Review of the Tombow Mono Pencil

Reprinted by permission from the blog: http://thatonepen.com/

A pencil review?! I thought this was thatonepen.com, not thatonepencil.com. That’s true but doesn’t everyone pick up a pencil at least now and then? In my job as a chemistry teacher, my analog writing time is divided something like 70:30 between pen and pencil. Like most folks, I write most of my notes or to-do lists with a favorite pen. Unlike most folks, I need to do a fair amount of scientific problem solving/thinking. Maybe it’s just habit, but these process just feel more natural with a pencil in hand.

 

Back in my student days (Don’t ask how long ago. Suffice it to say that I was writing organic chemistry mechanisms before anyone heard of a little known governor from Arkansas), I did most of my problem sets and tests with a mechanical pencil (typically 0.7 mm) and one of those clicky erasures. I didn’t have anything against wooden pencils, but a couple of mechanical pencils loaded with “leads” seemed like a more efficient approach than walking into a test with a fist full of wooden pencils. In graduate school, I had to use pen in my lab notebook of course (Anyone remember these bad boys?) but I picked up the habit of using a wooden pencil from my research advisor. He always had a Cross Century ballpoint in his shirt pocket, but he also kept a cup of sharpened wooden pencil handy on his desk. Maybe I was trying to suck up or maybe I thought that if wood pencils were good enough for one of the smartest people I knew they were good enough for me, who knows. Regardless, pencils, in one form or another, have always been close at hand in my world.

 Fast forward to today and this little pen blogging hobby has brought about a number of minor life experiences and opportunities including two pen shows, more than a few ebay purchases, much more than a few orders to JetPens and Goulet Pens, a Field Notes Colors subscription, custom-made pen holders and a few reminders. I’m reminded every day that I, and you if you’re reading this post, care much more about what I write with than the typical (read “normal”) person. More recently, I’ve been reminded that this writing implement snobbery extends to pencils as well. It was always there, but folks like the Erasable podcast gents and sites like Dave’s Mechanical Pencils have made me come to terms with this part of my personality. In short, my name is Todd and I’m a pen AND pencil snob. (Paper too but let’s confront one demon at a time.)

Well, that was more preamble than I original planned so let’s get to the present pencils shall we. Like most casual users of pencils, the idea of using a pencil that doesn’t have an erasure just seemed inefficient to me. Then again, what are all those clicky erasures doing on my desk and in my book bag? Upon further review, it was clear that I dismissed a larger portion, probably a majority, of finer pencil options for no good reason over this erasure issue. I came to Tombow brand pencils after ordering a bunch of different wooden pencils from Pencils.com and Jet Pens. Specifically, I got the Palomino collection pack from Pencils.com and a couple of different Tombow 2558s from Jet Pens. While I liked aspects of nearly all of these pencils, I found myself going back to the Tombow 2558 (H) most frequently. So, with my no-erasure pencil bias eliminated and my Tombow preference in tow, I walked the aisles of Blick Art looking for other options – enter the Tombow Mono.
 

 

First, the pencils looks awesome. The black finish and white end produce a sharp chiaroscuro. Add the gold-colored lettering that resists chipping or fading and you’ve got yourself a classy pencil. Maybe this sounds strange, but this wooden pencil also feels solidly built. Compared to bodies of other wooden pencils I have that demonstrate a bit of flex, the Tombow Mono almost seems not to be made of wood. I can even hear a difference. When I roll multiple Palomino, Dixon or other pencils in my hands the sound is dull, almost hollow, compared to the higher pitched “click clack” I hear when rolling the Monos in my hands. The label on one facet of the Monos reads “hi-precision DRAFTING” and I think the description fits well. These are wooden pencils that, when sharpened nicely, feel very much like a mechanical drafting pencil. It’s a weird analogy, but I think this will work. Tombow Monos are the cyborg of pencils – fundamentally organic yet with a mechanical, precise feel.
 

 

How do the pencils write? Let’s start with the HB grade. Compared to other quality HB-ish pencils I have, the Tombow Mono HB definitely favors the hard end of the HB spectrum. For instance, compared to the Palomino Blackwing 602 or the standard Palomino California Republic I have, the Tombow Mono HB graphite is clearly made of sturdier stuff. While I don’t have one to compare directly, I suspect we’ll need to get into a Mono 2B range to find something comparable to the 602 or Palomino. As we move to the F and H Monos, the graphite cores clearly get harder but, importantly, they maintain a surprisingly smooth writing experience. Right now, I think the F is my preferred grade. It’s very smooth, lays down a decently dark line but doesn’t require the frequency of sharpening of an HB core. My preference isn’t so profound that I seek out the F grade exclusively. Usually, I just grab any of the Mono’s out of the cup and go with the flow. However, If I’m looking to pair pencil grade with writing circumstance, then I’ll grab the HB for smooth paper like Rhodia, the H grade for cheap notecards and most legal pads and the F grade for copy paper and Field Notes. Yeah, you know it’s bad when you’re selecting your pencil grade based on the paper you’re using. Goodness help us all. Yes, I do mean “us” because you’ve read this far haven’t you, you pencil freak.

