The final two chapters of Self-Tracking by Neff and Nafus provide a porthole into which we can view the possible future of self tracking and its future applications. It seems like one thing is for certain, there are more questions than answers when it comes to the usefulness of self tracking in the healthcare field because self tracking technologies are evolving faster than they are.
Healthcare fields aren't exactly taking self tracking applications and devices seriously, and they have a reason to be wary. Neff and Nafus gave a small example of this when they gave the story of app uChek being removed because it failed to meet the FDAs regulatory criteria. An ethical issue within the self tracking world is the collection of data from users and who it belongs to. Does it belong to the user who partook in the physical actions, or does it belong to the company that provided the means to collect the data? This ethical dilemma showed its ugly head when Hugo Campus had to legally fight for access to data collected by his own defibrillator.
If events such as the one that Hugo Campus endured continue to pop up, it could spell for a very grim future regarding self tracking.
Works Cited:
Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. Cambridge: MIT, 2016.
Print.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Blog 17: Who Are Self Trackers
The third and fourth chapter of Self-Tracking dive past the crust of self-tracking technology into the mantle of the actual users of the technology. The question for these chapters is: what makes these people tick? What's the allure of joining the self-tracking community?
There is a definite psychological satisfaction when self-tracking, and the reasons behind the satisfaction may differ greatly from person to person. The reasons range from curiosity to education to motivation. Self-tracking can teach a person a lot about themselves, and knowing all of your physical activity statistics can be a real motivator towards continuing to strive for physical goals. Another ideology brought forth was "exosensing", or the use of sensors and equipment to enhance a persons sense of certain bodily functions. I'm curious as to how much truth is behind this idea, or if it may just be a placebo effect on people a little too convinced they've achieved another sense.
Works Cited:
Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. Cambridge: MIT, 2016.
Print.
There is a definite psychological satisfaction when self-tracking, and the reasons behind the satisfaction may differ greatly from person to person. The reasons range from curiosity to education to motivation. Self-tracking can teach a person a lot about themselves, and knowing all of your physical activity statistics can be a real motivator towards continuing to strive for physical goals. Another ideology brought forth was "exosensing", or the use of sensors and equipment to enhance a persons sense of certain bodily functions. I'm curious as to how much truth is behind this idea, or if it may just be a placebo effect on people a little too convinced they've achieved another sense.
Works Cited:
Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. Cambridge: MIT, 2016.
Print.
Blog 16: Self-Tracking
Gina Neff and Dawn Nafus explore the recently rising social phenomenon of self tracking and analyzing how it impacts peoples' daily lives.
It's important to note that the self tracking in this book refers to the self tracking done on technology. Self tracking in a looser sense has existed for a long time. People have always been able to track their daily actions on pen and paper, but it's the digital methods that Neff and Nafus are interested in. It's interesting because the correlation between self tracking and self discovery are noticeable, and self tracking may even help some people find self motivation.
Aside from self discovery, what could self tracking be good for? Well, it turns out that self tracking could potentially be helpful for use in the medical field. The only issue is the consistency and accuracy of information one tracks about themselves versus what the medical field can find out about you using their methods.
Works Cited:
Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. Cambridge: MIT, 2016.
Print.
It's important to note that the self tracking in this book refers to the self tracking done on technology. Self tracking in a looser sense has existed for a long time. People have always been able to track their daily actions on pen and paper, but it's the digital methods that Neff and Nafus are interested in. It's interesting because the correlation between self tracking and self discovery are noticeable, and self tracking may even help some people find self motivation.
Aside from self discovery, what could self tracking be good for? Well, it turns out that self tracking could potentially be helpful for use in the medical field. The only issue is the consistency and accuracy of information one tracks about themselves versus what the medical field can find out about you using their methods.
Works Cited:
Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. Cambridge: MIT, 2016.
Print.
Blog 15: The IoT in Real Life
The last chapter of Greengards leaves us with more of a question than an answer. Where does the IoT go from here? The applications for the IoT are infinite, as long as more companies come into existence there will always be opportunity to optimize with technology. Also, the IoT's applications aren't at all limited to the industrial. As of late, the IoT has been steadily creeping into the everyday lives of people like you and I.
Greengard concludes his book with areas where he believes the IoT would really flourish. One of these areas was transportation, and the application really shows why. Every year there are nearly 1 million traffic fatalities. Incorporating the IoT into the transportation system could cut this number by a significant fraction. Self-driving cars that are able to communicate to each other over the Internet have a lot of potential to prevent crashes due to human error. The issue with self-driving cars, however, are the rare incidents when computers would have to make decisions on how to react. This means that there could possibly be scenario in which every outcome involves someone getting injured. In that case, how would the computer choose what action to take?
