From a friend's email, today:

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ball point pens would not work in 0 gravity.To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300C.

The Russians used a pencil.

Enjoy paying your taxes this year!