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

  • Travel Light: Outlier Futureworks

    These are the only pants I want to wear.

    After I last posted about travel pants, I had a pretty comfortable routine for my life: Icebreakers were my day-to-day pants, and the Bluffworks and Ministry of Supply pants were what I wore if I wanted to dress up a bit more. Sitting at the top of my “to test” list were the Outlier Futureworks. Aside from having a great name, they had a compelling promise:

    These are the ones to take around the world. Classic looks meet technical movement in a lightweight yet durable pant.

    At $140 they are more money than many other options you can buy, but they are the most inexpensive pants Outlier sells. I picked up a pair of them shortly after my last post on pants, and have been testing them nonstop ever since. I chose dark navy, as the color is versatile for both work and leisure.

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  • Your 2 Cents

    Great advice.

    Great advice.

  • The New Desktop Linux

    Ok, here we go. Cracks Knuckles

    Watts Martin has penned an interesting take on people, like me, who are using iOS as their primary computer. I was reluctant to read this, since I respect Martin a great deal, but I think his post is a common sentiment of the anti-iOS-is-better-at-all-the-things crowd. I do think there is confusion here, though.

    A common statement by iOS is amazing people: “Some things are a little harder or slower, but it’s fun figuring that out.”

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  • Credit card companies are blowing it with chip payments

    The title of this post is an understatement. One of my favorite places to shop right now is Walgreens. Why? Because they have somehow managed to unfuck the current payment system. I can not only use Apple Pay quickly and easily, but my loyalty card is setup to work with Apple Pay too. Walk in,…

    The title of this post is an understatement. One of my favorite places to shop right now is Walgreens. Why? Because they have somehow managed to unfuck the current payment system.

    I can not only use Apple Pay quickly and easily, but my loyalty card is setup to work with Apple Pay too. Walk in, use my watch for the loyalty card and payment, and walk out.

    I’ve seen these things take forever (Apple Pay fails a lot even at the Apple Store) but at Walgreens, for whatever reason, the shit is magically fast. That’s how it should be, and frankly it makes me prefer shopping there because of it. Office Depot is the worst by far — what a stupid set of systems we have right now.

  • Setting up My iOS Only Environment

    Some insight into how I am working iOS only.

    I’ve talked a bit about how I am using each of my devices, and why I went ahead and got a second iPad Pro. Now I want to talk more specifically about how I am accomplishing some of the key tasks that could end up being stumbling blocks for many people.

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  • Does the Snapchat Generation Even Know What Yahoo Is?

    Om Malik: Yahoo is a perfect illustration of how large Internet companies die—by fading into irrelevance. A healthy Internet service possesses three qualities: it encourages habit formation; it appeals to a younger demographic, which can age alongside it; and it displays evidence of growth.

    Om Malik:

    Yahoo is a perfect illustration of how large Internet companies die—by fading into irrelevance. A healthy Internet service possesses three qualities: it encourages habit formation; it appeals to a younger demographic, which can age alongside it; and it displays evidence of growth.

  • State of Desktop iPadding

    I’ve used more duct tape in the past few months, than I have in the past few years.

    The launch of the Razer Mechanical keyboard brings about what will likely be among the first of many accessories which are seeking to make the iPad a better desktop computer — something that is likely to seem comical for many. The validity of using the iPad as a desktop computer notwithstanding, as a full time iPad Pro user I am finding the ways you can use the iPad on a desk to be challenging to say the least.

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  • Traveling the World with One Backpack

    Life on the road with just a GR2? Yes please.

    Life on the road with just a GR2? Yes please.

  • Razer Mechanical Keyboard Case

    Jason Snell: If you want to turn your iPad into a nearly four-pound black laptop with mechanical keyswitches, this is the product for you. LOL

    Jason Snell:

    If you want to turn your iPad into a nearly four-pound black laptop with mechanical keyswitches, this is the product for you.

    LOL

  • Traveling Light: Merino Ankle Socks

    Holy heel balls, these are amazing socks.

    When I posted my initial Traveling Light post on socks, I mentioned how I don’t wear anything special for style considerations. There is, however, one caveat: athletic socks, or more specifically the ankle socks I wear with shorts and sneakers.

    I picked up two different kinds to try over my recent family vacation, and I am a little blown away at how great they are. (I would have bought them sooner, but I so rarely wear these, I never got around to it.) I picked up Icebreakers and Darn Tough socks, both are heavily Merino wool based.

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  • Traveling Light: Warm Weather Gear

    I never thought I would be so excited about a pair of shorts.

    I mentioned in my initial posts that I would be following up to post about shorts and short-sleeved shirts. This is that post. I tried out the Outlier New Ways, and the Ministry of Supply Apollo Polo shirts. Both are outstanding.

