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

 

Three Staples
Before a short trip away recently I had a look back through a travel journal I had written almost twenty years ago, having a chuckle at what it contained. A lot of memories came flooding back. As Jinnie describes, that is generally the aim with such a journal:

At the end of the trip, we end up with a nice, tangible reminder of our time together that we can look back on.

I did feel a little guilty at not continuing the tradition in the intervening years, thinking to myself I must return to that very habit. I must admit I wasn’t successful in recording that particular trip, however there are those who are, and they do it in style:
Travel Journaling

 

You Tube – Murphy Report
Courtesy of Pen Economics on Twitter.

At just under 6 minutes, a wonderful tale of a fountain pen collector, showing the passion behind accumulating and enjoying a 200+ fountain pen collection:
Fountain Pen Collector Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jnr.

 

The Washington Post
I was occasionally guilty of this one, often being admonished by my teenage daughter with “Daaaad – punctuation?!” in a tone of disbelief and pity. Never again.

Now a study has confirmed it. Researchers led by Binghamton University’s Celia Klin report that text messages ending with a period are perceived as being less sincere, probably because the people sending them are heartless.

All the while I thought I was simply being a little uncool:
Study confirms that ending your texts with a period is terrible

 

The Verge
Advice apparently received by co-founder Gentry Underwood when raising funds to develop the now discontinued email app Mailbox:

“This path,” they told him, “is paved with corpses.”

A tough market:

Ask Sparrow, or Molto, or Boxer. Everyone uses email, but most are content to stick with the default mail app on their phones. At worst, you’re dead within months. At best, you’re acquired, and then killed off a few years later

As mentioned in last weeks links, I was a Mailbox user for quite some time, however the ease with which I simply logged into an alternative is perhaps somewhat telling for this market segment also:
Why Mailbox died

 

MyProductiveMac
A handy tip for Drafts users. This magical place where text can begin and go just about anywhere, does not limit you to just one action.

Get cracking and stack those actions:
Drafts – Dual Actions

 

Perfect Daily Grind
The effects of climate change are of course far-reaching, not the least of which in the coffee industry.

Ethiopia is not only said to be the origin of Coffea arabica, but also a genetic bank of coffee. The natural diversity of coffee plants here is stunning. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a 10-20% decrease in overall crop yields by 2050, due to climate change worldwide.

This piece also notes that by 2080, wild arabica plants could be virtually extinct, and this amazing genetic diversity may vanish. Yes, that would mean some amazing coffees many vanish before they are even tasted, yet probably of equal importance is the livelihood of those the farmers who rely on coffee — currently one in four Ethiopians:
The Price of Climate Change on Ethiopia: Extinction of Wild Arabica

 

Jimseven
The first in a three-part series of posts on the current state of specialty coffee, which has already generated a few counter points and discussion over Twitter from other coffee professionals.

I don’t believe coffee cannot, or should not be, improved; it can and should always get better. I think we just need to readjust our expectations of what an isolated sensory experience can do. Yes, sometimes it can change someone’s life. However, it can’t do it every time or even most of the time.

The piece goes on to discuss how the excitement and innovation in the industry has perhaps stagnated somewhat, with great coffee far more accessible, and as a result, no longer exciting.

As a consumer I would agree that high quality coffee is now being served in far more places than ever before, which is clearly a positive.

How to maintain the excitement in an industry is more of a challenge, and there are some interesting points here, and I am certainly looking forward to the two follow-up posts:
Part 1: The Lull

 

The New York Times
Author Bret Easton Ellis on the now well established culture of reviews and likes, where everyone has an opinion on just about everything, and is happy to provide it, cultivating their online reputation the process.

The reputation economy is yet another example of the blanding of culture, and yet the enforcing of groupthink has only increased anxiety and paranoia, because the people who embrace the reputation economy are, of course, the most scared. What happens if they lose what has become their most valuable asset?

