I don't specifically do time-based logging, but I do have a local Mediawiki instance for knowledge about my life. You could probably easily write a template for doing log entries, so your Mediawiki syntax is short and sweet, but your log entries are nicely formatted and timestamped.
Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
21–30 of 138 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly for this purpose - using TG as a "personal logging/journaling" platform - I've long thought of building a bot. Since Telegram's bot API is very robust, simple to use and set up, it can be done easily. I've imagined the bot to: * save each message in the chat as a separate "log" in a text file that is saved on an online backup. This can be a private GitHub repo, OneDrive, etc. * give a short summary/statistics…
Oh! A friend of mine made a bot like that! https://github.com/martinthenext/daytobase
Yup, I remember taking a look at this bot and its code! It's great work put in by your friend, cheers to him :D
Though I really wanted my logs to be logged in a plaintext file, I'll give this a try again. Thanks!
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#23I'm using org mode (in particular, org capture) on my desktop and Orgzly on Android for active logging. For passive logging, I've got Orger, set of scripts that are pulling data from different APIs and render it as org-mode [1]. Having it as org-mode allows me for quick search and recall in the logs. There is also Memacs that uses similar approach [2]. 1. https://beepb00p.xyz/orger.html 2. https://github.com/novoid/M…
The idea of pushing formats back to org mode is brilliant design.
You basically coerce all manner of new formats into soemthing you can easily manipulate in the future - which is kind of the essential feature of a note taking system.
You will obviously have to update those scripts a little as these other formats change but then again you’ll only have to do so for the systems u really care about.
Would be great if you could wrap all this back up into a emacs package for easy install ;)
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#24I'm using org mode (in particular, org capture) on my desktop and Orgzly on Android for active logging. For passive logging, I've got Orger, set of scripts that are pulling data from different APIs and render it as org-mode [1]. Having it as org-mode allows me for quick search and recall in the logs. There is also Memacs that uses similar approach [2]. 1. https://beepb00p.xyz/orger.html 2. https://github.com/novoid/M…
A few years ago I came to the conclusion that whenever I was struggling with an information task, the correct answer was org-mode. It's remarkable how I forget it over and over again. I'm using an iphone, do you have any suggestions about how to sync up entries made on the move?
Beorg for mobile.
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#25org-mode, emacs, and a git repo
Org mode has a diary feature so the git repo not strictly necessary.
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#26Very interested in this as well. I use Notion for more in depth notes but I also want a very low friction way to stream thoughts out of my mind and into an organized place.
I built a prototype that does this. It’s got a UI very similar to twitter but organized by day. Special hash tags on a messages at the end of one day appear front and center on the next day so you can get cached in on what you were doing.
I gave up after a few weeks. I don’t use it enough for it to be useful.
So I need to iterate a lot for this to be valuable. I wanted to prototype this before going crazy about building a tool that I wouldn’t even use. Glad I did because now I know the magic needs to happen on the data entry side to make that more frequent.
Ive got a bazillion ideas on how to extract meaning and apply organization to the random little messages ... but without having a personal corpus of entries to mine it’s impossible.
I keep seeing this question pop up though so I know it’s a problem for more than just me, and there is a need in the market. An iOS/Android app was showcased here recently called ZenJournal but it’s not quite what I’m looking for either.
I almost need a lapel mic that can be activated very easily - so I can dictate to this thing as stuff comes to mind. Sometimes the friction comes from trying to organize my thoughts before I write them, which defeats the point.
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#27I played around a bit with putting it in commit messages on an empty git branch, hanging my current working copy on the commit as a parent.
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#28May I suggest my webapp https://histre.com/
You can use it to automatically keep track of your online research, notes etc, and have a nice knowledge base as a result. It connects to Telegram too, so you can take notes on the go. You don't need to install a new app for that.
Re: Ask HN: Best solutions for keeping a personal log?
#29Somebody else already mentioned it, but emacs org-mode is what I use. I have a document in my dropbox with the cheeky name "life.org", in which I contain everything from my sleep log to my recipes to my work lab notebook.
If you're like me, you have trouble sticking to journals/logs. I like having one collapsible document in outline form. I can remember it, and I come back to it. It works well with the natural chaos of life. And it feels more satisfying to add to one big log.