Fleeting notes
I've never like the phrase fleeting notes, though it does serve a purpose. It's really a conflation (or portmanteau) of two separate ideas: fleeting ideas and writing them down/capturing them quickly so that they're no longer fleeting. Sort of a noun/verb in form.
A Note on Terminology
glad that he's got a section on coming to terms with some of the space, but he's only really looking at recent terminology since about 2013 and even more specifically terminology from Ahrens and how it's been used/misused.
In thisbook, a er every “how-to” is the “why-so,”
Organization of the book gives preference of the practical ("how-to") over the theoretical ("why-so").
the ideas we capture, re ne, connect,and search for in our zettelkasten.
An alternate stating of the process: 1. capture<br /> 2. refine<br /> 3. connect<br /> 4. search
cross-reference earlier process: https://hypothes.is/a/HgcILIvyEe-OfdOArKZxGg
Connections between thoughts leads to new ideas, whichreinforce what we nd interesting in the world, and what we decide tocapture from it.
Like a rhizome, itwill become a form of controlled chaos,
System
card system ⇒ system theory
In the early 1900s it was very common, especially in English speaking countries to call these note taking/paper database systems "card systems". Is it a wonder then that they may have helped to create "systems theory"?
In particular, look at Niklas Luhmann's work as well as Ross Ashby.
Example of a fleeting note triggered by a single word in a context, but with thoughts not relating at all to the specifics of the particular work.
“analog” zettelkästen, although in this book I use theterm “paper-based.”
aside: interesting that he uses the umlaut here, but not consistently other places.
e term comes from German, usuallytranslated as “slip box” or “note box,” less o en, “card catalog,”
also card index and card system (early 1900s)
practices related to having and capturing thoughts (chapters 1and 2); re ning thoughts into clear ideas that can be repurposed (chapter 3);connecting ideas across topics (chapters 4 and 5); developing theseconnections and making them accessible to you (chapter 6); andtransforming all the above into writing for readers—writing that can bereintegrated back into the system (chapters 7, 8 and 9).
Overview of Bob Doto's suggested process:<br /> 1. having and capturing thoughts<br /> 2. refining thoughts into clear ideas that can be repurposed<br /> 3. connecting ideas across topics<br /> 4. developing connections and making them accessible<br /> 5. transforming notes into writing for readers 6. re-integrating writing back into the system (he lumped this in with 5, but I've broken it out)
How do these steps relate to those of others?
Eg: Miles1905: collect, select, arrange, dictate/write (and broadly composition)
writing as a holistic process
We must beware of a certain craze for collecting which sometimes takespossession of those who make notes.... at is a deplorable practice.—A.G. Sertillanges, O.P., e Intellectual Life
Before he even begins the enterprise, Doto starts off by giving pride of place to a quote by Sertillanges admonishing the reader to beware of over-collecting.
Doto, Bob. A System for Writing: How an Unconventional Approach to Note-Making Can Help You Capture Ideas, Think Wildly, and Write Constantly - A Zettelkasten Primer. 1st ed. New Old Traditions, 2024. https://amzn.to/3ztjrfb.
Annotation url: urn:x-pdf:231323658d79d9bdf946e1cfbe01e500
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street
non-existent towns and streets used to trap plagiarists
Relation to Genius.com's trap of Google on music lyrics
emust bewareofacertaincrazeforcollectingwhich sometimestakespossessionofthosewhomakenotes.Theywanttohaveafullnotebookorfilingcabinet;theyareinahurrytoputsomethingintheemptyspaces,andtheyaccumulatepassagesasotherpeoplefillstamp and postcard albums.Thatisadeplorablepractice;itisasortofchild-ishness,andrisksbecomingamania. Orderisanecessity, butitmustserveus,notweit.Toin-dulge obstinatelyinaccumulatingandcompletingistoturn one’smindaway from producingandeyen from learning; excessive attentiontoclassifi-cation interferes withuse;nowinthisconnectioneverything mustbesubordinatedtothegoodofthework.
If you collect everything, you collect nothing.
Another reason why it saves time is that here you canimply things instead of having to express them in full,for your Card-System and its Headings need only to beclear to yourself (see p. 67), whereas a complete Essayor Speech must be in Sentences and must be clear toyour readers or hearers as well. In the Cards you canuse all kinds of Abbreviations (p. 70) : these, again,need only be clear to yourself.
Miles touches on the interplay of knowledge written down on index cards and the knowledge which is kept only in one's mind. Some practitioners in the space from 2013-2024 seem to imply that they're writing almost everything out in far deeper detail than Miles would indicate. In his incarnation, much of the knowledge might be more quickly indicated by a short sentence or heading which the brain can associate to longer explanations.
This sort of indexing is akin to some of the method potentially seen in Marshall Mathers' zettelkasten.
I'm creating a tag here for "card index for productivity" to track the idea of productivity in writing which I'm specifically using separately from the tag "card index as productivity system" which is used to describe their use for project tracking systems in systems like GTD, Memindex, etc.
They ensure wonderful rapidity. A whole bookof thirty thousand words I have prepared (though ofcourse only roughly) in two hours, by the Card-System.Such a pace would have been impossible otherwise.This does not include any of the Dictation ; it merelyincludes the Collection and Selection of Ideas, andtheir Arrangement. The System is a wonderful savingof time,
What work exactly does Miles include in his description of preparation of a 30,000 word book in two hours?
He specifically excludes dictation. He does include selection of ideas and arrangement. He also says it includes "collection", but I'm supposing that he's taking a larger tranche of cards from a possibly massive collection and collecting only those he needs right now? Certainly the reading, thinking, and collecting work can't be included in this two hours of work.
Does he have a better definition of what he means by collection?
They encourage a business-like brevity.
Miles doesn't go very deep into the idea of how big a note ought to be, only that the system "encourage[s] a business-like brevity."
They are useful for other ptirposes, besides Essay-writing and Speaking. For instance, for Addresses,for Bills, and for Memoranda.
Unsurprising given that card systems were used for accounting in the early 1900s, but not many manuals cover the use of a card index for addresses (aka Rolodex) of for bills or memoranda.
I generallyuse the Cards of the Library Bureau (Bloomsbury Street, London),or those by Messrs. Evans and Hallewell, 5, Ave Maria Lane,London, E.C. The latter are the cheaper.
Love that Miles talks about what index cards he uses, where he gets them from and even their relative prices!
I arrived at the Card-System by degrees, and was glad to findthat Prof. Wendell also recommended Cards. I have elaboratedthe System considerably in the last few months,
Miles doesn't specify how he comes by the practice of a "Card-System" other than "by degrees" as well as elaborating on it in the months before he writes this book.
(Having something more concrete would be nice though...)
At some point he read Barrett Wendell's book on composition (1891) to discover that he recommended cards as well.
they can beworked with extraordinary rapidity, especially if theyare combined with Dictation (see p. 69),
Dictation from index cards can be done quickly for drafting one's writing to improve the efficiency of composing and writing essays.
This is essentially the sort of advice which Nabokov used in his writing work in combination with his wife Vera.
I may say here, by way of anticipation,that they enable one to concentrate one's attention onthe Collection of Ideas as apart from their Arrange-ment and Expression
Miles breaks the writing process down into three broad categories of work, each of which can be done separately to make it easier: - collection of ideas; <br /> - arrangement of ideas; and <br /> - expression of ideas.
The old Cards can be used in many ways. Youcan turn them upside-down, and treat the other endsimilarly, then you can turn them over ,and the backsof them will give you two more spaces to be used.Some might even use the four sides also ! After theCards are entirely covered, they can be used for scrap-books for Hospitals.
reuse of index cards
How exactly would fully used ("covered") cards be used for scrapbooks for Hospitals?