Touching on the herd mentality of always positive reviews or taking the conservative option to fit in:

Empowerment doesn’t come from liking this or that thing, but from being true to our messy contradictory selves

Things have certainly changed, and we now live in this world of rating and being rated:
Bret Easton Ellis on Living in the Cult of Likability

 

Study Hacks – Cal Newport
A common theme on Cal Newport’s blog is the idea of “deep work”. I may have mentioned previously that I think along the same lines however have always described this in terms of “sustained focus”.

Alice never went more than twenty minutes or so without switching her attention away from her primary task to something else. It’s tempting to dismiss these breaks because they’re so fleeting — lost in the standard background noise of knowledge work — but their cost is substantial.

Again, nothing new in that quote above, however something seen all day every day. Think about that in the context of the supposed benefits of “fleeting” or “spontaneous” interactions in your open plan office. Think about it in the context of the constant stream of text messages you receive and respond to with your phone on the desk in front of you.

Sure, it only takes a few seconds. A few seconds every few, ten, or twenty minutes. It still amazes me why people cannot seem to comprehend this:
Deep Habits: The Danger of Pseudo-Depth

 

John Scullen
The tools! The processes! What is it about reading how others get their work done that so intrigues us — myself very much included. Rather than simply being nosy, it definitely gives the reader (and the writer for that matter) a chance to think about their own practices, perhaps tweaking and improving things a little.

Having a reliable process makes it easier to keep going when I get tangled in the jungle of words.

Absolutely — having a process (whether yours is perfect or not), at least gives you a systematic way to work through things when they become complex or a little convoluted perhaps.

Tools are secondary to the process though. Tools come and tools go, but the process is more enduring and evolves gradually. The more consistently you work that process, the better your writing gets.

I wholeheartedly agree. I believe that is the key point which is sometimes lost when we read about how people do their work. True, if certain apps or pieces of software are not known to us, it may be about the tools just a little. Most often though it isn’t, and the real value indeed lies in the process. The patterns of thought and procedures that fit a particular persons method of work.

This is a really great post by John, and I’d highly recommend poking around his site a little more while you’re there:
How ideas come to life: a revealing look behind my writing process

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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:

 

Vox
Ahh yes, remember those? The real video store? No doubt many of us spent a good few hours wandering the aisles picking out the perfect film on that perfect delivery vehicle – the VHS tape.

The decision to leave a movie behind on the next technological leap is market-driven, which makes video stores the last safety net for things our corporate overlords discard. (That’s why the chain stores died first — like Netflix, they peddled convenience and “all new, all the time” — Netflix came along and just did what they did more efficiently.) A real video store buys a movie and saves it, regardless of such considerations.

A lot has been said about the merits of “curation” in music streaming over the past year or so. Although unfortunately a tale of demise, it could be said this is an example of curation at its finest:
I worked in a video store for 25 years. Here’s what I learned as my industry died

 

Femsplain
Although only a few of those listed align with my own, as a father, I have an equal number of triggers which may set me off on varying degrees of sternly worded explanation and rationale to my children.

I finally understand, that he only gets as upset as he does, because he really really cares. About his family, his country, his home, his responsibilities — the care runs DEEP.

Unsurprisingly, all for much the same reasons mentioned above:
Papa Loco

 

James Greig
Sound familiar?:

Option 1: Pull out your phone, and automatically tap Twitter open. Scroll through your feed for a few minutes, the usual stuff, nothing that interesting. Then Instagram. Ditto for that feed. Then Facebook. Baby photos. More baby photos. Then you look up, and ten minutes have evaporated, and your train is pulling up in front of you.

Option 2: Pull out a book, and read for ten minutes.

Not such a bad idea:
Can’t concentrate? Try swapping your ‘smart’ phone for a monotasking device

 

Pens! Paper! Pencils!

While it is nice to uncap and let loose with a pricey pen, in the mayhem leading up to Christmas, I’d agree that finding value at the other end of the dollar spectrum can be equally, if not more rewarding.

