Libb

I doubt anyone here is looking to spend that much money to make a fashion statement.

Sure, we would know it by now if ‘fashion’ was working at all to drive sales. And if it was, by now we would be surrounded by ads absolutely everywhere, and our landscapes would be filled with mountain-like piles of trashed useless craps that we would feel the need to regularly throw away in order to make room to buy the newest and latest whatever trendy crap. That’s obviously not the case. Aren’t we lucky.

Let me ask you this: for what reason do you think most people buy the latest $1000+ smartphone?

Is it because they need the hardware, be it the titanium or whatever metal body because they regularly heat their phone so much that titanium is the only reasonable option? Or is because it looks somehow cooler? Or maybe it’s because they need more pixels in order to share a sharper video of, say, the latest revolutionary brain surgery procedure they devised? Or is it in order to share some video of their cat, or their latest shopping spree, or film themselves in front of whatever touristic destination they fancy visiting? Please, do note that I wrote ‘most people’ and not all of them, as I certainly don’t doubt a few targeted consumers do indeed need whatever new features are made available.

So, as a matter of fact, I do think a lot of people are more than willing to spend whatever amount of money they consider reasonable, be it a couple hundred bucks on e-ink device, or 1 million dollars on a diamond incrusted fountain pen, or even 50 billions to buy their own Twitter (which is also a writing device, mind you). Or do you think a 1 million dollars fountain pen write that much better? Hint: it doesn’t.

Do I think the OP is one of those person? I have no idea and how would I know? But, contrary to you, I don’t care at all because I don’t think it matters.

I simply offered a cheap (answering the OP exact concern) alternative to e-ink, an alternative I know is very often overlooked because, well, it’s so low tech (which is not great in a society that has a constant hardon interest for high-tech).

Thank you very much, you’re more than welcome.

As long as people know how to and are willing to socialize outside of the internet, and as long as they realize most knowledge is available outside of the Web (and away from those trying to take hold of it), they should not be that much different.

BTW, that ‘outside of the Web’ place filled with knowledge are libraries ;)

• 25 years and counting with my spouse. We’ve had our share of rough times but that helped us realize how lucky we were to be together and to realize how deeply we could rely on one another no matter what was happening.
• Be ok with shit happening. Constantly.
  No matter how well one think they’re prepared something can happen that will wreck havoc on their perfect plan. I mean that in a very pragmatic way, not as a metaphorical way of speaking. Stuff happen all the time and one can either cry and rage and blame the world, or deal with it. Imho, the least inefficient answer is to learn to deal with it.

You got a point :)

So, Ive recently gotten back into writing and been thinking about how much more fun it would be to write Outside.

I know it’s not what you’re looking for but since it’s the tools I’m using for the exact same purpose you’re mentioning, maybe they’re worth suggesting?

There is no copy paste, no edit, no syncing either but depending what you wish to write, you may not need that—I certainly don’t, and I even prefer this to more high-tech solutions for my purpose.

