Wiser Web Wednesday – a semi-regular link to posts of interest from around the web, by those far wiser than myself:
My Pen Needs Ink
The answer is not necessarily “all the pens”, and deep down we know the few that satisfy the title of this post for ourselves.
…when I step back from admittedly my newest pen always making that list I end up with 3 pens that I truly love writing with.
What are your three?:
Pens I LOVE To Use
Gourmet Pens
A review of the TWSBI Vac Mini provides another vote for the 580 AL if you are considering a purchase from the Taiwanese manufacturer.
Personally, I still like the 580 best and wouldn’t bother with any of the others. I just hope the one I currently have (the 580 AL-Purple) doesn’t ever crack. I’m rather underwhelmed with this one
That said, I’m guessing the Eco would make a nice first step:
Review: TWSBI Vac Mini Fountain Pen – Broad
That One Pen
Part 2 in Todd’s series on getting to the bottom of the pens and pencils worth holding onto and those that aren’t:
I’m sure if we all tried hard enough we could make IKWIL a trending hashtag. Looking forward to the final cut:
I Know What I Like – Part 2
An Inkophile’s Blog
I must admit to not being deep into this fountain pen game for long enough to have had too many “last few drops of ink” (beyond some sample vials).
For those who have, not a bad suggestion for what to do with them. I like it:
Those Last Few Drops Of Ink
Pen Economics
Balanced, respectful, analysis and discussion. More of this very combination, which commenced with Ian Hedley’s initial query into Pilot’s pricing of pens in the UK:
The Pilot Pricing Puzzle
The Pilot Pricing Puzzle — Followup
Crónicas Estilográficas
To me, this pen looks like a Lamy 2000 mock-up might have been – before the designers said: “okay, now let’s taper both ends”.
The first look of this particular model is surprising—it looks like an ebonite blank ready to go to the lathe. It is almost perfectly cylindrical, and only under close inspection the line between cap and body can be seen
I know nothing about this brand of pens from India, however have enjoyed changing that with these posts:
Gama (II). A Stick
Pens! Paper! Pencils!
Speaking of pen brands I know nothing about – Ian back at the review desk with a very interesting pen from solo manufacturer Fosfor (coincidentally also from India).
The Bangalore is a great writer, comfortable in the hand, has a unique look and is handmade.
Well worth a look:
Fosfor Bangalore Fountain Pen Review
The Pen Haul
I must admit to being fortunate with nibs on the pens I’ve purchased, encountering no particular problems so far. Perhaps that might change one day, and posts like these are handy reference points.
The main purpose of my post is to share with everyone that yes my pen had a defect, but there is a fairly simple way to fix it.
A recommended read, and linked to in the post is the knowledge base found at Richard Binder’s site, however I enjoy reading the experiences of other pen users who tackle something they may have not tried before:
DIY – Smoothing a Bummed Nib.
Kickstarter
It’s difficult to imagine when this now yearly Kickstarter campaign won’t be funded, which is entirely a good thing:
The Atlanta Pen Show is scheduled for April 15th – 17th, 2016, and The Pen Addict posse is ready to take over once again! Like last year, we are asking for your help to get this done.
Though already having passed the funding goal, it’s not too late to get in on the fun, and also some limited edition Pen Addict Notebooks:
RelayCon Atlanta: The Pen Addict Live 2016
Daily Coffee News – Roast Magazine
Although discussion in this post looks at possible advantages in aspects of design and practicalities of storage, a rather glaring omission is any acknowledgment of the possible environmental implications of adding another layer of packaging to the standard coffee bag.
I agree some of the designs look fantastic and the scope is wide, however the bag has now become a bag in a box. If you buy online from a manufacturer embracing this trend, you’ll then receive bags in boxes in a box.
Not a deal breaker perhaps, however something which probably should at least be part of the discussion:
Outside the Box: Thoughts On Coffee’s Latest Design Trend
Perfect Daily Grind
I’m sure we’ve all entered a café and been confronted by “single origin” coffee offerings.