Top end pens are exclusive and, thereby, excluding, and whilst I do like some really rather pricy pens I do much prefer it when I find a bargain

As a bonus in this link you will also see one of Ian’s fine sketches:
Dorset Countryside

 

The Pen Haul
Sometimes the cheap ones just do the trick. Although not to be confused with the Red and Black notebooks available at Officeworks in Australia (or perhaps they may perform equally well, I’m not sure), these appear to have the key criteria covered:

The characteristics that we look for are all there. No feathering, no bleed through (besides the above exception), fairly smooth with a tiny bit of tooth, and best of all you can still see the full depth of the ink, such as shading and sheen.

You never know where the next hidden gem will come from:
Black n’ Red Notebooks

 

The Clicky Post
Ok I admit it – part of me wanted this review conclude the Dyson pen wasn’t so great. Then we could at least say it sucked couldn’t we?

My apologies, and I will now show myself to the door. Before I go, at least read this great review of a pen it would appear not many of us are likely to find in our hand:
Dyson Biro Ballpoint Pen Review

 

Pentulant
There is something fairly satisfying in knowing exactly what writing experience you will get when purchasing a familiar notebook. In this case, the quality Rhodia experience. After that, you are left to experiment with external appearance at will, and I do love this Silver edition.

A great review, with images to match, capturing the essence of that gorgeous silver finish.
NOTEBOOK REVIEW: Rhodia Webnotebook Silver Edition

 

Macdrifter
How will you ever find these gems unless they are shared?

As usual, the documentation is the weakest part of the product. Every week I find some new reason to love my big phone.

Sometimes I get the feeling every OS update (whether i for X) simply brings a few more features I remain unaware of:
The Hidden Convenience in iOS 9

 

MacStories
Federico Viticci on Dropbox announcing a shutdown of the email app Mailbox and photo management service Carousel. No sooner had I read this than the official Saying Goodbye email came through from the Mailbox team.

Knowing this was coming (lack of development; rumours), the goodbye email was ironically one of the first I read using Spark mail by Readdle, having installed it on my iPhone that morning. Now that is indeed a great app.

Another one (or two) bites the dust:
Dropbox Is Shutting Down Carousel and Mailbox

 

Perfect Daily Grind
Although discussion on traditional Vietnamese coffee often focuses on the unusual sweet brew:

It’s a super concentrated shot of coffee – around 25 g of coffee with a small amount of water – and served with sweetened condensed milk. It can be enjoyed hot or cold, and this preference can vary from region to region.

A nice reminder here of the ritual involved in preparing a cup.

The Vietnamese coffee ritual is almost a revolution against our fast-paced modern lives. It goes against takeaway coffee culture, rushing in and out of shops to sip your coffee in environmentally unfriendly cups.

It’s for everyone who understands that good things take time. It makes you take a step back and enjoy the little things.

Isn’t that what we should all be doing — enjoying the little things:
Time to Slow Down and Rediscover Vietnamese Coffee?

 

HUH
This one via Ben Brooks.

Yes one of those unsurprising conclusions. I have been on Facebook for less than year, joining for a specific and very worthwhile reason.

I’ll continue, however it’s not hard to understand why quitting what is on many days, an endless feed of either “look at me” or conversely, a chronology of whinging, moaning and complaining might make you a little happier:
Study Finds Quitting Facebook Makes You Happier and Less Stressed

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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 Brooks Review
Ben Brooks considers the merits of his digital vs analogue note taking, and amongst other things, concludes:

And despite my contempt for searching analog notes, as I will explain in the next section, it turns out it really doesn’t matter — because I just don’t search my notes that often.

Although I generally index my notebooks in the opening pages and also use the fantastic Indxd web service (in both cases recording only information I consider I might want to look back on), I too find the need to search extensively back through my hand written notes is fairly rare:
Handwritten Notes

 

Everyday Carry
Although I’m not the most prolific Instagrammer going around, any tips I can get on improving my analogue tool photography I’ll gladly accept.

Some very helpful information here:
How to Take Better EDC Photos in 7 Easy Steps

 

Whsky.buzz
Mark Bylok on the subsequent fallout after the release of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2016, which offers up a Canadian rye as whisky of the year.