• It’s dirt cheap. Less than 30 cents for the Bic (I buy mine in bulk, normal price should be approx. 1.5€), and less than 3 euros for the notebook itself and they both offer at the very least a few weeks worth of writing autonomy. I reckon most countries should have local manufacturers for those tools (less shipping and less waste are always a nice option). Here in France, I like to use the French Bic ballpoint pens and the French Clairefontaine notebooks/papers (it also helps that they’re excellent products)
• It works great under the sun, on the beach, at the pool, or under the rain. Ballpoint ink is waterproof and quality paper (like in this notebook) can work under the rain and it can even be immerged under water. It will buckle but it will be usable (and readable, if one is using a ballpoint or a pencil) after it dried.
• Highly portable. It fits in any pocket (and small bag), and the Bic sits nicely within the spirals so no risk of losing it and I never need to search for it.
• It needs no charging. It needs no software or firmware updates. It has no bugs.
• It works great with any pen you fancy, be it this cheap Bic pen or some multi thousand € fancy fountain pen.
• One can use it to write absolutely anything. Poetry, the next best-seller, a secret plan to conquer the world, a list of errands,… You can also use it to sketch, to mindmap, to outline, and so on.
• It’s not unbreakable but one will need to put in some real effort. Meaning the thing can take a few beatings without any issue. Plus, if it’s too damaged, it’s cheap to replace.
• Thieve appeal? None. Try letting a tablet or a phone, even a cheap old one unsupervised on any table in a public space…
• Privacy? OK, it’s not encrypted but at the very least no corporation is spying on my notes, ever. And I’m free to write anything I fancy, without worries.
• Backups? None. I don’t need any since I use for quick notes that I then reuse back at the desk: ideas, dialogues, short descriptions (a few keywords will often do it’s rare I need to write complete sentences), or stuff like that. Even stuff I want to write about in my journal (that stays at home) I will simply write a few quick words so when I read them back later one I will remember what it was all about.
• Icing on the cake? Zero distraction. No social, no games, no Notifications to distract me, and no endless settings and tweaks for me to use as an excuse to fool around and to not be writing ;)

I know it’s low-tech and not trendy at all, but it works great and have been doing so for… centuries (for the notebooks in its current form) if not for millennia (handwriting) and has been used by many authors whose work we’re still enjoying/admiring to this day.

Don’t be a dick.

I like that you cut to the chase, and remove the plastic element. I think I might lean into that too, as I am always trying to think of ways to be a more sustainable individual.

Which is a good thing imho. We’re trying our best to do the same.

I don’t take a lot of pictures anymore, because I think phones are creepy fucks.

I think so too. I distrust the smartphone so much that I don’t even have a social app, or email, not even a game installed on that thing. I need to have one for 2FA, banks and stuff like that but I distrust that thing with all my guts ad I use it as little as I can (which is not a lot)

I used to take a lot of pictures but it has been a few years I seldom take any and never of people or stuff I consider personal. For that, I switched to sketching them.

But for practical stuff like I just did in the discussion, I will simply take a snapshot (trying to remove all metadata, though).

It’s nice because I never pull the sucker out in public. It’s bad because I have stopped visually recording my life in many ways.

Nowadays, I pull out a sketchbook and a small set of watercolors :p

I’m a little mama (as in, I am short and tiny) so when I go into nature, I am not looking to carry something around that can leave me vulnerable.

I can 100% understand that, and I say that as a tall and bulky dude myself. Also, no matter what, when I go for a long walk I try to shave as much useless weight as possible.

I’ve got a new pad of paper, I think I should start considering making a new guy to take around. You’ve got me having the itch for it =)!

:)

I really like your design by the by! Looking at that spine “wow-ed” me! It’s ingenious! The way I allowed for less/more depth is by sewing a “travel” piece of cloth between the two boards I had.

Thx. Yep, if it’s anything, it’s practical. Could easily be improved upon but I’m not yet persuaded it’s worth the time… I will see.

I have a poor technique when drawing. I wish I didn’t.

My skecthes look like nothing. Seriously. And I don’t care the slightest. I just enjoy doing them.

It drives my partner crazy, because she uses those old masters style of pencil holding (where you hold it by the end) and never touches the paper outside of setting it.

I’m using both methods depending the paper size, the place I have to move my arm, and also of the subject. Any method is the right one as long as it works for you. Don’t worry too much ;)

But damned if that doesn’t bite me in the ass if I smudge.

That’s also why I prefer sketching with a fountain pen (using waterproof fountain pen ink) over pencil. It dries in an instant and won’t smudge ever. My brand of favorite waterproof fountain pen ink (never use non-fountain pen ink in a fountain pen, you would ruin it) is from DeAtramentis, their Document line of bottled inks (many colors available, I love their brown, it’s what I use most), or the Platinum Carbon Black ink.