This is the great advantage of the Card-System overthe ordinary Scheme (on a single sheet of paper), forwith the latter one has to be thinking of two things atthe same time, namely, of the Arrangement of theIdeas as well as the Collection of the Ideas.
Using a card-system over writing on a single sheet of paper or in a notebook allows one to separate the thinking work. Instead of both capturing the idea and arranging them simultaneously, one is splitting these tasks into smaller parts for simpler handling.
At first it is a mistake to think of anything elseexcept the mere jotting down of Ideas. The Ideas shouldbe jotted down, each on its own Card, and the Sub-Headings should be jotted down on their own Cards,a little way 'inland5. Afterwards there will be timeenough to subdivide the topics, and to re-arrange them ;but at the beginning you must concentrate your atten-tion on the Collection of Ideas, and must not think atall about the Arrangement.
For Miles, getting the ideas down is paramount and they can later be sub-divided or re-arranged.
So far we have considered only just the MainHeadings and the Sub-Headings. But it would bepossible, and it would be advisable, if the work has tobe carefully done, to apply the Card-System to ' Con-nexions',i.e. to write on Cards the connecting link be-tween each Idea and the Idea that follows ; and it maybe as well to apply the System even to Paragraphs,that is to say, before you write a Paragraph to write onCards the Headings for the different sections of it.
Connexions definition
Miles is specifically advising the card system user to write down the "connecting link between each Idea ad the Idea that follows".
He does this in the context of using headings and sub-headings as a means of organizing and re-organizing material for writing. There isn't much of a jump from here to the idea of folgezettel. Which is happening in many people system in a looser fashion than Luhmann's.
The Abbreviations and Marks needbe clear only to tJic Writer himself.
When theyhave been finished they may be spread out on a tableor on several tables. If you can get a table with pegs,or something to mark the divisions between the packets,it will be so much the better.
How is he using pegs on a table exactly? Is this something like the Brothers Grimm, but table-based rather than wall based?
embodied in a ScJieme,
how does he define scheme? he goes past it pretty quickly here.
To mark Main Headingsyou might have coloured Cards, for instance, blue Cards,or else larger Cards.
Using larger cards for main headings as Miles suggests (1905/1899) is very similar to using tabbed dividers. When were these invented for separating groups?
The original tags from antiquity did this sort of functionality as they stuck out from the shelves as a finding aid.
You s/wuld always carry a few Cards about inyour pocket, in case you should think of anything useful,for instance, during a walk. It will be very easy todistribute these Cards afterwards in their proper packets.You should keep a special place for these miscellaneousHeadings, and these you should sort at intervals.
Miles' version of fleeting notes.
Connecting Linkbetween twoSentences orParagraphs,
Miles, 1905 uses an arrow symbol with a hash on it to indicate a "connecting link between two Sentences or Paragraphs, etc."
It's certainly an early example of what we would now consider a hyperlink. It actively uses a "pointer" in it's incarnation.
Are there earlier examples of these sorts of idea links in the historical record? Surely there were circles and arrows on a contiguous page, but what about links from one place to separate places (possibly using page numbers?) Indexing methods from 11/12C certainly acted as explicit sorts of pointers.
An omission,e.g. to befilled in after-wards.
When was the use of the caret first made for indicating the insertion of material?
Eustace Miles has an example from 1905.
Special Marks on Cards
Eustace Miles suggests the use of "special marks on cards" (annotations) in the top left corners, though he doesn't provide specific examples of how they might be used in practice. He does mention "The Abbreviations and Marks need be clear only to the Writer [sic] himself. They save ever so much time."
Special Marks on Cards
In Miles' visual examples of cards, he presents them in portrait (rather than landscape) orientation.
This goes against the broad grain of most standard card index filing systems of the time, but may be more in line with the earlier French use of playing cards orientation.
His portrait orientation also matches with the size ratios seen in his Card-Tray suggestion on p187. https://hypothes.is/a/llEgpIf4Ee-dVfcaIGUryQ
no false economy r
He's repeating (and thus emphasizing) the admonition that a card system is not expensive, particularly in relation to the savings in time and effort.
There should also be a Card-Tray, or abox with compartments in it, such as shown in thefollowing illustration. Of course the Tray might havean open top.
Miles suggests using a Card-Tray (in 1899) with various compartments and potentially an open top rather than some of the individual trays or card index boxes which may have been more ubiquitous
This shows a slight difference at the time in how an individual would use one of these in writing versus how a business might use them in drawers of 1, 2, 3 or cabinets with many more.
The image he shows seems more reminiscent of a 5x3" library charging tray than of some of the business filing appliances of the day and the decade following.
very similar to the self-made version at https://hypothes.is/a/DHU_-If6Ee-mGieKOjg8ZQ
These Cards (if used only once) should be labelledand catalogued very carefully.
How does he define "labelled" and "catalogued"?
Presumably he means a version of tagging/categorization and possibly indexing them to be able to easily find them again?
A great help towards Arrangement and Clearnessis to have Cards of different sizes and shapes, and ofdifferent colours, or with different marks on them
Miles goes against the grain of using "cards of equal size", but does so to emphasize the affordance of using them for "Arrangement and Clearness".
The Cards can be turned afterwards.
Miles admits that one can use both sides of index cards in a card system, but primarily because he's writing at a time (1899) when, although paper is cheap (which he mentions earlier), some people may have an objection to the system's use due to the expense, which he places at the top of his list of objections. (And he does this in a book in which he emphasizes multiple times the ideas of selection and ordering!)
and of course writing only on one side of the Card ata time.
And the same will apply to the objection that theSystem is unusual. Seldom have there been any newsuggestions which have not been condemned as ' un-us
Objections to the Card-System,
Miles lists the following objections: - expense - inconvenience - unusual (new, novel)
Notice that he starts not with benefits or affordances, but with the objections.
What would a 2024 list of objections look like? - anachronism - harder than digital methods - lack of easier search - complexity - ... others?
At first, also, it might be thought that the Cardswould be inconvenient to use, but the personal ex-perience of thousands shows that, at any rate forbusiness-purposes, exactly the reverse is true
Miles' uses the ubiquity of card systems (even at the writing in 1899, prior to publication) within business as evidence for bolstering their use in writing and composition.
(Recall that he's also writing in the UK.)
Good Practice for this will be to studyLoisette's System of Memory, e.g. in "How to Remember"(see p. 264) ; in fact Loisette's System might be calledthe Link-System ; and Comparisons and Contrasts willvery often be a great help as Links.
Interesting to see a mention of Alphonse Loisette here!
But also nice to see the concept of linking ideas and association (associative memory) pop up here in the context of note making, writing, and creating card systems.
include anything which links one Ideato another. See further " How to Remember " (to bepublished in February, 1900, by Warne & Co.).
This book was finally published in 1905. The introduction was written in 1899 and the mentioned Feb 1900 publication of How to Remember didn't happen until 1901.
Miles, Eustace Hamilton. How to Remember: Without Memory Systems or with Them. Frederick Warne & Co., 1901.
If the Letter is important, especially if it be aBusiness-Letter, there should be as long an interval as isfeasible between the writing and the sending off.
writing and waiting is useful in many instances, and particularly for clarity of expression.
see also: <br /> - angry letter https://hypothes.is/a/6OoqHofyEe-1mtOohGA63w - diffuse thinking<br /> - typewriter (waiting) <br /> - editing (waiting) https://hypothes.is/a/VxRNeofvEe-5n1dpCEM48Q
fter the Letter has been done it should beread through, and should (if possible) be read out loud,and you should ask yourself, as you read it, whetherit is clear, whether it is fair and true, and (last but notleast) whether it is kind. Putting it in another way,you might ask yourself, ' What will the person feel andthink on reading this ? ' or, * Should I eventually besorry to have received such a Letter myself? ' or, again,'Should I be sorry to have written it, say a yearhe
Recall: Abraham Lincoln's angry letter - put it in a drawer
You can prepare your Letters any-where, even in the train, and so save a great deal oftime ; and it may be noticed here that the idlenessof people, during that great portion of their lives whichthey spend in travelling and waiting, can easily beavoided in this way.
