Overview
Reviews

Overview for Long Distance Backpacking and Generally Walking Wired

(This is an abbreviated version of this-just like the rest of the content on this site. Perhaps more is to come...)

Blogging is the term for an online journal, but not exactly. Blogs (a contraction of Web and log) are part of the Web culture and have a certain flavor or aura to them. By virtue of the medium, it's inherently different than simply keeping a journal. Since Blog is the term-du-jour, I'll use it here to mean any journal kept on the Web. Generally blogs are presented with the most current posting on the top, a reverse-chronological order. Blogs also commonly have archives: grouped older posts, often by month. The archives too are generally in reverse-chronological order.

Thru-hikers and other nomads sometimes keep Web journals. There are many ways to do it. Some handwrite journals, mail them home, transcribe them when they return home, then post them to the Web. Others handwrite journals and mail them to a transcriber, who then transcribes them and posts them to the Web.
     Others keep an electronic journal using any number of techniques: PocketMail, Palm w/ keyboard, etc. These already-transcribed journal entries get on the Web a couple of ways. Some go, via email, to someone who posts them to the Web. Some maintain their site themselves. Others use a service (free or fee) that accepts an email and posts it directly to a Web site. Other ways probably exist.

The Web is a big place. Online journaling can happen a number of ways. Both the nomad or the transcriber/poster can use any of these ways.

• Donation-based services, like trailjournals.com, offer thru-hikers an easy interface that's accessible from any Web browser and the service includes many of the needs of a thru-hiker, like an itinerary, gear list, mailing list, and place for photos.
• Free services, like Blogger, offer a Web interface for posting and editing, and, with some knowledge, can be customized with HTML. You can use your own Web space or, in the case of Blogger, use their Blog*Spot feature. Blogger's not the only show in town, but now that Google owns them, they should be a big player and fix some of their weaknesses.
• Nomads (or their poster) can maintain their own sites, using Web space provided by their ISP, school, or Web hosting service. You are building your own Web site in this option. You can also get your own domain (i.e. www.willhikeforfood.com), but still use the Web space you already have.
  Click here for more information about having a unique (easy-to-remember) Web presence for not much money.
  Check out phlump.com or adventurealan.com for examples of this kind of site.
• email-to-blog is a nearly maintenence-free option once you have it set up. The PocketMail service offers (as of 10/04) uneditable post-by-email journals. Blogger offers an email-to-blog service, and, as of 10/04, it's free. It's what I use.
  
  email-to-blog slick, and probably the way of the future. It's simple as composing an email, then sending it to a special email address. The details depend on the particular system. For Blogger, the special email address is my username and password before the @, with blogger.com after it. The subject line of the email becomes the subject line in the blog, the date and time of the email becomes the date and time of the entry, and the body of the email becomes the journal entry. With Blogger, the post date and time, as well as the subject and text body, can be edited from the Blogger Web interface.

Reviews

1/6/05-The email-to-Blogger via Pocketmail worked great on the CDT. I still had someone on the home front doing spell-checking and error-checking, but even if she bailed (which she didn't), my journal would have still been posting.

(top)  (home)

©2004 John E. Brennan