6 ms·

Precious Ink – On handwriting

16 points by mitmads 14y ago

moron4hire 14y ago
Yes, absolutely. When I worked as an employee, I would have a growing stack of all the things my co-workers printed (why do they print so much shit?) and I would write on the backs to try to get some use out of their paper. That is just for incidental notes, though. Any note that is just for remembering over the next few minutes to an hour goes on whatever scrap of paper I can find. But much longer-lived notes go into one of my growing stacks of notebooks. I use unlined art pads with ring binder sides for even technical notes. I scribble sketches and ideas at random in them, and mix in more serious drawings. They become a sort of journal for me, as I hate writing classical journal style. I keep them, then look back through the old ones every once in a while. It is a good review of how far I've come and also helps me recapture good ideas I had and dropped because either I wasn't ready or I got distracted by something else.
- mitmads 14y ago
  Yes. I like 1-side papers. Some times i used to fold them, staple them together to make it a pocket sized notebook. I am not sure how for this is true - I remember reading somewhere that Gandhi used to use the white space on news paper borders to write.
- niels_olson 14y ago
  Default to duplex. After 10 years of service my old Brother laser printer died last month. Got the Brother HL-2270DW: duplex, laser, airprint, ethernet. PPD files available for CUPS, fits on shelf. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00450DVDY http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00450DVDY
  - moron4hire 14y ago
    This is actually less of a solution than my solution, because the printing of the paper is certainly a waste of the paper, the old coworkers didn't need to be printing anything, let alone on both sides of the paper. At least my note taking was constructive. But I've solved the problem in an even better way, I just plain don't work in an office with coworkers anymore.
bdfh42 14y ago
Going to sound silly but - a pencil every time. Just seems a better match to the mind flow. Very zen.
- mitmads 14y ago
  Yes. I glanced thru this book at my local library - http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-Contractors/dp/1612190405 http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-Contra... - Read very zen. My personal preference is a good/non-expensive fountain pen though. Still searching for one.
  - moron4hire 14y ago
    I do some drawing with quill pens and tubs of ink. The sound off the sharp tip scratching across the paper is very relaxing, and the look is distinctly different from ballpoints.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - larve 14y ago
    i have had a namiki falcon (student edition in plastic, i have the more expensive one but i find i don't like it as much) for the last 3 or 4 years. it is bliss.
  - swah 14y ago
    I bought a Lamy thinking it would be something different than normal ink pens to write in - but it wasn't. It just stays on the drawer since a couple days after it was bought.
  - to3m 14y ago
    I like the Parker Vector, mainly because I used one at primary school in 1986 and have found no particular reason to change. They should be available in the US. (In the UK, WHSmith do some cheap own-brand fountain pens that are OK.) The ink always flows immediately, it writes smoothly, it works tolerably with the nib upside-down as a replacement for a fine-tipped felt pen, and it's fairly smart-looking and presentable. I think mine cost less than £10, which represents fair value for money given how long it's lasted me. More fountain pen reviews than you ever thought possible: http://www.youtube.com/user/sbrebrown http://www.youtube.com/user/sbrebrown Entry-level fountain pens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UId3hHz4bjk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UId3hHz4bjk The main issue with using a fountain pen I've found is that sometimes people will ask to borrow a pen, and now you have to vet them carefully to check that they don't hold the pen with their fist all scrunched up and the nib pointing straight down.
druiid 14y ago
I know for certain that writing things down makes them more 'important' to my mind. Printouts and the like generally get forgotten a few minutes after they were printed. Whenever I need to map out an idea within a script/program I'm working on I usually turn to my good ol' number two pencil and a couple sheets of paper and map out the basics of what I need to do, why I need to do it and any similar links. I find that this allows me to clarify things greatly, even the simple act of sitting for a moment and mapping things out. Pretty much I have found that without fail this leads to better outcomes with scripting for me and things just flow better. I'm not saying this will necessarily work for you, but for myself at least, writing certainly clarifies and brings into focus programming tasks. Also, getting into the whole bit with reading from LCD screens when reading from them, the material I read on LCD I find that it is remembered less clearly than when it is on paper (be it a book or, notes, etc.). So for myself, the order of order of best/worst material for remembering information is: Writing -> Printouts -> Screen.
- mitmads 14y ago
  Do you use any specific mind mapping technique?
- mistercow 14y ago
  >I know for certain that writing things down makes them more 'important' to my mind. I'm sure it does, but are you certain that writing things down commits them more firmly than manually typing them?
yannis 14y ago
This reminds me of Dijkstra's wordprocessor[1]. He had a pencil dangling from a string with a sign pointing to it saying "Word Processor". [1] http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-dijkstra-1930-2002/ http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-d...
e3pi 14y ago
Oh gosh, this takes me back. `De Laude Scriptorum' In praise of Scribes by Johannes Trithimeus, Abbotus of Spondheim Abbey, what now, something like 600 years ago! A delightful and informative early book celebrating this most beautiful and ergonomically satisfying word machine ever made(1). The scratch of quill on vellum, is an itch scratched of divine satisfaction. This is the same Trithimeus who did the first book on Stegonography, absconded funds and stoled books to build up the library. There may be a free pdf out here somewhere. Parker, of the Parker Duofold fountain pen, whose quill recently quipped, "Writing with a ballpoint pen is like writing with a nail". We can mention here also Miller's Canticle For Liebowitz, with perennial novice Francis' inspired decades' dutiful inkish scrivening. (1)But we must also remember and keep things in perspective, those monk novices were not allowed to get their groove on Fender Stratocasters.
jacalata 14y ago
I usually take notes in a notebook, but then transcribe them to OneNote later. This paid off handsomely when my bag was stolen last week, containing my notebook - all my notes are still safely saved.