Using a card system, particularly while travelling, can help to more efficiently use one's time in preventing idleness while travelling and waiting.
s we have often said before, paper is so cheap thatthere is no need for such economy.
Compare this with the reference in @Kimmerer2013 about responsibility to the tree and not wasting paper: https://hypothes.is/a/pvQ_4ofxEe-NfSOv5wMFGw
where is the balance?
How to Express Ideas : Style.
It could be interesting/useful to create a checklist or set of procedures (perhaps a la Oblique Strategies") for editing a major work.
Sections in this TOC could be useful for creating such.
The third reading should again be a slow reading,
relationship to Adler's levels of reading?
But in my opinion nothing can excuse the laziness ofa great number of Editors. When the Writers arepoor and have staked a great deal on their Writings,then the laziness is simply disgusting : in fact, it amountsto cruelty. It is concerned with some of the verysaddest tragedies that the world has ever seen, andI only mention it because it is very common and be-cause itis as well that the novice should know what toexpect.
Another Article I sent to a Paper, and after twentyweeks, and after many letters (which enclosed stampedand addressed envelopes), I was told that the Articlewas unsuitable for the Paper.
Even in 1905 writers had to wait interminably after submitting their writing...
it's only gotten worse since then...
Very few have the strength of mind tokeep back for a whole week a piece of Writing whichthey have finished. Type-writing sometimes necessitatesthis interval, or at any rate a certain interval.
The process of having a work typewritten forced the affordance of creating time away from the writing of a piece. This allows for both active and diffuse thinking on the piece as well as the ability to re-approach it with fresh eyes days or weeks later.
there is a great distinction between a thing whichis heard, and a thing which is read in ordinary writing,and a thing which is read in print. In fact these differ-ences almost necessitate certain differences in Style.Now Type-writing is far nearer to print than ordinarywriting is.
When an Article or Book has been written, it must betype-written before it is sent to the Editor or Publisher,that is to say, unless it has been ordered beforehand orunless you are well known. The reason is not simplythat Type-writing looks better than ordinary writing,and that it is easier to read, but it actually is a fact thatfew Editors or Publishers will read anything that is notType- written.
Even as early as 1905 (or 1899 if we go by the dating of the introduction), typewritten manuscripts were de rigueur for submission to editors and publishers.
Type-writing (see p. 369) is becoming more and morecommonly used, and for certain purposes it is indispen-s
Note that he's writing in 1899 (via the introduction), and certainly not later than 1905 (publication date).
Carlyle
One of the major values of fame is that it often allows the dropping of context in communication between people.
Example: Carlyle references in @Miles1905
Carlyle
It bears noting in this book on writing and composition, Miles (nor the indexer if it was done by someone else) never uses Carlyle's first name (Thomas) in any of the eleven instances in which it appears, as he's famous enough in the context (space, time) to need only a single name.
General Hints on Preparing Essays etc., in Rhyme.
One ought to ask what purpose this Rhyme serves?
WITH A RHYME.
did I miss the "rhyme" in this section or is he using a more figurative sense (as in "rhyme or reason")?
Ha! Didn't get far enough, it's on page 36, but also works the other way as well.
IN this Chapter I shall try to summarise the main partof this work, so that those who have not the time orthe inclination to go right through it may at any rategrasp the general plan of it, and may be able to referto any particular Chapter or page for further informa-tion on any particular topic.
This chapter is essentially what one ought to glean from skimming the TOC, the Index, and doing a brief inspectional read (Adler, 1972).
In these two latter sections it is aswell to emphasise the general advice, " Try a thing foryourself before you go to anything or anyone for infor-mation." You should try (if there is time) to work outthe subject beforehand ; and then, after you have reador listened to the information, you should note it downin a special Note-book, and if possible make certain ofunderstanding it, of remembering it, and of using it.
Echoes of my own advice to "practice, practice, practice".
Interest is required especially in the Beginning,
But, the more heexamines the subject, and the more he goes by hispersonal experience, the more he will find it worthwhile to spend time on, and to practise carefully,fthisfirst department of Composition, as opposed to the mereExpression^] Indeed one might almost say that, if thisfirst department has been thoroughly well done, that isto say, if the Scheme of Headings and Sub-Headingshas been well prepared, the Expression will be a com-paratively easy matter.
Definition of the "first department of composition": <br /> The preparation (mise en place) for writing as opposed to the actual expression of the writing. By this he likely means the actions of Part II (collecting, selecting, arranging) of this book versus Part III.
Humour is to be classed as a Rhetoricalweapon, and indeed as one of the most powerful.
sCarlyle's writings show. Proverb, Paradox, Epigram,exaggeration, humour, and unexpected order of words,all these can be means of Emphasis.
One might think at first that it was a Universal Lawthat all Writing or Speaking should be so clear as tobe transparent. And yet, as we have seen, no readerof Carlyle can doubt that a great deal of his Forcewould be gone if one made his Writings transparent.If one took some of Carlyle's most typical works andparaphrased them in simple English, the effect wouldnot be a quarter as good as it is.
How is this accomplished exactly? How could one imitate this effect?
How do we break down his material and style to re-create it?
as Vigour, but the two generally go hand in hand.
"Brevity is not always the same as Vigour, but the two generally go hand in hand." -Miles
As to the other extreme, it is a questionwhether a sentence can be too clear, whether the Ideacan be too simply expressed ; and, if we once admitthat Carlyle's writings produced a greater effect anda better effect than they would have done if they hadbeen perfectly clear, then we must admit that forcertain purposes absolute Clearness is a Fault.
No Writer seems to be going off the point, and tobe violating the Law of ' Unity ' and Economy, morethan Carlyle does. As we read his "Frederick theGreat", the characters at first appear to us to have nomore connexion with one another than the characters
The reader will doubtless be amazed at the amountof time which has to be spent before he arrives at thestage of Expressing his Ideas at all.
In order to give the reader some chance of havinga good Collection of Headings, and less chance ofomitting the important Headings, I have offered (e.g.on pp. 83, 92) a few General Lists, which are not quitecomplete but yet approach to completeness ; two ofthese Lists will be found sufficient for most purposes.One of these is called the List of Period- Headings,such as Geography, Religion, Education, Commerce,War, etc. (see p. 83); the other is called the List ofGeneral Headings, and includes Instances, Causes andHindrances, Effects, Aims, etc. : this latter List will befound on p. 92.
Rhythm, Grammar, Vocab-ulary, Punctuation, etc. It was hard to break thefaggots when they were in a bundle, but it was easyto break them when they were taken one by one.
Notice that again he's emphasizing breaking down the problem into steps, and he's using a little analogy to do so, just like he had described previously.
I shall try to give the ChiefFaults in Composition. The reader will see that thelist is long : and that, if he merely tries to write wholeEssays all at one 'sitting', he is little likely to escapethem all.S
Attempting to escape the huge list of potential "Chief faults in composition" is a solid reason not to try to cram a paper or essay in a single night/day.
Teaching is one of the best means of Learning, notonly because it forces one to prepare one's work care-fully, and to be criticised whether one wishes it or not,but also because it gives one a sense of responsibility :it reminds one that one is no longer working for selfalone.
whether you are Writing or Speaking, the generalprinciple to remember is that you must appeal, innearly everything you say, to the very stupidest peoplepossible.
