Link Posts

Marked as Read – April 2023

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

An occasional link post of items current or past I found interesting, insightful or perhaps somewhat infuriating. Some likely warrant further thought and a little more commentary, however you cannot write about them all.

A few peripheral fountain pen accessories – Fountain Pen Blog

Just an initial list of 26 accessories to go with those fountain pens, and depending on your time in this hobby you may have less or indeed more. I’m sure most of us have versions of these, if not the same ones. I too have a Dremel 3000, purchased to modify the drip tray of an espresso machine. At least I’ll be able to turn its attention towards my pens when the time arises. When hobbies indeed collide.

Deep Work, with Cal Newport – Focused Podcast Episode 174

Yes, a podcast episode — not the book, which incidentally is an equally good read. Some thoughts here on the real benefits of AI (the human-computer interface) and what may be a red herring in the supposed impacts on knowledge workers. Also, why we are now worse than ever at organising our workflows in large corporations.

This episode is a great example of the benefits a podcast has in the Q&A style of getting to the heart of a few topics quickly, rather than reading thousands of words in a book or blog posts.

How can specialty coffee roasters use blends to drive brand identity? – Perfect Daily Grind

Blends! Have I told you how much I love blends? I think I have. While a lot of single origin coffees are fantastic at showcasing the story of the producer and origin, I think blends also have the ability to tell the story of a roaster — or at least a glimpse of how they think and what they are about.

AeroPress Releases Flow Control Filter Cap, Other New Products Rumored – Sprudge

It’s great to see Aeropress maintaining the product innovation momentum, and this new Flow Control Filter Cap looks interesting. I’d drifted away from the Aeropress after purchasing a Delter Press a few years ago. Also, did someone mention a larger Aeropress XL? Might be time I became reacquainted…

My Restored Vintage Lever Machine Arrives! – James Hoffmann on You Tube

A very, very dangerous link at best. This is the tail end of a vintage espresso machine restoration, which ended up on the counter at Prufrock in London. Watch part 1 here, though if you just want to see a thing of beauty, watch the main link above. Never thought I wanted one until now…

Boring Can Be Better: In Defence of Standard Stationery – The Gentleman Stationer

I stand with Joe here:

Honestly, the fountain pen internet and social media tends to be driven in large part by people who either don’t actually write with their pens everyday, or use their inks for art and journaling where practical considerations are less relevant. When those creating the content consider the inks “boring,” they don’t get promoted and fall by the wayside

Content creation and practicality don’t always intersect, and even when they do, our individual circumstances and tastes invariably differ. The more we hear about “boring” — read: practical, useful and relevant — the better.

Marked as Read – February 2023

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An occasional link post from items in my feed which I found interesting, insightful or perhaps somewhat infuriating. Some likely warrant further thought and a little more commentary, however you cannot write about them all.

Adding Milk To Coffee May Have Serious Anti-Inflammatory Benefits – Sprudge

A warm embrace. How I treat any coffee order and their attached person. The coffee-related posts on this blog would naturally lead to the thought I’m a snob about the stuff, however in reality it’s the exact opposite. I drink coffee black, white, short, long and anything in between, and you should too — but it’s not about me. Its about how you like it.

Something magical happens when milk touches espresso. There’s an alchemy to that tan elixir whereby the sum is greater than its parts. It’s velvety, rich, sweet, suitable both for the first coffee of the day and the finish to a perfect dinner. And it turns out, there may be some healthful synchronicity to the pair as well, as a new study finds that adding milk to coffee may double its anti-inflammatory effects.

There are many very good reasons people do or don’t add milk, sugar, or anything else to coffee. Outright snobbery isn’t one of them. A simple no thanks will do. When confronted with a down the nose “oh no… I never add milk, it spoils what the producer intended…” perhaps a simple “oh I’m doing it for the anti-inflammatory benefits… wait… you aren’t aware?” retort might be useful. Failing that, simply professing you’re undying love for milky coffee is also more than fine.

Write Less – Matt Gemmell

As always, Matt Gemmell knows his way around a conceptual thought. Here as it pertains to short form blog posts:

It’s an absolute fallacy that longer works are better, or more valuable; indeed, shorter pieces are more likely to be read and digested, which intrinsically increases their value.

I found this interesting, for I’ve never really been able to drag myself away from thinking the blog is only for longer, fleshed out pieces either (I say with a sideways glance while posting this in a short form link post… yet case in point, the glance returns serve as I write too many words about a couple of links that caught my eye… the battle continues).

The Pods Must Be Crazy: Why The Coffee Pod Carbon Impact Story You Just Read Is Wrong – Sprudge

A forthright opinion on a recent study into the climate impact of some coffee brewing methods, which claimed coffee pods have a significantly lower carbon footprint than filter coffee. Speciality coffee publication Sprudge in response:

Maybe instead of writing about coffee as though it were an interchangeable set of widgetified variables, researchers in the future will choose to actually, you know, engage with this stuff beyond the spreadsheets in the course of their research. If they’d so much as attempted to brew themselves a cup of coffee using the incorrect brew ratio in their study, it would have become immediately apparent their numbers—and thus conclusions derived from these numbers—were significantly out of whack.