16 points by mitmads 14y ago

Yes, absolutely. When I worked as an employee, I would have a growing stack of all the things my co-workers printed (why do they print so much shit?) and I would write on the backs to try to get some use out of their paper. That is just for incidental notes, though. Any note that is just for remembering over the next few minutes to an hour goes on whatever scrap of paper I can find. But much longer-lived notes go into one of my growing stacks of notebooks. I use unlined art pads with ring binder sides for even technical notes. I scribble sketches and ideas at random in them, and mix in more serious drawings. They become a sort of journal for me, as I hate writing classical journal style. I keep them, then look back through the old ones every once in a while. It is a good review of how far I've come and also helps me recapture good ideas I had and dropped because either I wasn't ready or I got distracted by something else.

mitmads 14y ago
Yes. I like 1-side papers. Some times i used to fold them, staple them together to make it a pocket sized notebook. I am not sure how for this is true - I remember reading somewhere that Gandhi used to use the white space on news paper borders to write.
niels_olson 14y ago
Default to duplex. After 10 years of service my old Brother laser printer died last month. Got the Brother HL-2270DW: duplex, laser, airprint, ethernet. PPD files available for CUPS, fits on shelf. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00450DVDY http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00450DVDY
- moron4hire 14y ago
  This is actually less of a solution than my solution, because the printing of the paper is certainly a waste of the paper, the old coworkers didn't need to be printing anything, let alone on both sides of the paper. At least my note taking was constructive. But I've solved the problem in an even better way, I just plain don't work in an office with coworkers anymore.

bdfh42 14y ago

Going to sound silly but - a pencil every time. Just seems a better match to the mind flow. Very zen.

mitmads 14y ago
Yes. I glanced thru this book at my local library - http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-Contractors/dp/1612190405 http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-Contra... - Read very zen. My personal preference is a good/non-expensive fountain pen though. Still searching for one.
- moron4hire 14y ago
  I do some drawing with quill pens and tubs of ink. The sound off the sharp tip scratching across the paper is very relaxing, and the look is distinctly different from ballpoints.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- larve 14y ago
  i have had a namiki falcon (student edition in plastic, i have the more expensive one but i find i don't like it as much) for the last 3 or 4 years. it is bliss.
- swah 14y ago
  I bought a Lamy thinking it would be something different than normal ink pens to write in - but it wasn't. It just stays on the drawer since a couple days after it was bought.
- to3m 14y ago
  I like the Parker Vector, mainly because I used one at primary school in 1986 and have found no particular reason to change. They should be available in the US. (In the UK, WHSmith do some cheap own-brand fountain pens that are OK.) The ink always flows immediately, it writes smoothly, it works tolerably with the nib upside-down as a replacement for a fine-tipped felt pen, and it's fairly smart-looking and presentable. I think mine cost less than £10, which represents fair value for money given how long it's lasted me. More fountain pen reviews than you ever thought possible: http://www.youtube.com/user/sbrebrown http://www.youtube.com/user/sbrebrown Entry-level fountain pens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UId3hHz4bjk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UId3hHz4bjk The main issue with using a fountain pen I've found is that sometimes people will ask to borrow a pen, and now you have to vet them carefully to check that they don't hold the pen with their fist all scrunched up and the nib pointing straight down.

druiid 14y ago

I know for certain that writing things down makes them more 'important' to my mind. Printouts and the like generally get forgotten a few minutes after they were printed. Whenever I need to map out an idea within a script/program I'm working on I usually turn to my good ol' number two pencil and a couple sheets of paper and map out the basics of what I need to do, why I need to do it and any similar links. I find that this allows me to clarify things greatly, even the simple act of sitting for a moment and mapping things out. Pretty much I have found that without fail this leads to better outcomes with scripting for me and things just flow better. I'm not saying this will necessarily work for you, but for myself at least, writing certainly clarifies and brings into focus programming tasks. Also, getting into the whole bit with reading from LCD screens when reading from them, the material I read on LCD I find that it is remembered less clearly than when it is on paper (be it a book or, notes, etc.). So for myself, the order of order of best/worst material for remembering information is: Writing -> Printouts -> Screen.

mitmads 14y ago
Do you use any specific mind mapping technique?
mistercow 14y ago
>I know for certain that writing things down makes them more 'important' to my mind. I'm sure it does, but are you certain that writing things down commits them more firmly than manually typing them?

yannis 14y ago

This reminds me of Dijkstra's wordprocessor[1]. He had a pencil dangling from a string with a sign pointing to it saying "Word Processor". [1] http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-dijkstra-1930-2002/ http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-d...

e3pi 14y ago

Oh gosh, this takes me back. `De Laude Scriptorum' In praise of Scribes by Johannes Trithimeus, Abbotus of Spondheim Abbey, what now, something like 600 years ago! A delightful and informative early book celebrating this most beautiful and ergonomically satisfying word machine ever made(1). The scratch of quill on vellum, is an itch scratched of divine satisfaction. This is the same Trithimeus who did the first book on Stegonography, absconded funds and stoled books to build up the library. There may be a free pdf out here somewhere. Parker, of the Parker Duofold fountain pen, whose quill recently quipped, "Writing with a ballpoint pen is like writing with a nail". We can mention here also Miller's Canticle For Liebowitz, with perennial novice Francis' inspired decades' dutiful inkish scrivening. (1)But we must also remember and keep things in perspective, those monk novices were not allowed to get their groove on Fender Stratocasters.

jacalata 14y ago

I usually take notes in a notebook, but then transcribe them to OneNote later. This paid off handsomely when my bag was stolen last week, containing my notebook - all my notes are still safely saved.