I stare at those beautifully thin and gliding pen tips (with that liquidy ink) and I run in terror of them. Just because I have such a messy technique =P! I have trouble controlling them,

That’s one of the reasons why I use them: it forces me to let go of any semblance of control and perfection since I can’t erase anything every single line is definitive and should be accepted ;)

I have never heard of Zettelkasten, no lie!

I know many people have not, hence the link ;)

It’s a great method provided it fits your mindset but in reality Zettelkasten is just a generic name (it’s German and it means something like ‘box of index cards’) that was given by one scholar who formalized (very efficiently) a technique people have been using for centuries. Unknowingly, I had been using a Zettelkasten of my own for years before I discovered it even had a name ;)

Also, it’s method not a religion with one right way one must follow. You’re more than encouraged to tweak it and change it however you see fit.

My only suggestion would be to keep it as simple as possible (don’t try to categorize too much stuff in advance and keep the numbering/ID system as basic as you possibly can) and let it evolves organically with practice as needs arise.

I know this is going to sound psychotic, but when I am done with one of my notebooks, I cannibalize it with a knife until it’s little bits and then toss it. Which, probably isn’t the best solution for keeping records.

For decades, I burnt mine. I started journaling as a little boy but my inquisitorial mum would not allow me much privacy and definitely disapproved the stuff I wrote in my journal, punishing me for that. I qui ckly realized it would be safer to make it so she could not read it and also that it would even be safer to not keep them… And I kept burning mine up until a few years, sadly everything priori to that is lost.

but I should probably look into ways to keep the ideas | records separate from the | raw stuff =P!

A Zettelkasten may help. It’s why I keep my journal separated from my index cards save whatever I deem worthy of indexing ;)

I am in flux, I am old stuff and new stuff all the same. There is an artist I once heard who described herself as “I never knew I was old, until I went to the doctors and they told me I was.”

I’m well into my 50s but I don’t see myself as old. Or maybe I do and I just don’t care how old I’m. I keep doing whatever I want to do, that’s what matter to me. And I keep being excited by stuff,like a kid can/should be.

Catch is I see myself slowing down, health issues tackled like they aimed to maim and the hair is no longer a pure beautiful raven black like it used to be =P!

We all do slow down. I can’t have sleepless nights over sleepless nights like I used to when I was in my 20s (not for partying mind you, to write stuff and paint and do stuff). Nowadays, I need my 4 or 5 hour sleep.

As for the hairs… mine were getting gray at the same time I was getting bald early in my 30s. I used to have long hair but one day I shaved my head and never looked back :p

Oh yeah, no okay so umm goofabout talk here on the television thing. My partner NEEDS television in her life, I need television away from my life.

Our compromise is that we watch DVDs. We just refuse to be force fed ads and/or shitty content. We like whatever movie or series to be a great one (in any genre, I mean) or to be something that will challenge or even disturb us, we’re not much into the politically correct turds that are currently en vogue and produced en masse. So, we don’t miss much of Netflix or whatever.

I know it sounds woo-woo but they just change the dynamic of a room.

Not to me. It not only change the dynamic of a room, it also deeply changes the dynamic of most families and of gathering and how we interact. People aren’t much together anymore, they either are watching the tv screen, or their phone/tablet/computer screen, sitting one next to the other in the same room, barely communicating together. I don’t call that being together I call that being stored one next to the other.

Every time I witness that I feel like we’re losing what’s making us human beings. It’s most probably me getting old but I really can’t help thinking younger people are the losers in that change of habits. And they’re losing big time.

I will look into how to join this instance (?yet again, is it called that? Idk?) and report back! Be well!

It’s a community (journaling) that is hosted on an instance (sh.itjustworks). Hope to see you there ;)

The certainty of being right.

Why? Because when (any)one is sure to be right it means the other must be wrong and since they’re wrong they probably should not even be allowed to say what they have to say.

