timestamp_it.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Adds a timestamp beside every line of data received on STDIN.
# Turns this       ->   Into that:
#                  ->   Time                   Data
# [INFO] event 1   ->   04-03-2014 12:00:01    [INFO] event 1
# [INFO] event 2   ->   04-03-2014 12:00:02    [INFO] event 2

# example usage: tail -f some.log | timestamp_it > some-timed.log

function timestamp_it {
  echo -e "Time\tData"
  while read line
  do
    date=$(date '+ %m-%d-%Y %H:%M:%S')
    echo -e "$date\t$line"
  done
}