Pen spinning is very cool. Have a look at
Pentrix, with
guides to help you learn,
videos of some very nice looking variations,
basic tricks and
combinations. A word of warning though, trying these things in an open environment may well annoy your fellow humans; but this may be the
only distraction for the bored and restricted office worker.
posted by ed\26h
on Jul 2, 2004 -
16 comments
ESA astronaut, Pedro Duque writes "I am writing these notes in the Soyuz with a cheap ballpoint pen. Why is that important? As it happens, I've been working in space programmes for seventeen years, eleven of these as an astronaut, and I've always believed, because that is what I've always been told, that normal ballpoint pens don't work in space... and here I am, it doesn't stop working and it doesn't 'spit' or anything. Sometimes being too cautious keeps you from trying, and therefore things are built more complex than necessary." From
Snopes: Fisher spent over one million dollars in trying to perfect the ball point pen before he made his first successful
pressurized pens in 1965, which NASA uses.
[via GearBits]
posted by riffola
on Nov 4, 2003 -
23 comments
Keyboards Are Not Like Nibs: Fountain pens - or writing instruments in general - rule. Lately though, the main manufacturers have stooped to ballpoints, gels and other madnesses. Just as the stupid
calligraphy fad killed proper handwriting, the main fountain pen manufacturers have been their own hangmen. I love
Pelikan but my main hearbreak is
Rotring, whose
rapidograph 0.10 and 0.18 and
isograph 0.20 (
this latter line now sadly reduced to college sets) are my favourite scratching sticks. Are you
holding a torch for any of those legendary manufacturers (
Parker,
Waterman,
Cross,
Schaeffer,
Aurora,
Lamy et caetera) who have gone
down the drain? What glides your writing hand? Is the pseudish, unpardonably expensive and increasingly naff
Montblanc the last pen manufacturer to uphold its own standards? When you do put pen to paper - if you still do at all - what's
your stubborn choice? Damn it, you must use something to log into your
Moleskine!
posted by MiguelCardoso
on May 1, 2003 -
96 comments
Anoto - wireless handwriting. it might turn out to be not that popular
this christmas, but the anonto pen has the potential to become a
big hit in 2002. just imagine you would never have to use your palm again. or imagine you lose your palm... and you really don't take. because the magic is in the pen!
posted by HeikoH
on Dec 17, 2001 -
23 comments