It is important to learn as much and at the sametime as little as possible.J
By abstracting and concatenating portions of material, one can more efficiently learn material that would otherwise take more time.
But of all methods of Learning none is better thanthe attempt to teach others
For instance, if a learner says to him ' Howshall I emphasise this idea?', the genius-writer willprobably be entirely at a loss : he will be unable tounderstand the state of mind of anyone who feels adifficulty here. He himself does the thing unconsciouslyand automatically : he ' knoweth not how '.
It's difficult to teach when you've forgotten how you learned a thing yourself. It's hard to un-know a topic to empathize with the beginner.
pages 83 and 92. Ihave called theni 'General Lists'
he English education does notencourage learners to think. They are generally told toreproduce the ideas of others, and, unless the questioncomes straight out of the Text-book, they often findthemselves quite unable to answer it.
This statement follows the broad thesis that imitation is far easier than innovation.
"Lessons in Lawn Tennis" (Upcott Gill).
A fine recommendation by a future Olympian!
I often noticed that most Candidates inExaminations used to begin to write their Essays atonce. They never realised that their minds were there-by being distracted and divided among many differentprocesses, each of which is particularly hard even whentaken alone. For all at once their minds are being-called upon to Collect Ideas, to Select and decide whichare important, etc., to Arrange the Selected Ideas, andto Express them. To try all this as a single action is" most extraordinarily unscientific, even if a few brilliantgeniuses here and there have succeeded in the attempt.
One of the major affordances of using a zettelkasten or card index for writing is that it forces the writer to break things down into their constituent parts, thereby making the entire process of writing far easier and less complex. One can separately focus their attention on the smaller steps of collecting, selecting, and arranging the material before beginning to actually write.
For I do not think that the reason why so many peoplefail to write good Essays or to make good Speechesis so much that they are barren of Ideas, or that theirGrammar is bad, or even that their Expression is verybad ;
he capitalizes five words here to emphasize their importance... I wonder what he says in his section on capitalization???
I shall go upon the principleupon which the Romans went in their conquests, viz.' DIVIDE ET IMPERA ', ' Isolate what you have to master,and master it part by part'.
The lesson surely is that to emphasise, in this way, anIdea which is felt to be important, is not an automaticprocess to most people ; it is not done instinctively, andby the light of nature. They may feel that the Ideaought to be Emphasised, but they do not know themeans.
I emphasised it by a Com-parison orIllustration,
Creating a comparison or illustration of an idea is a means of emphasizing it. It also serves as a form of repetition and aide-memoire.
you will have to Collect and make a list ofyour Ideas (Headings and Sub- Headings) for the Essayor Speech. You will have to Select, deciding whichare to be used and which are not. You will have toArrange the selected Headings. And then you willhave to Express them — in itself not a simple task.
the list of broad parts of writing an essay
They haveto move step by step and with effort over the groundwhich the genius covers with a flying leap.
He must analysethe whole stroke, and must not attempt to do it asif it were a single unit. It is true that the bornplayer, by the light of genius, does the whole stroke asa whole stroke, and perhaps is not aware that it can feedivided into parts : he may even deny it. None theless it has often been proved that it can be divided intoparts, and that to master each part separately is a mucheasier .process than to -master the whole -at once. It is -notgoing too far to say that for average people to masterthe whole stroke at once is an absolute impossibility.
Interesting to see this tennis analogy in writing in 1905 from a top-notch player who will win a silver metal in the 1908 Olympics...
whoever it may be, if he does his workwelly then that work will look very easy.
Bathos: 225, 260, 301
PROFESSOR CLIFFORD ALLBUTT
Miles, Eustace Hamilton. How to Prepare Essays, Lectures, Articles, Books, Speeches and Letters, with Hints on Writing for the Press. London: Rivingtons, 1905. http://archive.org/details/howtoprepareessa00mileuoft.
The similarity is because they are all saying roughly the same thing: Total (result) = Kinetic (cost) + Potential (benefit) Cost is either imaginary squared or negative (space-like), benefit is real (time-like), result is mass-like. Just like physics, the economic unfavourable models are the negative results. In economics, diversity of products is a strength as it allows better recovery from failure of any one, comically DEI of people fails miserably at this, because all people are not equal. Here are some other examples you will know if you do physics: E² + (ipc)² = (mc²)² (relativistic Einstein equation), mass being the result, energy time-like (potential), momentum the space-like (kinetic). ∇² - 1/c² ∂²/∂t² = (mc/ℏ)² (Klein-Gordon equation), mass is the result, ∂²/∂t² potential, ∇² is kinetic. Finally we have Dirac equation, which unlike the previous two as "sum of squares" is more like vector addition (first order differentials, not second). iℏγ⁰∂₀ψ + iℏγⁱ∂ᵢψ = mcψ First part is still the time-like potential, second part is the space-like kinetic, and the mass is still the result though all the same. This is because energy is all forms, when on a flat (free from outside influence) worksheet, acts just like a triangle between potential, kinetic and resultant energies. E.g. it is always of the form k² + p² = r², quite often kinetic is imaginary to potential (+,-,-,-) spacetime metric, quaternion mathematics. So the r² can be negative, or imaginary result if costs out way benefits, or work in is greater than work out. Useless but still mathematical solution. Just like physics, you always want the mass or result to be positive and real, or your going to lose energy to the surrounding field, with negative returns. Economic net loss do not last long, just like imaginary particles in physics.
in reply to Cesar A. Hidalgo at https://x.com/realAnthonyDean/status/1844409919161684366
via Anthony Dean @realAnthonyDean
Advanced Typing: Duplicating and Manuscript. Vol. MN-1512d, 1943. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ve5JnTUzvo.
Before writing stencils, be sure to clean your type. (Don't use liquid solvent.)
Be sure to place the cushion sheet properly behind the stencil.
Place the paper bail rollers at the extreme left and right of the stencil to prevent them from marking the master.
For errors, rub individual characters separately with a burnisher using a circular motion.
Hectograph masters, Hectograph ribbon (ditto ribbon)
Wax pencils
20% more type on a page with elite than 10 inch pica.
Pica allows approximately 26-40 lines on standard letterhead giving 300-450 words to a page.
Special characters: - o for degrees ' and " for feet and inches or minutes and seconds along with superscript - division: - backspace colon - pound sterling: L backspace f - exclamation point: period backspace ' - equal sign: hyphen backspace variable hyphen - paragraph mark: P backspace I
proofreaders' marks<br /> # followed by a number is used to mean insert that number of spaces
Centering timestamp 19:37
https://www.calligraphr.com/en/
Can be used to digitize typewriter typefaces.
Her Electromatic typewriter with a Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout is in the collection of the National Museum of American History.
Basic Typing: Machine Operation. 16 mm. Vol. MN-1512b, 1943. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-REJEArnjE.
Type pacer timestamp 4:12
"Your head is the most important part of your typing." - Lenore Fenton
"Your typewriter does exactly what you make it do, but it does no more" - Lenore Fenton <br /> This is very similar to quotes about computer programs at the end of the 20th century too.
The touch characteristics for the manual, the noiseless, and the electric are all slightly different.
Office Etiquette. 16 mm, Industrial. E B Films, 1950. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLF1STKnBTU.
EBF Human Relations Film<br /> Produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films Inc.<br /> In collaboration with Hamden L. Forkner, Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University
1962 Vintage IBM Typewriter Training Film IBM Selectric Proper Typing Procedures, w/ Bud McDole by [[Computer History Archives Project]]
Right at the Typewriter. 16 mm. San Francisco, CA: KQED, 1962. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPfHAW_OfGo.
On manual typewriters one "snaps" the keys while on an electric keyboard one "taps" the keys for maximum speed and accuracy.
