How often do you put pen to paper?
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- How much of your coding is done by AI coding agents these days? Posted on June 21st, 2026 | 33 comments
not on paper (Score:4, Funny)
Re:not on paper (Score:4, Funny)
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Jeeze, I just use a little rubbing alcohol. Comes right off.
[John]
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For those of you who think that permanent markers (sharpies) are difficult to remove you should try some of the wonderful modern cleaners out there. One I have used in the past is called GoofOff and will actually remove sharpie, tar, latex paint and some other things as well and doesn't harm plastics.
Yea, except ... those chemicals will freaking kill the anti-glare coating.
Plenty of things will remove things from the surface of your LCD display, including the anti-glare covering. You're an idiot if you're using GoofOff on your monitor.
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I use my pen to clean my ears. To be effective, you really have to jab it in there hard. Don't be afraid to break past that first resistance you feel.
This life tip brought to you by Global Safety Patrol: "We don't make the world, we make it better!"
grocery list on the fridge (Score:3)
I find that 90% of the writing (with pen/pencil) I do is putting things on the grocery list on the fridge. Once grocery lists are made obsolete by internet-connected fridges automatically ordering food online, I'll never put pen to paper again.
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Sometimes I sketch out an idea. For everything else, no paper.
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Sometimes I sketch out an idea. For everything else, no paper.
Dry-erase whiteboards are amazing for this. In an average day at the office, I do far more doodling and scrawling on my giant whiteboard next to my desk than on the notepads lying around me.
...Easier to color-code, too.
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Dry-erase whiteboards are amazing for this. In an average day at the office, I do far more doodling and scrawling on my giant whiteboard next to my desk than on the notepads lying around me. ...Easier to color-code, too.
Yeah, they're awesome. I use those at work. Sometimes I get ideas when I'm not at work. :)
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Sometimes I sketch out an idea. For everything else, no paper.
Dry-erase whiteboards are amazing for this. In an average day at the office, I do far more doodling and scrawling on my giant whiteboard next to my desk than on the notepads lying around me. ...Easier to color-code, too.
I prefer a graph paper notebook. Easier to draw on (for me at least), guide lines for sketching, and I've got a log of every great idea all in one place, no worries of someone coming along and erasing it.
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Sometimes I sketch out an idea. For everything else, no paper.
Dry-erase whiteboards are amazing for this. In an average day at the office, I do far more doodling and scrawling on my giant whiteboard next to my desk than on the notepads lying around me. ...Easier to color-code, too.
I prefer a graph paper notebook. Easier to draw on (for me at least), guide lines for sketching, and I've got a log of every great idea all in one place, no worries of someone coming along and erasing it.
That's why god made small digital cameras. The camera in your cell phone is good enough to permanently capture your grand ideas whether you construct them on a huge white board or on graph paper.
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My grocery list and my shop supply list intermingle. So I keep them on a pocket sized sheet of paper. Since I do not enjoy blowing the sawdust out of the keyboard, scraping the epoxy spatters from the screen.
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I keep the grocery list on a shared folder on the server.
Much easier, especially since most of it will be the same every time.
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I find that 90% of the writing (with pen/pencil) I do is putting things on the grocery list on the fridge. Once grocery lists are made obsolete by internet-connected fridges automatically ordering food online, I'll never put pen to paper again.
We keep ours in a family-shared drop-box folder. Anyone can edit it from their computer, phone, iPad - whatever. And when I go to the store, as long as I've got my phone... I've also got the grocery list.
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Can't you manually order food online already?
You could take that one step further and get a computer and keyboard hooked up to your fridge, then have a script automatically look for the food you typed in online. Then after you reach a certain threshold of either time or money spent on food it would order the food and it will arrive at your door!
Next step, building a robot to retrieve food from door when it arrives and put it into the fridge or freezer. Oh, and don't forget about getting one to cook your food and feed it to yourself too!
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Integrate a barcode reader and you won't have to type, just pass the empty package in front of it!
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Integrate a barcode reader and you won't have to type, just pass the empty package in front of it!
That's a great idea! Then you don't even have to worry about it ordering the wrong food.
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Or order a computing device with fridge magnet:
https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/ [alwaysinnovating.com]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZm6qM0KPpg [youtube.com]
Yes, maybe you could add a barcode reader as mentioned below.
All the time... (Score:3)
I still write letters and cards by hand and take notes because I actually like it. I find that the more often I type the worse my spelling gets with my hand-written materials simply because of the editors I use fix my poor spelling. If I write down thoughts and words daily, I force my memory to properly recollect the correct spellings and then later when I type, I find I type faster and with less errors.
