JakeSparkleChicken

This is the calculator that my father bought for his senior year of high school in 1974. He showed it to me when I was four and I remember being amazed that a little box could add and subtract, captivated by the tiny red numbers. It was a few months later that he brought home our first computer, a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, and I was again smitten. So much of the trajectory of my life can be traced back to those two objects.

When I opened the unit up I was not too terribly surprised to see a set of four AA batteries from the late 80's still installed, but I was very lucky that they hadn't leaked. I popped a new set in and it powered on with no issues. I played with it for a moment, the first time I had ever pushed the buttons on it, and placed it in the closet. I know it will be the perfect phylactery when I become a lich.

Originally posted by @[email protected] to [email protected]

I finally got around to picking up a Majohn A2, and it has been a phenomenal writing experience! For an extra fine nib, it is wet and smooth, just the slightest bit of feedback from the paper. While the action of the push button has a noticeable hitch in it, it is still a very satisfying frob to play with. The size is perfect for the weight, and the clip doesn't get in the way of the way that I hold it. The only thing that sucks about it is that now I want one in black that I can fill with Platinum Carbon Black and a dark blue one to fill with Diamine Midnight. Many thanks to @[email protected] for the review that sparked my desire!

Nahvalur Original Plus in Matira Quartz with a Medium Steel nib, and inked up with Diamine Frosted Orchid. Absolutely stunning combination! Bonus definition of the word chatoyant.

I just got an email from Casio Education saying that the next graphing calculator is coming next summer, and that prototypes will be shown off at the National Council of Teachers of Match Expo. I'm in the Chicago area, but tickets for non-members are way outside of my discretionary budget. If anybody is going, you'll have to fill us in!

The TI-nspire CX CAS was my first calculator with in integrated CAS, and it was a revelation! I was amazed that a handheld calculator could do symbolic logic, even though the technology goes back to the late '90s. I just never knew that it was a thing. The UI and software for the CX is almost identical to the CX II, though the CX II is more than twice as fast. The touchpad in the middle of the directional button was also improved quite a bit on the CX II. I still use this guy quite a bit, just because it is a special calculator to me. The CAS is not as full-featured as that on either the HP Prime or the Casio fx-CG500, but still powerful as hell. The CX also does not have the third-party support that the TI-89 Titanium has, but is many times faster than it and has the benefit of using a UI that was designed for its form factor.

The pen is an Asvine V200 Titanium M.

My new Asvine V200 Titanium with a medium nib arrived yesterday. The vacuum filler is much smoother than any of my V126s, and on par with my TWSBI Vac 700R. I also picked up a 30 ml bottle of Diamine Earl Grey, but the number of fills I'll be able to get with this pen is limited by the section being too wide to fit in the mouth of the bottle. I need to get different ink? Oh no!

Calculator is a TI-nspire CX CAS, and was my first calculator with a built-in CAS.

My wife got me this Hongdian 1851 for Christmas last year, along with the astronaut pen holder. Since I keep it out on my desk, it is the pen that I reach for most often. It has the finest line of all of my pens and I keep it inked up with iroshizuku murasaki-shikibu, which is an incredibly close match to the body of the pen. It has a lot of feedback without being scratchy, and is great to write with.

The calculator is a Casio fx-260 Solar II, which Kristi also got me for Christmas some years ago. It's the calculator that I grab most often since it is the easiest to get to. It's my little Apocalypse Calculator since it has no battery and is solar powered only.

Sorry the angle is a little funky, but this is one of my two workhorses, the Casio BN-20. This guy gets used almost every day, and is my primary source of truth for my calendar and contacts. It was released in 1998 and has 2 MB of user memory. The spreadsheet function is pretty rudimentary, and the only function that I don't have a lot of experience with. The expense function is the best expense tool I've ever seen on an electronic organizer. I run Xubuntu on modern hardware and can sync the data using Casio PC Sync through Wine and with a USB to serial converter.

I finally completed my collection of all six colorways of the Asvine V126 fountain pen. All of them have Asvine medium nibs, and I've been delighted with how well all of them feel in the hand and lay down ink. I'm also mighty happy with the inks that I've paired them with, although the shimmer in the Heart of Gold means that I need to spend more time on maintenance than the others.

I've had this guy for about a 18 months and it is one of my favorites. It is slower than the HP Prime and the TI-nspire CX II CAS, but still blows the TI-89 Titanium out of the water as far as speed goes. The huge touchscreen gives it a unique UI that is easier to navigate than the TIs. I've found that this is the best of my collection for linear algebra, and it is the easiest of my CAS calculators to use.

Does anybody else find it odd that the HP Prime stashes the vector field plots in the Geometry app instead of the Advanced Graphing app?