Thankfully, debates about fountain pens rarely reach chair-throwing intensity. Occasionally, though, a topic comes along that’s tougher to unpack than aesthetic preference or writing experience. Something that gnaws at us, stubbornly refusing to yield a root cause, leaving us to build opinions on mounds of anecdotal evidence… The durability of TWSBI’s acrylic fountain pens is a prime example. Some peoples’ TWSBIs break.… Read more →
Peering into the hotel banquet room, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My blue name sticker freshly pressed onto my shirt, I had stepped off a commuter jet into a rain-soaked Atlanta spring day just an hour or so earlier. Would anyone recognize me? The introvert in me quietly pleaded: Please, go back up to the room…This place is overwhelming! The banquet room – the smaller of two,… Read more →
Just under three weeks ago, I pressed “go” on a new web application called Indxd – a simple tool for notebook users that keeps track of which books contain which topics, and makes them searchable. While I’ve built a few niche web apps for friends, and I design electronics for a living, Indxd is the first solo project I’ve put out on the web.… Read more →
Over the last few years, we’ve witnessed a handwriting revolution. Endless promises of a “paperless future” have fizzled, and people are re-discovering the simple analog joy of writing things down! The result? We’re filling up more notebooks, journals and planners than we likely have in decades. We need a way to catalog our analog notes, sketches, events, doodles and ideas –… Read more →
I’m not a reviewer per-se, and this isn’t a pen or paper blog, but I am a (likely certifiable) Pen Addict. Because of this, I’m nearly as choosy about good paper as I am about good coffee and good whisky. And while normally I don’t review pens and paper here (or do much of anything here for that matter), I… Read more →
It’s Christmas, and you’ve got a geek in your life. Congratulations! Maybe you’re a new boyfriend or girlfriend, bewildered by your love interest’s tech savvy, or maybe you’re a parent whose progeny has recently taken a sharp turn toward geekdom. Perhaps, on the flip-side, your long-time significant-other has always been a geek, leading to endless gift-giving frustration. In any case,… Read more →
It’s pretty damn cool to see QR codes (finally) skyrocketing in popularity here in the ‘States. I’ve been seeing them all over the place – in magazines, on signs and displays, winking from TV commercials, backing people’s business cards, even on bumper stickers. Unfortunately, as is usually the case as any new technology makes its way into the worlds of… Read more →
Just in case you enjoy such things, I’ve finally gone and set up a Twitter account: @mtbkrdave Read more →
Considering that (at least as far as I can recollect) I’ve only made one prediction here on daverea.com, it appears I am now officially 100% more reliable than Harold Camping at fortelling future events… Back in January, while musing on the topic of sea trends and innovations in mobile technology, I predicted that mobile app rentals would emerge as a… Read more →
(Happy Earth Day everyone…) Occasionally, staunch environmentalists make a good point or two. But in many cases, despite their enthusiasm for the term “sustainability”, they’re just not willing to look at the big picture. Case in point? Greenpeace recently released a scorecard for the “green-ness” of datacenters operated by the world’s cloud computing behemoths. Here it is: “So what’s the… Read more →
