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

Distiller
Having been lucky enough to receive two bottles of The Glenlivet for Christmas (one each of the 12 year and 15 year French Oak Reserve) I certainly have the makings of a home tasting evening.

Suggestions here run the gamut from how much whisky to have on hand, snacks to serve, adding water (or not, as the case may be on this often controversial point), and even a few themes to consider.

Whether or not your preferred drop comes from a land that spells whisky with an ‘e’ or without, you’re bound to find a few pointers here:
Hosting a Home Tasting

That One Pen
Todd takes a look at how the Kickstarter funded Bullet Pencil ST suits, now it is in the hand. A good example of the fact that no matter the build quality and aesthetics, not every product is suitable for everybody:
Bullet Pencil ST

Write Analog
I took a look at some possibilities around improving my handwriting a little while ago and in this post Mark casts his eye over some similar — and then some, resources. I’ve not progressed too far down this road, however this post has certainly inspired me to give it another look.

Some posts deserve to be the starting point for anyone looking into a particular topic — this is absolutely one of those:
Learning Cursive Handwriting All Over Again

Eclectictidbits
After hearing this pen mentioned on episode 135 of The Pen Addict podcast, and clicking through the show notes link to nibs.com, I found a beautiful pen indeed. Limited to just 88 pieces, it it sure to make a limited number of pen enthusiasts extremely happy. How does it perform? Pretty well, as you will see in this excellent review:
FP Review: Classic Fountain Pens 20th Anniversary Sailor Pro Gear Realo Red and Black Limited Edition fountain pen

Modern Stationer
Whether pens, coffee or (insert yours here), any interest or hobby generally comes at some form of monetary cost. An excellent post from Doug suggesting some strategies to be a little more mindful about such spending:
Budgeting for Fountain Pens and Other Fun

Simplicity Bliss
Sven Fechner revisits the topic of Contexts in the all-powerful OmniFocus task manager. Links to other articles on Contexts by the same author also appear in the post, and are well worth clicking through and checking out as well:
Defining and Managing Contexts in OmniFocus

Jim Seven
Occasionally my separate interests collide a little, such is the case here. I usually keep an eye on this blog written by James Hoffmann for news and views on the coffee industry. This post piqued my interest as it describes how the author uses his technology, also a topic I am always keen to hear about:
Workflows and Software

Nib and Ink
There is a lot said online of the merits of Tomoe River paper if you are someone who regularly uses fountain pens. This comparison at Nib and Ink between the Tomoe River and many a fountain pen user’s go to – Rhodia 80 gsm paper, confirms the merits of giving Tomoe River a try if you have not done so already:
Tomoe River Paper vs Rhodia 80gsm

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On Fountain Pens
A great idea from Maybelline, a series of guest posts titled 12 Days of Fountain Pen Bloggers. Given the title, the nature of the series is fairly self-explanatory. A post by yours truly has recently gone live, as the Day 5 contribution. A great blog, a great idea, and something I was honoured to be involved in:
12 Days of Fountain Pen Bloggers

Pens! Paper! Pencils!
Ian reviews a pen I have had half an eye on for some time. I remember actually asking myself what was so special about a tube you can write with, and why I necessarily wanted it. I didn’t really come up with the answer, however Ian’s review does confirm my initial thoughts:

It is all about being a tube with a nib.

Perhaps the draw for me is somehow tied to the Kaweco nib at the end of said tube:
Kaweco Liliput fountain pen review

The Pen Addict
Speaking of the Liliput, this one, the Fireblue has a very interesting back story. Brad explains, with the help of a great video from JetPens, whom incidentally are the exclusive carriers of the Fireblue. A great looking pen at a price to match — that is, if you were quick enough to get one:
Kaweco Liliput Fireblue Fountain Pen Review

Alt. Haven
A great review of one of my favourite pens, the Pelikan M205. The words notwithstanding, what really struck me in this post was how great this pen looks in white — a thing of beauty:
Review: Pelikan M205

Third Wave Wichteln
According to the site, Wichteln is the German word for secret Santa, and this global Christmas coffee exchange initiative is now in its third year and going strong. This is my first time participating, and I was lucky enough to receive a superbly roasted Kenya Sukari from RoastInc in Germany.

