Hrm, perhaps we use console messages in different ways. For me, when I read console output, I almost always either 1. already know where a message is located, because I looked it up the first time, or 2. don't need to know, because it only matters whether or not the message appears and what it says.

And when I use the messages like that, then all this additional information is overkill that just makes it harder to read the output. For me, ideally messages wouldn't have any prefixes at all: no file names, no line numbers, no function names, and especially not a meaningless prefix like "-*-", whose only function is to make some messages more prominent (at the expense of others), but only if we restrict their use to a subset of messages.

Note that there's a difference between this console and a console like Firefox's Web Console or Error Console. Those consoles do expose additional information like a timestamp, the log level, and/or a file/line reference. But they're graphical consoles that use visual design to emphasize the message while deemphasizing the other information (via color, placement, abbreviation, etc.). We don't have that option for this console.

So I would really rather not include this information in these console messages. But perhaps you use the console in a different way, and this information is particularly useful to you? If so, please describe how you use it! I'm open to including it if it really makes a difference; I just want to make sure we're doing so for good reasons, not just because we can or because it seems like it might be useful. Since that's a recipe for an overwhelming and underusable interface.