Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has been solved for a very long time already. It's called PGP.
PGP and friends are, in practice, mutually exclusive.
if you want to let friends know what is going on you just simply send email/IM/SMS
Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
201–210 of 294 posts
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#202Why does this need to be a "service?"
Why not just write the e-mail in your current e-mail client and then store the draft in its own folder?
People have been doing that for centuries. They'd write a letter to themselves and then store it in a box somewhere instead of sending it.
Some people took it a step farther and would write the letter, and then burn it if they were angry. Very cathartic.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#203Yesterday Paul Graham asked for an email diary service ( https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1216714155731890176 ): > Is there an easy way to build, or a startup that offers, something that will email you once a day asking "What's happening?" and then accumulate the replies? I did just that! Let me know what you think.
He also wrote > Unfortunately, though, in this one case I can't promise that if you build it, I'll use it. Unless I know you, I can't trust that you won't read my emails. (I trusted the previous startup that did it because we'd funded them.) How do you solve the "won't read my emails" problem ? I've seen the statement in your website: > Your data stored and transferred securely. No one will ever read or process your…
> How do you solve the "won't read my emails" problem ?
Just encrypt locally before sending.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
He also wrote > Unfortunately, though, in this one case I can't promise that if you build it, I'll use it. Unless I know you, I can't trust that you won't read my emails. (I trusted the previous startup that did it because we'd funded them.) How do you solve the "won't read my emails" problem ? I've seen the statement in your website: > Your data stored and transferred securely. No one will ever read or process your…
I've written an open-source version you can host yourself on Heroku: https://github.com/maccman/oped
very nice @maccaw
unlike "Diary Email" your readme makes it very clear where the emails go, and since I'd host it I know no-one would read it.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#205This used to exist, it was called OhLife. They would email you every day and say "What's happening in your life" and "Hey do you remember this?" with one random email from your history included. I always liked this service and was sad when they shut down. Pretty sure I started using it due to a post right here on HN.
I wrote WhoaLife ( https://github.com/vonnieda/WhoaLife ) when OhLife shut down. It's self hosted for privacy and designed for Heroku Free Tier. Takes about 15 minutes and no code to deploy. I've been using it since OhLife shut down and it completely fills the gap for me. I recently modernized the code a bit, ported it from Mongo to Postgres and improved the selection of the random entry that is sent to you, but I ha…
your readme still mentions needing a mongo for scheduling if not on heroku. not sure if that's something that didn't get changed or still true.
Also, for those of us who never used OhLife the readme doesn't really tell me what it does.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#206A few days ago a weekly letter I wrote myself called Dear Nick that I BCC a few close friends. I love doing it now Please steal the idea if you like! http://nickcammarata.com/writing/two-experiments-2019
I loved the Dear Nick idea, the weekly script, and sharing the most intimate notes with your closest friends. Good work.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
He also wrote > Unfortunately, though, in this one case I can't promise that if you build it, I'll use it. Unless I know you, I can't trust that you won't read my emails. (I trusted the previous startup that did it because we'd funded them.) How do you solve the "won't read my emails" problem ? I've seen the statement in your website: > Your data stored and transferred securely. No one will ever read or process your…
I've written an open-source version you can host yourself on Heroku: https://github.com/maccman/oped
Thank you.
Once for making this.
Second time for making it genuinely easy to use and setup myself.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wrote WhoaLife ( https://github.com/vonnieda/WhoaLife ) when OhLife shut down. It's self hosted for privacy and designed for Heroku Free Tier. Takes about 15 minutes and no code to deploy. I've been using it since OhLife shut down and it completely fills the gap for me. I recently modernized the code a bit, ported it from Mongo to Postgres and improved the selection of the random entry that is sent to you, but I ha…
your readme still mentions needing a mongo for scheduling if not on heroku. not sure if that's something that didn't get changed or still true. Also, for those of us who never used OhLife the readme doesn't really tell me what it does.
It still uses Mongo on Heroku for now - the Postgres changes haven't been pushed yet.
And yes, good point on the README not explaining what it does. Thank you. I'll fix that.
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
He also wrote > Unfortunately, though, in this one case I can't promise that if you build it, I'll use it. Unless I know you, I can't trust that you won't read my emails. (I trusted the previous startup that did it because we'd funded them.) How do you solve the "won't read my emails" problem ? I've seen the statement in your website: > Your data stored and transferred securely. No one will ever read or process your…
I addressed it in a comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22045670 > But once the data leaves the browser there is no way to know, wouldn't you consider to partner with Gmail(or others) and appear as an addon to an already trusted company in order to start off the business ? Also, I understand the concern and that Paul most likely will not trust their secrets to anyone. The problem is that's not a business, b…
> I addressed it in a comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22045670
As I read that, users must trust you. There's nothing that would actually prevent you from accessing the data.
So it's arguably misleading to call it a "private diary".
Re: Show HN: Write a private diary using good old email
#210Paul Graham Paul Graham Paul Graham. Paul Graham Paul Graham Paul Graham Paul Graham? Paul Graham Paul Graham Paul Graham Paul Graham! Paul Graham.
Paul Graham?