Excluding The Sunday Edition, I've ceased to link to other articles around the web because very few people came by the site to read someone else's work. It makes sense actually: If you want to read original "stuff" generated by The Newsprint, you come to The Newsprint.
There is no single right or wrong solution here. Some of us use a certain tool for task management because our circumstances require it, and some of us a certain tool because our personality prefers it. There are also those who use a non-ideal tool because they don’t know a better option exists (or because they are too stubborn/lazy to seek out and learn the proper tool).
If you can: find a tool that makes sense to you.
I've read just about every software review Shawn has written in the last few years, and this is one of his best. Shawn has a very personal way of reviewing apps — this is something I strive for when I write.
A tool's use is unique to the user. How I use Field Notes books will be different than how you use Field Notes books. And how Shawn uses Omnifocus may be entirely different than how David uses Omnifocus.
In saying this, I believe Shawn's article about Omnifocus 2 isn't as much a review as it is him showcasing why Omnifocus works best for him. And the personality in his article is awesome. It's the first 3000+ word review I've read completely from start to finish.
I've had many inquiries as to whether Omnifocus (on any platform) is "worth the money". This question is so difficult to answer and Shawn's review reflects this. It may be worth the money to you. Or it may not. And I feel terrible not being able to answer the question. So I go with the "start with iPhone version" answer because the iPhone version is cheapest and because, unlike everyone else, I actually like the iPhone version. But more on that another day.
Writers like Shawn probably receive a ton of well-deserved praise and my linkpost just adds to the pile. However, it's extremely gratifying to know that personal software reviews that don't have all the technological mumbo-jumbo can be well regarded. For that, Shawn has written more than a review — he has written a template.
Thank you Shawn for sharing how you use Omnifocus. It is my favourite writeup of any piece of software yet. </p
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The best camera is not the one you have with you. It's the one you want to have with you.
I finally had an opportunity to get down to a store and put my hands on a few mirrorless camera bodies. The selection was limited and a few of the options I wanted to try were unavailable. If anything, I learned that Futureshop and Best Buy are not photography stores.
Regardless, my wife and I tried a Sony A7 and spun a few wheels before determining it was too big for our liking. We moved on to a Sony A5000 only to realize it was below the quality we were looking for. We even looked at a few DSLRs — that was a waste of time.
We stumbled into the Olympus section before too long and put our hands on an EM-1, an EM-5 and an EPL-5. I put the EM-1 and EM-5 up to my eye and was pleasantly surprised with their electronic viewfinders. The EPL-5's size was impressively tiny.
"But these are all Micro Four Thirds cameras," I told my wife. "I've read that we're supposed to stay away from these."
So we walked away.
We meandered through the TV section and the appliance section. My wife fantasized for a few seconds about those minimal Dyson Tower Fans. We probably had a conversation or two.
But I couldn't get that Olympus OM-D EM-5 out of my head. Nor could my wife. A few thoughts continously rolled through my head:
Why hadn't I stumbled across the EM-5 during my research?
Why did the EM-5 stand out?
Why is Micro Four Thirds not adviseable for someone like me?
Could Micro Four Thirds actually be pretty good?
We ended up going back to the Olympus section to ponder the EM-5. It's the perfect size for both of us. It has enough power-features to keep me learning and on my toes and it is simple enough for my wife to pick up and fire away. It has a big, bright screen with a big, bright viewfinder. And it feels super solid.
I became giddy. This is the kind of camera that I want to use. It's the kind of camera my wife wants to use. It's the kind of camera we want to buy. It's the kind of camera that will make both of us happy.
We both knew it.
So, how incredibly fortunate were we to learn that Olympus just released a new OM-D mirrorless camera that virtually replicates the EM-5? Sure, the EM-10 doesn't come with weather sealing or the extra image stabilization features. But it's the same camera that drew our gaze a few days ago. And it even has "the wifis". It may be assumptive to immediately accept the EM-10 after playing with only the EM-5, but if the tiny differences between the two are enough for us to fall out of live with the EM-10, then we can grab our first love.
I was given some incredibleadvice after posting my initial research last week. Conor and Ben both pointed me to Fujifilm's awesome mirrorless cameras. The results speak for themselves: Fuji's lenses are razor sharp and their camera bodies have (potentially) the best sensors in mirrorless bodies today.
