Merlins Tower

Various Inks put to the test – Fraud Testing.

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: GTD, Journaling, Sketching.

Everyone that might have been wondering about how good your ink is against other inks. Will your pen and or Ink hold up to a forger and some of their tricks they use to get more money out of your account. Enter a Inks and Pens Test from June 2005. On this page you will get a nicely done test to see how well these inks held up to what a forger would use to erase your bank account.

They used Many brands of ink for their test (I will try to list the names of what I can see on the page. To test the inks they soaked the page for 20 mins at a time in each of the chemicals (Water, acetone, naphta, bleach, ammonia, blue magic, industrial cleaners and chemical lifters) with a water rinse between each of the soakings.

The pens I see they used were: Sharpie Permanent Marker, Pelikan Roller, Tetra Liquid Ink – Pentel, Hechter Ink, Noodler’s Black, Beifa Tank Pen – Ink Roller Permanent Ink 0.5, Generic Ballpen from Taiwan, Permanent Generic Marker, Diplomat Roller Ball, Sheaffer Roller Ball, Parker Roller Ball, Parker Ball Pen, Parker Ball Pen, Bic Ball Pen, Skies of Blue, Cardinal Red, Rotring, Mont Blanc, DC Super Show Blue, Parker Ruby, Sherwood Green, Parker Saphire, Pelikan Blue, Aurora Black, and Aurora Blue.

The only ink that didn’t run or dissapear during the test is Noodler’s Black. This is why I love my Noodler’s Black ink. I mentioned before I believe that in my Waterman Phileas and Lamy I have Noodler’s Black loaded and ready to right. I have read the documentation on Noodler’s site about how they will not be erased once written with and this test proofs this with out a doubt.

Check out the after image and really see what happened. Quite interesting. As I mentioned the only ink that was really there was Noodler’s and some of the others are a ghost of an image and others were totally gone.

I have to say Great job on this test. Keep up the good work.

Tags: analog, DIYPlanner, Fountain, fountain pen, GTD, Ink, Levenger, Office Supply Porn, paper, Phileas, Waterman, Waterman Phileas

0 comments.

De Clutter and GTD – Shred your Sensitive Documents » « NEW Item Found – Half Sized Index Cards

NEW Item Found – Half Sized Index Cards

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: GTD, Hack, Uncategorized.

While Shopping at Office Depot today. I spotted the Half-Sized Index Cards. They had 2 types (Colored and White). Both in Packs of 200 cards each. The Colored cards come assorted in pink, green, orange, blue and yellow. These look like they would be a nice alternative to the standard index cards for some quick notes. These seem to be a favorite in the teaching circles as this size seems to be used for flash cards when I did a google search on them.

These Half-Sized card work great for an EDC (Every Day Carry) item. I keep a few in my regular wallet and they fit so nicely in there. These cards are quite handy for jotting a quick note while at the store. Yes sometimes I do not have my Hipster PDA with me at all times. I keep a few with different headers for these quick notes. Standard Headers I I might use are (Things I would like to buy, Things to research, Interesting Books, Something to Google, Or Jotting down a phone number).

In my wallet I have two of these Half-Sized Cards that I wrote out all my important numbers on. That way if my cell phone ever is lost or the battery dies I still have instant access to all my contacts.

I also follow by example what I once read by a noted security expert(Have to find that link again) that you can keep your computer logon passwords on a paper in your wallet as we are already experts at keeping our wallet safe and secure. I believe 99% of the time we know where are wallet is at all times and usually we are the only ones going into it.

I still take precautions and use a encryptic method of writing my passwords down. It really is not that “High Tech” as the following example shows:

Password to Site:
AnySite.Com UserName StandardUserName Password ID29

What ID29 stands for in my mind is IndexCard2929anysite

So if someone found my Password list it still would not be useful to them but I would know instantly what my password for that site is. I use about 10 – 15 different “Standard Words” for my logins and they I will know what they all are by the 2 or 3 letters that are written down.

If you have any additional ideas on how to use these cards let me know by emailing me or just posting a comment to this article. I really would like to know how you plan on using them or how you all ready use them.

Tags: 3×5, analog, DIYPlanner, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, Indexcard, IndexCards, Lifehack, Notecard, notecards, paper

4 comments.

Various Inks put to the test – Fraud Testing. » « The Perfect Thesaurus and Dictionary- Online Search

The Inka Pen – Another HipsterPDA Ink Pen

Posted on May 15th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Gadgets, GTD, Hack, SpyWare, Uncategorized.