I feel that putting pen to paper keeps the following skills up: reading, writing (obviously), dexterity, mobility in my aging hands, memory remains sharper and when I write a word versus type a word, I tend to find the desire to use other more appropriate words rather than what I can type real quick.
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For me, it's the opposite. Since I mostly type in English which isn't my native language, the spell checker helps me learn the proper spelling. Now, if only there was a decent grammar checker for Firefox:|
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Now, if only there was a decent grammar checker for Firefox:|
If only there were a decent grammar checker for anything. Grammar checking is a hard problem in any language, but it's especially hard in English where grammar rules are inherited from half a dozen different languages and some only apply in some forms of writing.
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I use this terrific tool to fix my spelling:
http://ankisrs.net/ [ankisrs.net]
Whenever the spellchecker marks a word for me, I add it to Anki. I use it to learn other things as well.
PIN Codes (Score:5, Insightful)
Have you ever heard about PIN Codes?.
Who is under-developed now? eh?
greetings form South America.
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Bit of a rant coming up, but here goes:
US banking/payment systems are just bizarre and, frankly, annoying. I'm Australian but married an American and thus visit the US regularly (and have a bank account there too). And it boggles the mind every time I visit:
- People still use cheques. Regularly. I couldn't believe it. haven't seen a cheque since the late 80s, and I don't actually think anyone would accept them anymore in Australia except for very large purchases. Certainly not at the supermarket or a regula
Re:PIN Codes (Score:4, Informative)
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No chip on credit card though, all PIN based.
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The PIN does not leave the card-reading device. It is not transmitted anywhere.
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For the rest of the transaction. The PIN is verified locally, either against the chip or mag stripe, then it contracts the payment processor to do the rest of the money moving.
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You must enter a PIN every time the card is swiped, so, no hassle or worries checking every entry on the card statement looking for possible misuse. (at least from restaura
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It isn't. It is authenticated by means of a challenge response on the chip itself and the result sent to the bank for processing. I log onto my internet banking using a chip&pin card. The card reader has no wireless connection to anything. I get a number from the website which I enter along with the pin and the card reader gives me another number to type into the website to prove I did it.
The wifi card reader will work in a similar way but the amount requested, the account details and the challenge/
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Tips paid this way don't go to the server, they are divided up amongst the servers working that day, so a crappy server get the same amount of tips as a fantastic server. I usually put a 0 there and pay the tip in cash so that just that server gets the tip, I also hand it to them so I know they got the tip.
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In the European countries where I've been tipping is not needed to get properly paid salary. Tips go to the establishment not the server.
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... The comment was made based on the fact that in Europe you don't typically tip by default. You aren't expected to pay for your meal and also pay the server because the restaurant is scamming them by not paying them an actual rate and expecting you the customer to pay extra for them.
We're the only morons who think its acceptable to pay full price for a meal, then pay extra to actually get the food at our table.
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The comment was made based on the fact that in Europe you don't typically tip by default.
That was a very big blanket statement, and I would say mostly wrong. Europe is a big place with many customs, I'd say its much less common to tip service people like hotel staff or taxi drivers but most restaurants - not pubs or cafes though - would expect you to tip 5%, maybe up to 10% if you're very pleased. At least rounding up the bill is very common. Some include a service charge in their prices, then it's not expected but for above-and-beyond service you can still add a small tip.
Unlike the US though
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You're not going to insult anyone by not tipping so if you think the service is just average don't tip.
In Italy, it used to be the case that leaving a tip in coins was considered an insult (because, before the Euro, anything lower denomination than a note was basically worthless). This also works in other countries. I left a five cent tip in a restaurant in the USA where the service was appalling - it lets them know that you are not leaving a reasonable tip because you thought the service was bad, rather than just because you forgot or didn't understand the local custom. Some of my friends who were at th
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So only the banks are well developed, not Main Street? That explains a lot.
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Even if the debt is not repaid, or is repaid with devalued/worthless money, there's still a cost.
Resources, productivity, and lives are lost, literally gone up in smoke.
It is a high price to pay for refueling the car, if the wars indeed have such a rational purpose as that.
Pencil (Score:2)
Daily! (Score:2)
Post-It stickers for me. :)
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Yeah, I often jot scribbled one- or two-word notes to myself on post-its throughout the day as little reminders about things. It's faster than typing on my phone, or whatever else one would use.
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Same here like just now to write down what to bring in for Monday. However, I don't even own a cell/smart phone. Other things, I use text files to write down other notes too.
right tool for the job (Score:3)
I use (and abuse) pens through out the day. I answer the phone for a living (translation: I'm currently doing Help Desk work), and I find it much more convenient to scribble the caller's name and keywords about their problem on a pad of paper than to type them on a computer. It really is a better tool for quick notes.