Greengard concludes his book with areas where he believes the IoT would really flourish. One of these areas was transportation, and the application really shows why. Every year there are nearly 1 million traffic fatalities. Incorporating the IoT into the transportation system could cut this number by a significant fraction. Self-driving cars that are able to communicate to each other over the Internet have a lot of potential to prevent crashes due to human error. The issue with self-driving cars, however, are the rare incidents when computers would have to make decisions on how to react. This means that there could possibly be scenario in which every outcome involves someone getting injured. In that case, how would the computer choose what action to take?
Works Cited
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Blog 14: The IoT in the Workplace
In chapter five of six of Greengard's book a question arises. How would the IoT be integrated into systems of the present and future? I touched upon that briefly in the last blog post but Greengard goes into more detail in chapters after.
Most of the book focuses on scenarios that the IoT would excel in, but these chapters switch focus to scenarios in which they would not. They highlight some potential issues in standardization and safety. Greengard states that one of the biggest challenges for IoT would be building a foundation that would be able to support such a large and intricate group of machines. Some companies may have the funds to incorporate the IoT into their workplace, but many companies simply don't have the means to make the big leap into the next era of machine-driven industrialization. So what does that mean for these companies? Will they just be left in the dust?
Most likely not. Greengard points out the steadily decreasing costs of systems such as the RFID tags. As these systems become more mainstream, availability at a more affordable cost becomes less rare.
Works Cited
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Most of the book focuses on scenarios that the IoT would excel in, but these chapters switch focus to scenarios in which they would not. They highlight some potential issues in standardization and safety. Greengard states that one of the biggest challenges for IoT would be building a foundation that would be able to support such a large and intricate group of machines. Some companies may have the funds to incorporate the IoT into their workplace, but many companies simply don't have the means to make the big leap into the next era of machine-driven industrialization. So what does that mean for these companies? Will they just be left in the dust?
Most likely not. Greengard points out the steadily decreasing costs of systems such as the RFID tags. As these systems become more mainstream, availability at a more affordable cost becomes less rare.
Works Cited
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Blog 13: The Future of IoT
IoT, or the Internet of Things as explained by Samuel Greengard, have incredible projections in the future in terms of quality of life due to technology. Improvement in the quality of home life, and especially improvement in the industrial world using these new technologies.
One example of improvement in the industrial world due to IoT that Greengard provides is the utilization of RFID sensors in truck fleets and pallets to improve distribution time management. This is just a single example of the incorporation of IoT in the industrial world, but the applications are plenty in the field.
One drawback of the rise of IoT would be the time and cost of implementing such a system within a company. Creating the physical RFID tags introduce a new cost, and the installation of said tags into all trucks and pallets are a headache in of their own. Not to mention the software that is needed to manage all of the tags.
Works Cited
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Blog 12: Internet of Things
The first couple of chapters of Samuel Greengard's The Internet of Things paints the network of interdependent technology that society itself has become dependent on. Technology that were once separate, let's say watches and computers, have now become able to communicate to one another using Internet connection as a medium
What kind of repercussions could this new interconnectedness bring upon the new age? Greengard says that it was the physical features of past technologies that would limit capabilities. In the new digital era, the ability to access the Internet on devices unlocks capabilities on technology that were previously very specific. Watches used to check time, now they can check email.
Along with bringing more capabilities to old but revamped technology, the issue of security becomes a hot topic. Like a door on a house, the ability to exit also grants the ability to enter, and malicious users have targeted devices as a way to gather information that doesn't belong to them.
Works Cited
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
What kind of repercussions could this new interconnectedness bring upon the new age? Greengard says that it was the physical features of past technologies that would limit capabilities. In the new digital era, the ability to access the Internet on devices unlocks capabilities on technology that were previously very specific. Watches used to check time, now they can check email.
Along with bringing more capabilities to old but revamped technology, the issue of security becomes a hot topic. Like a door on a house, the ability to exit also grants the ability to enter, and malicious users have targeted devices as a way to gather information that doesn't belong to them.
Works Cited
Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. Chaparral:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. Print.
Blog 11: Improving Communcation Skills
The conclusion of Toye's book started with a bit on empowerment. Toye suggests that one can improve their communication skills through attention to simple rhetorical techniques that have proved effective for thousands of years.
This being said, you can't become an incredible orator just by following a checklist of known rhetorical techniques. It takes the right amount of technique given at the right time. Also, the effectiveness of rhetoric isn't limited to just the orator, societal factors also influence effectiveness. It's argued that rhetoric is a social phenomenon, and that its reception depends on the norms in operation in the culture that it's delivered in. Although, ultimately, it's inherently unpredictable.
