Comments on: How to log your life http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/ Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:21:11 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Logging Your Location Automatically (and Sans GPS Receiver) « Life2Bits http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-5324 Logging Your Location Automatically (and Sans GPS Receiver) « Life2Bits Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:29:16 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-5324 [...] This guy mentioned writing a curl script to capture his Google Latitude data (the service doesn’t seem to provide much by way of logging data for your), but was pretty sparse on the details. I was inspired to try it, and went for the easier option of using OSX’s Automator app. It took about 10 minutes to setup. [...] [...] This guy mentioned writing a curl script to capture his Google Latitude data (the service doesn’t seem to provide much by way of logging data for your), but was pretty sparse on the details. I was inspired to try it, and went for the easier option of using OSX’s Automator app. It took about 10 minutes to setup. [...]

]]> By: Marko Anastasov http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4687 Marko Anastasov Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:08:21 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4687 Hi Nat, How do you enter and manage to plot time in the G.Spreadsheet? Hi Nat,

How do you enter and manage to plot time in the G.Spreadsheet?

]]> By: Niel http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4659 Niel Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:43:08 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4659 Inspired by your.flowingdata.com, I've started logging a couple of things. I started with simple stuff that I could grab from a script: number of messages in my email inbox, and number of unread messages. Then after reading this post, I added my location from Google Latitude. Now I'm looking for other things to add to my collection, ideally other things that can be tracked without my having to remember to do it myself. Maybe open and closed bugs assigned to me? Inspired by your.flowingdata.com, I’ve started logging a couple of things. I started with simple stuff that I could grab from a script: number of messages in my email inbox, and number of unread messages. Then after reading this post, I added my location from Google Latitude. Now I’m looking for other things to add to my collection, ideally other things that can be tracked without my having to remember to do it myself. Maybe open and closed bugs assigned to me?

]]> By: Nat Friedman http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4658 Nat Friedman Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:47:53 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4658 Flowing Data is a great blog. Highly recommended. I just gave YFD a try, and it didn't seem to work for me. I'll try again tonight. Thanks for the pointer! Flowing Data is a great blog. Highly recommended. I just gave YFD a try, and it didn’t seem to work for me. I’ll try again tonight. Thanks for the pointer!

]]> By: Nat Friedman http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4657 Nat Friedman Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:47:07 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4657 Ah, very cool. It looks like he's the designer behind daytum.com also. Not my favorite UI but the reports are great. Ah, very cool. It looks like he’s the designer behind daytum.com also. Not my favorite UI but the reports are great.

]]> By: Nat Friedman http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4656 Nat Friedman Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:46:18 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4656 Hey Peach! Totally agreed. BTW, I recently uncovered some cheque records from 1999, and it was interesting to see what I was spending money on. Hey Peach!

Totally agreed. BTW, I recently uncovered some cheque records from 1999, and it was interesting to see what I was spending money on.

]]> By: Nat Friedman http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4655 Nat Friedman Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:45:32 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4655 Hey Ruben, Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure it would work for me. Personally I don't spend a lot of time on email. I find that the inbox is a mechanism to let other people run your life. It would be more interesting to me to track the emails that I actually do write. Best, Nat Hey Ruben,

Thanks for the suggestion. I’m not sure it would work for me. Personally I don’t spend a lot of time on email. I find that the inbox is a mechanism to let other people run your life.

It would be more interesting to me to track the emails that I actually do write.

Best,
Nat

]]> By: Nat Friedman http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4654 Nat Friedman Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:43:25 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4654 ScreenLapse sounds cool! Reminds me of Timeline: http://git.gnome.org/cgit/timeline/ ScreenLapse sounds cool! Reminds me of Timeline:
http://git.gnome.org/cgit/timeline/

]]> By: Jauder Ho http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4653 Jauder Ho Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:54:36 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4653 Nat, Have you seen this? Just saw this on Steven Rubel's site. Not sure how well it works though. http://your.flowingdata.com/ Nat,

Have you seen this? Just saw this on Steven Rubel’s site. Not sure how well it works though.

http://your.flowingdata.com/

]]> By: tecosystems » The Tuesday Grab Bag: Boot Time, Chrome v Firefox, and Personal Metrics http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4643 tecosystems » The Tuesday Grab Bag: Boot Time, Chrome v Firefox, and Personal Metrics Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:25:23 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4643 [...] for thousands of runners worldwide, including me. More recently, Novell’s Nat Friedman talked about his and others efforts to “log” their lives, by which they essentially mean [...] [...] for thousands of runners worldwide, including me. More recently, Novell’s Nat Friedman talked about his and others efforts to “log” their lives, by which they essentially mean [...]

