Online Journals

[Anonymous]

I used to be a rabid journal-writer back in the days when all we had were typewriters and local computers with basic word processors.

However, with the profliferation of computers and information, I find the things I write get lost due to hard drive failures, computer upgrades, and the tedium of creating backups.

So, I’ve started experimenting with online journals. There are free places you can write in your journal every day, with it posted in a confidential remote location. Similar to blogging, but more personal.

What do you thinnk of an online journal? Do you use one? Could you see yourself ever using one? Do you see any downsides, beyond personal information in the hands of a third party?

[Anonymous]

I have one that I used consistently for about a month. It was a place where I could write my innermost feelings without fear of someone close to me reading them. It felt safe to me anyway and I like the idea of not loosing it when a harddrive fails. I hope that the third party wouldn’t abuse their priviledge. I found it very healing for the time I used it.

[Anonymous]

Well, I’ll preface this by saying that I’m a computer geek. No, I wouldn’t have an online journal. It’s not that I don’t trust the third party providing the service (after all, they’re a business trying to make a profit so they have incentives to keep your info private). It’s the ability for others to hack the service that troubles me. For the free services, I would be even more nervous about it. They really have no incentive to keep you as a customer. If you use a free service, be sure to thoroughly investigate their security scheme.

::begin computer rant::

BTW, most people don’t take computer security seriously (or rather they think that anti-virus protection is all they need (which they don’t need anyway IMHO)). Computer security when using the internet is grossly overlooked in our society. For example, on this forum, all your posts are online for everyone to see. Furthermore, we don’t use SSL encryption for passwords, so whatever password you chose for this forum is broadcast in plain text (un-encrypted) for anyone with a network sniffer to see (and there are millions of people network sniffing all the time). If you use the same password as you use for any of your more “sensitive” accounts, you advertise that globally every time you login. It’s sad, and most people have to learn about internet security the hard way by having their stuff lost or stolen, or worse having their identity stolen.

::end computer rant::

Personally, I keep my own journal on my own computers. But I have quite an elaborate backup scheme. I store my journal entries on a home server I setup, and then I backup the server to another internal hard drive within the server. I can access the journal entries and write them from anywhere in the world (since my server is online) but I’m responsible for the security. I’m a big proponent of good backups since I’ve seen so many lose important information. Personally, I would keep your journals on your own computer and back it up regularly. Every operating system I’m aware of (Linux, Mac, Windows) has a built-in backup utility. Mac’s is by far the easiest to setup and use (Time Machine). But the one built into Windows (Windows Backup) was redone in Windows Vista (and Windows 7) is okay too (but not stellar). If you’re going for maximum flexibility, you’ll want to setup a home server where you can secure it yourself, but potentially still get to it from anywhere. Then backup the server. Microsoft has a “Windows Home Server” that is pretty dang good and easy to use. If you’re really concerned over someone in your family reading your innermost feelings, you can encrypt each of your journal entries so that no one can read them. There is free software on every platform to encrypt a file, or even an entire folder.

Again, if you want the least amount of hassle, you can’t go wrong with a Mac. You have to play within their defined sandbox, but if you can, it works flawlessly most of the time.

[Anonymous]

I use my personal blog as a sort of on-line journal, since I am at a point in my life where I really don’t care if others see my thoughts and I don’t mind sharing my feelings with others. (Who’d a thunk it, right? )

I am LOUSY at recording the details of my days, so I quit trying long ago. I just don’t care enough. What I want recorded, mostly for my posterity but also for anyone else who cares, are “the things of my soul” – so that’s the title of my blog. I have something posted every day but Sunday, with two days each week dedicated to links for interesting things I’ve found in various places. Most of my posts are religious / spiritual in nature, but I occasionally link to something that is funny – or write a personal tribute – or something else that hits me. My Saturday posts – that I cross-post here – deal with my New Year’s Resolution.

I think it’s important to record “the things of my soul”, but I just can’t put them to pen and paper. I print my blog posts every once in a while and save them in print form – just in case Al Gore dies and the internet falls apart without him. 😈

[Anonymous]

Quote:

What do you thinnk of an online journal?

I think the majority of online journals are badly written, trivial and dull.

There are exceptions of course, but the majority of such stuff is bad.

The reasons are simple – some people have little to say, and what they say is of little value.

[Author]

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