The Brooks Review

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Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
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  • Triple Aught Design Azimuth Backpack

    A versatile, packable, backpack for carrying stuff.

    One of the things I am constantly trying to find is a bag to be my “dad bag” — I’ve mentioned my high standards for such a bag before, but want to recap specifically what I am looking for:

    • Something 10-20L in size.
    • Something which can be packed down to fit inside a GR1/GR2.
    • Something which can carry my kids coats in the winter.
    • Something which is comfortable to carry all day.

    The GORUCK Bullet Ruck 10L, is as close as I have ever come, but it’s hard if not impossible to bring it with you. The Outlier Quadzip came tantalizingly close, but the high price, and some framesheet discomfort left me to sell it too.

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  • iPad Productivity Report — 10/2/17

    Taking a look at some iPad history, and I share my current iPad home screens, prepare to be underwhelmed by them.

    Diving into the past a bit this week.

    Update on Google Drive: the app has now been implemented to work with Files.app, and has removed the shady shit it does to register with every file type. Small win there, big results. Though, amusingly, macOS server is not a native Files integration — collectively we can all laugh and cry at the same time now. Also, it looks as though Readdle’s Documents app does the same shit Drive did. So that’s fun.

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  • Zuckerberg’s Preposterous Defense of Facebook

    Zeynep Tufekci: In a largely automated platform like Facebook, what matters most is not the political beliefs of the employees but the structures, algorithms and incentives they set up, as well as what oversight, if any, they employ to guard against deception, misinformation and illegitimate meddling. And the unfortunate truth is that by design, business…

    Zeynep Tufekci:

    In a largely automated platform like Facebook, what matters most is not the political beliefs of the employees but the structures, algorithms and incentives they set up, as well as what oversight, if any, they employ to guard against deception, misinformation and illegitimate meddling. And the unfortunate truth is that by design, business model and algorithm, Facebook has made it easy for it to be weaponized to spread misinformation and fraudulent content. Sadly, this business model is also lucrative, especially during elections.

  • Fragility of Free, a Redux

    Six years ago, I didn’t even imagine the worst part about free systems, because back then it was unthinkable.

    Six years ago, I wrote a post called “The Fragility of Free”, ostensibly about how “free” things will always break down over time, using popular apps, and Twitter as my examples. You can read the post here, while the references are dated (except Twitter) I still like the post.

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  • Frankly Inadequate

    Tony Romm for RECODE: In some cases, though, congressional aides appeared disappointed with the information Twitter provided. Some on the Senate Intelligence Committee, for example, fretted Twitter had not done more, and sooner, to patrol its website for Russian misinformation, according to a source familiar with its work. Afterwards, the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark…

    Tony Romm for RECODE:

    In some cases, though, congressional aides appeared disappointed with the information Twitter provided. Some on the Senate Intelligence Committee, for example, fretted Twitter had not done more, and sooner, to patrol its website for Russian misinformation, according to a source familiar with its work. Afterwards, the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, thrashed the social giant’s presentation as “frankly inadequate.”

    There’s some good momentum for change with social advertising giants. Will be interesting to see what comes of all of this.

  • Change is hard, even in Silicon Valley

    Om Malik: This brouhaha around Twitter’s 280-character mini-experiment is actually a good encapsulation of how despite often touting disruption, change and innovation, the Valley (aka technology establishment) is often resistant to change, dismissive of change and behaving much like the world it wants to disrupt. See also: iPhone X, MacBook 12”, Outlier Clothing, Headphone Jacks.

    Om Malik:

    This brouhaha around Twitter’s 280-character mini-experiment is actually a good encapsulation of how despite often touting disruption, change and innovation, the Valley (aka technology establishment) is often resistant to change, dismissive of change and behaving much like the world it wants to disrupt.

    See also: iPhone X, MacBook 12”, Outlier Clothing, Headphone Jacks.

  • Flowfold Optimist Limited 10L Mini Backpack

    The most stripped down, bare essentials backpack you can buy to hold your gear when you are out and about.

    Note: this is backpack was provided to me at no charge, for the purposes of this review.

    When we last talked about Flowfold, I heaved praise on the their minimalist wallet — which I am still using and love — but I also mentioned that they make backpacks. A couple weeks ago Flowfold sent over their 10L Minimalist backpack, made from the same material (and color in this case, though they sell others) as my wallet. It’s a cute match.

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  • Wool T-Shirt Review

    Evan Davis has a great run down of your Merino t-shirt options, as he has tested a wide variety of them. I was actually privy to his thoughts before he published, and it has guided my own buying. I love the Wool & Prince that he loves, but personally like the fit of Oultier’s Ultrafine…

    Evan Davis has a great run down of your Merino t-shirt options, as he has tested a wide variety of them. I was actually privy to his thoughts before he published, and it has guided my own buying. I love the Wool & Prince that he loves, but personally like the fit of Oultier’s Ultrafine better. Thing is, you don’t need many of these shirts. I own two Outlier, and one Wool & Prince — that’s basically all my normal wear t-shirts (I have some cotton MartianCraft shirts for PJs) and those three shirts are all I need. Good read.

  • iOS Default File Associations

    I mentioned in my iPad Productivity Report this week, that Google Drive is a pain in the ass on iOS. This explains why: they did it to be devious it sounds like. Bastards.