Overview of functionality of an IBM typewriter.
To add longevity to one's carbon papers they should be rotated both top to bottom and front to back within one's packs.
Use plastic type cleaner, meant for cleaning type slugs, to clean the excess ink from a typewriter. Form it into a point and press it to the letter to erase several times. Then erase with eraser shield and eraser.
To type to the very bottom of the page, particularly with a carbon pack, to prevent slippage at the bottom, insert a "trailer sheet" about halfway down the first page. Insert it at the back of the pack just behind the original and between the first carbon sheet.
For typing small sheets of paper (index cards) fold a pleat into a regular sheet of paper and use the lip to hold the smaller sheet you're typing on.
To more quickly type envelopes, do the first then reverse the platen so that only about an inch of the top of the envelope is visible. Then insert the next envelope behind the first and continue reversing the platen. This will allow the finished envelopes to stack at the paper table and speed the threading and typing of envelopes in rapid succession.
Use of the divots on the typing guide for making horizontal or vertical lines while moving the carriage or rotating the platen respectively.
How to change the typeball and the ribbon cartridge on the IBM selectric.
Hot Rod Mercury - Repaired ! Royal Typewriter Made in Japan Not Spacing Troubleshoot and Fix. by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]
There was a loose assembly underneath the carriage that was preventing the vibrator from working and the carriage from advancing via typing. Tightening it up fixed the issue completely.
Saying Goodbye to Vale Typewriter, the Second-to-Last Typewriter Shop in Town - Racket by [[Jay Boller]] for [[Racket]]
Mark Soderbeck expects to close Vale Typewriter by the end of 2024 after a 67-year run.
Soderbeck tells us about a recent job that took 40 hours to complete. He ended up charging the customer just $50.
"Well, I already gave him an estimate," he says with a chuckle. "I'm not gonna change that quote, I've been here too long to do that."
It seems like an unwritten rule for typewriter repair shops to go way over on time versus pay to repair a typewriter based on an initial quote.
I've seen at least one other quote like this, but don't think I collected it.
autographed Corona Junior that Hanks gifted to Vale this past March.
Tom Hanks Typewriter Collection #329<br /> Corona Junior donated to Vale Typewriter in March 2023
"Business went right to nothing, hardly," he remembers. "As soon as that computer hit the price of under $2,000, that was the end of the typewriter business—80% of the business was gone in three years. When I started there was 27 little shops like this in the Twin Cities, and there was 47 before that."
Vale Typewriter from Ray Vale, who had helmed the stout brick building since it was constructed in 1957.
11-month typewriter repair program
In 1974 there were 11-month typewriter repair programs to train typewriter repair technicians.
Compare this to Philly Typewriter's 4 year internship program: https://hypothes.is/a/LSbZtlboEe-4vtMPIWcTKA
"I don't need the city of Richfield being involved, they've never talked to me for 49 years," he says of awkward visits this week from the mayor and a city council member.
Why would the city come calling to a typewriter shop calling? Nostalgia perhaps? Better would be if they came to order or have their machines serviced to keep the place open or to help the next generation continue on.
English composition: Eight lectures given at the Lowell Institute, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891.
evidence of a card system/zettelkasten method in this?
I found a copy and indeed there is evidence!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_Wendell
Eustace Miles suggested that Wendell used the card system in writing, so perhaps one of his textbooks suggests the method as well?
Watch My Typewriter (Not Me) https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g2ybw4/watch_my_typewriter_not_me/
So I have a typewriter with a diamond-hard platen. All the usual tricks for softening didn't work, and sanding the hard layer back revealed that the rubber had entirely perished all the way to the core; so I've removed it. Now, I'm in Australia, and there is no professional group here that replaces platens. So I've been looking at home fixes, old manufacturing techniques, and I think I have a solution. I have wrapped a few thin layers of cork around the platen core, and I intend to finish it off with perhaps two layers of heat shrink rubber tomorrow. I think the end result will be a platen with a firm strike face and a softer centre to absorb the strikes. My trial with the cork on its own was promising, but it was ultimately a little too soft. I could harden it with urethane or resin, but in the interest of being able to undo my work, I will try the rubber first. Will keep you informed.
One of the few others aside from JJ Short who is doing platens is Bob over at Typewriter Muse. Might be worth checking out his YouTube channel for some potential tips.
I presume you're already aware of how to make your ring and cylinder adjustments when you're done, so things are properly tuned...
Can't wait to see what you come up with...
reply to u/throneofashes at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g2j4hz/platen_experiment/
For writing on a flat surface like a wrapped package (or book), you'd need a Gritzner or an Elliot Fisher Book Typewriter
Facit and Halda of Sweden used good old fashioned whale oil in their machines. That's most likely all gummed up in our times and why these typewriters feel sluggish most of the time.
colloquial attribution to u/matttheoret at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g1ugrw/first_typewriter_ever/
Demonstrate your Electric in 10 Minutes by Remington-Rand, Inc.<br /> A Sales Training Film<br /> Produced by Visual Aids Department Remington Rand Inc.
via Periscope Film
1940s REMINGTON RAND ELECTRIC TYPEWRITER SALESMAN DEMONSTRATION FILM 49734
Basic Typing: Methods, 1943. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztyzGit1dTI.
A Primer on Typewriter Ribbons & Spools by [[Damon DiMarco]]
Typewriter ribbon is 1/2" wide (12.7mm) which has been standardized as DIN2103.
The DIN 32755 spool, aka a Universal spool, or a Group 1 spool.
Olivetti typewriters use Group 4 spools.
Nine Steps to Follow Before You Buy a Thrift Shop Typewriter by [[Damon DiMarco]]
Typewriter repairman still in business in 2024 by [[Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul]]
Mark Soderbeck started repairing typewriters in 1974. Working at cutting back and retiring soon.
Typewriter Repair Failure by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Creating a REAL Typewriter Font by [[Janinagans]]
the sound of progress right 1:39 there
quote following the thunking sound of a typewriter carriage being pushed to one side.
I've picked up about 20 of the typewriters in my collection from ShopGoodwill.
Only two were impeccably/properly packaged and shipped and one of these was a special machine that I emailed them after purchase with written details and links to videos about how to pack and ship it just to be on the safe side.
Three were dreadful disasters: one was a 40 pound standard that was dropped and the frame bent drastically (it had almost no padding materials inside the box), two were shoved into cases (one upside down and the other right side up, but neither locked into their cases properly nor with their carriage locks engaged so they both bounced around for the entire trip) and put into boxes with almost no packing material. All three refunded portions of the price and/or all the shipping costs.
Most of the remainder (all portables with cases) were packaged with a modicum of care (some packing material in the case and some outside the case with reasonable boxes) and showed up in reasonable condition.
Two of the machines were local enough that I did a local pick up to ensure better care.
Generally, it's a crapshoot, but this is also the reason why I don't spend more than $20 on any machine I get from them (except one reasonably rare German typewriter in the US and a Royal with a Vogue typeface that still came out at less than $100 because only one other person noticed its rarity in the photos).
Only one of the machines was clean as a whistle and ready to type on day one. All the remainder required serious cleanings at a minimum. Two were missing internal pieces, two had repairable drawband issues, one had dramatically bad escapement issues, and one had a destroyed mainspring that I need to replace.
Only one of the group had a platen with any life left in it. One had a completely unusable platen, but it was also relatively obvious in the photos. Most of the rest were hard, but usable.
I live in the US and typically only bid on machines that are in the top 20% of their class cosmetically.
