The Brooks Review

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Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
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  • Clothing Arts Cubed Travel Jacket

    A really good rain jacket to go from the city to the woods.

    (Note: This item was provided to me at no cost for the purpose of this review.)

    A lot of companies produce jackets which are geared towards travel, but most seasoned travelers will trend towards light weight hiking jackets instead, as they pack down much more than most travel jackets. Partly because of this, I’ve always been skeptical of any travel jackets, so it is with that bias that Clothing Arts sent me their new Cubed Travel Jacket.

    This jacket uses eVent material (like GoreTex) to keep you dry, and well vented. It features a zip off hood, and a ton of secure interior pockets. But more than that, this is supposed to be the only jacket you need to take when you travel, so is it?

    I tested it in the famous Seattle rain to see how it performed.

    (more…)

  • As Trumplethinskin lets down hair for tech, shame on Silicon Valley for climbing the Tower in silence

    Kara Swisher: When I could get no really substantive on-the-record statements from the tech leaders, I pinged investor Chris Sacca, because I know he would not let me down. It’s funny, in every tech deal I’ve ever done, the photo op comes after you’ve signed the papers,” he said. “If Trump publicly commits to embrace…

    Kara Swisher:

    When I could get no really substantive on-the-record statements from the tech leaders, I pinged investor Chris Sacca, because I know he would not let me down.

    It’s funny, in every tech deal I’ve ever done, the photo op comes after you’ve signed the papers,” he said. “If Trump publicly commits to embrace science, stops threatening censorship of the Internet, rejects fake news and denounces hate against our diverse employees, only then it would make sense for tech leaders to visit Trump Tower.”

    He added: “Short of that, they are being used to legitimize a fascist.”

    I think a lot of people became Kara Swisher fans after she published this. Well done.

  • What’s in Bri’s Bag? Lightweight Longterm Women’s Backpacking List

    Good packing list for women looking to travel in one bag.

    Good packing list for women looking to travel in one bag.

  • iPad Productivity Report – 12/12/16

    Updates on keyboards and stands, and a dive into the Smart Keyboard Covers.

    ### Some Updates

    This past week was a massively busy one for me, so today a little bit different of a format is needed. I want to update you on two of my latest adventures.

    #### iPad Keyboard

    I published my review of the Pok3r [here](https://brooksreview.net/2016/12/the-pok3r/), and in short it’s fantastic. If I am at home, and writing, you can be certain I am writing using the Pok3r. I could not be happier with this keyboard and even though I take a hit on battery life — it is all worth it.

    You must be a member to view the rest of this content.

  • US-CERT: Stop using your remotely exploitable Netgear routers

    Which models? Right now it looks like Netgear R7000, R6400 and R8000 routers, but there may be more models that are vulnerable. Should you really take this seriously and unplug your router? You betcha, since US-CERT said it is “trivial” to exploit this vulnerability. Visit a booby-trapped page and whammo! An attacker would be saying…

    Which models? Right now it looks like Netgear R7000, R6400 and R8000 routers, but there may be more models that are vulnerable. Should you really take this seriously and unplug your router? You betcha, since US-CERT said it is “trivial” to exploit this vulnerability. Visit a booby-trapped page and whammo! An attacker would be saying hello to root privileges on your router.

    My router was among these and I’ll be replacing it right away. Check yours. The R7000 is a model I’ve be recommending to a lot of people.

  • Thoughts on Ulysses and Scrivener

    Matt Gemmell comparing Ulysses and Scrivener: I like them both, and they both piss me off. Scriv is somebody’s little brother, complete with second-child syndrome. Ulysses wants to go and visit the library, but won’t let itself skip the t’ai chi class. Really good comparison, and great criticisms.

    Matt Gemmell comparing Ulysses and Scrivener:

    I like them both, and they both piss me off. Scriv is somebody’s little brother, complete with second-child syndrome. Ulysses wants to go and visit the library, but won’t let itself skip the t’ai chi class.

    Really good comparison, and great criticisms.

  • Best Buy vs. The Apple Store

    Jason Fried: It’s just a simple share of a shopping experience I had recently that surprised me. Best Buy feels simple, Apple Stores feels over engineered, too sophisticated. I get why, but why doesn’t matter to the customer experience. It’s either great or it’s not — the why behind the scenes doesn’t matter. Who’s been teaching me…

    Jason Fried:

    It’s just a simple share of a shopping experience I had recently that surprised me. Best Buy feels simple, Apple Stores feels over engineered, too sophisticated. I get why, but why doesn’t matter to the customer experience. It’s either great or it’s not — the why behind the scenes doesn’t matter. Who’s been teaching me that for decades? Apple.