It's also therapeutic for me to take out my frustrations with the callers by destroying cheap ballpoint pens, than to do so on a relatively expensive keyboard or mouse. I go through at least one pen a week.
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I don't work in a call center but I do constantly write little notes down on a piece of printer paper when I'm trying to figure out how something works. The free-form nature of it lets me draw little pictures, arrows, put boxes around stuff, etc. I will occasionally put stuff in gvim but the paper lets me keep note of anything, easily.
Yesterday I drew a picture of how our systems work, scanned it, and emailed it to someone. I started in Visio and realized I was going to spend an hour making a pretty picture
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"...while you're already using the keyboard and mouse". That's one problem with the notepad.exe method: if I'm interacting with an application on the computer, I can't type a note without switching away from it. I can write with just one hand, leaving my other hand free (e.g. push buttons on the phone, grab a manual, make an obscene gesture in the direction of the phone) enabling me to multitask (not just task-switching with a single input device, like you describe). If someone rattles off their phone numbe
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Mainly just for checks (Score:2)
I mainly use pens to jot down information while I'm talking on my cell phone (which is where I'd normally enter data) and to write checks for the kids' lunch money. Although I don't use checks at stores ever, they're still handy for paying bills with companies that don't have online payment systems.
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I mainly use pens to jot down information while I'm talking on my cell phone (which is where I'd normally enter data)
That's one of the reasons I like my cheap bluetooth headset, I can use my phone to check my email or some website if it comes up in conversation.
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... oh dear... the America-bashing was bad enough regarding credit cards and PINs... did you have to mention checks/cheques?
Re:Mainly just for checks (Score:4, Interesting)
My bank -- and I think most banks now -- let you send cheques from your account online. You fill out all the info, and they print and mail the cheque to your utility, etc. Very convenient. And if your cheque doesn't arrive or arrives late, you have an electronic record backed by your bank that a cheque was sent on time.
You know .. in more developed parts of the world, you just do an electronic transfer from your account to the utilities account. And no .. I don't mean an automatic reoccurring debit, I mean you access your account, select the utilities account, specify how much you want to pay and hit "do it!". Why the obsession with checks when its not even you writing and sending them?
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Because checks are the only money transfer method which the banks are legally mandated to provide free at the point of use. (Or so I understand.)
Why has the government not got off its backside and mandated free use of BACS? Or why has competiton not forced the bank's collective hand?
Well, those are different questions.
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Direct transfers aren't free here either, but they cost like 10 cents (depends on the bank obviously, plus purchasing power here is lower than in the US, so take that into account), but everyone uses them, instead of fucking around with checks. Why do you feel that something has to be proved to you for free?
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My bank does that, but my day-to-day financial needs invariably play out like this:
Me: Come on, kids. It's time to leave for school.
Daughter: OK, Dad. By the way, if I don't have lunch money by today, they're going to feed me crackers. # That's really what they do if you're out of lunch money
Me: Get my checkbook.
I use ACH and online checks for other stuff, but paper checks are still convenient here for those times when you need to pay some random party right this moment.
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Ever heard of cash? Just pull out five bucks from your pocket and be done with it. Works pretty well.
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Ever heard of receipts? Checks have them built-in.
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My bank lets me transfer the money directly to the utility co's account. I type in the details on the website, and about three days later once their Babbage Difference Engine has processed it, it appears on their bank statement.
I'm a Geocacher (Score:2)
I still haven't found a way to feed the log sheets through a laser printer I'm capable of carrying around, particularly when the logs are wet or those infernal Blinky logs.
Few times a month (Score:2)
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(Somehow i misread "only when i pay with a credit card" as "only when i pay off my credit card", which seemed confusing and irrelevant until i realized my mistake after reading some of the comments.)
Missing Alternative (Score:2)
Quick notes (Score:2)
It's much faster jotting on paper (if available) than it is to pull out my iPhone and type in Notes on the virtual "keyboard".
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Shoulda got an N900 B-)
Not throughout the day, but the night (Score:2)
I work night shift you insensitive clod!
And while the ADLs are now done on computer, the toileting and repositioning sheets are still pen and paper.
math (Score:5, Insightful)
Math will always be difficult to 'computerize' - just the way I like it.
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Yeah it's great for writing things up, but absolutely no use for doing the calculations.
You don't use TeX for doing the calculations, you use a language like R, Mathlab, or whatever, depending on the kind of mathematics you're doing. Doing calculations by hand is something you do at school to prove to yourself that you really understand what's going on. If you're doing it for real problems, rather than giving instructions to a computer, then you're doing it wrong. There's a reason why the computer science and mathematics departments generally have very close ties in most universities...