This being said, you can't become an incredible orator just by following a checklist of known rhetorical techniques. It takes the right amount of technique given at the right time. Also, the effectiveness of rhetoric isn't limited to just the orator, societal factors also influence effectiveness. It's argued that rhetoric is a social phenomenon, and that its reception depends on the norms in operation in the culture that it's delivered in. Although, ultimately, it's inherently unpredictable.
Blog 10: How do you study rhetoric?
"A speech act in linguistics and the philosophy of language is an utterance that has performative function in language and communication." Speech act is an utterance considered as an action, particularly with regard to its intention, purpose, or effect. Some examples of speech acts are apologies, greetings, requests, and complaints. Chapter 3 in Toye's book touches upon speech acts as well as 'New Rhetoric' as a means to explain the problem of meaning and intention in speeches.
Toye concludes in this chapter that if a speaker's intention is often opaque and in a sense unknowable, their rhetoric can still provide a window to the values of the societies in which they originate.
Toye concludes in this chapter that if a speaker's intention is often opaque and in a sense unknowable, their rhetoric can still provide a window to the values of the societies in which they originate.
Blog 9: History of Rhetoric
The first chapter of Richard Toye's "Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction" provides a brief, educational overview of the history of rhetoric from classical times to the late nineteenth century. Rhetoric begins with the Sophists in Athens and moves on to the likes of Aristotle and then Cicero. Chapter 1 also documents the incredible survival and adaptation of rhetoric during the middle ages.
What I found especially interesting about this beginning section was the fact that rhetoric stays timeless throughout all the ages: Renaissance, Enlightenment and during times of revolution. I also learned that rhetoric is seen as a complete system of education and has ties to science, commerce, and literature as well as private conversation.
What I found especially interesting about this beginning section was the fact that rhetoric stays timeless throughout all the ages: Renaissance, Enlightenment and during times of revolution. I also learned that rhetoric is seen as a complete system of education and has ties to science, commerce, and literature as well as private conversation.
Blog 8: Pirates
1996 proved to be quite an infamous year for the Internet. It was in this year that the first pirated song, 'Until it sleeps' by Metallica, was illegally copied from CD and made available on the Internet as a compressed MP3 file. Another advancement brought to mainstream was the use of compression. A 50MB song could now be compressed into 3 or 4Mb, allowing the past problem of hard drive space to become obsolete.
These two discoveries gave way to the creation of programs like Limewire and Napster. I found this particular chapter to be quite compelling because it hit close to home. I was in 7th grade when a close friend showed me the wonders of pirated music via Limewire, but the joy was short lived because of the numerous viruses accumulated due to malicious documents people put on the program.
These two discoveries gave way to the creation of programs like Limewire and Napster. I found this particular chapter to be quite compelling because it hit close to home. I was in 7th grade when a close friend showed me the wonders of pirated music via Limewire, but the joy was short lived because of the numerous viruses accumulated due to malicious documents people put on the program.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Blog 6: The Internet as a Community
Chapter 6 in Ryan's book does a good job explaining how the Internet is divided into different communities. He compares the divisions between Internet communities to the divisions between human communities during the beginning of human experience. The difference between the two are that human communities of the past were networked due to proximity, or geographical location. Internet communities are networked based on the users' interests.
Even with the invention of the telephone lines, people could usually only afford to make local calls because long-distance phone calls were too expensive. Ryan goes on to explain how, in 1975, a man named Joe Engressia realized he could "kill geography" by whistling a specific pitch down the phone line. "Killing geography", in this sense, meant that paying for long-distance calls became obsolete when word of how to trick the phone system made its way around. In turn, this discovery paved way for the "phone phreaks", a group of kids that spent their time experimenting with controlling the phone system.
Blog 2: Network of Networks
It's in this chapter that Blum realizes the potential vastness of the project he's decided to embark on. He continues with an explanation on why, in hindsight, he probably should have known that the task on hand was quite daunting, quoting Inventing the Internet when he says "the history of the Internet holds a number of surprises and confounds some common assumptions".
Trying to find the origins of the Internet is like trying to figure out if the egg or the chicken came first, no one can really know. Blum uses this analogy because if the Internet is a network of networks, then it takes two networks to make an Internet, how could one have been first? A truly eye-opening comparison, this analogy really sheds light on how mysterious the Internet really is.
Trying to find the origins of the Internet is like trying to figure out if the egg or the chicken came first, no one can really know. Blum uses this analogy because if the Internet is a network of networks, then it takes two networks to make an Internet, how could one have been first? A truly eye-opening comparison, this analogy really sheds light on how mysterious the Internet really is.
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