it's my internet comfy zone
Working in cybersecurity has gotten me used to staring at a screen full of log entries almost every day but certainly, every week. There’s application error logs, connection logs, authorization logs, logs, logs, logs everywhere. There’s even that famous saying, "no logs, no crime," and I have to admit, as a cybersecurity engineer, I do like logs. But until now, I’d never really stopped to think about why logs are called "logs." Since my native language is Portuguese and we just use the word "logs" without much thought, I’d never wondered where the name came from. Today, I finally found out! :TIL:
It turns out "log" originally means a piece of wood. In Portuguese, we say "tronco" or "tora." But the really interesting part is how the word "log" came to mean "record" over time. That’s where the fun begins!
In the past, sailors used a technique to measure a ship’s speed. It involved three parts: the "log-ship" a flat piece of wood thrown into the sea to act like an anchor; a "log-line," a long rope with knots tied at regular intervals; and a reel. The log-ship was attached to the log-line, which was wound around the reel. After tossing the log-ship into the water, the rope would unspool as the ship moved. By counting the number of knots that passed through their hands in thirty seconds—usually timed with a sandglass—they could estimate the ship’s speed in "knots" or nautical miles per hour.
And where did they keep all this data? In the logbook! 🤯🤯 By recording details about the log-ship measurements and the ship’s speed, the term "log" evolved from piece of wood to a meaning of tracking and documenting info!