Here in France I don’t think we have a deposit for plastic containers as that’s what I’m talking about: I don’t throw away glass bottles or metal ones (and BTW by metal I meant those reusable water bottles thermos-like, not those one use aluminum cans that I refuse to use, I may have made that clearer ;). As much as I can tell, we’re asked to throw those plastic (and even the metal cans) in the dedicated ‘recycling’ booths/bins that are collected and recycled… at least that’s the theory.

Edit: sorry for the lengthy reply. I did not realize until after I posted it :p

For the longest I would only allow myself to use pens, as I liked the flow of ink (ballpoint sans gel so I guess I would hate monte blanc stuff cause I heard it’s buttery smooth)

Montblanc does both ballpoint pens and fountain pens. If you’re refering to fountain pens yeah, they can be buttery smooth but there are smoother fountain pens and also less buttery smooth ones out there… Despite being a ballpoint and a pencil user, I’m kinda into fountain pens too ;)

I wanted to fight my perfectionist tendencies by taking away the ability to erase things.

Something I can relate too. And a method I can definitely relate to ;)

but revisitng pencils felt like meeting up with an old friend. I like that with a single pencil and some mindful technique you can do quite a variety of work.

Pencils are true overlooked wonders. One could do anything with just one pencil.

The pencils came with the sharpener (believe it or not) and I figured might as well have a meet b. Before I was hacking at stuff with an xacto like an animal.

Beside my portable sharpener that I never use despite it having a neat container to keep the pencil shavings, I use a single side razor blade to sharpen my pencils. It takes a little practice but it’s great (not to be put in kids hands, though as it’s a real razor sharp blade)

Your design is much cleaner and minimalist as compared to mine (although we have parts that meet for sure).

Thx. Would be curious to see yours but if understood you correctly it’s a bit too late?

I swear, I started with my design sort of open face sandwich and when I added that flap to enclose the whole thing it all came together and I loved it even more. I like your design, and it probably isn’t that thick, (…) All space counts in that situation.

Indeed. This one is not thick unless you want it to be. Here it is, holding 10 or so cards in its central section (more than I need in one typical session). Next, it’s wide open, and below you can see the folding thingy and holding a bunch of cardboards. I wanted something that would weight nothing and could be used one-handed (book+holder in one hand, the other holding the pen)

I actually secretly love a mean blunt pencil, it glides really well

Nodding approvingly.

I don’t remember how I got a hold of these things when I was younger, but I had a couple of carpenter pencils (I haven’t used them in years, I should give them a go again)

They’re great. And you get two colors in one pencil ;)

The reason why I need that mean sharp point is because I like to doodle little fine details and they’re hard to get without something you could spear a fish with.

That’s why I like fountain pen for sketching, they can be thin as a needle, while being great for general writing too. Magic ;)

I totally want to join this journaling er…instance? I just literally don’t know how and my brain is too sleepy-dumb to figure it out.

I’m afraid I won’t be able to help much in that regard. I even had to check what that piefed was.

I journal on the regular, in a half-composition book because I am fancy like that. I have a friend who bu-jos like a boss. I gave it a go and realized I need my journal to be sloppy, because I want it to hold space for me. As in, if I am regulating heavily (which I think bullet journals are) then I am afraid that I will BE afraid to put the things I am honestly thinking and feeling on to the paper and hence will not get the things I need to get out, out. I think if I make it more of a organized reflective process it might just become the flossing of writing and I just don’t think I need that in my life personally. However, it’s damn near impossible for me to find the things that I have sprawled out on the pages like the organized folks do. So you know, it’s more of a splatter piece and that does have its downsides as well.

I hope you’ll be able to join, pretty sure we could discuss a lot of topics and techniques ;) Also, the more experience we share, the better it is to inspire other people to experiment with their own stuff.

