Just a Note or Two and some SteamPunk

cc attribution: Notebooks by See-ming Lee 李思明 via flickr

Wow.  Can’t believe it has been this long since the last post!  What’s sad is that very little of it has been spent on the new laptop.

Mostly bad-crazy work stuff leading me to be exhausted by the time I get home from work. Then honoring time and family commitments on the weekends.  So much to post…so little time.

On the plus-side I’ve been able to really put some of the tools and techniques I blog about into incident response action lately.  While it is never a “fun” thing to have to do, it is pretty cool when you get to apply your knowledgebase in extreme situations.  While (unfortunately) it’s very doubtful I will share any information at all, I do expect to share some more information on tools and techniques I found valuable in the process.

I’m taking a break at the moment from technology posts to go a bit “old-school”.

While I generally use QCC’s freeware tool CaseNotes to document my incident response activities, and find it really does an excellent job fitting my needs I almost always keep a pen and micro-sized paper notebook on my person as well.  Beats writing on my hand and is great for jotting down phone numbers, bits of data, field observations, quotes, URL links, etc.

I’ve been thinking of this lately as I saw some Moleskine mini-notebooks a few weeks ago when visiting the bookstore with mom.  I didn’t pick any up but they did catch my attention.

Then The Art of Manliness blog ran a series of articles that really encouraged me to use them that much more:

• Pocket Notebooks: A Brief History
• The Pocket Notebooks of 20 Famous Men

The comments in the first post were a treasure-trove of links and materials for the notebook carrying fan.  I found a number of great sources for fun and functional mini-notebooks.

Field Notes - Seemed to be one of the most popular sources for no-frills “common-man” notebooks.

Rite in the Rain - Was praised by field workers, outdoorsmen, military/LE, and other extreme environment folks.

Moleskine - This brand seems to have splashed onto the market with much fan-fare.  The quality and variety seems to make them very popular with note-takers and artists alike.

Right now, I am using these Top Flight Sewn Mini-Marble Composition Books (Amazon.com) that Alvis tossed my way.  They fit unobtrusively in my front pocket and are surprisingly durable.  They are very cheap…so I tend to toss them when all the note taking is over and they are filled up.  Not really archival material.

I had been using these Mead Wirebound Memo Books (Amazon.com) but the wire ring would get crushed after a few days in my pocket and the pages tore out too easily.  So I just keep one in my car only for quick notes but that’s it.  It will likely be replaced soon.

These Writersblok Bamboo Mini Notebooks looked like a cheap and nice alternative to my current notebook fare. Made by K I K K E R L A N D, they seem high quality and fit the quirky and fun other products offered by them.

Turns out there is a whole fan-following of notebook bearers!

I’ve scored a few new RSS links for some sites that live and breath all things creative and useful with notetaking and notebooks.

• moleskinerie - a  bit spare in style but I think that’s the point.
• Notebook Stories: A Blog About Notebooks, Journals, Moleskines, Blank Books, Sketchbooks, Diaries and More - definitely worth saving and checking in on.
• Rhodia Drive - That little orange notebook.  I like the detective-style hard flip cover.
• The Notebook Addict - Reviews and perspectives.
• The Well-Appointed Desk - Writing and Work Desk candy.
• ’skine.art - Moleskine Art - I sooo wish I could do this.
• notebookism - tips, leads, hacks, and the smell of fresh paper and bindings…
• Trains, pens and planners - thoughtful thoughts on notes, life, and mono-no-aware.
• Museum of Notebooks - Notebooks from around the world.
• Urban Sketchers - I so really need to dig out my sketchbook an ink-pen set……

The Little Black Book by Pad&Quill - This was pretty clever…and inspired me.  I’m overwhelmed at the moment with ballistic nylon carrying cases for all my portable hard drives and gizmos.  After looking at this, I was struck with how easy it would be to stop by ye-old/used-bookstore and pick up some tomes that had outward character to their binding and cover.  Then hollow them out to make carry-cases for the portable USB HDD I carry.  Some glue and some tiny metal/magnets to hold the lid shut and bam--pretty neat carry-case!

SteamPunk Resources

As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I appreciate the romantic notion of the Victorian era (but accept the Dickensian reality).  Add to that the fact that Last Exile is based heavily on a “SteamPunk” styling and my artistic eye is smitten.

Turns out there is a whole fan-base devoted to making and living SteamPunk style.

Steampunk Wallpaper is a very recent find that has provided a ton of awesome high-quality desktop wallpapers in the SteamPunk/grungish style.  Really stunning work here by the artists.  Even if you aren’t a fan, you are bound to find something appealing.

The Steampunk Workshop | Technology & Romance - Fashion, Style, & Science - Ongoing web-site filled with the very best examples and guides to SteamPunk hardware and software.

The Steampunk Home - Neat ways to add that anachronistic touch of class to your home; many with commonly available materials repurposed.

SteamPunk Magazine » Downloads - Free PDF downloads of SteamPunk Magazine.   Very interesting articles and perspecitves…to say the least!

Happy notetaking and jotting!

--Claus V.