    I agree with his thoughts on the Apple Store, but he’s not even close on Best Buy. I don’t doubt he had a good experience now, but I’ve been to Best Buy far more often than I care to admit, and I’d rather stand in line for pictures with Santa Claus than go to Best Buy.

  • The Pok3r

    A grown up version of the Poker II, and so much more.

    When I was using a Mac full time, I almost always used a CODE keyboard for all my typing. That lead me to find something better to use with my iPad, and I snagged a Poker II with MX Clear switches. It was a good keyboard for occasional iPad use, but it had a few fatal flaws: it was ugly, and the CMD key was unchangeably in the wrong location.

    I had given up on a mechanical keyboard for the iPad when I switched to it full time — I just hated the way all of them looked. However, over the last few weeks I have come back to wanting a better typing experience. I hooked up the CODE and remembered why I loved it so much, but the same problem with the CODE + iPad Pro remains: scale. The keyboard is just too large compared to the iPad Pro.

    (more…)

  • My ‘he will keep telling other people about this stuff’ Gift List

    I mean, this is a gift list, there’s not much more to say.

    For whatever reason, this year I have been looking through a lot of gift lists, and overall I have been really disappointed with them. Because of this I thought I’d make a gift list for a change — the idea behind this list is: if I didn’t have any of the stuff I currently have, what could someone give me where I would end up being so happy with it, I would tell other people they need to get it.

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  • United Airlines will charge extra fee for use of overhead bins

    United has a new ticket fare, where no luggage is included in the price (except what fits at your feet). If you want overhead bin space, or to check, you pay. I actually love this, though I would much rather checked luggage be free and overhead charged for everyone. If you have been on a…

    United has a new ticket fare, where no luggage is included in the price (except what fits at your feet). If you want overhead bin space, or to check, you pay. I actually love this, though I would much rather checked luggage be free and overhead charged for everyone.

    If you have been on a flight recently (say last 3-4 years) then you likely know how big of a shit show it is when you board a plane. There’s so many people with bags that are clearly too large to carry on, or people with clearly too many bags. Tons of gate checking — in all I think people not following rules, add tremendously to the overall boarding time.

    In the past couple of trips I have taken with United I have noticed something I never saw before: gate agents caring about luggage. I’ve seen them using both luggage sizers at the gate and forcing people to check — and I’ve seen them simply telling people they have too many bags. I know this likely annoys a lot of people, but as someone who packs small and light, I commend United for this.

    It’s been far to long where people don’t follow very clear rules. And honestly, if you can’t fit all of your stuff in a properly sized carryon, then why wouldn’t you want to check it? It’s so much easier at that point to not drag it all around.

    Again it would be great if they flipped things, where checked is free (for one bag) and carryon is charged for anything more than a personal item. You pay for the convenience of not waiting to get your bags back — seems to make sense to me.

  • Basic Privacy

    Quincy Larson: To be clear, everything I recommend here is 100% free and 100% legal. If you bother locking your doors at night, you should bother using encryption. It’s a good set of first steps to take. I am curious how many people use Signal over iMessage… even I don’t use Signal for any messages…

    Quincy Larson:

    To be clear, everything I recommend here is 100% free and 100% legal. If you bother locking your doors at night, you should bother using encryption.

    It’s a good set of first steps to take. I am curious how many people use Signal over iMessage… even I don’t use Signal for any messages (though I do have it setup). I am going to see if my wife will move to it with me though and test it out.

  • Analyzing How People Type

    Pretty neat research looking into how people type, and how that impacts typing speed. I’d love to see more done with this research — and across keyboard types.

    Pretty neat research looking into how people type, and how that impacts typing speed. I’d love to see more done with this research — and across keyboard types.

  • Twitterrific Gets Better

    John Voorhees: Center Stage is great for casual browsing of media in your timeline, but I expect I will use it most at events like WWDC. When I’m in San Francisco for Apple’s developer conference, I don’t want to miss friends’ photos and videos of the event, but I also don’t have time to read…

    John Voorhees:

    Center Stage is great for casual browsing of media in your timeline, but I expect I will use it most at events like WWDC. When I’m in San Francisco for Apple’s developer conference, I don’t want to miss friends’ photos and videos of the event, but I also don’t have time to read every tweet in my timeline. With Center Stage I can go straight to those photos and videos and dip into my timeline later when I have more time.

    Twitterrific really is the best Twitter app you can use. Love it. Neat addition too.