In complete contrast, Micro Four Thirds cameras don't deliver the same image quality and they are certainly held back technically by their 2x cropped sensors. I don't think there's any denying that Micro Four Thirds cameras are not capable of doing the best portraiture.
We don't care though. We just want to take some photos and we want those photos to be pretty nice. We aren't professionals. We won't make photobooks for anyone but ourselves.
So in that sense, any Micro Four Thirds body probably fits us better than other systems. Micro Four Thirds lenses are cheaper and are more abundant than other mirrorless lenses. The camera bodies are smaller and are very popular. If wielded properly, any Micro Four Thirds system can take some pretty sweet photos. And Olympus' offerings truly blew us away.
When handled improperly, photography can be a chore. Dials, options, menus, size and specs all distract from the main purpose of the camera. Conor says it perfectly:
Pick a camera and a lens that you love and use it. Make a lot of photos. Give the photography game a few weeks, months, or years, and then you can start playing with extra bodies, fast lenses, and professional lighting.
The Olympus EM-10 appears to be meant for us. It's the camera we want. At the price we want. And we fell in love with the OM-D line the moment we picked one of them up.
Contrary to popular belief, the best camera isn't the one you have with you or the camera with the best specifications. It's the camera you know you want to use — the camera you know you want to buy. Before someone jabs the "best camera mantra" down your throat, remember that photography needs to be enjoyable. And the camera that makes it enjoyable is the best camera there is.
Canada's Amazon store has an extremely limited selection in comparison to our American neighbours. Luckily, there are ways to sidestep the Canadian store's limitations.
I live a mere 20 kilometers from the Canadian/American border and I often ship products to a depot on the American side. This can save money on shipping and on general purchase prices.
It also affords the opportunity to take advantage of that incredibly large American Amazon selection. About a month ago, I found a few packs of America the Beautiful and had them shipped to the American depot for pickup.
Picking up packages at this depot can often be an adventure. However, one of the best advantages is that a single person can pick up packages for many different people, as long as they have an invoice to show the purchase of the product. My boss's wife heads down to the shipping depot a couple times a month and she graciously picked up my Field Notes packs to save me the time and gas.
I've shown my boss all my different COLORS editions1 and he has never been fully interested. This time however, when I arrived at the office on a Saturday morning, my boss had seen the packages his wife had picked up and he excitedly showed off my delivery.
America the Beautiful hearkened to something different for my boss. He grew up on a farm and remembered watching his father and grandfather record all sorts of information in their small agricultural memo books. He even remembered reading through those books from time to time to learn about weather patterns and crop rotations.
America the Beautiful brought back all those memories for him.
I was taken aback at the impact this COLORS edition had had on my boss. Maybe that nostalgic imprint has swayed my opinion of this COLORS edition. Maybe America's general theme has impacted me personally.
Either way, I love America the Beautiful. It is easily my favourite COLORS edition to date. And I don't understand how they are not yet sold out.
America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful, Field Notes Brand's 18th COLORS edition, stepped away from many standard manufacturing processes previously entrenched in the COLORS line. America's covers are made of a different material than kraft Field Notes books, America's innard paper is a heavier weight than kraft Field Notes books, and America's innard paper ruling is different than kraft Field Notes books. In effect, America was one of Field Notes Brand's biggest deviations from the standard COLORS course.
But Field Notes Brand didn't buck tradition entirely with America. In fact, tradition is America's name of the game. And America truly is beautiful.
America's traditional theme begins with its three different front and back covers. The covers are made of Mead Westvaco Tango blanks that are thicker than the standard 80#C French Dur-O-Tone found in kraft Field Notes books. I would even venture to say the covers feel thicker than the French Construction 100#C covers found in Pitch Black editions.
The photos used on those thicker covers are purposely printed slightly off-kilter to give a blurry and nostalgic impression. From afar, it's hard to notice the difference, but the 100-line screen print makes America's cover photos true to its theme.
To top off America's nostalgic construction, Field Notes Brand used a copper staple to bind the book. Again, staying true to the Field Notes Brand name, every detail remains accounted for and the copper staple is just the icing on the cake.
As we set out to create the eighteenth COLORS limited edition, we dug into Aaron’s collection of vintage memo books for inspiration, and set out to pay tribute to the cross-country-road-trip spirit of America, via the vibrant full-color aesthetic of the beautifully-roughhewn memo books and road maps of the 1960s.