Most media outlets got it wrong. The Internet, in its outrage, got it right

All valid points here, and of course equally relevant regardless of the country of origin the winning whisky emanates from. All you can really be sure of is that the Crown Royal North Harvest Rye will be in pretty short supply now and in the immediate future. Thankfully though, there are some other great Canadians in the mix that will now be able to bask just a little bit in the glow.

Canadian whisky is the single most creative category in the whisky world because of the freedom given to whisky makers. If anything, Canadian whisky has been held back by the stereotype that it’s smooth and clean in flavour. The new era of Canadian ryes are anything but smooth, and I mean that in the best of ways.

I guess one man’s Crown Royal Reserve is another man’s treasure:
Canadian Whisky Takes Centre Stage With Controversial “Win”

 

Informal Scribble
Stuart Hazley looks at a very affordable, yet attractive fountain pen from Platinum. I have a Platinum Preppy in the pen cup on my desk which I use intermittently for taking down quick notes or numbers, and every time I use it I smile at how such a cheap pen still provides that great fountain pen writing experience.

More of the same here, perhaps with just a little more class:
Platinum Plasir Fountain Pen (Blue)

If you are seeking some sort of consensus, Ian Hedley also reviews the Plasir at Pens! Paper! Pencils!

 

Eclectidbits
It is never a good thing to hear a fountain pen manufacturer is in financial trouble, much less one that has been operating for 90 years, as is the case with Italian brand OMAS.

OMAS is a wonderful fountain pen brand, with a rich history; be a part of history and join me in crossing pens and wishing them an even better future.

A call to arms from one dedicated OMAS enthusiast (some great looking pens in this post as well). Although perhaps I feel a little guilty in not owning one myself — I’m there in spirit:
OMAS -tars! Save OMAS – use one!

 

Futurity
Having two teenagers has certainly taught me one thing — we are long past a separation between the online and offline worlds. It’s all just life these days. Kids do some amazing things, and often technology plays a big part in that.

Being involved also gets you that much closer to the action, as well as some improved communication with those you are trying to guide into adulthood.

So, yes — my Snapchat account sees a good deal of use:
Kids Addicted To Phones: Why Parents Shouldn’t Worry

 

Digital Life – SMH
The Sydney Morning Herald offers a list of 14 Aussie podcasts. Like many of us, I’m flat-out getting through what is currently in my queue without adding more.

By the same token, there might just be that gem that turns out to be a favourite, like the fantastic Reckoner Podcast for local tech news and opinion.

Perhaps there are one or two here to broaden your mind, knowledge — or both:
Fourteen of our favourite Australian podcasts

 

The Gentleman Stationer
When the going gets tough, the tough finish by hand. A month-long NaNoWriMo odyssey ends in success.

A big congratulations are in order, not only for finishing, but for hammering home with nib and ink for the last 10k — and certainly for the following sentiment:

I’d definitely consider participating again next year

I remember my first words upon finishing last year were “I’m not doing that again”. Nice one Joe:
Done.

 

Fraser Speirs
It has certainly been all iPad Pro recently.

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the MacBook Pro and, in particular, whether it can replace an iPad Pro for getting real work done.

Read that sentence again, and then read this very clever and timely piece from Fraser Speirs:
Can the MacBook Pro Replace Your iPad?

 

Five Senses Coffee Blog
An interesting take on the current state of filter coffee offerings, often a point of difference for specialty coffee establishments.

At the end of the day, a core tenant of the speciality coffee industry is to push boundaries and coffee cultures into places where it has not been. However, our opinions need to evolve and they most definitely should not be constrained in a way that limits experiences that should be approachable and quite simply, enjoyed by many

The suggestion perhaps that in trying to broaden access to speciality coffee, the result has been to essentially create a fairly narrow view of what filter coffee can offer. Interesting indeed:
What Is Good Filter Coffee?

