Collections Pen and Paper

Field Notes and Action Cahiers

February 15, 2012 - 3:24 pm

fnac@2x

I just got my first set of Field Notes and a pack of Action Cahier notebooks. The Field Notes are the "Notherly" edition, the 13th of the colors editions, which are quickly selling out in most places. These notebooks are made in the U.S.A. and have bright white covers with an embossed shiny silver logo and are beautiful in person. Its 48 pages are ruled with white graph lines over very light blue-gray paper. I love the use of the Futura typeface, and it reminds me of the notebook used in L.A. Noire. The inside of the back cover has the company's story, the specifications of the notebook, some humorous "practical applications," and even a nifty 5-inch ruler along the edge. Consider me a fan, and I'll be watching for the new colors editions as they come out!

The Action Cahiers by Behance are the same size as the Field Notes, besides having slightly less round corners and being a little thicker due to having 64 pages vs. 48. The saddle is stitched rather than stapled like the Field Notes. The Action Cahier front cover also has an embossed logo, with "Action Cahier" set in the Helvetica typeface. The covers have a slight texture to them unlike the smooth white covers on the Field Notes. Some unique things about the Action Cahiers are the check list pages with the dot matrix on the reverse sides. I also have a Dot Gird Journal, also by Behance, and I love the dot grid pages. The check lists are nice, and are perfect for making a simple to-do list or keeping track of project tasks. I've found myself drawing in my own in the Field Notes, so having them already there and neatly laid out is convenient. The notebook is filled with perforated "New Leaf Paper," which is made out of 100% post-consumer waste fiber. Compared to the Field Notes' finch paper, it is slightly textured and a little thicker. The notebook also has pocket inside the back cover which is nice.

Both of these notebooks are great, and are the perfect size for sticking in your coat or back pocket to have handy to write down your to-do list or sketch some notes. The Action Cahiers are a little more aimed at projects and to-do lists. Both are solid notebooks and either would be great for your daily note-taking needs.


Apps Clocks Computing

Fraction Clock

February 14, 2012 - 5:29 pm

fraction@2x

I've had this idea for a while now so I finally decided to try and throw it together. The idea is this: a clock that tells time in reduced fractions. For example, think of the time 8:18pm as the fractions 20/24 : 18/60. So we're on the 20th hour out of 24 hours total, and the 18th minute out of 60 minutes total. Now reduce both of those fractions to their simplest form and you get 5/6 : 3/10. It might seem nearly impossible to read and pretty impractical, but it does give an interesting new perspective on time (e.g. "3/10ths of the hour have just gone by"). Anyways, I coded up a little java applet that does exactly this, which you can check out here (you'll have to click "run" and it might take a second to load). Go take a look!