Link Posts

Wiser Web Wednesday

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

Wiser Web Wednesday – a weekly link to posts of interest from around the web:

FiveThirtyEight
The humble Oxford comma – who would have thought a style of punctuation would deserve so much attention. Incidentally though, one I had not realised was ‘a thing’ until hearing it mentioned during an episode of the compelling series Boss, starring Kelsey Grammer, who, as mayor of Chicago didn’t rate the humble mark. A poll of Americans and their thoughts on the Oxford comma, thus:
Elitist, Superfluous, or Popular? We Polled Americans on the Oxford Comma
(Yes FiveThirtyEight, I see what you did there)

Unclutterer
For those very analogue, and perhaps a little GTD minded, comes a filing system which utilises a good deal of both (via The Cramped). Although it may be attractive to some, I can see things perhaps becoming a little unwieldy if unleashed without due care:
The Pile of Index Cards system

Unclutterer again, this time a method I have been using for some time now – simply without the name, however I am now happy to say “what? – the Noguchi system – you’ve never heard of it? Oh I’ve been using it for years”

I would say 95% of my workplace filing these days is of the digital kind, however what remains fits nicely into one office filing drawer. My utilisation of this system occurred simply through returning files to the front of my drawer, always with the intention of “eventually organising this better”. Of course this organisation never came, and the system has a name – thanks to Mr Noguchi Yukio (who is incidentally a Japanese economist):
The Noguchi filing system

Pens! Paper! Pencils!
Is anyone out there really still searching for a great mass-produced cheap office pen that performs well? Of course we are, and the Pilot Juice is another contender. It sounds as though Ian has tested quite a few colours along the way so far. Three tip sizes and considerably more colour options – certainly worth a look:
Pilot Juice gel ink pen review

The Newsprint
One link to a cheap mass-produced pen deserves another. I give you a review of the Pilot G–2 0.5mm by Josh at The Newsprint. I’ve written before about my thoughts on the 0.7mm G–2, and had hoped the finer version might be an improvement, though judging by this post, perhaps not:
Pilot G2 Extra-Fine Retractable Pen

Finer Things in Tech
I have been using Due as a reminder app for longer than I can remember, and having tried many others I keep coming back. It came as a surprise (to me at least) to learn if contacts are added to a task, swiping the task will show the usual action options for the particular contact. What did not come as a surprise was learning this tip from the Finer Things in Tech – a site we all should follow:
Due lets you message, email, call contacts involved with your tasks

~ PD.

Wiser Web Wednesday

/ Pete Denison / 2 Comments

Wiser Web Wednesday – a weekly link to posts of interest from around the web:

The Unroyal Warrant
A new Field Notes colours release always brings a good degree of interest around the web. This, a unique one in that we have a larger sized notebook in a two pack rather than the traditional 3 pack of pocket-sized notebooks. I’m really looking forward to getting some of these myself, however in the meantime, some thoughts from The Unroyal Warrant:
Field Notes Arts and Sciences Edition Review

Office Supply Geek
Whilst we are on notebooks, a look at the new limited edition 80 Year Anniversary Rhodia Ice notebook range from Brian at Office Supply Geek:
Rhodia Ice 80th Anniversary Notepad

The Writing Arsenal
OK – last notebook link. Writing Arsenal Tim with his Field Notes Shelterwood Review, concluding this particular edition is not a pocket notebook:
Field Notes: Shelterwood

From The Pen Cup
Of course we also need something with which to write in these notebooks. This is a great post from Mary describing how impressions of a pen can change markedly depending on paper and proposed/actual use. When I purchase my Metropolitan will it be M or F?:
Too fine?! The Pilot Metropolitan/Lizard/Fine nib

Gourmet Pens
I’ve been using my trusty Retro 51 Tornado (all black Stealth model) for a good while now, and hadn’t really been in the market for another, however the colour of this Kiwi model is enough to make me reconsider. Azizah at Gourmet Pens appears to be a fan as well:
Review: Retro 1951 Classic Lacquer Tornado

Chambers Daily
With the ever increasing number and size of apps, along with the amount of photo and video we all take these days putting a significant strain on a 16GB device, a nice guide from Bradley Chambers on managing this precious space:
How to Free Up Space On iOS

