
Precious Ink – On handwriting - mitmads
http://ttbook.org/book/precious-ink
======
moron4hire
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.

~~~
niels_olson
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>

~~~
moron4hire
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.

------
druiid
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.

~~~
mistercow
>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?

------
e3pi
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.

------
yannis
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-d...](http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-
dijkstra-1930-2002/)

------
jacalata
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.

------
bdfh42
Going to sound silly but - a pencil every time. Just seems a better match to
the mind flow. Very zen.

~~~
mitmads
Yes. I glanced thru this book at my local library -
[http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-
Contra...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-
Contractors/dp/1612190405) \- Read very zen. My personal preference is a
good/non-expensive fountain pen though. Still searching for one.

~~~
ralph
I'd like a fountain pen where the nib actually splayed on a little downward
pressure so the width of the stroke was wider. Most nibs are far too strong
and don't yield at all.

~~~
snogglethorpe
If you want a fountain pen like that (as opposed to a dip pen†), the only non-
insanely-expensive source I've found is old pens with gold nibs ... If it's
something not particularly attractive (there are lots of dull black old pens
around), the price can be vastly more tractable than modern high-quality
fountain pens.

Unfortunately the basic market for high-quality new pens seems to be as a
luxury accessory, with price inflation to match. There's an apparent increase
in low-priced new fountain pens in the last few years, but they all seem to
have extremely stiff nibs made of thick steel or something.

[I met a guy in Boston who had a small open-by-appointment shop with like
4-5000 old fountain pens, most of which were not really pretty enough to sell
well as boutique/antique items, but many of which wrote very nicely. He bought
a lot of pens and eeked out a living selling the prettier ones; I'm not really
sure what the eventual fate of the rest is.]

† There are tons of super cheap and nice flexible nibs available for dip pens,
though I guess many are not well suited to general writing.

~~~
ralph
Thanks snogglethorpe, that reinforces an opinion I read a while ago when I
last looked into this; modern manufactured nibs are steel with little yield
and an old gold one can be a better buy for the price. Also, only the Japanese
still bother with making old-quality nibs but at a huge price, e.g. the top
ones tailor it after having seen you writing. :-)

I've seen nibs for dip pens in the local art-supplies shop, including drawing
and map-making nibs, but it's just not practical so I haven't even tried them
to see if they're what I want. If they were, I'm puzzled why they have to be
dip-only, presumably a fountain nib works differently?

Having searched a little it seems 14K gold alloy is best, but modern rules
mean it can't be labelled gold so isn't manufactured any more.
<http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/ttp/materials.htm>

~~~
snogglethorpe
I'm no expert, but this is my impression based on seeing and using lots of
nibs :):

Most drawing / calligraphy nibs only work well when you're _pulling_ the pen
(e.g. try pushing with a pointed nib, and you'll quickly tear up the paper or
break the nib). Because of this, they can be of fairly simple construction,
made of flat uniformly thin metal (generally just steel AFAICT). As they're
relatively cheap and easily replaceable, it's not a huge deal if a nib breaks,
you just put in a new one, and you're not out too much money.

Fountain pens, on the other hand, have to work reasonably well when pushing
the pen too, so you can't really make them entirely out of thin flexible
metal. Together with a more complex ink delivery mechanism, the nibs seem
inherently more expensive, and so tend to be part of the pen rather than a
disposable part (I imagine the average person who just wants to write his
stuff wouldn't be very happy if they had to constantly replace the nib
either). By making them out of relatively stiff metal, you can sort of avoid
some of the problems while still using cheapish construction. I don't know why
gold is better offhand, but I imagine it may be better able to put up with the
forces involved when the nib is thinner and more fleixble, without breaking.

~~~
ralph
Ah, the "pulling" issue hadn't occurred to me.

Gold is good because it's flexible but pure gold is too soft and wears too
easily so an alloy is used. 14K gold alloy seems to be the sweet spot between
flexing and durability, modern 18K loses the former.

