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Recent Articles

  • The Arcido Faroe

    Wait, this one is within reach of everyone’s budget and it’s really quite good.

    Editor’s note: Arcido provided me with this bag at no charge the purposes of this review.

    Some time ago I was contact by Arcido, I have reviewed a travel bag of theirs previously and left it with rather mixed feelings. A good bag? Yes. A great bag? Not for most people. I don’t have that bag anymore, but my recollection of it is threefold: it was heavy, it was large, and the material was awesome.

    I remember wishing it was lighter, and it was smaller. So Arcido reached out to me and asked me to check out their new bag, the Faroe. They told me they listened to what people were saying, and created this bag with much of that feedback in mind.

    (more…)

  • Instagram is the most harmful social network for your mental health—but YouTube has a positive effect, a new report says

    Marc Bain: The problems centered more on forgetting that what we see isn’t always reality, and the RSPH offered some recommendations based on its findings. For one, fashion brands, celebrities, and others should consider disclosing when their photos have been manipulated. It also suggested that social networks give users a pop-up warning if they exceed…

    Marc Bain:

    The problems centered more on forgetting that what we see isn’t always reality, and the RSPH offered some recommendations based on its findings. For one, fashion brands, celebrities, and others should consider disclosing when their photos have been manipulated. It also suggested that social networks give users a pop-up warning if they exceed a certain time spent logged on. Social platforms might even identify users with possible mental-health issues based on their usage and send a discreet message on where to get help.

    Oh yeah, I bet people will love having a social network tell them they might have a possible mental health issue. I mean, get real.

  • iPad Productivity Report — 5/22/17

    Let’s talk about task management apps, and the awesomeness of Things 3.

    This week I want to talk about task management apps — [something I used to cover in depth](https://brooksreview.net/2010/08/omnifocus-v-things-mac-ipad-iphone/) at the outset of this site, but which has only been of passing interest to me of late. What is spurring this is Things 3 ([iPad](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/things-3-for-ipad/id904244226?mt=8&uo=4&at=1l3v36d), [iPhone](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/things-3/id904237743?mt=8&uo=4&at=1l3v36d), [Mac](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/things-3/id904280696?mt=12&uo=4&at=1l3v36d)), which is made by a company I loathe, but I mostly certainly bought and am using. ((It’s a complicated relationship.)) I can’t and won’t speak to the long term impacts of this tool, as it simply has not been enough time — but there is one thing we can talk about: design.

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  • Facebook’s Ability to Target “Insecure” Teens Could Prompt Backlash

    Could? Doubtful. Nitasha Tiku should know that too, as she wrote: Five years ago, Facebook conducted a mass experiment in manipulating emotions on nearly 700,000 unsuspecting users. The company tweaked News Feeds to show random users more positive or negative content, to see if it made those users happy or sad. Because even after they…

    Could? Doubtful. Nitasha Tiku should know that too, as she wrote:

    Five years ago, Facebook conducted a mass experiment in manipulating emotions on nearly 700,000 unsuspecting users. The company tweaked News Feeds to show random users more positive or negative content, to see if it made those users happy or sad.

    Because even after they published those findings, even after they said “gee, we didn’t think people would mind being manipulated” even then, no one cared. Why will they now?

  • Do You Need a Headlamp?

    Anthony Sculimbrene on headlamps versus flashlights: In my life, where working in the dark is uncommon and night hikes are rare, I don’t need one everyday, but when I do have work outside, the headlamp is tremendously helpful. I might only use it six times a year, but those six times are when something bad…

    Anthony Sculimbrene on headlamps versus flashlights:

    In my life, where working in the dark is uncommon and night hikes are rare, I don’t need one everyday, but when I do have work outside, the headlamp is tremendously helpful. I might only use it six times a year, but those six times are when something bad has happened and I don’t want to mess around.

    Fully agree. But I think for general hiking and camping the Wizard Pro from Armytek is all you need. Works as both, made well, awesome. Also a headlamp for peeing at night when camping is a must.

  • iOS 11: iPad Wishes and Oh God Please No, Not That

    Taking a look at the bigger points in the iOS 11 concept video from MacStories.

    I’ve been mulling over Federico’s excellently well made iOS 11 concept video, and I wanted to reflect on some thoughts from a few of his larger ideas.

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  • WHY I DELETED MY INSTAGRAM

    Eric Kim: I am pretty sure that all photographers would benefit by deleting their Instagram. We would spend more time analyzing our own opinion of our own photos, rather than caring what others think of our photos Great reasons. I only came back to Instagram to support my wife, but I really am not a…

    Eric Kim:

    I am pretty sure that all photographers would benefit by deleting their Instagram. We would spend more time analyzing our own opinion of our own photos, rather than caring what others think of our photos

    Great reasons. I only came back to Instagram to support my wife, but I really am not a huge fan of the service.

    (Via CJ Chilvers)

  • IBM Goes Non-Remote

    Some good thoughts from Mullenweg on IBM’s withdrawal from remote work. It really is a shame when this happens, remote work is such a better work life balance — it’s hard for me to imagine anyone wanting to go back to an office after working from home.

    Some good thoughts from Mullenweg on IBM’s withdrawal from remote work. It really is a shame when this happens, remote work is such a better work life balance — it’s hard for me to imagine anyone wanting to go back to an office after working from home.

  • A Fresh New Look

    A few notes on my new design, look at that archive page for sure.

    Yesterday afternoon, I pushed live a new theme for the site which I had been working on for the past few months. Most of the design elements were realized over the course of just a week or so, but I always sit with a new design for a few months as a way of trying it on. What I want to know is simple: after a few months, which one do I like looking at better?