One little tip that may interest you: I index my journals. Not every single page, mind you just the pages I think maybe useful. Some context: I’m a Zettelkasten user (hence me using index cards for note-taking) and I store everything I read and write (and want to keep) is stored in those cards save for my journal. So, for whatever idea or passage I want to be able to quickly find in my journals I will add a reference to it in my Zettelkasten index. Doing that, I can always instantly find back whatever I want.

and just in case you wonder what is a Zettelkasten?. Mine is analog (using index cards) but I know most younger people are into digital ones, using an app of some sort.

I love Muttley, he’s such an ass! Hahahaha! I mean, idk if you’re an ass - you don’t seem it, but damned if that guy isn’t a little cheeky bastard.

Not me at all :p

Speaking of cheeky bastards, have you ever seen the movie Harvey? Cause it sounds like you might like Trickster characters, and while it’s got some bits of its age I absolutely love this film.

Nope, I have not but will watch it. Thx.

I showed it to my gal, who hates “old stuff” and she ended up bewitched by it and just knowing that puts a smile on my face.

I love ‘old stuff’ but I’m an old stuff myself so this may explain :p

To be honest, and I feel so damned ashamed saying this - I think if I were translated into a cartoon character I’d end up being like Mr. Peanut Butter from Bojack.

I don’t know it but don’t be surprised: my spouse and I have not owned a TV since the very early 00s and we’ve kinda stayed out of the loop.

Either way, it’s been an incredible pleasure to have “met” you and regardless of if we can figure out the link thing or not I thank you very much for all this fun conversation =)!

Pleasure is all mine :)

I try to use metal/glass bottles as much as I can but when I drink from a plastic one I will squeeze it when it’s empty (and put the cap back on) so it will waste less space in the recycling bin so we can (me and other people) can put more stuff in the recycling bin.

Exactly like I will flatten packages I want to throw away.

I hesitated to add a pencil sharpener pouch myself (next to the holder) and I still could but I seldom sharpen that red pencil—the blunter (is this a word?) it is the better it is to quickly underline—so why bother with carrying one? Always that laz… I mean that practical consideration sparing me extra-work ;)

On the other hand, I’ve started considering adding a closing thingy to help keep those cards neatly tucked inside…

I think it’s nice to have a little portable sketchbook you made, it makes you feel connected to it.

Indeed. It makes it unique and ours.

I tend to work with individual papers too, as I find an entire blank journal to be quite intimidating

Yeah being able to handpick the paper you like (even more so for sketching and watercolors but also for writing) is really nice. BTW, if you’re into journaling allow me to promote our very small journaling community. I don’t have as much time available to make the community as active as I did for the last 6 months or so but hopefully people will stat posting more without needing my encouragements ;)

I think we might be the same person, so you might as well take off your Scooby Doo mask and reveal it =P!

We might very well be but I don’t wear a Scooby Doo mask… If I had to be a an anime, I would be Muttley but I’d much rather be Calvin’s best friend (& plush tiger): Hobbes ;)

Plastic package? Unless it’s a very well made box (in which case I will find some use to it), it’s send to recycling.

Cardboard?

• I will keep a few to be able to send stuff myself (why pay for boxes when you’re already receiving perfectly fine ones)
• I like to use it too to scratch simple little boxes and storage I need for small stuff. One of the last one I made (out of recycled packaging) is this… thing (I don’t know the English word, sorry) where I can store pens and index cards, on my desk.

It’s not pretty but that’s just me not worrying about making it look nice. I care about it doing its job and being cheap (aka, free) and quick to assemble (I will often make two or three attempts before getting it right so I prefer when it can be done quickly).

Along the years, I have made quite a few of those cardboard things and even offered a few to people who wanted one. For example, the very last thing I made is this… I don’t know if this even have a name?

It’s a portable A6-sized index card holder. Between the two cardboard sheets there is a foldable space that acts as a storage for extra cards. as you can see, on one side it is also a makeshift pen holder. The whole thing is made out of sturdy black paper (the black foldable thing), an old binder (the purplish cardboard) and some pen case part I imagine a kid had thrown away that I salvaged from the recycling bin.

