A while ago they were discontinued by the original manufacturer and for a few years they were only available via eBay hoarders. Then Palomino bought the IP and starting making them again. I bought a pack once and… they were fine. Your use in drawing makes sense. They basically reminded me of a 4B drawing pencil with a really crappy eraser (and weird, fussy ferrule that’s supposed to be adjustable, I guess?). I go through a lot of writing pencils and the value isn’t there for me at $2/stick.
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GRRM still famously writes his stuff on a DOS computer with either wordstar or wordperfect. My go-to keyboard for programming was made when I was a year old (a nice Model M.) If you’ve got a tool you’re going to use every day, you want it to be the one you’re most comfortable & productive with.
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No disagreement there, but I never use the erasers attached to any pencil; that’s a graphic artist no-no.
They almost always leave marks.
That said, I have to opine that Blackwings are far superior drawing tools to mere 4B pencils.
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Attached erasers are for when you really want to fuck it up more than you just did with the pointy end 
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Too true.
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I mostly use one of those little 0.5 propelling pencils so I can change the hardness whenever, with an extra rubber grip from a rollerball pen and the name worn off, and just a trace of shitty eraser left to hold the leads in. Still, once I chuck it in Photoshop it turns into this anyway…
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Somehow, I had no idea you were artistic; that’s really good.
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Thanks - I’m all kinds of creative - I shan’t flood the thread though 
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While I’d love to use chalk, most of the schools in my area have converted completely to dry erase, if not a smart board (or both). As such I recommend the refillable kind (the ones from Pilot have visible ink reservoirs, and thus eliminate the Schrodinger’s pen situation).
Amazon (non-affiliate) to four color Pilot refillable whiteboard markers.
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It can’t be the buzz, amiright?
Have many whiteboards being I practically study math professionally. Windex cleans off old dry erase markers 100% of the time. If it doesn’t wipe off with just a paper towel, you might need either windex and/or a Clorox wipe.
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Or going over it again with dry erase marker. That’ll even let you erase sharpie.
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I’d love to see you try that on one of your white boards and post the video here lol. I like my whiteboards too much to permanently change them. I have an acid that could take it off but, I don’t know if it would damage the board in the process.
Chalk-throwing seems to be a Japanese comedic staple of some sort.
I reckon you stick mostly with the high-end porcelain whiteboards rather than the cheaper melamine ones?
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My gues is that certain mathematicians would simply pass out from the fumes LONG before they got to any type of QED. Analysis comes to mind.
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You lived to tell the tale!
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(Yes the above equation is wrong, I have the power to make mistakes).
I have porcelain, glass, and plastic depending on size. I have classroom size, handheld, etc.
Incidentally, one of the banes of our existence as academic mathematicians is being told what tools of our trade we are permitted to use. While some of us do prefer whiteboards, the overwhelming majority still prefer chalkboards, yet in universities all over the country there is incessant external pressure to replace the latter by the former, usually by people who have made no effort to understand the reason for the preference.
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The video and the discussion focus on teaching. Blackboards and chalk, 3B pencils and scrap paper are also used for thinking, particilarly the early stages of getting an idea. You know it’s there somewhere, so you draw your vector, and a couple of points off the vector, and a tube around the vector for the points close to it, and… aah nearly had it… draw it again. Or it might be half a formula, or a tree of connections.
I am not a blackboard man, but I imagine trying to think with the wrong chalk must be pain. Like me trying to use paper and a hard pencil. I personally prefer a 4-colour Bic, so I can overlay things without putting down the pen.
I like composing text on a computer. The endless ability to cut, paste, delete, and undelete is wonderful. But I have never found any computer or tablet app that works for thinking. Maybe younger people can do this?
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Though not a teacher, my parents were. The advantage of a well-placed eraser hit is also the white splotch of shame that the eraser can leave behind. “Oh man, did you fall asleep in Mrs. Malaclypse’s class again?”
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