    I mentioned in my iPad Productivity Report this week, that Google Drive is a pain in the ass on iOS. This explains why: they did it to be devious it sounds like. Bastards.

  • Apple is looking for terrible web sites

    Brian Heater on a new tool Apple us using to find shitty web development/design/marketing/revenue models: This form of data collection is the first of its kind for Safari, aimed at identifying sites that use excessive power and crash the browser by monopolizing too much memory. Apple is also documenting the popularity of these problematic domains,…

    Brian Heater on a new tool Apple us using to find shitty web development/design/marketing/revenue models:

    This form of data collection is the first of its kind for Safari, aimed at identifying sites that use excessive power and crash the browser by monopolizing too much memory. Apple is also documenting the popularity of these problematic domains, in order to prioritize which sites it addresses first.

  • Benchmade Griptilian

    A fantastic backup knife, once you make a few tweaks to it.

    In my quest to find a solid pocket knife to be my backup to my Chris Reeve Small Sebenza 21, I’ve been looking for something larger, and harder use. Something I have a reason to owning, other than wanting a backup. I initially looked at the Spyderco Paramilitary 2, but found that it was far too cumbersome to carry.

    Today, I am looking at Benchmade’s Griptilian, which is the larger of their two Griptilian knives and among one of the most popular knives out there. In this humble knife, I think I might have found my perfect backup knife, and a knife I really enjoy using.

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  • Science confirmed: text replacements do not sync

    Brian Stucki proves that text replacement syncing on iOS is fundamentally a pile of shit (my words), but its made even more odd because: From my own experience, syncing of all other data via iCloud has really improved. Notes, Calendar, address book, reminders, photos, etc all sync almost instantly across all devices. I can echo…

    Brian Stucki proves that text replacement syncing on iOS is fundamentally a pile of shit (my words), but its made even more odd because:

    From my own experience, syncing of all other data via iCloud has really improved. Notes, Calendar, address book, reminders, photos, etc all sync almost instantly across all devices.

    I can echo this. iCloud is flawless everywhere except text replacement syncing. My work email shortcut is three @ signs. When I left my old company in 2014 and came to my new one, I swapped out the replacement there. I have to delete the old email every other week, it just keeps showing back up. For no reason.

  • iPad Productivity Report — 9/25/17

    Taking a look at the annoyances Files.app brings with iOS 11, and no it’s not all bad.

    By now, hopefully, you’ve installed iOS 11 on your iPad. One thing that most were not able to test over the summer beta period (including me) was how powerful Files.app really is. Without a robust offering from third party apps, it’s hard to use Files, as it becomes something you actively must think about using, and even more than that, it’s not the defining feature of iOS 11 some would have you to believe it is.

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  • Mystery Ranch Urban Assault Review

    Good review on the Urban Assault (I reviewed it here). One thing which cracked me up is his score, I’ll not comment on the craziness of his scoring system overall, but this bit is amazing: The score is a bit deceptive.  This is a pack that I would easily count as one of the best…

    Good review on the Urban Assault (I reviewed it here). One thing which cracked me up is his score, I’ll not comment on the craziness of his scoring system overall, but this bit is amazing:

    The score is a bit deceptive.  This is a pack that I would easily count as one of the best on the market.  I loved this pack.  But its flaws were flaws that I simply couldn’t NOT deduct a point for and so the score is what it is.  But don’t take that as an 18.  Think of it as an 18!  The 3-Zip is simply and without question, the best pack zipper system ever devised. 

    That’s why scoring anything with hard numbers is deceptive and should be avoided at all costs.

  • Facebook, Elections & the Spin

    This is a really good question from Om Malik

    This is a really good question from Om Malik

  • iPhone 8 Plus Camera Review: India

    If that’s how good the iPhone 8 Plus camera is, then with the iPhone X… Well does anyone want an X100T?

    If that’s how good the iPhone 8 Plus camera is, then with the iPhone X… Well does anyone want an X100T?

  • Triple Aught Design SERE Pouch

    I finally found an EDC organizer worth carrying.

    I had almost given up on trying to find a small pouch to house my extended EDC kit in. The Maxpedition was too large, and cumbersome. The Skinth wasn’t quite right, despite being quite nice. Before giving up I decided to try something entirely different, the SERE Pouch, from Triple Aught Design.

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  • Arcade Belt

    A great belt for active wear.

    When I snagged the Ferrosi pants for hiking, I knew I would need to grab a belt of some sort. The common style for hiking is a simple nylon web belt, but I went for something different in the Arcade Adventure Belt. This is a basically an elastic strap with a buckle. What’s neat about this is that it retains a lot of comfort, while allowing you to tighten the belt if you need to support your pants a little more.

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  • Review: The iPhone 8 is a look into the augmented future of photography

    Good review. I suspect the iPhone 8 will be, in many ways, a better upgrade for most than the iPhone X.

    Good review. I suspect the iPhone 8 will be, in many ways, a better upgrade for most than the iPhone X.

  • Keyboard Maestro 8.0: Work Faster with Macros for Mac OS X

    I miss this app so much (because I don’t use a Mac any more). And I’m so happy to see it still being updated with amazing new features.

    I miss this app so much (because I don’t use a Mac any more). And I’m so happy to see it still being updated with amazing new features.