I'll echo the thought of others that I wouldn't have a machine from them shipped directly to someone as a present unless I knew they were a tinkerer and had the mechanical ability, the facilities/tools, and desire to clean and service their own machine. Otherwise, I'd do that myself and ship it to them directly.
reply to u/Tico_Typer at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g28v6z/i_am_curious_about_the_shopping_goodwill_websites/
Windigo Norval Morrisseau, Windigo, tempera on brown paper, ca. 1963.(courtesy Glenbow Museum/64.37.9)
via The Canadian Encyclopedia<br /> https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/windigo
But isn't that what the confirmation process is all about here in Washington? And isn't that what the confirmation process is all about? Weeding out the truly qualified to get to the truly available.<br /> —Jon Stewart, White House Correspondents' Dinner 1997
Young Pre-'Daily Show' Jon Stewart's Compelling Performance (1997 WH Correspondents Dinner)
Typing Technique and Typewriter Design by [[Will Davis]] and [[Dave Davis]]
As early as 1932 Royal salesmen would use poor typing technique on purpose to cause skipping and piling and then use proper technique on their own machine to show how much better their typewriters were compared to the others.
Some repair and service manuals had sections about tuning a typewriter to the level of technique of the user. These may have included 5-6 specific adjustments for allowance to a particular user's technique, as an example indicated in this video.
"pounded out" - used by a heavy handed typist and now skipping (mentioned possibly in an Ames Repair Manual)
In the mid-century, the service life of a standard machine was 1-3 years of continual (heavy) use. After this it would have been remanufactured or swapped out.
https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire
Peshtigo fire occurred the same day as the Great Chicago fire on October 8, 1871. Less well known likely in part due to communication ability at the time.
I just got a 1950 version of this KMG this week in medium rough shape too. (My 7th Royal and my 2nd Standard)
Looks like a Royal KMG with the Henry Dreyfuss glass tombstone keys in Gray Frieze paint. https://typewriterdatabase.com/Royal.KMG.72.bmys
Mine has some minor carriage issues that I'm hoping clear up with some cleaning. Otherwise it may need some tools and internal repair work and/or parts. If yours is generally working, a good cleaning and oiling should get you going: https://boffosocko.com/2024/08/09/on-colloquial-advice-for-degreasing-cleaning-and-oiling-manual-typewriters/
Diagram of parts: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RoyalKMGdiagram.jpg
Manual of the prior model KMM which preceeded it, so the functionalilty should be almost exactly the same: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RoyalKMM.pdf (Royal Standard internals were almost exactly the same from the Ten (1909) through the FP/Empress (1966).)
Home Study Course in Typewriter Repair and Service: ca. 1959, published by the Typewriter Repair School in Little Falls, New Jersey. Focuses on the Royal KMM among others: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/homestudycourse.pdf
See also:<br /> - https://typewriterdatabase.com/manuals.php - https://typewriterdatabase.com/1968-Ames_Standard_SVC.royal-repair.manual - https://typewriterdatabase.com/1960-Ames_Gen_Cat_10-March.royal-parts-01.manual
Searching on YouTube for cleaning and repair advice should help out a lot. Phoenix Typewriter has some solid videos on related models (search also the Royal X (ten), KH, KHM, KMM, KMG, HH, FP, and Empress which are all roughly the same internals with slightly different body styles.)
If you need some basic typewriter 101, try: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtHauPh529XYHI5QNj5w9PUdi89pOXsS
reply to u/MajesticWear5478 https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g1i440/tips_for_cleaning_and_fixing_a_1949_royal/#lightbox
The Office S4.E8 The Deposition, Nov 15, 2007<br /> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031476/
Michael is put in an awkward position when Jan sues Dunder Mifflin for wrongful termination and he is deposed as a witness.
Jan: Remember, it's not just a pattern. It's a pattern of disrespect and inappropriate behaviors.
Michael "Dis-ray." My friend Dis Ray got new specs. Dis Ray Spect. My friend In-A-Pro drives a Prius with his behind neighbor.
Jan: Does this work for you?
Michael: Yep.
Michael Scott makes up some truly incredible (bad) mnemonics to try to memorize specific phrases for a deposition.
An example of a self-made zettelkasten box using (1/2"?) wooden planks to create 4 rows of card storage and a smaller 3/4" slot for accessories.
via post by u/fer_mese at https://reddit.com/r/antinet/comments/t541j2/been_working_on_this_zettlekasten_for_my_thesis/
Responsibility to the tree makes everyone pause before beginning.Sometimes I have that same sense when I face a blank sheet of paper.For me, writing is an act of reciprocity with the world; it is what Ican give back in return for everything that has been given to me. Andnow there’s another layer of responsibility, writing on a thin sheet oftree and hoping the words are worth it. Such a thought could make aperson set down her pen.
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain
Ventura Highway, track 14 on the album Here & Now by America (1972-11-04)
It’s unsure whether a connection between this lyric and the famous Prince song (which was released 12 years after “Ventura Highway”) exists, but at least two journalists from The San Diego Union and the Post-Tribune wrote that Prince got the phrase “Purple Rain” from here.
Asked to explain the phrase “purple rain” in “Ventura Highway,” Gerry Beckley responded: “You got me.”
The Time I Met New York’s Patron Saint of Typewriters by [[Thaisa Frank]] March 12, 2019
Stanley Adelman of Osner's Typewriter Repair in New York
(closed in 2001)
St. Francis de Sales is the patron saint of deaf individuals. He is also the patron of journalists and writers because of his many written religious works. Because of these publications, he is depicted with a book in the left hand and a quill pen in the right. His feast day is January 24th.
Step Back In Time At The Mesa Typewriter Exchange by [[Phil Latzman]]
Let's Compare 1955 & 1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe Typewriters by [[Scott Drudge]] of Old Bob's Old Typewriters
In David Gerrold's The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode, he describes how he used a 12-pitch Selectric to type the 1967 episode. When the studio retyped it in pica (10-pitch) it came out to 90 pages and had to be cut down significantly to fit the show's running time.
The difference amounts to approximately 3 words per page and about 50 words per page.
The November 1952 issue of Boys Life had an advertisement for contest for a gold-plated Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
Needs exact sourcing, but Ian Flemming had a gold-plated Royal that he paid $174 for in 1952 and which sold in 1995 by Christys' for $89,229.
https://oldbobsoldtypewriters.com/
Scott Drudge is the proprietor<br /> Second generation typewriter repair as his dad Bob was the original namesake of Old Bob's Old Typewriters.
Taking a sabbatical in 2024 and expected back in late 2024.
Typographical Typewriter Fun by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
titling<br /> centering<br /> dates<br /> 1/2 line spacing<br /> 1/2 space spacing<br /> shadow effects
The 2024 Phoenix Type-In by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Bob had a machine that was supposed to be 1.27 but was measured at 1.259 when pulled off. So shrinkage of platens can be roughly fifteen hundredths of an inch (0.015" or about 0.4mm)
Bob at Typewriter Muse custom tunes platens to the typewriter. Only place doing platens outside of JJ Short.
JVC's partner took him to the Phoenix Type-in for her birthday.
grandfather started in the 40s<br /> bill started in 73<br /> part time help to 92 and now by himself<br /> does his benchwork after hours and chats during the day
adding machine database consideration
looking for service manuals for: - royal portables 50-59<br /> - skyriter 40s / 50s<br /> - sm9 service manual
Royal Mercury manual is a clear, well-written manual. The Smith-Corona series 5 typewriter manuals are great too, though a bit more dense.
Brian Goode and Christy organized this year's Phoenix Type-In.
I’ve currently only fixed the platen and reconnected the space bar. Issue I’m having is the letters are really faint and cut off almost half way through.
Often after you resurface a platen, it slightly changes the configuration of the platen with respect to the typeface. As a result one usually may need to do three adjustments in a specific order to get things to align properly again. These can definitely be done at home with some patience.
