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

 

Ink & Flour
There is a lot to be said for a more focused approach in pens inked or in use at any given time, even if our collections may be increasing in overall size.

I have been itching to ink up another pen, something a little bigger or heavier, but we’ll see. I’m very pleased with using a smaller number of pens, I feel like I’m getting to know them better and getting to know the inks better as well.

It sounds like we’ll be seeing a few more pens in the collection here over the coming months, and I look forward to hearing about them:
Loadout Update: End of March Edition

 

Alt. Haven
Earlier in the year I picked up a Jinhao X750 fountain pen with some store credit at local online store Just Write, and am yet to ink it up.

I admit, the overall feel is equivalent to what I paid for it, however that of course doesn’t mean it won’t write well. If Junee’s review is anything to go by, I may be pleasantly surprised, and if I’m not, then there are always options:
Review: Jinhao X750

 

The Pen Haul
A guest post on The Pen Haul from Chris of The Penman Post, looking at the Pilot Custom 74. I like the colour of this model very much, as it reminds me of the grey, blue and transparent colour scheme of my Pilot Custom Heritage 92 – still one of my all time favourites:
Pilot Custom 74 – The Penman Post

 

The Gentleman Stationer
Having backed Baron Fig’s Squire pen fairly late in the game, I will be down the list a ways in receiving mine, though kudos to the Baron Fig team for getting things out on time as promised.

As described, the pen is medium-sized and perfectly balanced in the hand, and the refill extends using a twist mechanism that functions smoothly.

I’d normally avoid a review of a pen I have bought (or backed in this case) yet not received, for fear of reading a bunch of negatives. This time I couldn’t resist having a peek at Joe’s thoughts, which makes me just that little bit more excited about receiving that shipping notice myself:
First Impressions of the Baron Fig Squire: The Pen Is A Mighty Sword

 

The Pelikan’s Perch
Appearance and design a 10/10? Agreed.

Each pen produced has a somewhat unique finish but all are beautiful. The vibrant blue swirls evoke a sense of water flowing amongst the earthy deep browns to create a visually stunning piece.

Simply a stunner — great pen, great post, great pics:
Review: M800 Grand Place (2016)

 

Piktochart Blog
Although I miss the Dot Grid podcast, Will Fanguy’s new gig at Piktochart seems to be going pretty well.

There’s still the hurdle of taking a template like ours (and we have almost 500 of them) and making it work for you. The good news is that with some imagination and a bit of dedicated effort, you can turn something good into something great. The best part is your kids will know you made it. Maybe now they’ll stop giving you a hard time about stealing someone else’s Powerpoint.

Although I’m not a teacher, a few valid points for the business world in this post, where we’re all just stealing each other’s Powerpoints anyway:
3 Tips for Easy and Engaging Classroom Visuals

 

Pinboard Blog
I’ve never used IFTTT to any great extent, however one action I do use is to send archived articles from Pocket as links to Pinboard. That being said, when this recipe ceases to function, that will most likely be the last of my IFTTT usage.

For users left stranded, I recommend taking a look at Zapier or Botize, which offer a similar service, or at one of the dozens of new sites that will spring up next week to capture the market that IFTTT is foolishly abandoning.

For anyone looking for an alternative, it appears there are a number of them out there.

An interesting read on the other side of the story from the creator/operator of Pinboard:
My Heroic and Lazy Stand Against IFTTT (Pinboard Blog)

 

MacStories
This was one of those apps I downloaded some time ago and never really got around to using, however as you’ll read in this post, a recent update is probably as good a time as any to get in and give it a run.

While I’ve been using Copied to move bits of text and screenshots between devices with iCloud, DeskConnect’s simpler approach, 30-day automatic deletion, and integration with documents will work just as well for a lot of people – especially for those who can’t stand the unreliability of AirDrop between iOS and OS X or who just want a quick way to send a file from an iPhone to an iPad.

In my limited time using the app, transfer is indeed fast and reliable.

Worth a look:
DeskConnect Brings Fast File Transfers Between iOS and OS X

 

Asymco
Interesting reading — well if, of course, you are interested in this type of thing — on the next 40 years of Apple.

Combining the history of customer creation and customer preservation with the value obtained from each customer implies that the next 40 years will be about creating another large tranche of customers whose willingness to spend on whatever Apple creates will be relatively unchanged.

A couple of things struck me when reading this post. One was the overall shipments of Windows PC’s over the time period of the review. Yes, I acknowledge that trend is declining, however it was an awful lot of sales and market share over a long time.

Also, think about what devices we may be using in 40 years time, and how we evolve to that point from where we are now. Boggles my mind a little:
The Next 40

 

The App Factor
Probably not something I’d bother doing, however yet another of those little hacks made possible by Launch Center Pro.

Launch Center Pro, which lets you choose what apps you get access to through 3D Touch actions. I’ve chosen to take advantage of this by using it as a way to launch my most used media apps; Rdio (RIP), Sonos, Music.app, and Pandora

LCP seems to be the glue that holds many a workflow together:
3D Touch tips: Using Launch Center Pro as a media controller

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