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  • Summer Remote Work Schedules

    Manton Reece on the troubles of working from home during the summer: I’d add to his list: you might have kids at home who open your office door whenever they want. My home office is currently shared with anyone who wants to use the extra iMac or printer, and the kids often need rides to…

    Manton Reece on the troubles of working from home during the summer:

    I’d add to his list: you might have kids at home who open your office door whenever they want. My home office is currently shared with anyone who wants to use the extra iMac or printer, and the kids often need rides to appointments, camps, and friends. For me, summer is the most important time to get a more formal schedule.

    So true.

  • It’s About the Commute

    Everything about this passage is a big yep in my book: A quick poll of my fellow Basecampers revealed that having no commute is their favourite thing about working from home, and the biggest block against considering coworking. I’m lucky in that the space I ran was down one flight of stairs from our apartment…

    Everything about this passage is a big yep in my book:

    A quick poll of my fellow Basecampers revealed that having no commute is their favourite thing about working from home, and the biggest block against considering coworking. I’m lucky in that the space I ran was down one flight of stairs from our apartment (which brought its own problems!), and any new shared office would be a short bike ride away. But, for me, an office door is enough separation between my work and life, and I’d rather spend my journey time walking the dog. Did I mention I have a dog?”

    The moment I have to get in a car to do work, is the moment that working remotely is of less value to me. I have done long commutes to an office, and short 5-10min commutes to a shared workspace, and I loathed every moment I had to be in a car, no matter how short the drive was.

  • Multitasking and Mental Acuity

    Once again, strong reasons for using more iOS and less macOS.

    Long known things restated again:

    The solution is to give up on multitasking and set aside dedicated chunks of time for each separate activity. So only check your email first thing in the morning and again at midday, or set aside 10 minutes per afternoon for Twitter.

    While reading the article I kept saying to myself: “this is why I like iOS better”. I know many people like to argue that I could make OS X, pardon me macOS, more like iOS — but that’s a poor substitute for the real thing.

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  • Default Outcome

    Manton Reece with a great line: Companies aren’t exactly designed to fail. But that is their default outcome.

    Manton Reece with a great line:

    Companies aren’t exactly designed to fail. But that is their default outcome.

  • A Precious Hour

    I did something similar during November when wrote over 50,000 words. It was hugely beneficial and something I am trying to start again as my writing time has become more of a back burner task of late.

    I did something similar during November when wrote over 50,000 words. It was hugely beneficial and something I am trying to start again as my writing time has become more of a back burner task of late.

  • The Arcido Bag Review

    I love the fabric, and am still amazed at how large this bag packs.

    Editor’s note: this bag was provided to me for review purposes, and is a pre-production unit.

    Cavernous, that’s the word I would use to describe this travel backpack and shoulder bag. To give you a better sense of what I mean, I had to triple the amount of clothing I would normally pack for my trip, in order to make the bag feel somewhat full and to keep my stuff from sloshing around the bag.

    Even with all that extra clothing, there was plenty of room to spare. I typically don’t open with thoughts on the size of a bag, but that’s the most striking part of this bag. It’s big. It doesn’t feel big on my back, or even heavy, but it looks big and packs even bigger.

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  • Towards More Minimal Travel

    Interesting post about the process of going from a take everything to a take very little traveler. I will say, he still packs a lot of stuff. But the fact he fits it all in the Aeronaut 45 is really impressive to me.

    Interesting post about the process of going from a take everything to a take very little traveler. I will say, he still packs a lot of stuff. But the fact he fits it all in the Aeronaut 45 is really impressive to me.

  • Toward a Smarter Software Future

    Ben Bajarin: For years I had been writing about the need for better predictive intelligence in our software. It seems ridiculous that my smartphone does not know more about my context and take relevant actions on my behalf. If I’m in a meeting, send all calls to VM or send a text message. If I’m…

    Ben Bajarin:

    For years I had been writing about the need for better predictive intelligence in our software. It seems ridiculous that my smartphone does not know more about my context and take relevant actions on my behalf. If I’m in a meeting, send all calls to VM or send a text message. If I’m running late to a meeting, offer to send an email or text to those I’m meeting with to let them know I’m running late and an ETA of when I’ll be there (since it knows where I am on the road, the traffic situation, and my time to destination). Our smartphones are really not that smart when it comes to the intelligence equation. That is about to change.

  • Dividing the Work Between Two iPads

    It’s amazing how quickly having two iPads becomes a natural thing.

    There used to be endless posts online on how to best work with two Macs — how to keep things in sync between a desktop and a laptop — and all the other messes that technology had yet to solve. I was right there with everyone, trying to divvy the work between two computers. In a way, having two iPads reopens this same discussion.

    Though, I must say, things have changed considerably for the better.

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