Pipes Magazine » General Pipe Smoking Discussion

1. 

   bogglor
   

   Member
   Joined: Dec 2012
   Posts: 102

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I've bought "Pipe Tool" for the iOS family of devices and have found it to be lacking. Mostly due to the fact that the program hasn't had an update for over a year and a half and is missing many tobaccos from its database, making updating one's cellar more of a chore than I had signed on for. There's also Pipe Smoker Unleashed which appears to be a for-pay desktop application.

   Is there anything out there that's any good at organizing one's tobacco collection? Something like Cigar Geeks' site for pipe tobacco would be absolutely ideal, or anything that draws upon TR's database for information and has some type of web presentation would be great. It's a shame that TR itself doesn't have this functionality. The data in that site is obviously a gold mine but it's coded / presented in 1990s level technology.

   Have a peek inside my cellar!
   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtrTzJLDbOXgdFhSZWR1SGNobkFXQUdXSWNNVXdrYWc&usp=sharing

   Posted 4 months ago #
2. 

   zonomo
   

   Senior Member
   Joined: Nov 2012
   Posts: 1,279

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   hummm.... interesting idea.

   Posted 4 months ago #
3. 

   fitzy
   

   Senior Member
   Joined: Nov 2012
   Posts: 452

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I don't know anything like that. I hope someone does. I've been keeping a huge list in a spreadsheet on google docs. I mark off if I have it or not and if I will reorder.

   
   Midwest Wood Creations
   Be sure to check out Gecko13's handiwork when in the market for any of your pipe accessory needs such as tampers, cabinets, pipe racks etc.

   Posted 4 months ago #
4. 

   chakaraka
   

   Member
   Joined: Dec 2012
   Posts: 144

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I don't know of any software personally. But I use http://www.tobaccocellar.com to keep track of my very modest "cellar".

   Mike.
   - - - - - -
   Rookie, but learning.

   Posted 4 months ago #
5. 

   rhogg
   

   Senior Member
   Joined: Jun 2011
   Posts: 461

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   Hmmmmm..... this sounds like a challenge!

   I wonder if there is a way to pull the data out of TR's site? If so, developing a "tracking solution" based on their reviewed tobaccos would be rather simple.

   What type of metadata would you keep about your tobacco?

   Name
   Type of Blend
   Manufacturer/ Brand
   Purchase Date
   Production Date
   Purchase Price
   Quantity
   Stored Location
   Personal Description/ Tasting Notes
   Rating

   Once the requirement is vetted it could be developed using a myriad of current technologies ranging from simple office programs, hosted solutions with a backend database, or even an installable application.

   Posted 4 months ago #
6. 

   anthonyrosenthal74
   

   Member
   Joined: Jan 2013
   Posts: 392

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   go the old fashioned route... pen and paper

   
   Cut me... I bleed black.

   Posted 4 months ago #
7. 

   rhogg
   

   Senior Member
   Joined: Jun 2011
   Posts: 461

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I don't know of any software personally. But I use http://www.tobaccocellar.com to keep track of my very modest "cellar".

   I just looked at this site, and it appears the challenge has been met. I signed up for an account, and looked around at the capability. It would appear that http://www.tobaccocellar.com is the answer you are looking for.

   Posted 4 months ago #
8. 

   cortezattic
   

   A part of the problem since he ...
   Joined: Nov 2009
   Posts: 6,496

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   The Official PipesMagazine.com app has been around for quite a while now...
   

   I'm currently working out a deal to get #2 lead pencils printed with the PM.com masthead ...hang in there.

   I find myself sitting idly on the line dividing past and future,
   as if I could kill time without injuring eternity. -- Thoreau
   .

   Posted 4 months ago #
9. 

   chakaraka
   

   Member
   Joined: Dec 2012
   Posts: 144

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   Tobacco Cellar is great. The User Interface is not flashy (very bland and utilitarian) but the "meat and bones" are totally there. It tracks what you spend, what you use, what you should be cellaring etc. All depends on how well you enter the data (the old garbage in, garbage out thing). It could be a great asset for networking and trading too. Just not discussed on here of course, as we are no longer able to do such things on this Forum directly.

   Posted 4 months ago #
10. 

    peckinpahhombre
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 1,523

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I use tobaccocellar.com. It takes some getting used to (there are "hidden" shortcuts), but it works fine for what I am looking for.