World Aeropress Championships
The World Aeropress Championships took place in Rimini, Italy last weekend, alongside the World Barista Championships (congratulations to Hidenori Izaki for becoming the new WBC). Give Japanese and WAC Winner Shuichi Sasaki’s recipe a run for yourself. Perhaps a return to the traditional, non-inverted style of brewing may be the order of the day?:
Shuichi Sasaki’s WAC winning recipe

Macstories
I’ve been a long time user of Launch Center Pro on my iPhone, and am currently setting up some actions on my iPad. A recent update of the app to version 2.3 saw IFTTT integration added, greatly expanding LCP’s ability to trigger automated web recipes in addition to the URL scheme actions that have long been at its core. Macstories also has a fantastic guide to getting started with LCP, a link to which appears early in the article:
Launch Center Pro 2.3 Extends iOS Automation

~PD.

Wiser Web Wednesday

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

Wiser Web Wednesday – a weekly link to posts of interest from around the web:

The Cramped
Do you have a particular note taking system (of the handwritten kind)? If not, a round-up of a few popular methods that may be worth a try:
Paper Based Markup Systems

Bean Brewding
Much of the opinion on specialty filter coffee brewing centres around devices such as the Hario V60, Kalita Wave, Chemex and the like. A simple old drip filter – could you? Would you? Local Brisbane guys Bean Brewding gave it a shot, and here are the results:
Can You Make Great Coffee in a Drip Filter Coffee Machine?

Macstories
Somewhat lost amidst the WWDC hype was an update to one of my most used apps, in the form of Editorial 1.1. This is a significant update to the iPad version, however also brings the app to the iPhone as well. As usual, Federico Viticci leaves nothing unturned in a review:
Editorial 1.1: Another Step Forward for iOS Automation

While you’re there, Unread (my iPhone RSS reader of choice) is now available for iPad, and you can read Federico’s impressions. For me, I will probably stick with Mr Reader at the current time, as my workflows for viewing and sharing/saving articles are pretty well sorted. I cannot speak highly enough of Unread’s minimalist interface for iPhone however:
Unread for iPad Review

The Fountain Pen Quest
Having just opened a mail order package from Pen Chalet containing a new Pelikan M205, my thoughts turned to which ink would fill it first. Coincidentally, after setting my bottle of Montblanc Midnight Blue down (a long time favourite), I checked my Twitter feed and up popped a great review of this very ink from Ray at The Fountain Pen Quest. I’d certainly agree on this point:

I can’t quite place why I like this ink so much so I’m calling it “character.”

Ink Notes: Montblanc Midnight Blue

New York Times
No surprises here. None of us really thought writing by hand was simply a form of expression (I hope!). A few words on just how important hand writing is to a developing brain:
What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades

The Well-Appointed Desk
Although a vibrant fountain pen ink looks fantastic on a blank page, over at the Desk, Ana has some downloadable PDF templates for use underneath a blank sheet of paper, providing the lines many of us could (or at least should) not do without:
Turn a Blank Notebook into a Lined Notebook

~ PD

Wiser Web Wednesday – WWDC Edition

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

Wiser Web Wednesday – a weekly link to posts of interest from around the web:

Photo courtesy Apple

Photo courtesy Apple

Another Wednesday rolls around, and for WWW this week, we’ll keep with the flavour of the moment in the Apple technology world, WWDC 2014, and the announcements which came out very early yesterday morning (Australian time). I think I’ll also avoid doing a ‘W’ character count on this post.

A reasonably large number of articles on this event have been doing the rounds, and judging by these and the rain of positivity (with perhaps the exception of the free tier of iCloud storage remaining at 5GB) in my Twitter stream, most of the announcements have been well received by both developers and those who far more capably and professionally than I, cover such news (all with nice images to boot, providing a good indication of what these things will actually look like to the end-user).

Firstly, a couple of great Aussie sites, whose authors took one for the team and attacked Tuesday’s 3am start with vigour, then had the composure to write a couple of great pieces on what they saw and heard:

Reckoner
James Croft on the improved integration planned by Apple, in a post with a great overview of OS X 10.10, Yosemite:

As I watched the keynote this morning at a cheery 3am, I was struck by how much Apple are pushing seamless integration between their platforms now. Yosemite weaves a slew of new features –passive and active, cloud and local– into its design. Most of them have a central tenant; to drastically simplify life for a user with both a Mac, iPad and iPhone.