I highly recommend this as a fantastic way of sharing your love for coffee, and a way to sample roasters from around the world. It really is as simple as registering, buying coffee and sending it to your allocated recipient. Although 2014 is now closed, there is always next year:
Third Wave Wichteln

CRS Coffeelands Blog
Although the best of/year-end lists are out and about as usual, there are some that are certainly worth having a look at. For an interesting take on various aspects of the coffee industry, Michael Sheridan’s posts throughout the year usually don’t disappoint:
The best of Coffeelands: 2014 in review

Shawn Blanc
It may not necessarily be my favourite brewer, however there is no denying the good old AeroPress, for its ease of use, portability, and versatility:
What’s So Special About the AeroPress

Tech Distortion
Speaking of year-end lists, this one by John Chidgey is one of my favourites so far, and will take some toppling. Why? This as a lead in for starters:

Rub your finger-tips gently on the sides of your temple and picture in your mind where you’d like to be…you can have anything you want…be anyone you want…

Now snap out of it. Instead, try these more useful ideas.

The second to last bullet point being my favourite. Resolve, to go and see for yourself:
Johns Different Year In Review for 2014

The Finer Point
Whether you are a daily journal keeper or not, the Day One app just adds that little something extra to encourage those entries you may not otherwise bother to make. This post highlights those very features. My favourite feature is the random photos I get to see each day in the iOS Today view widget — mostly of family snaps during holidays or other happy times:
Journaling with Day One

European Coffee Trip
Partnering with 2009 World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies, the European Coffee Trip plan to release a series of 6 videos demonstrating a few tips and tricks in the preparation of coffee, from a man who certainly knows what he is talking about. It looks geared towards the espresso machine user, and I have already subscribed. Have a look at the video on this introductory page to see if it interests you:
Get Rid of Basic Barista Mistakes

This post will be the last you will hear from me for 2014. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank each and every reader who has stopped by over the past 12 months, and I look forward to having you along again in 2015. I hope the New Year treats you well.

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

Modern Stationer
Another great review from Doug, this time on something I have been meaning to get my hands on – Doane Paper notebooks. With the minimum international shipping on the Doane site being $100.00, Jet Pens is the place for the international shopper. Now I’m just waiting for this particular set to appear on the site:
Doane Paper Small Utility Notebook

Ed Jelley
The gift guides are coming thick and fast – which reminds me, I must get onto mine. A masterstroke here being the section “I know they like pens but I’m afraid to pick” list of accessories. Often a safer bet when buying for the fussy pen lover:
Winter 2014 Holiday Gift Guide for the Fountain Pen Lover

Medium
An interesting take on using popular digital storage app Evernote from Thomas Honeyman. After recently rebooting my Omnifocus efforts, I am planning to do the same with Evernote. Some interesting thoughts on tagging rather than creating notebooks:
Using Evernote (the right way)

Ink on Hand
On the Zeller Writing Company blog, a call has gone out to budding writers to submit short stories for a planned regular feature titled Short Story Sunday. I’ll certainly be checking in to see what turns up:
Looking For Submissions

Poynter
From the book Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, a bullet list of handy tips from Roy Peter Clark, among them:

Cut big, then small; prune the big limbs, then shake out the dead leaves.

Limit self-criticism in early drafts; turn it loose during revision.

There is something here for anyone who writes:
Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List

Just Pelikans
I’m sure there are many of us for whom the Blue-Black spectrum of inks are a staple for a good portion of our fountain pen usage, particularly in a corporate office environment. One thing in particular which struck me about this post from David of Just Pelikans (in addition to the great sample of inks of course), was the year he bought his first fountain pen, 1997. Not only was this same year I bought the first of mine, it was purchased from the very same shop David bought some of the new the inks featured in his post.

As any regular reader or follower of Just Pelikans will know, the fact I did not buy another fountain pen until 2012, would be where any similarity abruptly ends. In any event, check out the post and a great array of blue-black inks:
Blue-Black, Bleu-Noir, Blau-Schwartz…

That One Pen
As Nock Co. continues to expand, new products are also periodically emerging. Further into the notebook and paper space now comes the DotDash pocket notebook. A nice review covering everything we need to know from Todd at That One Pen. What is a unique (top bound) and colourful fountain pen friendly notebook cannot be anything other than a winner.