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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:

 

BBC News
Although producing about a third of the world’s coffee, much of Brazil’s output is of lower value at the commodity end of the market. Some farmers are keen on making a change:

We want to be in a smaller market, but that does not depend just on demand. In the specialty market, it is not the global demand that drives prices. It is the quality of the product that you put

With locally produced specialty coffee to be served in tourism venues at next years Rio Olympics, the sport on offer won’t be the only thing worth sampling:
Brazilian farmers wake up to their own specialist coffee

 

Sprudge
A look at the results of a recent remodelling of one of LA’s specialty coffee establishments – G&B:

With four sides of counters around an island of minimalistic gadgetry, the bar serves customers from anywhere along the perimeter. The effect is a 360° service model that fosters intimacy and familiarity among patrons, while facilitating efficient, high-quality service from the staff

A great looking space and an interesting service model which has been put in place. It does make me think however about some of the best cafes in Australia, and their ability to nail a high standard of service, both at the bar, adjacent tables, and in outside laneways — day in, day out. Something we probably shouldn’t take for granted it appears:
Inside The G&B Coffee Remodel In Downtown Los Angeles

 

Erin Brooks
Only recently have I begun some attempts to improve through better post processing the images I add to posts on this blog. For convenience, along with the fact I was never much of a photographer, many continue to be taken with my iPhone.

There is probably no better time to do the same if photography has never been your strong suit — the hardest part is working out which apps might best assist you to do this. Some expert guidance here:
Mextures, Snapseed and Pixelmator

 

Macdrifter
The most used widgets in my today view are OmniFocus, Day One (random photos from past entries) and of all things the Find Friends app, which is a great way to check the location of family members without having to open the app itself.

Despite downloading Launcher some time ago, I never really took the time to set up and use it to its full capabilities. As I find myself in the today view more and more it seems timely to revisit this (if nothing else than for the shortcuts to dialling and texts where I don’t wish to publicly speak to Siri). If you are considering the same, there are a few pointers here which may be helpful:
A Few Launchers for iOS 9

 

Macsparky
At $AU199, the new Magic Trackpad 2 —isn’t cheap, and to be honest, I haven’t even nudged up against the old model’s limits, let alone added more options through something like Better Touch Tool. Perhaps a good time to download and configure it, giving me a “new” feeling minus the cost outlay.

Here, David Sparks configures the Force Touch gestures on his shiny new Trackpad 2:
The Magic Trackpad 2 and Better Touch Tool

 

Robb Lewis
As if search and discovery of decent apps in the iOS store isn’t random enough, away we go with another platform without an easy way for reviewers to link to featured apps. Unless of course a few ground rules are followed.

Come to think of it I’m not sure why I added this here, as I’m fairly certain there isn’t a hotbed of frenzied developer interest every time I publish a post.

Because, dear reader, we are well-rounded and widely read individuals — all of us:
Tips for Apple TV App Developers

 

Ink on Hand
Speaking of such individuals, yet another explanation on the often debated merits of the Oxford or serial comma. Worth its price of admission here and taken completely of context I present the following:

Serial comma = better party

Go on, Tweet that:
The Serial (Oxford) Comma: When and Why To Use It

 

The Finer Point
I do find the combination of colour and design quite attractive in the 580RB from TWSBI. Although Jenny is reminded of the French flag, of course the colours translate quite well to the Australian flag also.

This is a pen I can rely on and know it will just work

Not only a winner in looks, but in performance as well it appears:
TWSBI Diamond 580RB – EF Nib

 

Pens! Paper! Pencils!
I do have more than a passing interest in mechanical pencils, however have not owned one since my technical drawing classes in the middle of high school, my equipment dominated back then by the Rotring logo (nothing too expensive of course).

Recently it has been nothing more than occasionally picking up the cheaper models my kids have for school. Now there’s a strategy — I really think you children need better quality pencils… now just let me check online… click, click…

The knurled grip is good looking and is grippy without digging into my sensitive never-done-a-real-day’s-work fingers

Ian reviews a solid (though perhaps not outstanding contender):
Cult Pencil Mechanical Pencil Review

Remember – for a fantastic online resource for all things pencil and pen, look no further than the Pennaquod site Ian set up and maintains.