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  • Google’s Perfect Future Will Always Be Just Around The Corner

    David Pierce: And you realize I/O felt less like a Jobsian product reveal and more like a TED talk: good ideas, educated guesses, and impressive research, but precious little practical application. The same could be said for last year’s event, too. Remember that awesome Google Home launch video? You’re still waiting for many of the…

    David Pierce:

    And you realize I/O felt less like a Jobsian product reveal and more like a TED talk: good ideas, educated guesses, and impressive research, but precious little practical application. The same could be said for last year’s event, too. Remember that awesome Google Home launch video? You’re still waiting for many of the things it promised. It was a vision for a product, not a product.

    (Via Om Malik)

  • Home Network Tips

    Just you know, in case you need a project.

    I have two things I want to share with you about home networking — and for this I mean WiFi, because I don’t know who wastes their time running Ethernet anymore.

    (more…)

  • My social media fast

    Jason Kottke: Social media aggregates interactions between loved ones so that you get industrialized communication rather than personal connection. No one really notices if a particular person goes missing because they’re just one interchangeable node in a network. That last bit, spot on analysis of how social networks work.

    Jason Kottke:

    Social media aggregates interactions between loved ones so that you get industrialized communication rather than personal connection. No one really notices if a particular person goes missing because they’re just one interchangeable node in a network.

    That last bit, spot on analysis of how social networks work.

  • Future of Journalism relies on YOU, the reader

    QuHarrison Terry on the future of journalism: In being opinionated, though, the solo journalist encounters many disagreements with their readers. Holding firm and staying true to their argument builds a rapport between reader and writer that transcends the digital medium. Some interesting thoughts (and nice of him to include me as well), but the above…

    QuHarrison Terry on the future of journalism:

    In being opinionated, though, the solo journalist encounters many disagreements with their readers. Holding firm and staying true to their argument builds a rapport between reader and writer that transcends the digital medium.

    Some interesting thoughts (and nice of him to include me as well), but the above passage really struck me. Be truthful about your stance, while also respecting contrary arguments is one of the hardest parts of writing this site.

    I initially felt like responding “fuck off” to every negative email I received, but then it seemed why even bother publishing? So now I read every comment that floods in (eventually) and I try to understand why, how, and where people disagree. Not to be more agreeable, but to reassess if they can move my stance.

  • Twitter Drops Do Not Track

    Good times… Thank god for Micro.blog.

    Good times…

    Thank god for Micro.blog.

  • From Shared to Personal to…

    Amazon and Microsoft seem to be making a play towards shared computing, again…

    Two things have come out recently, and both are very much related. The first is the Amazon Echo Show — which is a mini desktop computer thing with a camera meant to be kept somewhere convenient, but clearly not well seen since it is ugly. However, the idea is that this is a shared internet appliance as with the other Echo devices — you use it to aid you throughout the day without having to touch a device. So think like cooking recipes, or older people wanting a central video phone — which never works out well for companies.

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  • Things 3: Beauty and Delight in a Task Manager

    I’m really not a huge fan of Cultured Code in general, but even I must admit that it is fucking beautiful looking. There’s some serious limitations, as noted in this review, but it seems like those are either a deal breaker or a non-issue — no real middle ground on it. For me, the hardest…

    I’m really not a huge fan of Cultured Code in general, but even I must admit that it is fucking beautiful looking. There’s some serious limitations, as noted in this review, but it seems like those are either a deal breaker or a non-issue — no real middle ground on it. For me, the hardest part is the boneheaded decision to not include keyboard shortcuts for iPad users.

    Also the app is expensive as they still don’t have a universal iOS version, which feels, well it feels like I’d rather them charge me a subscription price.

    Anyways, I’ve downloaded the apps and will play with them — and I can say that if nothing else they are lovely to look at.

  • Back to the Apple Watch for a Week

    The Apple Watch sometimes creates more noise and rarely clarifies the signal.

    As I mentioned in my iPad Productivity Report, I attended a conference for a couple days recently, and I think I finally figured out the Apple Watch as part of that conference. But first, some much needed context:

    I have not worn my Apple Watch since some time in early November. However, a few of my coworkers were talking about how much they love their watches, and it spurred me to pull it back out and give it a go for a week. It took most of the first day updating it, but then we were off to the races.

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  • iPad Productivity Report — 5/15/17

    The social stigma of using an iPad out in the wild.

    This past week I spent a couple days at a conference, nothing out of the ordinary, except for whatever reason I started to inventory the devices people were using and trying to pick up on how they were using their devices. (This is also usually the part when I start to tweetstorm about force quitting apps.)

    I think the most absurd of the bunch I observed was a blogger using a 13″ MacBook Pro, an iPhone, and a small point and shoot camera. From what I could tell the main apps being used were: Chrome for Wordpress, Slack, and Photos. The workflow was simple: take some notes in a Wordpress draft, chat in Slack, and take photos of the presenter with the camera, transfer those images to the Mac and upload to Wordpress for an eventual blog post.

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  • News has never been pristine, always entangled in time

    Arthur Asseraf: Blaming any one technology for fake news is a bit too easy. In reality, news has never been settled or stable. In otherwords: it’s not technology which precipitates fake news, it’s humans.

    Arthur Asseraf:

    Blaming any one technology for fake news is a bit too easy. In reality, news has never been settled or stable.

    In otherwords: it’s not technology which precipitates fake news, it’s humans.

  • Everything you need to know about the WannaCry / Wcry / WannaCrypt ransomware

    Thorough overview.

    Thorough overview.