As the courier is flat out delivering everything else I’ve purchased in the lead up to Christmas, a set of these will most likely be a new year purchase:
Nock Co. DotDash Pocket Notebook

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

The Dafacto Blog
I have often thought about the longevity of my online presence after my actual presence passes in this world, both from the perspective of my online accounts, and any writing I have created and put out into the ether. Further to this, there is also the issue of any secure digital data stored in the various cloud based services I am currently using.

To date, this thinking has not gone beyond providing my wife with my 1Password login (and vice versa), however I do need to consider this a little more thoughtfully and carefully.

Matt Henderson recently looked at a couple of possible strategies:
Planning for the transfer of personal data in the case of one’s unexpected passing

SBS News
Probably not surprising to read such a positive statement on coffee, given it’s origin:

What I tell patients is, if you like coffee, go ahead and drink as much as you want and can,” says Dr. Peter Martin, director of the Institute for Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt University.

That aside, this article goes on to report (again) what ongoing research has been demonstrating for some time now, in the significant and multiple long term health benefits of coffee. It also points out how, in addition to the benefits, much of the negative side effects long associated with beverage such as hypertension are also beginning to be disproven.

Some of the studies here quote continued benefits in upwards of six (up to ten) cups per day. Whilst I would not advocate lighter drinkers necessarily increase, perhaps those of us who find ourselves brewing every 2-3 waking hours can raise a knowing smile along with our preferred drinking vessel:
The case for drinking as much coffee as you like

A Fool With a Pen
Top fives, favourites, recommendations. We all love seeing where lists such as these take us, from agreement to dispute, to discovering something new. Just in time for Christmas comes one such list for your consideration and viewing pleasure:
The Charts

David Hewson
Author David Hewson provides a snippet of comment and a link to Dream of Venice, a photo compendium by Charles Christopher, which features an extract from Hewson’s book Carnival for the Dead. I think we’d all like to be saying the following line:

I’ll be back in Venice next month for a week finishing off a new book.

However in the absence of all capacity to say such a line, perhaps the book will have to do:
Dream of Venice

Pentorium
Personally, I don’t believe I could ever learn too much about fountain pens, however this guide at Pentorium goes a long way in furthering that endeavour. One of the most well set out and illustrated posts of its type I have come across.

I particularly like the “problem solving” type approach to the overall structure, rather than a simple list of general maintenance topics – certainly one to save and refer back to:
Fountain Pen Guide Series, Session 3: How to Maintain Your Pens

Brainpickings
One I particularly enjoyed from Brainpickings recently about a book by Carl Sagen, The Demon Haunted World. Why? Simply because it relates to much of what I spend my day doing, which is reviewing medical evidence in relation to what would be considered peer-reviewed and accepted treatment methodology. Probably the two most common mistakes I see others make who interpret such research are not dissimilar, however are listed individually in the list of 20 common pitfalls relating to common sense:

Number 12: post hoc, ergo propter hoc — Latin for “It happened after, so it was caused by” (e.g., Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila: “I know of … a 26-year-old who looks 60 because she takes [contraceptive] pills.” Or: Before women got the vote, there were no nuclear weapons)

and

Number 17: confusion of correlation and causation (e.g., A survey shows that more college graduates are homosexual than those with lesser education; therefore education makes people gay. Or: Andean earthquakes are correlated with closest approaches of the planet Uranus; therefore — despite the absence of any such correlation for the nearer, more massive planet Jupiter — the latter causes the former)

Really, the title of the post says it all:
The Baloney Detection Kit: Carl Sagan’s Rules for Bullshit-Busting and Critical Thinking

Mic
Although commonly seen in movies, the idea of a post apocalyptic type landscape actually existing in reality is not one we commonly think about. This drone flight with footage of Chernobyl from the air is one such reminder, despite the nuclear reactor tragedy occurring in 1986, now almost 30 years ago:
Someone Flew a Drone Through Chernobyl and the Result Is Haunting

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Clearly there has been a little disruption to my usual posting schedule on this blog both during, and since, November’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a topic which perhaps some of you may be a little tired of hearing about. If so I apologise, though there may be a post or two on that very topic still to come – perhaps.