Here you go everyone – Another pen to carry with you. I really like the looks of this one. It can be quickly used by just pulling out the pen and writing. But this one can also be converted into a full pen with just a few quick twists. But there is also a stylus for people that still use a PDA. What makes this pen pretty impressive is the fact that this pen can also write underwater, write upside down, write in sub zero weather and write in over over 140 degrees. Now, the coolness factor is that this is made of TI (titanium) and Carbon Fiber composite. I see this taking on the space pen. But the thing that will keep me from getting one of these is the price. When I Froogled it the price for the TI is $80-$90 dollars. But the members of EDC (EveryDay Carry) – Items that you should have with you at all times. This is a favorite within the group. As Pictured above there is a stainless steel version that can be had for about $20 – $25 dollars. I found both version at my favorite pen store Swisher Pens.

A Great review of this pen is at Light Reading
and Backpacking Light has All the testing Data.

Tags: analog, DIYPlanner, Gadget, Gadgets, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, Office Supply Porn, Pen

1 comment.

Make Phone Calls for FREE » « Another Cool Video – Spray Paint Art

Binder Clip in Flight – Flickr Art

Posted on May 12th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Gadgets, GTD, Hack, Photography, Weird Stuff.

Binder clips that we all love and use daily. A lot of people use them to complete and hold together their DIYPlanner or Hipster PDA. Some people use them to hold their documents, others use them to post notes or help them organize themselfs. Seems like every GTDer (is that a word) uses them to keep items safe and at hand. But here is a wonderful photo taken of multiple binder clips forming a Binder Clip Bird. This is the true meaning of Office Supply Porn.

Tags: DIYPlanner, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, IndexCards, paper, Office Supply Porn

0 comments.

The Fountain Pen magical touch. » « Ionic Air Cleaners – The Good, the Bad, and the SMOG!

Free Note Paper – Nice Design

Posted on May 11th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Craft, GTD, Hack, Journaling, Web Service.

Here is a link to where you can get nicely designed note paper. This will aid you in taking better note. The paper is customized with your name and the current month is put into the upper right column. I use this when working with a new client. I use the box in the upper right to list things to do my Action Items for this page.

The Bottom Half is where I jot my notes etc. and the top left of the page I use this for my recap of the meeting – my summary of the notes and thing to highlight. I find this very useful and can be printed Full size or use your printer driver to print it 2 to a page for Half Size planners.

Tags: analog, DIYPlanner, GTD, Hacks, Lifehack, notetaking, paper

0 comments.

Holy Junk Mail – Chair Made out of AOL CDs » « GTD – Cards on a Leash

GTD – Cards on a Leash

Posted on May 11th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: GTD, Hack, Weird Stuff.

This is a nice use of one of the $2 ID Badge holders and some hole punched cards. Never loose your info again and look like the coolest geek on the block. I also like the colored band to keep the cards from flapping around. Simple, easy to do and keep your info without loosing it.

Tags: DIY, DIYPlanner, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, Indexcard, Notecard

0 comments.

Free Note Paper – Nice Design » « Better than Levengers – 3×5 Cards and Lab Notebook Cover

Better than Levengers – 3×5 Cards and Lab Notebook Cover

Posted on May 11th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Gadgets, GTD, Hack, Journaling, Leather.

My jaw dropped when I saw this on their site this morning – I am in office porn heaven. This has to be one of the niceest looking and extremely useful GTD items I found lately. I am a firm believer in the 3×5 card system and this is a very nice way to store / sort them and use them to the fullest extent. I would love to be able to give you a more in depth review of this. If I ever pick up one of these I will. But in the mean time – This Leather 3×5 Card Case has 12 slots or areas to store your index cards and still be able to see the top 3/4 to 1 inch of the card (This is where you would keeps your Meta Notes of the card) You can follow the GTD system putting your @ cards and still have notes and current issues easily at hand. Besides having your notecards within easy access you can store a standard composition / lab notebook available everywhere. This is a very nice option as you are not stuck searching for a hard to find refill that only sorta fits. The quality of this leather journal looks like it would be much nicer then some of the leather products from Levenger but hard to tell from the photos. I can’t wait to save up and purchase one of these babies. If I ever get one of these I will give everyone a better review of this product at that time. And lastly while Checking out Renaissance-Art’s Website they also have other 3×5 card products to fall in love with. Such as the 3×5 card case that holds 50 index cards with a snap closure and it looks like it will hold a pen as well inside. and don’t forget the handy 2 sided 3×5 card case use that can hold and be used to write with.

Tags: 3×5, DIYPlanner, Gadget, Gadgets, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, Indexcard, IndexCards, Journal, Notecard, notecards, Leather Journal

2 comments.

GTD – Cards on a Leash » « Yahoo Maps on the IPOD and More

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