Usually the order for tweaking is: * Ring and Cylinder adjustment (distance of platen from typeface; the type shouldn't touch the platen or you'll find you're imprinting on your paper, making holes in the paper and/or ribbon, which isn't good). Sometimes using a simple backing sheet can remedy a bit of this distance problem, especially on platens which have hardened or shrunk slightly over time. * On Feet adjustment (vertical adjustment so that letters are bright and clear and neither top or bottom of characters are too light/faint) Repair shops will often type /// or a variety of characters with longer ascenders/descenders to make sure that the type is clear from top to bottom. * Motion adjustment (the lower and upper case letters are at the same level with respect to each other) The best way to test this is to type a center character like HHHhhhHHH to see if they line up on the bottom (the last three Hs are usually done with the Shift Lock on to make sure that's properly set).
You can search YouTube videos for your model (or related models) and these words which may uncover someone doing a similar repair, so you have a better idea of what you're doing and where to make the adjustments.
Here's Joe Van Cleave describing some of it in one of his early videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0AozF2Jfo0
The general principles for most typewriters are roughly the same with slight variations depending on whether your machine is a segment shift or a carriage shift. You should roughly be able to puzzle out which screws to adjust on your particular model to get the general outcome you want.
Related blogposts: * https://munk.org/typecast/2022/01/23/adjusting-ring-cylinder-on-a-brother-jp-1/<br /> * https://munk.org/typecast/2013/07/30/typewriter-repair-101-adjusting-vertical-typeface-alignment-segmentbasket-shift-typewriters/
You might find a related repair manual for your machine with more detail and diagrams for these adjustments via the Typewriter Database or on Richard Polt's typewriter site.
For those not mechanically inclined you may be better off taking it onto a repair shop for a quick adjustment. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html
Reply to u/Acethease at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1d76ygx/got_a_as_a_gift_corona_3_recentlyish_and_i_need/
https://ashby.info/journal/index.html
Note that the URL http://www.rossashby.info/index.html has moved.
I'm trying to find sources discussing Zettelkasten being used for research in natural sciences (for me most directly relevant is medical research). Does anyone know of any good sources or starting points? My preliminary searches haven't really resulted in anything meaningful unfortunatly (The best I've found sofar is this ZK Forum thread https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/2415/zettelkaesten-in-the-fields-of-science-and-history)
reply to Signynt at https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/979886299785863178/1293207926013427733
Does Carl Linnaeus' incarnation work? Isabelle Charmantier and Staffan Müller-Wille have a number of journal articles on his "invention" and use of index cards in his research and writing work. If you dig around you'll find references to Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz' use of index cards and the Arca Studiorum (Krajewski, MIT, 2011); Computer scientist Gerald Weinberg wrote Gerald M. Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method. New York, N.Y: Dorset House, 2005, which might appeal; you'll also find examples in physicist Mario Bunge, and, although he had a mixed practice of notebooks and index cards, W. Ross Ashby's collection of notes on complexity can be found at https://ashby.info/. Hundreds of other scientists and mathematicians had practices, though theirs typically fall under the heading of commonplace books (Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin, et al.) or as in the case of Isaac Newton and others the heading of "waste books". While looking at others' examples or reading about it may feel like it's going to get you somewhere (better?), having some blind faith and proceeding with your own practice is really the better way to go. Others have certainly done it. Generally it's far rarer for mathematicians, engineers, or scientists to write about their note making/methods so you're unlikely to find direct treatises the way you would for historians, sociologists, anthropologists, humanists, etc.
syndication link: https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/979886299785863178/1293663556197417082
H.S.WYNKOOP.-I have beeninterestedever sinceIhave beenMr.Wynkoop.inbusiness inthe lack ofstandardization in nearly everythingwehavehadtodealwith-notmerelyinthematterofthiscardsystemusedin theshop,but eveninourletterpaperandthevarioussizesofprints ordocumentsthatrunthroughtheoffice.SomeyearsagoItook thelettersheetusedbytheEdison GeneralElectricCompanyandusedthatasastandard,andImadeeveryformintheofficewhereIwasatthetimeeitherfull letter,halfletterordoubleletter,andsoon;anditwasastonishingtoseehow,whenthe employees got usedtotheidea ofstandard-sizedforms,every-thingfittedin,andfrommyownexperience Iwouldliketosecondthat ideaheartily.Wecould standardize in nearly everythingweconstruct inthewayof forms,shopstationery,and,verylargely,inour machines.Thestandardizationofelectricmotorsisre-ceiving greatattentionatpresent.
Brooklyn Engineers’ Club. Brooklyn Engineer’ Club Proceedings for 1906: Constitution and By-Laws and Catalogue of Reference Works Added to the Library During the Year. Brooklyn Engineers’ Club, 1907.
I've generally found that Olympia machines with a dedicated 1 key and a 4/$ key will usually have a script font. Additionally they don't have ribbon selectors (which are most often on the right hand side of the keyboard when they are present) or only have black and stencil settings.
The lack of bichrome settings on these machines is due to the taller/lower extenders on many script glyphs.
In later units, the absence of a ribbon selector is a good clue, though later units (late ‘60s onwards) offered script with units that had ribbon selectors.
In earlier units, typewriters that have the letter 1 key is a good clue that it is a script font typewriter.
Typewriter Video Series - Episode 85: Integral Paper Rolls by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Thus if P isthe set of all sets, we can apparently form the set Q = {Ae P| A ¢ A}, leading tothe contradictory Oe Q iff O¢€ Q. This is Russell’s paradox (see Exercise 1A)and can be avoided (in our naive discussion) by agreeing that no aggregate shallbe a set which would be an element of itself.
Russell's paradox (1901) in set theory can be stated as:
If $$P$$ is the set of all sets, one can form the set $$Q = {A \in P | A \notin A}$$ which can lead to the contradiction $$Q \in Q$$ iff $$Q \notin Q$$.
This can be done by dividing P into two non-empty subsets, $$P_1 = {A \in p | A \notin A}$$ and $$P_2={A \in P | A \in A}$$. We then have the contradiction $$P_1 \in P_1$$ iff $$P_1 \notin P_1$$.
The paradox happens when we allow as sets A for which $$A \in A$$. It can be remedied by agreeing that no collection can be a set which would be an element of itself.
Relation to Groucho Marx's quote (earliest 1949) about resigning membership of a club which would have him as a member: https://hypothes.is/a/3_zAfITjEe-H5-PlfOlK8A
Cohen (Independence of the Axiomof Choice; The Independence of the Continuum Hypothesis I, I1) completed theproof of independence for each by showing neither could be deduced from theexisting axioms (by showing the negation of each could consistently be added tothe Zermelo—Fraenkel axiom scheme). See P. J. Cohen (Set Theory and theContinuum Hypothesis) for a discussion of these results and his intuition about thecontinuum hypothesis. Another expository reference is Cohen (IndependenceResults in Set Theory).
In 1963 Paul Cohen completed the work of Gödel by proving the independence of the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis from the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory axioms. He did this by showing that neither could be deduced from the existing axioms and specifically by showing that the negation of each could be added to ZF consistently.
Godel (The Consistency of the Axiom of Choice and of the Generalized Con-tinuum Hypothesis with the Axioms of Set Theory) proved in 1940 that additionof either the axiom of choice or the continuum hypothesis to existing set theoreticaxioms would not produce a contradiction.
Gödel's breakthrough in 1940 was to prove that one could extend the axioms of set theory to include the axiom of choice or the continuum hypothesis without introducing contradictions.