 

Whsky Buzz
Mark Bylok provides a very well-balanced first impression of the Norlan whisky glass which has more than doubled its $75,000 Kickstarter funding goal, and with 34 days remaining will go a long way further than that. Although providing a nice “pop” on the first pour:

If you don’t find whisky harsh on the nose, or regularly drink whisky at higher proofs, this might not be the glass for you

I must admit though, I am intrigued, and aside from that, though I’m sure the design isn’t for everyone, I actually quite like it. I have a little thinking to do over the next month or so.

If you watch the Kickstarter video, be sure to temper things with the full piece by Mark here:
First Impressions Drinking from a Norlan Whisky Glass

 

Kickstarter – Baron Fig
Did someone say Kickstarter? While you are checking out the whisky glass, those penclined (awfully sorry) should also check out the newest venture from Baron Fig: the Squire pen. The campaign has gone live a couple of minutes ago, though of course it is 10pm Tuesday evening here as I write this.

I’m interested — particularly as I am looking to put together a decent collection of everyday rollerballs with some uniqueness to compliment my Retro 51 (starting with the recent Karas Customs EDK on Massdrop), without well… simply buying another couple of Retro 51’s:

As I check again this morning, the $15,000 funding goal has been more than doubled already:
Squire – The pen is a might sword

 

The Sweet Setup
The Sweet Setup’s Shawn Blanc outlines what is contained in his Day One journaling app, and unsurprisingly, it’s a lot more than a few simple journal entries. In mine? Looking at the list of tags, we have, amongst other things: workout logs, holidays, coffee logs, a record of currently inked pens, and some other miscellaneous snaps of various family items of significance to me.

One of the things I love about Day One is the sheer diversity of possible entries and uses. No, I don’t religiously sit down and reflect on each day as many do, however even without that, it remains one of my most used apps.
What’s In My Day One?

Which brings me to the following eBook, co-authored by Shawn and the Sweet Setup team. Just about everything you need to know about this fantastic Mac and iOS app, perhaps with the exception of any in-depth look at integration with other apps such as Drafts and Launch Centre Pro, however there is a link to the Day One website for more information on these.

This is the most detailed and extensive guide to Day One available today. Featuring in-depth reviews that cover every function and feature found within Day One, our handbook goes line-by-line showing you how to make the most of this award-winning journaling app.

After downloading the iBook yesterday, I have had a quick skim through, and this is an extremely well put together and informative collection on both the Mac and iOS versions of the app:
Day One In Depth

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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:

 

Coffeelands
An exciting time for the Borderlands coffee project, with the publication of a study in peer-reviewed scientific journal Food Policy, containing data collected from Narino in Colombia.

Linked here is the first in a series of posts looking at some of the key findings relating to specialty coffee certification, which include, amongst others:

Strategies focused narrowly on coffee specialization and coffee income are not likely on their own to foster sustainable growth in rural economies.

Subsequent posts examine the certification further, as well as its impact on farm labour and the subsequent effect on the livelihood of those involved:
New Research from the Borderlands

 

Sprudge
Australia’s 2015 World Barista Champion Sasa Sestic after the big win, with a noble goal for the year ahead:

Before, it was about chasing perfection, having an amazing team with close families. But after winning WBC it’s not about me, or my company, or Canberra anymore. It’s about growing specialty coffee worldwide.

It sounds like we’ll hear a lot more from this talented man in the year ahead:
An Interview With Sasa Sestic, World Barista Champion

 

Jeraff You Tube Channel
Speaking of which, the official trailer to an upcoming documentary looking at Sasa Sestic’s journey to winning the 2015 World Barista Championship.

Very much looking forward to the full feature:
The Coffee Hunter Official Trailer

 

 

The Newsprint
To me, posts such as these are where blogs as a form of media really come into their own. Rather than a “highlights” type tourist brochure, we see the sights of a city through the lens of a keen photographer guided by a local resident.

Both a different perspective and truer reflection of a glimpse into a city’s soul:
24 Hours in Kansas City

 

Fountain Pen Day
Not long now for those of us who lay down ink via our beloved nibs on a daily basis.

Explore the links and follow the countdown to November 6, 2015:
Fountain Pen Day

 

Alt. Haven
We all know what great value Pilot’s Metropolitan series of fountain pens offers, and surely in this “Pop” range there is a colour for just about everyone.

