A brief history of the Log
The log was started towards the end of 1998, as an attempt to keep
track of my wacky adventures. It was slow going at first, with entries
being relatively short and rare. At this time the log was simply a set
of html files, updated by hand. Hardly ideal. In October of 1999,
something was done about the situation, and a mysql database was
created to hold all the log entries. There was a php front end which
even included a (very limited) search interface to the log. And there
was a perl script for adding new log entries. And life became much
better. Log entries increased in quality and length and
frequency. But life was not entirely perfect. The search feature
needed improving. The keywords system I had decided to use for
searches proved to be something I disliked. And I wanted to add more
features, such as user comments, an improved mailing list, entry
topics and titles, etc... So, when, in August of 2000, the newest
version of mysql decided to no longer accept a column called "when", I
found myself in need of updating my log scripts simply to keep it
functional. And thus this, the second version of my log scripties, was
born. Since then, enhancements come whenever I get bored or really want
them. Thus comments, ratings, graphs, random entries, and much more found
their way into the code. What does the future hold? Stay tuned to find out!
How to use this page
The navigation bar on the left side of this screen should be a good
place to get started. Viewing entries individually is pretty
straightforward. Any time a list of entries may be generated, though,
the list can be viewed in long or short format. Short format just
lists the entry dates and titles, with links to the actual entry,
while long format displays all the entries in their entirety. This may
take some time to load...
A few notes on searching: The default is to search the entry text,
using boolean and to join the search terms, and to display the results
in short list format. However, these options can be changed on the
search page.
And a few notes on general oddities: When I first started manually
entering log entries, I only kept track of the date, not the
time. Since the log switched to a database backend, the time has been
recorded as well, but entries from before that time will show up with
only a date, not a time. Similarly, I only started associating titles
with entries when I wrote version 2 of the log. So entries from before
then have very boring titles of the format "Log Entry ###".
I also added a "graph" feature which is kind of independent of the
main log, which I use to generate graphs of datapoints I keep track of
over time.
Mailing List
Due to popular demand (i.e. Arun asked for it), my log entries get
mailed out when I enter them. If you want to receive log entries via
email, you will need to be a registered log user. Go to the user
section for details.
Other Online Journals
Quite a few of my friends now maintain online journals. Mine was
first, tho! haha! Here's a list, which I by no means guarantee to be
complete:
And I'd like to dedicate the space below to people formerly listed above, but
who no longer maintain journals I know about.
May this serve as pressure on them to return to the online journalling world,
and if they do so, I hope they'll let me know.
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