  • iPad Productivity Report – 12/5/2016

    A year of being iPad only, and iPad ergonomics.

    ## A Year iPad Only

    A little over a year ago, [I wrote in a post](https://brooksreview.net/2015/11/the-full-ipad/) about going to the iPad Pro as a full time computer and made this prediction:

    > The iPad Pro right now might not be for you, but come this time next year, I am guessing we will be seeing a lot more people starting to shift their computing to iPads.

    It’s now been that year, and I think you know where I am going with this — there has indeed been a lot more people picking up the iPad as either their primary, or only, computing device. Not the wave I had hoped for, but a far greater amount of people than my most pessimistic parts expected.

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  • Misen

    It’s a solid knife, but nothing revolutionary.

    It’s likely no surprise to readers of this site that my love for knives is not just limited to pocket knives and survival knives, but also to the two kitchen drawers I have stuffed with kitchen knives. I want to talk about the Misen knife, which had a well funded Kickstarter campaign. The sell is this: it has better steel, it has a better edge, superior design, free sharpening for life, and all at a very affordable price of $65.

    It’s a really good pitch, and I backed the campaign because I wanted to see if the knife really lived up to the hype. I know a lot about knifes, but not as much about kitchen knives. I did, however, immediately recognize the steel this knife is made from: AUS-8. Let’s just say that as steels go, it is middle of the road and a steel I would personally stay away from in pocket and survival knives because of its rather run of the mill qualities.

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  • The Compass 1 versus Compass 2

    This new stand is a piece of shit.

    One of the best products Twelve South has ever made is the Compass. A collapsible stand for iPads which can hold it at two angles, but really you just use it to hold it at an easel like angle. I’ve had one, off and on for years, and swear by them.

    However, at some point Twelve South revised the design and launched the Compass 2. The new design looks very much the same, but is worse in just about every aspect (I’m being generous here, because I honestly can’t think of a way that it is better). I hate it.

    (more…)

  • iPad-only: Month One

    Matt Gemmell shares another great thought about the iPad as a computer: You grab the actual tool itself, and you’re away. It doesn’t care that it’s actually a computer. I’m not sure it even really knows. Really well put. When your computer is just a glass slab with insane battery life, it basically becomes whatever…

    Matt Gemmell shares another great thought about the iPad as a computer:

    You grab the actual tool itself, and you’re away. It doesn’t care that it’s actually a computer. I’m not sure it even really knows.

    Really well put. When your computer is just a glass slab with insane battery life, it basically becomes whatever it is you are doing. One moment it is a scope of my rifle hunting bad guys, another it is a piece of paper showing doodles, and the next a powerful spreadsheet — a wall of cells for you will. I really love that.

    Shameless plug: if you are a member, you can read quite a lot of thoughts like this every Monday.

  • Clarks Desert Boots

    I mean they’re boots, and a quite like them.

    I’ve never been a boot guy, always sneakers or some type of low cut dressier looking shoe. I didn’t understand boots, unless I was hiking or doing something which specifically required boots. But I needed new shoes and travelers seem to universally hail the Desert Boot as not only a great staple, but as really the only shoe most people need.

    (more…)

  • iPad Productivity Report – 11/28/2016

    Can your relatives work from an iPad, a flowchart for iPad selections, and cellular or not?

    ### The Question

    “So can you actually work from an iPad?” I hear that question a lot from friends and family, and I usually annoy them with my response. I respond with a version of “I only own iPads”. Which is my way of saying: yeah, I work only from an iPad.

    It’s not the answer people want to hear though, what they want to hear is “you probably can’t” or “no”, and sometimes “yes”. Telling most people they can work from an iPad challenges too much of their knowledge about the way the world works, and they can’t easily grasp it. So telling them it’s not something they have to worry about, is the equivalent of the “it’s not you, it’s me” break up line.

    Also it helps get you out of a series of questions if you respond they can work from an iPad: what about X, what about Y, what about Q, what about X but in E way? And on and on they go.

    *You must be a member to view the rest of this content.*

  • Android Encryption Woes

    Matthew Green: On the other hand, you might notice that this is a pretty goddamn low standard. In other words, in 2016 Android is still struggling to deploy encryption that achieves (lock screen) security that Apple figured out six years ago. And they’re not even getting it right. That doesn’t bode well for the long…

    Matthew Green:

    On the other hand, you might notice that this is a pretty goddamn low standard. In other words, in 2016 Android is still struggling to deploy encryption that achieves (lock screen) security that Apple figured out six years ago. And they’re not even getting it right. That doesn’t bode well for the long term security of Android users.

    Ouch.