]]> By: David Pashley http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4632 David Pashley Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:15:08 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4632 I'm guessing I should really point you at http://xkcd.com/523/ I’m guessing I should really point you at http://xkcd.com/523/

]]> By: jgwong http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4630 jgwong Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:30:58 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4630 Nat, You should check Feltron's Annual Reports, he logs a vast (and impressive) amount of life data with some beautiful resulting charts. http://feltron.com/index.php?/content/2008_annual_report/ Nat,

You should check Feltron’s Annual Reports, he logs a vast (and impressive) amount of life data with some beautiful resulting charts.
http://feltron.com/index.php?/content/2008_annual_report/

]]> By: Peach http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4629 Peach Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:52:05 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4629 you know what i think is most interesting about this--which variables people choose to track. for example, some people might want to track unread emails (see comment above) while others are concerned with diet and exercise. i think i'd like to track my finances in this way--i have bank statements of course, but to have it separate dollars spent in various categories in all my separate accounts. over a period of, say, a decade, it would be pretty cool to see how my spending habits evolve. xo sissy. you know what i think is most interesting about this–which variables people choose to track. for example, some people might want to track unread emails (see comment above) while others are concerned with diet and exercise. i think i’d like to track my finances in this way–i have bank statements of course, but to have it separate dollars spent in various categories in all my separate accounts. over a period of, say, a decade, it would be pretty cool to see how my spending habits evolve.

xo sissy.

]]> By: Ruben Vermeersch http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4627 Ruben Vermeersch Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:08:19 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4627 Hi Nat, That's a great idea! Another variable that might be interesting is the amount of emails that lingers around unread in your mailbox. I've been tracking it for about half a year and I discovered that there is a quite clear correlation between this measure and the amount of time I have. Big project pressure (or vacation): line shoots up, reduced pressure: line goes down. It would be awesome if we could come up with standard correlations that appear to be true. Then test those against the results of sociologists and psychologists. Hi Nat,

That’s a great idea! Another variable that might be interesting is the amount of emails that lingers around unread in your mailbox. I’ve been tracking it for about half a year and I discovered that there is a quite clear correlation between this measure and the amount of time I have. Big project pressure (or vacation): line shoots up, reduced pressure: line goes down.

It would be awesome if we could come up with standard correlations that appear to be true. Then test those against the results of sociologists and psychologists.

]]> By: bockmabe http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4622 bockmabe Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:04:55 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4622 I also recently discovered the site http://www.dailydiary.com which will send you links to a web form periodically to remind you to record some of your stats. I've found it to be effective in saving data which I don't have an automated way of generating. Of course your web form plus a cron job would do the same thing. This is just a prebuilt service. It does also have the advantage that it lets you compare your stats to others that use the service, in a statistical sense. I learned about this site via http://www.quantifiedself.com/ which Tim Oreilly mentioned in passing the other day. Also a good source of information on this topic. I also recently discovered the site http://www.dailydiary.com which will send you links to a web form periodically to remind you to record some of your stats. I’ve found it to be effective in saving data which I don’t have an automated way of generating. Of course your web form plus a cron job would do the same thing. This is just a prebuilt service. It does also have the advantage that it lets you compare your stats to others that use the service, in a statistical sense.

I learned about this site via http://www.quantifiedself.com/ which Tim Oreilly mentioned in passing the other day. Also a good source of information on this topic.

]]> By: Anirudh http://nat.org/blog/2009/07/how-to-log-your-life/comment-page-1/#comment-4621 Anirudh Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:25:09 +0000 http://nat.org/blog/?p=909#comment-4621 Nat, I used to do something similar, and still do. I actually tried to log all my food intake, running and other measurable parameters daily and stuck with it for a few weeks. These kind of statistics are fascinating. One tool I wrote two weeks back and will be releasing soon is called "ScreenLapse". It takes a screenshot of your desktop every few seconds and stiches it into a movie. It literally allows you to "play back" your day in high speed. One day gets compressed to about five minutes. Anyways, your google spreadsheet form idea is awesome. I used to maintain an excel file in git for my usage pardon me for stealing your idea :) Nat,

I used to do something similar, and still do. I actually tried to log all my food intake, running and other measurable parameters daily and stuck with it for a few weeks. These kind of statistics are fascinating.

One tool I wrote two weeks back and will be releasing soon is called “ScreenLapse”. It takes a screenshot of your desktop every few seconds and stiches it into a movie. It literally allows you to “play back” your day in high speed. One day gets compressed to about five minutes.

Anyways, your google spreadsheet form idea is awesome. I used to maintain an excel file in git for my usage pardon me for stealing your idea :)

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