Arguably there are certain assumptions in studies like these, though perhaps many folk brew by the “scoop” rather than the scale. I’ve certainly never brewed a pourover using the ratio outlined in the study, nor does anyone I know, so I wouldn’t mind knowing where the numbers came from either.

Selling Low: Corporate Dressing Down – The Contender

One from the archives, though new to me as I poked around online the other day. I do think we have lost a beat with the post Covid dress code, however I also think as with many things pandemic related, it was coming down the pipeline anyway, and just arrived a little sooner.

A suit is such an easy solution for anybody in a position of authority. I may have lost this battle, but I’ll be interested to see how people feel about being represented in court by a lawyer in athleisure.

Also, does working from home mean usual home dressing? I’m not so sure, I mean cameras are often on these days, though most of the time from what I’ve seen, people don’t seem to care too much. Each to their own I guess, and all I will say is I notice — people notice.

Mastodon

I have now set up an account over on Mastodon: @petedenison@mstdn.social. Though I’m not sure what else to tell you, one thing I will say is that the sign up process is far simpler than what I’d initially believed.

What will I use it for? That I’m not sure, and you won’t find any posts as yet, however I guess we’ll see how things develop over the next little bit.

From my Reading List

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Though Wiser Web Wednesday is now retired, from time to time I thought I’d share some things I find of interest. After using quite a few third-party read-later services over the past couple of years, I must admit to embracing and enjoying the ubiquity and simplicity of Safari’s Reading List feature.

 

Five Senses
One aspect of home espresso brewing which cannot be emphasised enough is even grind distribution within the filter basket prior to tamping. While there are commercial products available of considerable merit to assist with this endeavour, the team at Five Senses demonstrate how it can also be done effectively without costing a cent:
Level Up – Even Espresso Distribution

 

Where is Scott Rao?
The terms “espresso roast” or “filter roast” are often displayed on retail coffee bags, as well as referred to in discussions about roast levels for different forms of brewing. Scott Rao weighs in with perhaps a more pertinent question and a slightly different way of thinking:

To me, the difference in roasting for black vs. white coffee is significant; the difference in roasting for filter vs. espresso is modest. That delicate, lightly roasted Yirgacheffe that tastes sublime as a straight espresso may drown in a cappuccino.

Roasting for Espresso vs. Filter

 

The RescueTime Blog
Belle Beth Cooper writes one of my favourite personal blogs, in which you will find some impressive analogue-based organisation outlined in regular updates.

Writing here on The RescueTime Blog, some handy pointers in relation to taking effective notes.

For starters, don’t use a laptop to take notes, no matter where you are

How to take more effective notes

 

The Pelikan’s Perch
I’ve written previously about the cheery Pelikano in my collection, and remember being impressed by the nib performance at the particular price point.

Some news from Joshua at The Pelikan’s Perch of an update for the line, now to include the Pelikano “Up”:

Gone is the plastic of the current P480 and, in its place, the Up will feature an aluminum cap and body along with a metal clip.

Reading the post, it certainly does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for this particular low-cost line of Pelikans:
News: The Pelikano Up

 

Alt. Haven
Junee lists some pens sporting stainless steel nibs which are worthy of any collection. I’ve considered the relative merits of stainless steel and gold nibs in a previous post myself, and maintain the same opinion today as I held back then. That is, with many great steel nibs around, I’d consider gold provides a different writing experience, though not necessarily a better one on all counts.

I’d also add my Faber Castell Ambition and Kaweco Ice Sport to Junee’s list:
Stainless steel nibs for everyone

 

Macstories
In looking at various clipboard managers on both iOS and macOS, I’m yet to nail down a preferred option. Gathering links such as those on this page are often a decent test as far as utility and output options are concerned, with iOS based reading a big part of sourcing those links. That being the case, Copied seems fairly compelling, and syncs across to my Mac:
iPad Diaries: Clipboard Management with Copied and Workflow

 

The Sweet Setup
As I’ve mentioned above though, utilising Safari’s Reading List for saving articles also finds me capturing and editing these links whilst on my Mac, bringing Alfred’s clipboard manager into play.

Perhaps in the end I’ll use a little of both:
How to use Alfred as a clipboard manager

 

Macdrifter
Append Clipboard with Alfred for Mac

 

MacStories
Whilst I acknowledge I am being a little facetious — okay, perhaps more than a little in pointing this out, I do find it amusing in this post PC world, iPad users have pushed the cutting edge far enough to finally be able to capture notes by handwriting them:
iPad Diaries: Apple Pencil, Notability, and the Joy of Note-Taking

 

Matt Gemmell
No need to say it. Yes, I get the additional power these apps on the iPad provide, yet it does nothing to stifle the chuckle as I read them:
Using the iPad for: Taking notes and planning

Where is Wiser Web Wednesday?

