A Dozen Links From Around The Web

This ought to keep you out of trouble for awhile…

• Facebook Scam Alert – What Really Happens When You “Like”
• Creepy ghost town emerges from sea in Argentina
• Spontaneous Order Experiments Take Hold in Detroit
• Rants of the Archer: It’s Carnival Time!
• New York man finishes writing out entire Bible by hand (Now that’s dedication.)
• 20 ways to keep your internet identity safe from hackers
• Paper Salads
• Win a Danitrio, a Montblanc, or a Conway Stewart
• Sunshine Pen Pals
• Feelgood stories from The Guardian: a daddy, a sea lion, and quadruplets
• 7 Signs of a Bad Doctor
• The 16-Year-Old Who Changed Medicine Is Out to Change It Again

An Inkophile And The Spam Folder

Spam is a total time suck. So Inkophile management has made an executive decision to dump the junk without review in favor of spending more time doing fun things like painting doodles on a mixing tray.

Akismet does so well at identifying comments from miscreants, that little, if anything, of value will get tossed. Actually, the statistics give Akismet a whopping 99.83% accuracy rate after reviewing over 86,000 comments at Inkophile. I read all of those comments just to be certain nothing of value would be deleted but no more. After getting an eyeful from a particularly noxious spam comment, I am done.

Bye, bye spam. Hello sanity!

(If you must know, the paint is a mix of Daniel Smith Manganese Blue Hue and Green Gold tube watercolors. The brush is a #5 Cosmotop that is particular impressive for controlled strokes.)

Looking For A New Pen And Ink Playground?

With Fountain Pen Network down for the past week, some people are itching to chat with like-minded folk. In the past few years, several pen boards have emerged, any one of which might be a worthy second home for you.

All have pen threads but not all have threads about ink. FPGeeks Forum has had quite a few posts over the past few days, so if you need an ink fix, that might be a good place to start. Check the Pen Community section in my sidebar for a few more boards.

Another place for pen conversation is the fountain pens group on Google Plus. On Twitter I have a list of pen people that you can follow. So explore your options. There certainly are plenty of them.

A New Addition To Inkophile Plus Some Changes

Ink Comparisons

Did you see the new addition to the sidebar called Ink Comparisons? It is a link to all Inkophile posts that have images of inks pictured side by side. You can also go to my Flickr stream for many of the same images but without the text. Soon Flickr will be updated to include all of the comparisons used on Inkophile and at that time will earn a separate button in the sidebar.

Tip Jar

Another recent addition is a Tip Jar. Inkophile will be five years old next month and “the collective” has informed me that it’s time to become self-supportive. There are other ways to achieve a little cash for expenses and expansion such as adverts or a sponsorship or even affiliate links, so donations may only be the beginning. Don’t you hate when real life restricts your fantasy life?

Pages

Along with the new additions, pages about my favorite things have received minor updates. Other than to add a couple of Platinum #3776 pens, Stillman & Birn journals, and a few inks, little has changed over the past year.

Sidebar Links

Many of you have been linked to in one or more categories in the sidebar. My lists are some of the most comprehensive on the web for fountain pen related information. A reciprocal link would be appreciated.

Links in posts

When a post has a link to a source for a product, often I will seek a smaller retailer to give a bit of support. Not all of you keep a blog or offer a list of links but for those who omit credit where it is due, bloggers and retailers alike, mentions on Inkophile will be less frequent. Citing a source when it is known is a courtesy, especially in the online world, and I appreciate your efforts to be fair about this.

Social media and friends

Lastly, writing for Inkophile is great fun but it does take much of my free time. The last several months, I’ve had to choose between writing and participating in social media. Guess which won? Monthly page views have doubled from a year ago so in that sense, concentrated efforts have paid well. However, I do miss hearing from friends. Please do not think you are being ignored if I miss important life events or even smaller but significant bits of news. Shoot me an email if I don’t respond on Twitter, Google Plus, or FB. I’m still here!

Short On Sleep But Not On Links

Put me down as one who prefers Daylight Savings Time year round. Adjusting twice a year to the time change is annoying but we can still enjoy fun stuff from around the web, well rested or not…

• Doctor Who dressed up as David Tennant (Now you know how my cell phone greets me.)
• Karlo Tatad: Converter Quirks
• Forbes: The World’s Youngest Billionaires
• AmandaOnWriting: British and American English
• The Colors of J. Herbin Fountain Pen Inks
• lifeimitatesdoodles: Review of Stillman & Birn’s Zeta Paper
• Real Simple: The Less Stress Checklist
• FPGeeks: Wahl-Eversharp Releases New Collections
• Tea Guy Speaks: Slow Motion Tea Time With Alan Rickman

A Dozen Links To Start Your Week

There ought to be something for everyone in this batch.

• Newton Pens: Mission & Scholarship (fundraising with pens)
• Handmade Pens Made from Historical and Reclaimed Woods
• Ed Jelley: J. Herbin 1670: Bleu Ocean Fountain Pen Ink
• lady dandelion: a hazy shade of winter (I’m a sucker for b&w)
• Goodwriterspens’s Blog and Good Writer’s Pen Sales (lovely British pens)
• Pinks, Violet, and Purple Inks
• Write Here Pens: Pelikan Edelstein Amber ‘Ink of the Year 2013′
• Seth Godin: Those people (I mean really!)
• Ken Cavers Custom Pens: New Design – the ‘Shirt Pocket’ Fountain Pen
• The Telegraph: Lack of sleep ‘switches off’ genes (other things too)
• Lifehacker: How Facebook Is Using You to Annoy Your Friends (and How to Stop It)
• The Mary Sue: BBC Sherlock Season 3 Has Been Delayed Until 2014 (blame it on the hobbit)

Are You In Love With A Fickle Partner?

Not that partner! It’s your inky partner who’s in question. Life long or limited run makes a difference when you find an ink you love.

It may be rare that a line total ends but the boutique brand Everflo has been discontinued. I never used these inks and so won’t miss them. However, the line’s demise reminded me of a remark in yesterday’s post about Diamine. Companies that are loyal to the consumer deserve our loyalty in return.

I’m as enamored with ink as the next inkophile and have been fortunate to receive more than a few to review. But when I purchase ink with my own dollars, I buy what I like and that’s usually from companies that have been trustworthy purveyors of my favorite consumable. Call me “loyal” – I’ve been called worse.

Sure, change is inevitable and some of it is to the good though some changes are surely gratuitous. Same ink, new name? That does not “wow” me. New packaging? My fountain pen couldn’t care less. Improved performance or characteristics? Now that’s worth the investment of both my time and my money.

When a loved ink gets discontinued, I may load up on it but not the replacement unless the purveyor gives me an awfully good reason for the change, like the dye is no longer available and no suitable substitute could be found. That says the manufacturer didn’t really want to end production and attempted to keep the ink alive. Good on you for trying!

Then there are companies that unceremoniously discontinue colors (Montblanc Racing Green) or even an entire line (Caran d’Ache Colors of the Earth) and expect either no one will notice or no one will care. Harrumph. You dumped me so let me return the favor. I refuse to fall in love with a fickle partner when there are loyal mates to be had.

What say you fellow inkophiles?