What do I use it for? I take all my reading notes on index cards and it helps a lot having a small flat surface to write on. For years I had been using makeshift solutions but it was never great. So a couple weeks ago I decided I had enough and started working on my own solution. That the second iteration of it and I think it’s close enough to being exactly what I want it to be that I won’t need to make a third attempt. And, yep, it will stay the ugly duck it is. At least up until it’s damaged enough for me to be willing to make a new and a prettier one ;)

I have no idea if anyone else on the planet could ever be interested in using such a thing but to me it’s great and I like it a lot. It’s small and light enough I can hold it in the same hand I’m holding the book too and I can comfortably take my notes using my other hand. Also, I made it a tad larger than needed to store A6 cards so I can easily clip on one of those battery powered Led readign lamp when I need more light for reading… The hastily sewed on pocket over the pen holder is there to prevent the lead of my red pencil (I use it to underline passages in some books) of smearing everything when I shove it in my messenger bag.

Cardboard can be very sturdy when used properly but that doesn’t mean I’m averse to using more traditional and more sturdy materials like, say, wood, or leather, or even fabric. But sturdier/heavier materials also demand a lot more dedicated tools and a lot more space to work with. Living in our small apartment in an expensive city, space is something that comes at a premium so I’d rather not need too much of it.

Cardboard is also great because it’s easy to work with and it’s mostly free (when using recycled packaging, at least), and because one doesn’t need any specific tools: a decent cutter with some fresh blades, a cutting mat, a steel ruler, some imagination, and maybe also some (hot/white) glue to assemble things together. That’s all what one needs.

No one is paying me a monthly sub for me to pretend being interested in the shit they want to say. So it’s a safe bet to say I’m not an AI ;)
Edit: and since i have no battery to recharge and no EULA, I can deduce I’m not a robot either.

edit: clicked too fast.

Speaking of noise, it feels like nearly 90% of the content generated on the broader internet these days is starting to feel like it’s churned out by LLMs. Autogenerated articles, comments, even entire ‘conversations’ that ring hollow. Is the Fediverse, specifically, a safe haven from that rising tide of artificial content? Does the human-centric, community-driven nature of these instances inherently push back against such automation?

It may be, I don’t know for the very simple reason that I don’t read this ‘broader’ Web that is supposedly AI-infested or made of low-effort content.

I read personal websites whose authors I care about that I don’t think will make me waste my (precious) time. For the same reason I quit using all social (beside the Fediverse, mostly here on Lemmy). It’s a waste of time (time that is so fucking precious) and their content is of little value, if any.

So, to me, the real question would be: how many of us are still consuming that crap instead of focusing on more… I was about to write ‘quality content’ but I think it would be safer to say ‘focusing on human-made content’?

As long as we’re willing to eat their crap, and are willing to pay (one way or the other) to get fed that very crap, why would those websites and corps stop feeding us crap? It’s making them money. A lot of it. And as far as I can tell all that matters in our so wonderful world is how much money you make.

edit: typos.

I don’t think I would try to prove anything, why would I want people to know that I’m from the future? but if for some reason I had to prove it, it would depend a lot, like a lot, of the place I’m in. What country and what type of population? I’ve discovered at a very early age I had an allergy to angry crowds and their willingness to lynch whatever they hate and fear (if there was ever a difference?).

Not often but I also barely use my phone, so ;)

gotta say i’m a bit deflated. you built up so much weirdo energy that i expected a payoff. we were on the verge of putting the lotion in the basket. we could have been so much more

All things must come to an end, even the most beautiful stories. Plus, to be 100% honest with you, I just met that cute Dutch cheese lover…

gotta say i’m a bit deflated. you built up so much weirdo energy

I will take that as a compliment ;)

They usually have plenty of options.

Plenty options, are you sure about that? ;)