 

So, there it is – my first pencil review. It won’t be my last but I suspect it may be a while before a wooden pencil that compares so favorably to the Tombow Mono comes to my attention.

 

 

 

Data & Content Information – Making it Better

By: Gayle Anne McCaskill

If information is power then poor quality information will render you powerless. You cannot analyze what you cannot read, sort or organize. The costs can be measured in lost sales, lost opportunities, employee and consumer frustration and organization wide operational errors.

 

Whenever I speak about data, information and its requirements to colleagues, friends and family, I get amused by the glassy-eyed stares I receive from all of them. The “what do you do for a living” question always makes me uncomfortable – I really do not know how to respond without boring the person to death.

Data cleansing, data cleaning or data scrubbing is the process of detecting and correcting (or removing) corrupt or inaccurate records from a record set, table, or database. Used mainly in databases, the term refers to identifying incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, or irrelevant, parts of the data and then replacing, modifying, or deleting the inaccurate or coarse data. [Wikipedia]

The term (Data cleansing) is also commonly used for adding, changing or discontinuing data in existing databases.

 

Data and information is considered a tactical versus a strategic exercise by most business professionals. It is work commonly assigned to entry-level resources or over-burdened merchandisers to populate data into the mainframe. Billions are spent annually by companies upgrading their hardware and software. The same cannot be said for any data-related content; field restructuring and future requirements, product classifications, universal classification systems, data attributes, business rules, certifications, database compliancy, and internal and external processes.  The lack of focus on content is evident within many companies but accurate content is critical to every organization.  We upgrade our hardware and software usually ignoring both current and future content requirements. 

A number of e-procurement projects experienced catastrophic failure simply because nobody thought to invite a data specialist to the table during the project development phase. The cost to fix what was missed was staggering – both projects were terminated with losses in the multi-millions.  Each failure was directly related to missing data fields that everybody ignored or missed in the development phase.

 

As I journey down the road of data and information cleansing, which includes translation, categorization, classification, mapping and compliant databases, I have learned a great deal. Here are some observations:

1.     No two people speak or write language in the same way. If there are no business rules attached to description fields then every single line will differ depending on who populated the information. If our written language skills are not the best then our abbreviation skills are far worse. There is a difference between being able to read a product description versus knowing what the product actually is.

2.     No two people think the same way. Product classifications are one of the most important set of data fields any company can populate. Rarely audited or even discussed, these fields can cause havoc if not done properly.

3.     Manufacturers never planned for their internal databases to be seen or used by their customers or the consumer. Information field demands from clients have changed dramatically in the last two decades. Manufacturers are expected to provide their customers with all fields of information related to their products in usable formats. This requires a specialist who can manage the expectations of the customer as well as adding and populating new fields.  Providing compliant databases for the purposes of communication to external service providers is the new mandate.  Many manufacturers try to manage these demands on a “request to request” basis instead of developing a long term project plan regarding their product content and related fields of data.

4.     Your computer and its capabilities are not the same as my computer and its capabilities. Manufacturers and their clients use differing computer systems and software; some very sophisticated versus those that are rudimentary. There are many rules regarding what you can and cannot do. Formatting to the client requirements is largely ignored. The client may not be able to receive your data because their software differs from yours. Some systems will not allow symbols to be used (*, -, _, /, #, &, etc.) Therefore these limitations should be kept in mind when assigning manufacturer product code numbers.

5.     Did it really take me that long to enter the item number? I have seen product numbers that subject to numerous entry errors because of their length and complexity. I understand that some internal logic is applied to manufacturer product numbers for the purposes of production but many resellers, wholesalers and retailers use the manufacturer product code as their own. Lengthy alpha / numeric numbers slow everybody down and are particularly frustrating for the actual consumer who needs to reorder the product.

6.     Product code numbers can be very difficult to read? Many errors are created in databases because of the following; numeric 0 versus alpha O, numeric 5 versus alpha S, numeric 8 versus alpha B. Worse is starting a product code with a zero. Unless formatted properly, most databases will simply drop the zero corrupting the code.

7.     Brand and sub brand naming conventions. Remember when assigning a brand and sub brand name that your clients have a limited number of characters in their description fields to identify your products. Going back to “lengthy”, Unilever’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” takes up a lot of the description real estate without considering size requirements and other information that is needed to identify the product. When these sub brand names are too long, the client will be forced to drop them from their descriptions.