    Posted 4 months ago #
11. 

    bogglor
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 102

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    OK, thanks for hipping me to this site - at least it's something. It's quite spartan and I'm not even all that sure it's better than creating my own Google Docs spreadsheet. It still has the problem of not being 'aware' of several of the blends that are out there and available. I'm looking for something a little more... elegant than this, I suppose.

    Posted 4 months ago #
12. 

    chakaraka
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 144

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Elegant be damned, I'm a function before form kind of guy. You can enter any blends that are missing on your my account page. Yes it takes some getting used to, but almost any function you could require is there once you learn it.

    

    Posted 4 months ago #
13. 

    Lawrence
    

    Mod
    Joined: Dec 2009
    Posts: 9,735

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I use an Excel Spread Sheet.

    
    "Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put." Winston Churchill
    

    Posted 4 months ago #
14. 

    rev413
    

    Junior Member
    Joined: Jan 2013
    Posts: 85

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Hmm Looks like Ill have to set my account up and add everything in the morning

    Posted 4 months ago #
15. 

    chakaraka
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 144

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Lawrence, I use an excel sheet to agonize over and analyze my planned (primarily) PAD purchases.

    rev413, that is just part of the fun. Just think, we can use other member's excesses (see also: epic cellars) to justify our own TAD, to our significant others.

    

    Posted 4 months ago #
16. 

    rmbittner
    

    Senior Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 963

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    bogglor:

    Yes, "Pipe Tool" is pretty much awful.

    I keep everything in an Excel spreadsheet that I keep stored on Dropbox, so I can access it with any of my devices: iPad, iPhone, MacBook Air, iMac. . .

    My spreadsheet isn't that complicated. I just list the tobaccos I have by name in one column, then I have separate columns for manufacturer, date of the tin, how many tins I have, and where they're located (since I store all of my tins in numbered bins in the basement).

    One thing that does make my list a bit unusual, maybe, is that I break out a single name (say, "Black Mallory") into multiple rows based on the tin dates. In other words, my Black Mallory listings look like this:

    Black Mallory Rattray's 1995 1 B24:1 (100g) [indicating 1 tin, in Bin 24]
    Black Mallory Rattray's 2003 3 B24:1 (100g) / 2 (50g)
    Black Mallory Rattray's 2007 6 B13:2 / B14:3 / B19:1 (50g)

    Yes, I could take the time to actually keep every tin from a specific blend in the same bin, but I haven't done that. I've "binned" as I've acquired, so it's kind of a mess!

    And column 4 is totalled at the bottom of my inventory list, so I always know exactly how many tins I have. However, because I count a 1lb. tin the same as a 2oz. tin, I don't have a constantly updating total for how much actual tobacco I have (by weight), only how many "tins."

    Posted 4 months ago #
17. 

    chakaraka
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 144

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I am an excel fiend and use it for many incomprehensible things. But once I found Tobacco Cellar, I immediately understood that this would be way less maintenance intensive than a basic excel sheet. TC tracks how quickly you smoke each item and then forecasts how long your trove will last. There is a field for tin date, there is even one for serial (which could instead be your Bin dewey decimal number). She's an ugly duckling, but worthwhile to me.

    Posted 4 months ago #
18. 

    Spartan
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Aug 2011
    Posts: 2,792

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Wasn't there a software sponsor on this site like 6 months ago that had a contest and everything?

    Seemed like a big deal at the time but I can't remember the name of it. Not 100% sure what it did exactly either...

    But I think keeping track of things like this was the whole point of the software.

    "I was born to lose. So I'll die to win." -Breaking Benjamin

    Posted 4 months ago #
19. 

    Kevin
    

    Smoking a Pipe Right Now
    Joined: Nov 2008
    Posts: 5,967

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Yes, and now they are banned.

    Check Out Our Sister Site - Cigar Chronicles Check Out Our - Pipes Podcast
    Estate Pipes
    

    Posted 4 months ago #
20. 

    Spartan
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Aug 2011
    Posts: 2,792

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Ahhhhhhhhh that's right!

    Sorry to bring up bad memories. I forgot about the kerfuffle at the end.

    Posted 4 months ago #
21. 

    bogglor
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 102

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    There is obviously an opportunity here for someone to write a front end for Tobacco Reviews that contains some functionality for cellaring. Basically that's what Pipe Tool is, but as I said before, it appears to be abandonware at this point.