Whilst I enjoyed participating immensely, managing to become a “Winner” after passing the required 50,000 word count before month’s end, I did not find it easy, nor could have predicted the toll on my overall energy, time and willingness to write on other things throughout the month. It is only now, well into December, I have found the urge to get going again.

What better way to ease back into things than with a few links to posts I have found interesting or exciting over the past couple of weeks (soon to return to the usual Wiser Web Wednesday format).

Ink&Flour
The re-launch of a blog (formerly Hastily Written) with an idea that particularly resonates with me. Some may consider writing a blog without a sole focus to be a cardinal mistake in the world of online traffic, and perhaps that may be the case. Personally, I’d rather a blog with soul, than a sole focus, just for the sake of it.

After much consideration a little while ago about where my own blog was or should be headed, I am comfortable with the decision I made not to split off the various topics into their own niche blogs, but rather keep things together. My own interests, under my own banner.

So, whilst bread making and pens may not necessarily be diametrically opposed, they are indeed an unusual combination to be found on the one blog – but of course, that is exactly what makes this one unique. Looking forward to what is to come:
Changing Times, Changing Names

WriteAnalog
A launch, this time of an entirely new blog undoubtedly with some great things to come. The tone has been set, not only with a quote in the first post:

“To begin, begin.” – William Wordsworth

But also, a killer WriteAnalog Manifesto, every word of which, those who are excited about the creation of another such blog will immediately understand:
The WriteAnalog Manifesto

I wish both of the above, every success, and smile at the community widening even further.

JimSeven
Yet again an interesting piece from James Hoffmann on not only the idea of “how” speciality coffee is portrayed or “sold” to consumers, but also the idea of how personal preference is a significant consideration:

A person’s preference is a place to start. To be acknowledged, accepted and considered. Even if their preference is the last thing on earth you’d want to drink yourself.

I find the more you read on this subject, the more those within the industry often disagree, let alone convincing the consumer. An example of which can be seen in a response written to the above post by Tim Williams on his Tumblr page.

Upon reading the response however, I think the articles are discussing slightly different points, that being, there is a difference between selling the concept of speciality coffee to consumers, and those within the industry promoting themselves as purveyors of same, while at the same time, serving a substantially inferior product:
What message do I want to send?

Baron Fig
The guys at Baron Fig have indeed been very busy lately, coming out with limited editions of their two main products, the Three-Legged Juggler, a special release of the standard Confidant Journal, and the Lightbulb, a limited edition of The Apprentice pocket notebook.

As with many limited editions, special or seasonal releases, the colours may not suit everyone, however I think these are spot on. I cannot wait to see what they have in store for future editions of this nature.

Finally, I must commend Baron Fig on their customer service – the Lightbulb edition was launched shortly after I placed an order, and although it had already shipped and I was unable to amend or add to it, the guys were very generous with a subsequent order, making the whole experience an extremely positive one.

By the way, you better get in quick in future, as the dot-grid Lightbulbs have already sold out (plain and ruled still available):
Baron Fig Online Store

MacSparky
A masterstroke from David Sparks of Macsparky and Mac Power Users podcast fame. Another Macsparky Field Guide, this time in the form of an OmniFocus screencast:

… this 2.5 hour video that takes you, soup to nuts, through the Omni Group’s supremely bad-ass task manager. The screencast can turn an OmniFocus novice into a task-managing ninja.

I have read the OmniFocus user guide, countless blog posts, and tips and tricks pieces, however have yet to find something which really clicks in taking my use of OmniFocus to a more efficient and powerful level. I reckon this should do it.

Many of the David’s tips on the MPU podcast in relation to Omnifocus are real gems, and I am looking forward to getting stuck into this one after completing the somewhat hefty 1.6 GB download last night.

Looking forward to earning the task-management ninja title very soon:
The OmniFocus Video Field Guide

That’s better.

Good to be back writing on the blog, and, as opposed to what I have just spent November writing – nary a plot hole in sight!

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