Tech magnate Elon Musk protested Monday against President Trump’s barrage of tariffs on foreign imports by reposting the late libertarian economist Milton Friedman’s famous “pencil speech.” ...

Apple in 2015 unveiled the original Apple Pencil, its first stylus designed to work with the first-generation iPad Pro. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs ...

Now, another is in the works near Lake of the Isles. A giant no. 2 pencil is be sculpted out of a dead tree in John Higgins's front yard.

And then there's the Quick N Silent pencil sharpener. * * * Pencil sharpeners are, in fact, one of the few classroom technologies that have not experienced a radical redesign in the past century.

Instead, the pencil is accessible, plebeian and utilitarian. If put in the right hands, it can also produce incredible works of art. Pencils are often relegated to sketching and drafting.