The basis for our intuitive set theory is the Zermelo—Fraenkel set theory developedby Zermelo (Untersuchungen tiber die Grundlagen der Mengenlehre J) andstrengthened by Fraenkel (Zu den Grundlagen der Cantor—Zermeloschen Mengen-lehre). Their work rests on the researches of Cantor in the 1870’s which first putmathematics firmly on a set-theoretic base. Zermelo’s work, in particular, was adirect response to the Russell paradox.
Willard, Stephen. General Topology. Addison-Wesley Series in Mathematics. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1970.
Annotation url: urn:x-pdf:eb874067e68a720ea298d18714fcd41e
Alternate annotations at: https://jonudell.info/h/facet/?user=chrisaldrich&max=100&exactTagSearch=true&expanded=true&url=urn%3Ax-pdf%3Aeb874067e68a720ea298d18714fcd41e
On October 20, 1949 the Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson published the tale. This is the earliest instance located by QI:[1] 1949 October 20, Dunkirk Evening Observer, In Hollywood by Erskine Johnson, Page 22, Column 5, Dunkirk, New York. (NewspaperArchive) Groucho Marx’s letter of resignation to the Friars’ Club: “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.”
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/04/18/groucho-resigns/
ref: 1949 October 20, Dunkirk Evening Observer, In Hollywood by Erskine Johnson, Page 22, Column 5, Dunkirk, New York. (NewspaperArchive)
https://www.amsterdamtypewriter.com/en-us/products/typewriter-care-kit-diy
Amsterdam Typewriter's kit contains all the following essentials:<br /> * Brass wire brush (for cleaning the typeface) * Natural bristled brush (general cleaning purposes) * Microfiber cotton cloth (for polishing, gentle to paint) * New ribbon (black, red or black or purple color) * 3 compact cotton tissues (disposable, soak in cleaner or mild soap solution to clean typewriter) * Alcohol spray for cleaning (removes ink, oxidation, stains, surface rust) * Deodorizing spray (for disinfection and removing odor from cases and felt lining) * 10 Special cotton buds with long reach (do not leave cotton strings behind) * Our miracle polishing paste (wonderfully revives paint, also polishes on metal, paint, glass, fiberglass, plastic) * Leather rolling pouch for carrying * Comfy cotton bag for storage * Checklist for cleaning * Copy of manual with tips on cleaning of your typewriter and detailed steps
Amsterdam Typewriter began selling these around 2024-09-24: https://www.facebook.com/groups/typewritermaintenance/posts/3869850413252379/
One set consists of 45 normal keys (12.2mm) + 4 shift keys (16.2mm)
Suggestions for rubber feet replacement options for typewriters:
via various people at https://www.facebook.com/groups/typewritermaintenance/posts/3877326325838121/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1794856020751839/user/100013305603420/
For those who need to hear it, even Duane Jensen of Phoenix Typewriter regularly asks questions about typewriter repair jobs which stump him.
with the Smith Coronas, I like to use the Original 2.1" metal spools, see pic, Phoenix Typewriter sell those BTW. Picture is all the OEM spools SCM used, I sell matching pairs.
We also now stock the smaller Smith Corona TW15 spools for models such as the Calypso, Corsair, Skyriter, Ghia and Zephr.
This 1937 Remington Noiseless 10 came out nice and shiny. My secret? Smear Pledge with your fingertip, let it dry, buff.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAveGA2OiyF/ via Richard Polt
Oliver Sacks Archive Heads to the New York Public Library by [[Jennifer Schuessler]]
The voluminous papers of the celebrated neurologist include letters, notebooks, drafts and other traces of a man who couldn’t stop writing.
You have to love the boos, notebooks, papers, fountain pen, typewriter, computer, printer, and even writing software all pictured in this... Add the glasses and it just reeks of someone who reads and writes.
For Sacks, wrestling with the meaning of experience — his own, his patients’ — continued until the very end. One folder, with the jaunty title “Some Deaths I’ve Liked,” contains the wry and humorous last words of scientists and others, starting with his brother Michael, whose lifelong struggle with schizophrenia greatly affected Sacks. In his telling, Michael sat up abruptly in his hospital gurney and announced, “I’m going outside to smoke a cigarette,” before immediately falling dead.
“He was the first person I knew who had his own personal copying machine,” she said. “He was terrified of losing things, so he often made a lot of copies.”
quote from Kate Edgar, Sacks' assistant and editor
If Zettelkasten is the solution, what was the underlying problem?
Asking my own zettelkasten this question: (responses in no particular order as individual affordances are sure to vary in usefulness by user; some framed as problems while others are framed as affordances, the difference should hopefully be clear to most):
Beyond the cards mentioned above, you should also capture any hard-to-classify thoughts, questions, and areas for further inquiry on separate cards. Regularly go through these to make sure that you are covering everything and that you don’t forget something.I consider these insurance cards because they won’t get lost in some notebook or scrap of paper, or email to oneself.
Julius Reizen in reviewing over Umberto Eco's index card system in How to Write a Thesis, defines his own "insurance card" as one which contains "hard-to-classify thoughts, questions, and areas for further inquiry". These he would keep together so that they don't otherwise get lost in the variety of other locations one might keep them
These might be akin to Ahrens' "fleeting notes" but are ones which may not easily or even immediately be converted in to "permanent notes" for one's zettelkasten. However, given their mission critical importance, they may be some of the most important cards in one's repository.
link this to - idea of centralizing one's note taking practice to a single location
Is this idea in Eco's book and Reizen is the one that gives it a name since some of the other categories have names? (examples: bibliographic index cards, reading index cards (aka literature notes), cards for themes, author index cards, quote index cards, idea index cards, connection cards). Were these "officially" named and categorized by Eco?
May be worthwhile to create a grid of these naming systems and uses amongst some of the broader note taking methods. Where are they similar, where do they differ?
Multi-search tools that have full access to multiple trusted data stores (ostensibly personal ones across notebooks, hard drives, social media services, etc.) could potentially solve the problem of needing to remember where you noted something.
Currently, in the social media space especially, this is not a realized service.
Nevertheless, the very fact that I am going through my notes reflects a new habit I am trying to build, of setting time aside every week, and sometimes more often, deliberately to tend the oldest notes I have and the notes I created or edited in the past week. Old notes take longer, because I have to check old links and decide what to do if they have rotted away. Those notes also need to be reshaped in line with zettelkasten principles. That means deciding on primary tags, considering internal links, splitting the atoms of long notes and so on. At times it frustrates me, but when it goes well I do see structure emerging and with it new thoughts and new directions to follow.
This is reminiscent of the idea that indigenous peoples regularly met at annual feasts to not only celebrate, but to review over their memory palaces and perform their rituals as a means of reviewing and strengthening their memories and ideas.
Appropriate context for this: https://www.jeremycherfas.net/blog/a-garden-with-a-water-feature
The size is 200 x 300 x 150 mm. I use notecards DIN A6. It is 105 x 148 mm. It fits perfectly. Depending on the paper thickness, a box can hold 2,000 to 3,000 sheets.
iylock mentions using a PVC Junction Box (Door Latch type) for their card index box. A solid benefit here is that it ought to be waterproof.
via https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/21420/#Comment_21420
How to ZK a fiction book! Zettelkasten for Fiction- Where Imagination Finds Order'- Book WIP ep. 78 by [[Victoria Crowder]]
meh... interested in the mention, but nothing directly actionable here. Perhaps in her other material?...
u/AmsterdamAssassin typewriter collection https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1fvj11a/my_current_collection_of_vintage_mechanical/
According to Settles & Meeder (2016) [19], spaced repetition is a method that learners can use to revise theconcepts after a specific interval that they had learned earlier
So they've mentioned research in the 1960s, but rely on a 2016 paper for a basic definition of spaced repetition?
I'm beginning to think that the entirety of this work is AI generated...
