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

The Gentleman Stationer
Okay, spoiler alert – I am mentioned in this post along with some other blogs. I do wish to point out the link is included here not because of that fact, for if you are reading this, then you are already — well, of course…reading this blog.

The reason for linking to posts and other blogs on these mostly weekly Wednesday link posts is to share with you the other sites I get a kick out of reading — many of which you’ll find highlighted in Joe’s post.

As for this blog? It fits perfectly in the not exclusively stationery-focused and not updated as often category in which it appears, and for that reason I am very grateful to Joe for the inclusion.

I would encourage you to click-through to the post and check whether the websites included are in your RSS Reader or whichever method of following you may use — there are some great sites here:
Pen and Stationery Websites You Should Be Reading

The Pen Addict
Jeff Abbott looks at a fountain pen-friendly pocket notebook in the Clairefontaine Life Unplugged series.

I’ve long been a fan of Clairefontaine paper, and this newest addition to my collection is a new favorite. A 3.5″ x 5.5″ notebook filled with creamy, white Clairefontaine 90gsm paper is hard to beat.

If fountain pens are your daily carry note taking choice, indeed these would be hard to top as the paper half of any combination:
Clairefontaine Basics Staplebound Pocket Notebook Review

The Pelikan’s Perch
There is a good bit of local excitement given Brisbane made the list for a Pelikan Hub in 2016, with fellow Fountain Pens Australia Facebook member Thea Monks designated hubmaster (in my mind I continue to refer to it as hub-meister, however will go with the official term here).

Taking place for 2016 on the evening of September 16, I’m very much looking forward to participating in this fantastic event:
News: Pelikan Hubs 2016 Locations Announced

While you’re at The Pelikan’s Perch, check out Joshua’s very thorough, detailed review of the retro-inspired M120N released this year. For one main reason noted in the post, it perhaps won’t find its way into as many hands as perhaps it might have, which is a shame.

Great review though as always:
Review: M120N Green/Black (2016)

Ed Jelley
Certainly some solid choices here for fountain pen users looking to expand their notebook collection.

The Apica CD Notebook remains a favourite of mine:
The Best Fountain Pen Friendly Notebooks

The Pen Company Blog
Admittedly I’ve only tried a limited number of Faber-Castell fountain pens, however the nibs have always been outstanding. I am a little enamoured with the unique shape of the E-Motion as well.

A great review from Lucy at The Pen Company Blog:
Faber-Castell E-Motion Pear Wood Fountain Pen Review

nib & ink
The more I see of the Murex and Myu line ups from Pilot, the more I like them.

Great reviews like this one do nothing to reverse that trend either:
Review: Pilot Murex

Alt. Haven
The doctor is now consulting. Well, at least he was recently in Singapore. Junee provides an insight into the approaches and philosophies of the Pilot Pen Doctor Atsushi Takizawa.

An enlightening read:
Pilot Pen Clinic with Pilot Pen Doctor Mr. Atsushi Takizawa

Smith Journal
This short piece in the Smith Journal contains further links to the topic at hand.

My favourite though, is the link at the very end on building your own. If you have a spare ten minutes it is well worth watching, then proceed to the backyard, stand in front of your current shed, and begin planning:
Famous Writers’ Writing Shacks

And now it’s all this
Beyond posting links to these types of posts, all I have to say is that I spend a considerable amount of my time on iOS, however love using my Mac just as much.

I don’t really have much desire to head one way or another in isolation. As acknowledged in this piece by Dr Drang, many of the advantages iOS brings are duly noted, however it also demonstrates that sometimes the evangelism doesn’t necessarily stack up to objective scrutiny:
Intuitive by proxy

Finer Things in Tech
David Chartier moving in what would generally be considered the opposite direction to many when it comes to cloud services. I’ll be interested to see how the experiment goes:
From Dropbox to iCloud Drive: An Unexpected Experiment

…and finally:
iOS 10 Safari: Close all tabs at once

MacSparky
David Sparks and Jason Snell with a new podcast about their experiences in going out, and continuing to succeed in, working on your own.

Free Agents is a podcast for people who work independently or are thinking about working independently. The show will be a mixture of topics and guest interviews dealing with the challenges and joys of working independently.

Generally with podcasts or blogs writing about such a theme I find very interesting up to a point. When that changes, it has nothing to do with the quality or content of the show — merely the fact I become worn down by listening to the joys of working independently as I spend an hour commuting to the large office where I work every day. Sure, I don’t drag myself out of bed whingeing and moaning each day, however I’m sure you can see the challenge in maintaining enthusiasm for these types of topics within that context.

I’m predicting this time will be different, for although I’m not going “indie” any time soon, I have been working on a side project which has certainly sparked a good deal of enthusiasm in recent months, even if progress on that project is slow.

I very much enjoyed episode 1, and the topics planned for future episodes in Free Agents are beginning to become just that little bit more relevant:
My New Podcast: The Free Agents

Ars Technica
Where everyone goes for whisky news right?

An interesting read into a research area which appears to be very much in its infancy.

Within the traditional distilling community, there’s certainly some skepticism about how fully the effects of quick aging can replicate time in a barrel. “I think that accelerated maturation is an enhancement, not a substitute,” says Angels Envy executive Wes Henderson. “There’s no substitute for time, mother nature, climate, ingredients. Maybe I could be proven wrong, but I don’t know. I hope we never lose the magic of aging.”

Unless there is ever a significant shortage of course, and then perhaps everyone will be aging their product as fast as they can artificially increase the speed on that clock.

I can see the labels now: “aged 8 years, tastes like 12”:
The scientific arms race to age our whiskey

The Whisky Topic Podcast
Mark and Jamie discuss a very specific and statistically based process of assessing whisky, with Eric from the Whisky Analysis.

Eric uses the “meta reviewer” concept on his website, where he collects whisky scores from various reviewers and provides an overall ranking

The discussion provides a fascinating analysis of some of the characteristics of whisky reviews, and also provides a basis for the differences in opinions of occasional drinkers and experienced reviewers.

Hearing why the default sorting of the database contained on the site is by flavour then by score is fascinating in itself.

Check out the database and find your “cluster”:
Is the “Meta-Critic” the ultimate whisky reviewer?