Any suggestions for a mix ’n match?:
Review: Pilot Metropolitan Pop Collection

 

Fountain Pen Economics
I do not personally own any Delta pens, and do not know much about the company to be honest, although that has obviously changed a little after reading this post.

At times for most of us it is probably easy to forget about the business side of things when wrapped up in the emotion of a new pen purchase. At the end of the day though, manufacturers and retailers are in business. Some do it better than others, and certain decisions need to be made. Whether these are right or wrong, often only time will tell:
Delta Drama

 

Too Many Inks
David reflects on things after the inaugural meet up of the Brisbane Chapter of the Fountain Pens Australia Facebook group:

I was especially taken with Patricia’s collection of Omas pens and how that represented to me such focus in collecting.

The result? A set of criteria aimed at creating more specific focus on a particular segment of an already expansive collection of Pelikan fountain pens. An elegant mind map shows us what is in store for future purchase considerations. This mind map did give me an idea though.

Although I’d never ask (given the time it would take to put it together), who would love to see a mind map of David’s ink collection, now in excess of 300 in number?

(looks around room)

I think the ayes have it:
Refining my pen collecting focus

 

The Pelikan’s Perch
While we are on the topic of Pelikan, there is cause for some excitement at what is in store in the coming year if this post is anything to go by:
Rumor: What to Expect in 2016

 

Macworld
I’ve put in my two cents here and there around my move from Evernote, part of which involves the revamped Notes app. All I would say in response to the title of the article I’ve linked to here – is that it doesn’t need to.

For example, lists are easily shared through the Reminders app, tags replaceable by including @keywords in your notes, and I can annotate images in other apps and save them into Notes. The rest? Well, with the web clipper, you’ve got me there (rarely used it), although now with the website “save as PDF” Dropbox share extension, I don’t believe I’d miss it.

OCR? Maybe, and I don’t own an Apple Watch.

So if we could just amend that title to 6 reasons why Notes can’t replace Evernote for a subset of users, however for the majority of people it doesn’t need to, and will work far better than you suggest with lists such as this one:
6 reasons Apple Notes still can’t replace Evernote

 

CGP Grey
I think many of us traverse that section of the continuum between enough and overwhelm — perhaps without even realising it. Depending on how important (i.e. related to livelihood in some way) “keeping up” is, will determine how significant a drastic reduction actually is. For someone such as myself, probably no big deal, however for those who have developed a brand around such things, perhaps a little more so.

Where would you fit, and further, how much would it matter?
Dialing Down

 

The Brooks Review
Perhaps something I could have said to my wife and kids 12 months ago:

A thanks in advance to my wife, who will be losing out some time with me this month as I work towards this goal.

This is an interesting idea relating to NaNoWriMo, and one that has fleetingly crossed my mind since writing that fictional novel last year. The problem for me would be in publishing enough words over the course of a month virtually in real-time. I’ve yet to reach the point where I don’t reconsider, rewrite and revise a little too much, just about everything that goes up here.

The real challenge here …will be making sure that I am not just putting down words, to put down words. I need to remain succinct.

A slightly different 50K challenge:
My NaNoWriMo Challenge

 

WhiskyCast
So, apparently whisky producer Compass Box, by disclosing the age statements for all whiskies used in a recent blend:

…violates both the Scotch Whisky Act of 2009 and corresponding European Union legislation banning all spirits producers from disclosing any age-related information other than the age of the youngest spirit that goes into a blend

As I am not your breaking whisky news site, nor even any great authority on the subject other than being a casual observer, I am not about to pass any great judgement on the subject. I did however think this was a valid point:

In short, Robert Merton’s Law of Unintended Consequences has been proven once again. What was originally intended to prevent unethical competition in the whisky industry now prevents the industry from being more transparent

There is some interesting background on why the law was introduced in the first place if you are not already familiar with such things. However whether or not there is anything to be overly excited about is another matter, as it would appear things are unlikely to change:
Why Can’t Scotch Whisky Makers Be More Transparent?

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