8.     Incorrect data only got worse with the internet. Researching product on the internet has shown what happens when the manufacturer’s data is in error and these errors are shared with the world. Once the error is out there, correcting the content and misinformation is impossible. Multiple content versions for a single product confuses the consumer and can result in lost sales.

9.     We don’t read or write in CAPS LOCK. The old mainframes had to use CAPS LOCK. That changed decades ago. If someone sends an email all in CAPS Lock, then you know they are furious with you. Reading any document in CAPS LOCK is difficult and also takes up needed real estate. So why are so very many of us still using it on our mainframe systems?

10.  The kiddies have invented a new language and I am beginning to see it all over the internet. Text messaging and its online jargon (text message shorthand) are beginning to worm their way into product descriptions and sub brand naming conventions. It is bad enough out there without having to keep e-documents helping us all translate what is being said.

There you have some of it – but not nearly all of it.

 

 

We run our businesses on data but I have never heard of a senior role in any organization dedicated to data and information content. (e.g. Vice President of Data)  The management and audit of current data and the implementation of future data field requirements begs the question “who is responsible”?  This position would work closely with information technology professionals, marketing, sales and operations. This position should stand apart as an integral role for enhancement of information and content, improving operational capabilities and providing first class data to the customer and the consumer. Savings on good data can be measured in the millions (CAD) by improving sales, eliminating errors and providing the client and consumer with the data tools they need to reorder your products.

Who is the single individual responsible for data integrity and continuity in your organization? 

Gayle Anne McCaskill,

Canadian Office Products Association (COPA), Data Factory Specialist for data cleansing, categorization, and classifications.

The 3 Secrets to Progress up the Corporate Ladder: Being (Part #3)

High Performing Leadership: Secrets for Progressing up the Corporate Ladder

Part#3 Being

By Jonathan Creaghan

                                             3. Being (Executives and CEO’s)

                                             2. Wisdom (Management and Directors)

                                                                                   

                                                 1. Knowledge  (supervisor & team leads)

3. The Role of Being

We can define being as who you are, it is your nature. That if there were no barriers in the way, you would operate freely and easily from this inner state. This is not the short-term emotional reaction of: “I am happy, sad, satisfied”, rather it’s the long-term deeper state that you operate from daily.  Leaders demonstrate who they are every day, whether they are conscious of it or not. But, few are aware of their impact on the company or their team.

At Being there is a shift from emotion to states of being and power.

           

Energy Draining Emotions Force	Energy Growing States Power
Insecurity and unease	Inner belief in self, others, and the world
Fear	Courage, willingness
Impatience	Strategic Patience
Reaction	Reason
Excitement	Passion

It is easy to use emotions to get things done. But it can be exhausting and counter productive over time.  The strategies that we use to succeed very often become counter productive over time as complexity and issues become larger. Driving change, growth and success take a great deal of energy. This in turn must be sustained with constant new sources to feed from.

States of being on the other hand don’t require external feeding stations, rather they come from within the person. For instance ‘Acceptance’ is not a weakness, but is the recognition of the reality of a situation where one is able to distinguish between what can be controlled and what can’t be. This allows for a focus of energy on productive actions, not a spraying of energy. I am not saying that anger can’t be useful on certain situations, but at the level of being, it is a tool not a way of leading.

‘Acceptance’ is not a weakness, but the recognition of a situation where one is able to distinguish between what can be controlled and what can’t be.

Likewise fear, which is prevalent within companies, can no doubt allow some people to ensure they do their best. Fear of failure, fear of looking bad, fear of poverty can be a great motivator to become very successful.  However in the long run fear suppresses and creates inaction and hesitation. Companies that operate from this place over time are less productive and make more mistakes, than those which operate from courage and willingness.

Being gets translated through action and behaviour. Every action, facial expression, statement and reaction are noticed and catalogued by staff. This information is then stored, and behaviour is adapted based on these collected experiences. Timing to approach the leader, even amount, type, and currency of information shared is defined by the judgments formed over time by staff.  Even how the information gets interpreted is shaped by the emotional lens it is viewed through.

Ethical and values based companies succeed. The values and ethics are determined by the state of being of the executive group.  These in turn get translated through their behaviour and decisions to everyone else:  staff, suppliers, customers and the community at large.

It is clear that every person brings who they are to the job, whether Supervisor or CEO, but as advancement occurs the attention gets placed in a different way.  Knowledge is important at first, but as one progresses, Wisdom shared (and invited to be shared), becomes more important until is understood that what drives the organization to success, is the quality of the person at the top (their Being).