Re:math (Score:4, Insightful)
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I'm quite ok with people in general not having any idea on what mathematics is about. But this is /., people here should really know better.
You are the second one making that same mistake. That is bad...
Pencil solution (Score:2)
This is actually one of the few times that response isn't hyperbolic. The pen is like a keyboard without a delete key; I prefer clean, correct code, whether the context is machine-readable or human-readable code.
Handwriting as a mnemonic device (Score:4, Insightful)
IMHO, writing short notes by hand seems to act as a mnemonic device - it installs stuff in memory much better than typing.
I also find myself sketching 1st drafts of network diagrams/dataflows with a soft-leaded sketching pencil. Somehow this clarifies my thinking so that once I create a proper digital document the process goes much more easily.
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I've noticed this as well. When I'm learning a new subsystem of a code base I learn it much faster when I copy out notes and draw sketches by hand vs. doing it on the computer. I've also found that I can make new ideas gel much better as well when I write them directly to paper.
As a graphics programmer, I'm definitely a visually/spatially-oriented person so I wonder if that isn't part of the explanation for it? Typing at a keyboard seems like a far more symbolic/verbal thing. Firing up a drawing program
I use a pencil (Score:2)
you insensitive clod!
Only at restaurants (Score:2)
The only time I use pens outside of the rare "official paperwork" efforts is when signing the credit card receipt at lunch/dinner.
All The Time (Score:2)
My notebook is an invaluable interviewing tool. I note down names bec
Rule #1: Draw a Picture (Score:5, Insightful)
I solve problems for a living. Rule #1 for problem solving is "Draw a Picture". Much easier to do that in my engineering notebook.
Any sort of mathematical derivation is easier to do on paper. Initial storyboarding is easier on paper (before you whiteboard it in front of a group). Diagramming data flow. The list goes on...
Sure, there are tools for putting together pretty presentation-worthy versions of these, but for rapid idea sorting throughout the day, pen and paper is the only way to go.
Re:Rule #1: Draw a Picture (Score:4, Insightful)
I solve problems for a living. Rule #1 for problem solving is "Draw a Picture". Much easier to do that in my engineering notebook. [...]
Sure, there are tools for putting together pretty presentation-worthy versions of these, but for rapid idea sorting throughout the day, pen and paper is the only way to go.
I seriously believe most of those pretty presentation-worthy versions should be hand-drawn, too. It's faster to draw by hand, and the results are more readable than what you get by connecting boxes in MS Powerpoint, MS Word, etc. Then you just take a photo, adjust brightness/contrast, and paste it into the document.
Not for things which are going to be read by people in suits perhaps, but most diagrams I make are only read by other programmers.
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That is a clear selling point for tablets (the old input device, not the current use meaning a kind of computer, altough you can use a modern tablet as an old tablet). Taking a picture of a drwaing is a big problem (requires correcting, and is never as nice to read as a completely digital draw.)
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You can just draw in a virtual notebook on an iPad. Penultimate is a great app for that. Then there is a "share" button on the notebook which you can use to email the drawing.
The iPad or iPhone screen is sensitive enough to draw 1 pixel lines with your finger.
bah! (Score:2)
I use a pencil, you insensitive clod. (I just need to scribble short notes, and I just rub out the old stuff, and write in the new.
Not since I got an iPad (Score:2)
Since I got an iPad, I just draw and sketch on that, so that it is already digitized. But I do use a graphics workstation with Wacom tablet and pen.
Pen? (Score:2)
Many years ago, both the Americans and the Soviets were discovering the difficulty of writing in space. A few civilian Americans developed the Space pen. Called the AG7, the ballpoint is made from tungsten carbide and is precisely fitted in order to avoid leaks. A sliding float separates the ink from the pressurized gas. The thixotropic ink in the hermetically sealed and pressurized reservoir is claimed to write for three times longer than a standard ballpoint pen. The pen can write at altitudes up to 12,50
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You left off the negatives on the temperatures when you plagiarised that [wikipedia.org].
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Where I work (scientist at a major pharma company), much of what we do is regulated by the FDA. The FDA requires hard copies of most all records with initials and timestamps for most entries. I legally can't get away from pen and paper.
As my Chem prof. said - "Write it in ink!" Penciled notes were marked down. I still use a pencil at work, though.
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I probably would have responded to that prof in the only sensible way possible, I would have used erasable ink.
Being a smarta$$ comes naturally
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I had that happen to a piece of paper worth at least a few dozen grand once. It was kicking around the courthouse somewhere, but not with the casefile.
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Wow, that's pretty archaic.
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