    An ideal presentation would be :

    1) Web based front end, with back end data fed real-time by the TR site
    2) Full cellar tracking functionality similar to what the tobaccocellar.com site provides
    3) Social functions to facilitate trading, perhaps

    This is not that hard to code. The only sketchy part is the retrieval and data scrubbing from TR, which is a ColdFusion site.

    If only I knew how to write ASP.NET...

    Posted 4 months ago #
22. 

    cigrmaster
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2012
    Posts: 4,847

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I use a pen and paper to keep track of my cellar. I have all my purchases from P&C, smokingpipes and 4 noggins at their sites and I just add em up. I tried using tobacco cellar, but it is way too much work.

    Harris

    Posted 4 months ago #
23. 

    rlunderhill
    

    Senior Member
    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posts: 413

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I keep all my printed receipt's from the shop's I buy from. They're in binder's.

    Posted 4 months ago #
24. 

    instymp
    

    Senior Member
    Joined: Jul 2012
    Posts: 690

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    +1 cortezattic & Lawrence

    Posted 4 months ago #
25. 

    bogglor
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 102

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    It's all what you're used to and what works for you. I respect those who can keep track of it all using old school notebook methods, but I work in IT and love technology, and I could never write everything down freehand. I type a heck of a lot faster than I can write, and my penmanship sucks anyway!

    Posted 4 months ago #
26. 

    martiniman
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Apr 2012
    Posts: 809

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    +1 Lawrence
    

    I use an Excel Spread Sheet.

    Posted 4 months ago #
27. 

    peckinpahhombre
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 1,523

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I tried using tobacco cellar, but it is way too much work.

    I only found it labor intensive the first time I enterrd all my blends. Once I did that it pretty much takes me 5 minutes to update with new purchases. I usually only do that when I get a box of 40 or 50 new tins.

    I wish the software could print labels. I also wish you could enter grams rather than that strange non-metric measurement system you guys use down south. lol

    Posted 4 months ago #
28. 

    dragonslayer
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 644

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I keep everything in an Excel spreadsheet that I keep stored on Dropbox

    Get Dopbox it's free, I even keep a backup on Hotmail. I'm a big believer in the cloud concept, which of course is a courtesy now and companies are fighting for branding when they start charging. You don't actually think they're giving the service of millions of dollars of hardware, software, bandwidth and personal away for nothing?

    The best thing to do if you're a little computer smart is to install a second hard-drive and clone software. It will automatically clone your hard-drive onto the other at any period you choose.

    Craig

    “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” Patrick Henry

    Posted 4 months ago #
29. 

    bogglor
    

    Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 102

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I swapped emails with the writer of Pipe Tool yesterday and according to him, the reason why he can't update the data in his software anymore is due to the fact that the original owner of Tobaccoreviews.com sold the site to Pipes & Tobaccos magazine shortly thereafter. The new regime is unable or unwilling to process the data files for Pipe Tool to keep the software up to date.

    I am guessing that primarily as a print publication and a staff that lacks technical savvy, they don't know how to compile the data dumps needed. I proposed an alternative 'data scrubbing' method where a crawler simply visits the master blend pages for each blend and compiles the information from there. We'll see if that's possible, I guess.

    Pipe Tool *could* be great with some work and an updated front end. It has potential, but if TR is preventing it from becoming all it could be, then it's likely a dead issue.

    Posted 4 months ago #
30. 

    phred
    

    Senior Member
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 409

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Just started a spreadsheet myself... I'm not cellaring at this point, so it's sort of a combination tobacco tracker and smoking journal, so that I can track my experiences with different blends (and different pipes) and see which variables affect the experience.

    

    Posted 4 months ago #
31. 

    aristokles
    

    Junior Member
    Joined: Jan 2011
    Posts: 94

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    When I was going through a "hobby" phase, meaning trying everything I could find trying to replace a long gone old favorite, I just used a spreadsheet application. That worked just fine until I settled on my replacement(s). Now I just use my computer to print out decent labels for my jarred bulk purchases.

    Posted 4 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.

    Back To Top  | Back to Forum Home Page

   Members Online Now
   tonibaruch, wyfbane, marconbass, bigboi, igloo, jndyer, jiminks, mrgunnar177, simnettpratt