Single origin is a small phrase with a big definition
Perfect Daily Grind explains what single origin coffee actually is, the effect it has on the industry, and how we know whether it is a high quality product, which it is often portrayed as:
Everything You Need to Know About Single Origin Coffees
Broadsheet Melbourne
It is often said the coffee menu in many fine restaurants seems an afterthought. Perhaps it’s because the Michelin Guide sets a fairly low bar in relation to the quality of beverage served:
“The Michelin Guide has two lines on its coffee criteria”, says Tim Varney. “It needs to have a crema and be served in a correct cup”.
As well as launching a new coffee roasting collective, two experienced Aussies are ensuring a much more palatable finish to an evening at the Noma restaurant’s ten-week residency in Sydney:
The Story Behind Noma’s Brew
Tim Nahumck
Many of us are probably familiar with the idea of getting down on paper or pixel anything nagging at our brains before we go to sleep.
What we then do with those thoughts is often another matter. What begins here as a brief brain dump ends up actionable where necessary through the iOS apps Drafts, Workflow and 2Do, as well as being a more in-depth post than it initially begins:
How to Apply the Note
SMH Digital Life
Does world domination await for cheap smartphone manufacturers? Probably not, though for brands like Xiaomi, I’d suggest there is enough potential market share for them to try.
For Australian audiences, Xiaomi remains the most enigmatic of Chinese brands. Xiaomi grabs all the headlines, the tech press love it, but there is still no official way of buying its products in this country.
Speaking of Xiaomi, I concur with the following, having seen my wife using the new generation Mi Band for the past few weeks:
At $26, the Mi Band fitness tracker outperforms most from Fitbit and Jawbone.
I’ll stick with my iPhone, but that Mi Band…:
Chinese mobile phones: everything you need to know
Day One
Day One continues to be one of my favourite and more heavily used apps, and I for one am really looking forward to version 2. Yes, an awkward naming convention but really what else could they do?
To support Day One 2’s new features, we ultimately rebuilt the app from the ground up, all the while staying true to Day One’s original simplicity. Rebuilding an app as seasoned as Day One is no small task. What I’d hoped would be a year-long effort has taken twice that… but we feel it’s been worth the wait.
Plenty of effort seems to have gone into this upcoming release, and I’m sure it will be a beauty:
Introducing Day One 2
Extratextuals
iPad Pro and iOS love part one (via Federico Viticci):
…it’s an understatement to say I have always preferred iOS to any other platform. With its software and hardware providing solutions to those niggling issues of mine, the iPad Pro is in many ways my dream computer
The Brooks Review
iOS love part two:
Some of this is simply intangible and not worth trying to explain, as words will never do it justice. Another subset is personal preference, and not worth explaining as it is personal. But there is a chunk of the allure that is easy to point your finger at and say: that’s better, that’s easier, and that makes more sense.
Nerds on Draft
Gabe Weatherhead and Jeff Hunsberger delve into the relative merits of some common task managers. As I’m powering along with 2Do myself, I particularly enjoyed this one.
The conversation is about the advantages of using plain text task management, some commentary on the direction and focus of OmniFocus and how they have embraced 2Do to varying degrees.
A little IPA and a lot of 2Do:
Episode 060 — Agave IPA and 2Do
Smith Journal
The fog “catching” in this four-minute video is a simple yet ingenious way to obtain water for the organically grown crops upon which this subsist on in the mountains of Peru.
Fog catchers are basically vast nets strung between two poles. The fine mesh allows water droplets from the fog to accumulate and eventually run off into a canal. The nets work well in Peru because of the dense and omnipresent fog, known locally as camanchaca, or ‘donkey’s belly’, that rolls in from the coast.
Even more fascinating? The son completing his design assignment on the family computer as his feet rest on a dirt floor — his civil engineering studies at university achievable only after a two-hour commute from the family home. Another one to file in the take-a-good-hard-look-at-yourself category, in readiness for the next time something bugs you about work or study:
Catching Clouds
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