/ Pete Denison / 2 Comments

After a little deliberation over the past month or two, I’ve decided to hit the pause button on the Wiser Web Wednesday posts at the current time.

The past couple of months have seen more than a few Wednesdays missed – far from the end of the world of course. Also a predictable scenario, and the very reason the little blurb at the beginning of the posts describes each as a “semi-regular link to posts of interest from around the web…” — tailor-made for those who may slacken off a little with posting. Nothing like planning ahead!

I’ve always maintained (and indeed commented to others) that no apology should be necessary when personal blogging schedules change for whatever reason, and continue to believe in that philosophy.

Think of this as more an update, and a wholehearted thank you to regular readers who found the occasional link useful or interesting, and of course to those who provided feedback or comment.

The reason for the change is probably as you’d expect — the time taken in putting things together, notwithstanding the handy iOS action extension sending content from the web straight into Ulysses with titles, links and text. There is obviously a little tidying up and additional comment to be added before publishing.

Easy enough, however the little things add up — whether it’s a few minutes spent checking social media (doing less of this); the few dollars per month on subscriptions (auditing and prioritising those), or your daily coffee (still doing this equally as much – no surprises there!). In any event, while relevant, this is not a post about priorities or time management per se.

So, after deleting the half-dozen Sunday through Wednesday reminder points from TaskPaper, perhaps I’ll just sit and work on something a little longer on those days, happy enough the looming Wednesday morning deadline is no more. Of course I do plan on continuing the somewhat irregular, yet ongoing stream of regular posts as always.

In finishing up, thanks for reading — I do appreciate your support.

Wiser Web Wednesday

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

 

The Finer Point
A couple of popular A5 notebooks within the fountain pen-friendly sphere. Of the two, I prefer the Rhodia paper slightly — finding a little too much nib glide with the Clairefontaine stock.

Of course this is personal preference, and either of these will suit a fountain pen user well:
Notebook Comparison: Rhodia versus Clairefontaine A5 Notebooks

 

JetPens Blog
A nice round-up of a selection of fountain pens manufactured by Pilot in Japan. Perhaps not news for the long time pen-obsessives, though a good background for the developing pen enthusiast:
Luxury Japanese Fountain Pens

 

The Pen Habit
Coincidentally, I recently received a letter from a friend written with the illustrious broad nib of a Gaston’s Exclusive. Written in Iroshizuku Asa Gao on Tomoe River paper, it came up a treat.

They are super-smooth and deliriously juicy. If you have an ink where you want to highlight its sheening capabilities, then this is the nib for you. It is a marker of a pen, but with a whole lot less feedback

And yes, even just looking at the cursive writing on the page, I reckon I can confidently confirm the above.

Read more about it here:
Bexley Gaston’s Exclusive Review

 

The Pelikan’s Perch
Joshua at The Pelikan’s Perch with a look at the effects of the recent Brexit decision on Pelikan prices.

While exact figures are not yet clear, it is anticipated that Pelikan’s products will see a 10% increase in the UK starting in November

As always I guess it pays to shop around online:
News: Brexit’s Impact on UK Pelikan Pricing

 

Inkophile
With the Platinum Preppy such a great pen, a natural next step might be the Plaisir, which is great value at around AU$30.00. Some great colours available as well.

the medium has a very large sweet spot. It can be rotated and held upright or even at a low angle and will still write well. As a gift to a newbie, the fine is worth considering as it produces a line more comparable in width to the familiar rollerball or gel pen.

A great review which is perhaps just in time for Christmas?
Review: Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen

 

MacStories
While I don’t use a ton of workflows in the Workflow app, they can be handy at times.

I’d also recommend listening to a series of episodes on the Canvas podcast taking you through the basics of setting up the up the app and creating your own workflows:
Workflow 1.6 Brings Revamped Gallery, Better Tools to Share and Import Workflows

 

Sprudge
As a dedicated listener to a podcast put together by two of the founders of this cafe, I chipped in a very small amount to the Kickstarter campaign referred to in the post.

Although I hear regular updates on how things are proceeding on the podcast, its nice to read an overview of the business itself, and the philosophy taken by the owners towards their staff in terms of entitlements and development.

Oh and they serve great coffee too:
Inside Cat & Cloud’s Santa Cruz Dream Cafe

 

BBC News
The SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics (full article PDF Link) is not the usual place I turn to for coffee news.

Although the principles of grind size/distribution, and the shape of the filter vessel and coffee bed are often discussed in coffee writing, I think this may be the first time the principles have been looked at from a mathematical modelling standpoint.

If formulas for finding “the constants of integration remaining in the outer solution by using modified Van Dyke matching” is your thing — then I’d suggest clicking through to the full PDF article I’ve linked to above.

Otherwise, try this somewhat lighter summary:
Maths zeroes in on perfect cup of coffee