Online logs?

[Martin]

I'm sure I'm not the only one around here who keeps a screening log or something like that. I guess it's a super-OCD thing to do - my excuse is I have a hard time keeping track of all the movies I watch, and a log helps me out immensely when I'm compiling lists, writing articles, etc. Question for vous though: Does anyone know of a good online logging service? I'm thinking something like allconsuming.net but just for movies and not with all that social networking bullshit involved ("hey, try this shitty movie!"). I'm tired of keeping a bunch of word documents around (one overall log and individual ones for each decade, if you want to know) - I want a one-stop web solution.

[cutout]

You could just set up a free WordPress blog and make a new post every time you watched a movie. You could categorize those posts as "Movies" and then make room for other categories like "Books", which means you could filter the results easily if you ever wanted to view specific archives. Also, a blog would automatically timestamp everything so searching/browsing by date would be easy.

[A.M. Thomas]

Hey Martin, I do this.

I used to keep my list in a word document, but I recently switched over to Google Documents.  I know it's not really a "logging service," but it works well for me.  I sort by the director's last name and include the film title, year, and date I watched the film on the same line.

I also keep a list of every book I read, show I go to, and record I buy.  That probably seems pretty pathetic, but I just can't help myself!  I love indexing and cataloging things.

[Emily]

Why do you keep a log of your possessions? Do you update the log if you sell something?

When I worked in the Public Library there were a few older patrons who carried around a list of books they've read, so they wouldn't bring the same home book twice.

[A.M. Thomas]

Why do you keep a log of your possessions? Do you update the log if you sell something?

When I worked in the Public Library there were a few older patrons who carried around a list of books they've read, so they wouldn't bring the same home book twice.

I have no idea.  I've done it for a long time.  False sense of accomplishment, maybe?

[Martin]

Google Documents is actually not a bad idea - I could pretty easily convert the docs I already keep.

A blog is fine, I guess, but not exactly what I'm looking for.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

ive tried looking for the same thing (before i finally gave up), but i couldnt find anything that didn't have any social networking catch.

"Log everything you watch, then see who else has watched it.  Discuss!"

[Martin]

Exactly, Baron. That's sort of my beef with allconsuming. Some of my friends are on there, but I'm not interested in sharing all the stuff I see, hear, read, etc.

[Gilly]

Why couldn't you use a site like Allconsuming or Rateyourmusic and just not add any friends and create a name that nobody would associate with you?

[Martin]

I suppose.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

sorry, Gilly, i would hate that.  eventually people will bug me or leave me comments and if not, then the website will constantly send me emails reminding me to branch out into the world of social cataloging. 

[cutout]

Google Documents is actually not a bad idea - I could pretty easily convert the docs I already keep.

A blog is fine, I guess, but not exactly what I'm looking for.

Out of curiosity, why would static docs be better than a database-driven blog (with built-in search/categorization/plugin options)?

[Martin]

It wouldn't. I'm open to all suggestions.

[AllisonLeGnome]

This is probably obvious, but if you use an online service be sure to save a copy periodically- when recordnerd.com died (and eventually came back with some data missing) a while ago, I had to redo my list (the only one I keep).

[yesno]

It wouldn't. I'm open to all suggestions.

Text files.  The only way to keep data in a format that will last, that can be read on any system, and that is infinitely expandable to meet any future needs, is text files.^*

Use Markdown or something similar, and learn a decent editor, and you're gold.

You can do "code" folding, various text snippets to make entry fast, have context-sensitive display, etc.

If you need anything beyond that, I'd recommend a simple database.  Filemaker's Bento is pretty great but it's Mac only.

^*I do production editing for my school's tech policy journal so I have to know fucking Word inside out.  I use nearly every advanced feature of Word.  It's garbage.  The stupidest software paradigm ever.  We'd save so much time and energy in creating documents on computers if people just used intelligent plain text markup and worried about the final look of the document later, or used a system of forced, mandatory, no-you-can't-fuck-with-the-logical-structure-of-the-document-because-it's-easier-to-select-text-and-make-it-bold-than-to-apply-a-style, styles.