WWDC 2014: OS X Yosemite

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the guys have also recorded a special edition of the Reckoner podcast to discuss all things WWDC 2014:

Episode 46 | WWDC 2014

Appletalk
Benny Ling gives an idea on the magnitude of some of the forthcoming developments across the platforms:

Apple kicked things off by saying it was an even with three main focuses — OS X, iOS, and developers — and then they went on to deliver one of the biggest Apple events in recent history.

WWDC 2014 Wrap Up, Sherlock All The Things Edition

And from some of my other favourite sites:

Macstories
While Federico loaded up on espresso for the days ahead, Graham Spencer’s roundup of OS X – Yosemite:

Introduced by Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, Yosemite brings a big new redesign to the Mac that is reminiscent of last year’s iOS 7 redesign. Continuity between OS X and iOS is also a huge aspect to the Yosemite release, including a so-called ‘Handoff’ feature, instant hotspots, and support for making phone calls and sending text messages from a Mac.

OS X Yosemite Overview

Further, there are at least a half-dozen more articles relating to WWDC 2014 announcements under the Macstories WWDC tag – espresso really does work:

Macstories WWDC 2014 Tagged Posts

512 Pixels
Stephen Hackett on the possibilities created with improved iCloud services, platform integration, continuity and Apple’s long term game plan for platform “lock in”, given the current state of affairs:

While the company’s hardware continues to be the best in the industry, Apple’s software and services have slipped in recent years. OS X and iOS are still the best two operating systems on the planet, but there are cracks in the hull.

Bridging The Gap

Apple
Of course there is always the primary source on these matters. Although I enjoy reading the opinions of those outside the mothership, clearly Apple itself provides a polished summary of the key features, and as usual, some beautiful images:

OS X Yosemite: Coming this fall
iOS 8 Preview

No doubt further, more in-depth analysis and opinion will emerge over the next few days and weeks, and if you are at all interested, checking back on the above sites for reliable information and balanced opinion (without endless rumour and speculation) would be a worthwhile endeavour.

Wiser Web Wednesday

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

Wiser Web Wednesday – a weekly link to posts of interest from around the web:

The Gentleman Stationer
I posted a few thoughts on some of the pen cases from Nock Co. myself, but a trilogy it was not. A great three-part “mega” series on these very products:
Nock Co. Three Part Mega Review: All the Cases, Part I
Nock Co. Mega Review: All the Cases, Part II
Nock Co. Mega Review Part III: Hightower and Brasstown

David Smith
Although I personally tend to seek out cafes to try when travelling, here is a nice in-room option if that is your thing (thankfully in Australia, kettle not required):
My Travel Coffee Kit

The Clicky Post
Although not unique to this AL Sport stone washed version, I have often thought about the shape of my Kaweco Sport and Ice Sport models in the same way:

Almost like you’re not sure whether it is “attractive” or not, but it draws you in and definitely has a beauty all it’s own.

In any event, some great images (and review) demonstrating a masterstroke (in my opinion) of pen body design and finish:
Kaweco Al Sport Fountain Pen Stonewashed Edition

Pens! Paper! Pencils!
Ahh…of course. The Retro 51 Tornado – a long time Pen Addict Podcast staple. A great review by Ian (as usual), which also reminds me I must seek out the Schmidt P8126 refill and given it a spin in my own Stealth model:
Retro 51 Tornado rollerball review

Macsparky
A reminder of times gone by and what the future might bring. My solution to solving the Rubik’s cube as a kid was unfortunately the pull apart and reassemble method:
Inconceivable

Asian Efficiency
It’s all about the OmniFocus 2 for Mac upgrade recently, and I have no hesitation in recommending the update if you currently use this task management programme. I much prefer the new interface, however perhaps this may come from using the iOS versions exclusively for 18 months prior to purchasing the Mac version.

In any event, for those who were not involved in the Beta testing (let’s face it, if you were, you wouldn’t be reading this blog) and OmniFocus 2 is all new to you, I found this 13 minute video from AE immensely helpful to point out the key changes, and the drag and drop workaround is a nice touch – definitely worth a look:
The Differences Between OmniFocus 1 and OmniFocus 2 for Mac

Simplicity Bliss
Speaking of OmniFocus, a nice round-up of a number of reviews and guides out there to help you on your way:
The Big OmniFocus 2 For Mac Round-Up