchmade Proper 319

    There’s something very special about this knife.

    If there was one knife I spent all of 2018 wanting, it was this knife: the Benchmade Proper. This is a fantastic looking knife and a bit of a modern take on an older knife style.

    I’ve been using this knife now for about three weeks and I have fallen in love with it. It is fantastic, so let’s dive in.

    (more…)

  • US police can’t force you to unlock your phone with fingerprints or face recognition

    Abhimanyu Ghoshal: The ruling is significant because it runs counter to previous interpretations of the law in cases requiring access to data locked on personal devices. With that, biometric methods for unlocking phones are now being viewed similar to alphanumeric passcodes in the eyes of the law in the US.

    Abhimanyu Ghoshal:

    The ruling is significant because it runs counter to previous interpretations of the law in cases requiring access to data locked on personal devices. With that, biometric methods for unlocking phones are now being viewed similar to alphanumeric passcodes in the eyes of the law in the US.

  • Snack Pick of the Week – 1/14/19

    A little bit sticky.

    I am going all out for the snack pick this week, and I have to warn you that this might send you back in time a bit. This week I have a gluten free snack pick, which is always nice and inclusive. So this week it’s Mike and Ike Original Fruits.

    (more…)

  • Web Development on an iPad from Laravel News

    Interesting, as it’s not the toolkit or setup I would have expected.

    Interesting, as it’s not the toolkit or setup I would have expected.

  • iPad Productivity Report — 1/14/19

    An iPad is great for ergonomics and work. Also, a bunch of pictures of my old desk setups.

    I’ve long struggled with how to layout and ‘design’ my desk area. There’s two competing “best” ways to go about this: looks and ergonomics. And these are nearly mutually exclusive (you can’t have a beautiful desk which is also perfectly ergonomic), but I also have come to realize that I have been thinking about this all wrong. And, contrary to popular opinion, that the iPad is not the ergonomic nightmare most think it is.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T Are Selling Customers’ Real-Time Location Data, And It’s Falling Into the Wrong Hands

    This should surprise no one, and yet I am guessing this will surprise most.

    This should surprise no one, and yet I am guessing this will surprise most.

  • Magpul DAKA Pouch

    Surprisingly handy pouch.

    I have been seeing these pouches for quite some time now and figured it was about time I give one a try to see what the hype is all about. These are a heavy polymer substance (feels like soft non-sticky rubber) and have a single zipper across the top which is a weatherproof zipper with an oversized zipper pull. At each top corner there’s an eyelet to help with clipping the pouches to something.

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  • Snack Pick of the Week: 1/8/19

    Nomnomnomnom.

    Since I am a day late this week, we have some ground to make up for. Thus, the easily forgotten, but always satisfying Keebler Deluxe Graham’s are the snack pick for the week.

    (more…)

  • Apple is putting iTunes on Samsung TVs

    John Porter: Apple tells The Verge that Samsung’s smart TV ad-tracking features cannot track viewing usage within the iTunes Movies and TV Shows app, in another example of Apple’s focus on privacy. Here’s the thing: this means you’ll need to connect your Samsung TV to WiFi in order for this to work. And there’s long…

    John Porter:

    Apple tells The Verge that Samsung’s smart TV ad-tracking features cannot track viewing usage within the iTunes Movies and TV Shows app, in another example of Apple’s focus on privacy.

    Here’s the thing: this means you’ll need to connect your Samsung TV to WiFi in order for this to work. And there’s long been privacy questions over even allowing that to happen.

  • iPad Productivity Report — 1/7/19

    Some solid iPad apps to recommend, and a teaser of some changes I have been making to my setup.

    It’s been a while since I wrote a full iPad Productivity Report, so for the new year I am back at it. This will be the first of many to come over the next couple of months as some big rethinks are in the works for me with my iPad Pro setup(s). Today I want to address a few things I am playing with: font management, space needs, Notion, and Vellum. And then at the end I want to touch on a few upcoming things with my setup.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • So You Bought a GR1, Now What?

    Some of the things I tell new GR1 owners to do upon getting their bag.

    I see a lot of comments/tweets/posts about people who get a new GORUCK GR1 bag, and then are not exactly sure what they should do with it from there (other than use it). This post walks you through how I take on a new GORUCK bag and the steps I take to make it mine.

    (more…)

  • Should I Use My Personal Laptop for Work?

    No. Just no. I’d also extend this to mobile devices too.

    No. Just no. I’d also extend this to mobile devices too.

  • Los Angeles Accuses Weather Channel App of Covertly Mining User Data

    Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Natasha Singer: In the complaint, the city attorney excoriated the Weather Company, saying it unfairly took advantage of its app’s popularity and the fact that consumers were likely to give their location data to get local weather alerts. The city said that the company failed to sufficiently disclose its data practices when…

    Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Natasha Singer:

    In the complaint, the city attorney excoriated the Weather Company, saying it unfairly took advantage of its app’s popularity and the fact that consumers were likely to give their location data to get local weather alerts. The city said that the company failed to sufficiently disclose its data practices when it got users’ permission to track their location and that it obscured other tracking details in its privacy policy.

    Some serious bullshit, as weather apps are nearly useless unless you grant location access.

  • The 12” PowerBook

    Easily the greatest laptop ever made.

    Easily the greatest laptop ever made.

  • Happy New Year! May Your City Never Become San Francisco, New York or Seattle

    Emily Badger: Surely there is nothing left to fear in New York, a place that already has tall buildings and high rents. But the pending arrival of Amazon in Long Island City, as Vice recently put it, has some residents on edge about “becoming Seattle on steroids.” The specter captures the particular mix of high…

    Emily Badger:

    Surely there is nothing left to fear in New York, a place that already has tall buildings and high rents. But the pending arrival of Amazon in Long Island City, as Vice recently put it, has some residents on edge about “becoming Seattle on steroids.” The specter captures the particular mix of high housing costs, tall buildings and tech bros.

    This whole article, damn.