m y o w n s t e a m
with help from php, MySQL, perl, procmail, linux, and MacOS

I'm a graduate student in the sciences. I wrote this site to have centralized electronic access to things I write, and to experiment with the idea of personal documentation.

I wrote a system using primarily MySQL and php to organize information. I used to call it Personal Journaling System. Currently I don't call it anything. Here are some of the characteristics:

entries added by browser interface, or by email
entries have attributes, such as date, Subject (aka Title), Location, etc.
entries and attributes are editable
entries can be toggled to show or not to be displayed (for privacy).
entries can be scrambled (for privacy), or displayed in pig latin or ubby dubby.
Configurable translation dictionary (for privacy). Ability to substitute words on the fly, thus allowing expression while protecting what may be personal information. For example, "My boss Alex Khorlin is a real asshole" becomes "My boss Joe Blow is a real unpleasant person", when displayed on a webpage for the public.

Email is my favorite way to add entries. Sending email to a friend is a comfortable activity that I'm accustomed to. I take on a certain voice, and compose messages over time at my leisure. Besides, web browsers and email access are fairly universal. This way it's easy to write from anywere.

The main thing I haven't written are graphics routines and good navigation features.

As a scientist I tend to spend a lot of time documenting observations. Sometimes, as in the case of a notebook, that process and the resulting log, is used to increase or enhance understanding of a situation.

As someone interested in literature and writing, I've enjoyed reading journals kept by writers. I never knew Anais Nin, Marcel Proust, Thomas Mann, Simone De Beauvoir, Andre Gide, etc.,but I've deeply enjoyed reading their journals and books of letters written by them.

I wrote the site for myself, thus many of the entries are long, boring, rambling, or not doctored for public consumption. I've been writing things for the web since 1995, but I wrote openly for the public - which takes time. I haven't decided what shape this site should be. Writing uncensored in public is fun, therapuetic, etc. But it can also have consequences and repercussions.

Writing is often a personal endeavor. Being personal in public is tricky. Lately, some people I know who've done have burned out.