Wiser Web Wednesday – a semi-regular link to posts of interest from around the web, by those far wiser than myself:

 

The Pencilcase Blog
Making a pen display cabinet like this one is certainly an impressive feat. Filling it with hand-made inlays as well? Even more amazing.

Wow! Job well done I’d say:
Tinkerink: Making A Pen Display

 

The Gentleman Stationer
I put down a few thoughts about my blue Custom Heritage 92 a little while ago. It is a pen which remains one of my absolute favourites, and I cannot see that changing any time soon. Looking at the orange model in this review gives me an inkling I may want another someday.

Pilot makes a “FM” nib (or a Fine-Medium), which is the perfect width for me to use as a daily writer. On more absorbent paper, the FM nib leans more to the medium side; on Rhodia or Clairefontaine, the nib writes more like a Western fine.

Judging by the review, Joe quite likes it as well:
Pen Review: Pilot Custom Heritage 92

Without making this a Gentleman Stationer link-a-thon, Joe also wrote a great post outlining some resources to encourage and inspire the analogue side of your life, which of course should assist in balancing the digital we all have our heads buried in a lot of the time:
10 Resources to Help You Improve the Digital-Analog Balance in Your Life

Oh — and incidentally, this ties in well with Digital Divide, a special monthly edition of the TGS Newsletter Joe will be sending out, addressing that very analog and digital balance.

Ok I’m done now. Moving on.

 

The Ink Smudge
Although you’ll find many reviews of the TWSBI Eco through an online search (which should always begin at Pennaquod of course), I particularly thought this was an apt description for such a pen:

What I mean by beginner pen isn’t necessarily the first pen, but the pen you get when you aren’t afraid of buying a whole bottle of ink.

Or perhaps the one you get to try out a stub nub:
Review: TWSBI ECO 1.1 Stub Nib

 

The Pelikan’s Perch
A great early scoop on a possible limited edition Pelikan M1000 coming this year.

Thanks to an anonymous source out of Japan, we may just have our first look at the rumored but as yet unannounced Pelikan M1000 Raden Sunrise.

Looking at it (though I’d never be in the market to buy), this is one of those pens I’m not sure if I like it or not. Whenever this situation arises, with time it often hits me one way or the other.

For now, I’ll reserve my decision:
News: M1000 Raden Sunrise

 

John Scullen
A nice overview of Spark, an email app for iOS which seems to be quite popular at the moment — and for good reason. Like many others, I switched over during the twilight of Mailbox and have stayed on since — both on my iPhone and iPad.

Everyone has a different approach to email, so flexibility is important. There’s not much that you can’t configure in Spark

Agreed, there is certainly scope for customisation so, however for me, it is also just an attractive, functional app that suits how I deal with email:
Spark: The Innovative Way To Fly Through Your Email

 

9to5Mac
Speaking of Spark, here is a list for going a little deeper into the details:
How-To: 50 getting started tips for new Spark users

 

Macdrifter
Most of us need to redact and/or annotate screenshots on iOS from time to time.

While there’s a wealth of options on the Mac for image annotation, there are very few complete options on iOS.

A great idea — why not go with a fairly powerful app when you do need one?
Redaction and Annotation With Pixelmator for iOS

 

Daily Coffee News
A phenomenon not unique to used coffee capsules I’m sure. Still, an unsurprising yet no less unfortunate scenario:

When the pods are not visible in the trash or recycling bin, people care less.

Compounding things is the popularity of capsule machines and the subsequent volume of waste produced. A simple “solution” it appears is not about sustainability, but simply invisibility.

As consumers are we really that simplistic and it must be said — disappointing in our attitude?
The ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ Solution to the Capsule Sustainability Problem

 

Perfect Daily Grind
An interesting discussion on improving the criteria for identifying the ripest coffee cherries for harvesting. Looking at factors such as colour change, pulp softening, sugar content and aromatic compounds, the study resulted in an interesting finding:

We compared the color of the 1,000-day lots to their cupping score and found a strong correlation. In fact, we found it to be the most significant out of the three variables

That’s right, the highest correlation with cupping scores was found in the colour of the coffee cherry — something readily identifiable by an experienced harvester, and in many ways the traditional means of assessing fruit:
Coffee Science: How Can We Identify & Improve Cherry Ripeness?

 

The Guardian
A plausible explanation from two of the world’s largest coffee companies: Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts?

…both companies – whose brands include Nescafé, Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Coffee-mate and Senseo – admit that while they do not buy beans directly from “blacklisted” plantations where human rights abuses are known to take place, they cannot rule out that slavery-like conditions may exist in their supply chain

Or an overlooked issue perhaps not addressed until it had to be:
Nestlé admits slave labour risk on Brazil coffee plantations

 

The Fumbally
What happens when someone in a cafe thinks: “Surely there’s something we can do with the milk we tip out of these jugs all day”.

We get about 1kg of cheese from 8 litres of milk which we then season and mix with herbs and spices for our sandwiches and specials, or give it to our baker to use in some of the cakes as a cream cheese substitute.

Nicely done:
Fresh cheese from waste milk

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