Each photo is a full cover rendition of three great landscapes found across the United States. “Spacious Skies”, “Amber Waves” and “Mountain Majesty” are printed across America's front and back covers to give a full 7" by 11" photo when opened flat. I believe these nostalgic 1960 photos are what struck my boss so close to heart; a rendition of an artifact from the past always hits an intimate nerve upon first sight years later. I think these photos add a human element to America which I don't believe is evident in any other edition I've reviewed.
America's innards are another step away from tradition. Instead of the 50#T Finch paper found in kraft books, America is packed with a heavier 70#T stock. The paper is noticeably thicker and heavier, resulting in a thicker and sturdier book.
The 70#T Finch paper is a “Soft White” colour that is much easier on the eyes than the Bright White paper found in kraft or Pitch Black versions. Between the Soft White colour and the heavier stock, America's innards are more reminiscent of higher quality Moleskine paper than of traditional kraft Field Notes paper. And this is a great thing.
By this point, there are many reviews online showcasing how the heavier stock paper handles different types of pens. Inkonhand.com outlines how the 70 lb. paper handles fountain pens. Overall, the 70 lb. paper appears to work extremely well with ballpoints, rollerballs and pencils, but fountain pens experience a high level of bleeding and feathering. I have yet to try out a fountain pen, so I can't determine the validity of this test. However, with the ballpoints and rollerballs I've tried, I have no reason to complain.
I love America's classic “Looseleaf Blue” ruling. It's the colour I remember when sitting down in a third grade handwriting class to perfect my uppercase “S”. As the large cover photos were to my boss, so too was the Looseleaf Blue to me.
But that line-height. All previous Field Notes books were printed with full grids or dot grids2 that used 3/16" squares. I'm sure the smaller grids forced people to shrink their writing to adhere to the guidelines. Not only did the smaller grid force me to write smaller, it allowed me to write more on one page. The more lines on a page, the more I can write down on a single page. Simple.
However, America introduced a ¼" ruling. I never knew 1/16 of an inch could cause so many problems. The rulings are surprisingly bigger, forcing that condensed form of handwriting into something larger. And, since the books remain a 3 ½" by 5 ½", there are less lines on a page. Generally, I work my way through a 3/16" full/dot grid book in about three weeks to a month. With the thicker rulings, I'm 12 pages into the book after 4 days. At that pace, I'll complete a book every two and a half weeks. If Field Notes Brand wants my money, they'll begin releasing every COLORS edition with ¼" ruling. I'll eat through my books faster and I'll buy more. But as a consumer, I'm not overly happy with that ruling.
My last point of interest with America's ruling is the double line at the top of the page. Again, this wastes space when compared to a standard book, but I like the structure the double ruled line gives to the rest of the page. There is no doubting where the title for the page should go and it makes my Hybrid Journal method look a little less random.</p>
Lastly, America's inside covers are one for the ages. I've mentioned in the past how I like inside covers that allow easy documentation of each book. I prefer books that have a light coloured inside cover that writes smoothly without smudging. America strikes the perfect balance between visual design, adherence to a theme, and proper useability. If it were up to me, every inside cover would be printed like America.
Verdict
Have I made it pretty clear that I love America the Beautiful? Everything about the Spring 2013 COLORS release tickles my fancy. America embraces a thicker, tougher cover that should wear through some heavy use. Its inside covers are magnificent, staying within America's traditional theme yet remaining completely useable. Its staples hearken back to a bygone era where the amber-red copper colour was prevalent. America's innard paper is of a heavier stock that writes especially well with ball point pens. And, although my least favourite aspect, America's Looseleaf Blue ruling deviation remains within the nostalgic theme and is sure to rekindle images from the past.
Honestly, the only thing I don't like is America's line-height. And that's borderline nit-picking.
America the Beautiful was designed with the 1960s in mind. The covers are printed off-register on purpose to create a blurry front image and the image's initial impression is maintained throughout the book. Everything in this book screams nostalgia.
And that fits me — and my boss — perfectly. I couldn't be happier with this COLORS release. I just need to find a way to get my hands on more of them.
He can't stop talking about his massive coin collection, so the least I can do is bore him with my collection attempt. ↩
Except for Traveling Salesman. This COLORS edition is extremely difficult to get my hands on and sports a ledger ruling. I would almost do anything to take one of these packs for a test run. ↩
