Continued from the last exercise: detecting those titles with Korean letters was easy but excluding them wasn't. I asked help from Allison to figure out how to filter out the ones with Korean, which is a method that ideally only collects English titles.

The problem was, sometimes I visited contents that belong to neither Korean nor English. After the review, I found out mostly they are Japanese, and excluded them as well - despite of their small number.

Next step was going into more details. One of the things I tried was checking the usage difference of same service in two languages. It will be more useful if I can collect interesting keywords, and filter out results based on them.

Assignment 07: Reflection

Include a quippish timeline of your reflection "thesis statements", and design a way to represent your mood throughout the course.

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While thinking about different ideas, I kept collecting my ip information. One of the things I noticed is that if the website contents are in certain language, the "title" of the page would likely to contain the language.

I'm not fluent in regular expression in any level, but since I had class about it last week, I thought using range match will be a good idea. As [a-z], [가-힣] will contain all the possible combination of letter with Korean alphabet.

It was successful to collect the ones that contained Korean letters, but I kept on failing filtering out them. From 2/11 to 3/5, I visited 726 webpages that presents Korean contents. There are total 4776, so brief way to exclude Korean letters will be 4776-726 = 4050 pages. However, regarding the small number of pages that present neither Korean nor English contents, I'd like to filter them out properly.

On another hand, for some reason, the Chrome extension I was using to track IP information stopped working. I personally emailed the developer to ask if it's finishing its service or having a temporary problem. It seemed to be having some issue, but didn't say it will permanently close the extension - so hopefully it will be back to service.

Assignment 06: Hack your tracker / Untrack me

Develop a method to hack one (or more) of your tracking apps. Write a short reflection about your hack - how did you do it? What information is gained or lost? What are the implications of hacking your data in the way that you did?

• Obfuscate data/circumvention collection assignment. Develop a method to hack one (or more) of your tracking apps. Software or hardware solutions or a combo of both are welcome. Document your process.
• Make an instructable about your hack (e.g. DNA Spoofing); you don't need to make a video, but you should outline the steps to your circumvention in a public place, like Instructables.

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So far I've been using both Reporter Application and Chrome Extensions along with Chrome History, however, for this week's activity using Chrome Extension seemed to be a suitable target. Although Reporter Application also tracks various data such as distance and temperature, because it's "reporting" system - I can always refuse to submit my report.

The Chrome site tracking happens all the time, but in order to have the history in json format, I'm weekly using another extension called History export. There's another way to download the history as csv format. For my convenience, I use the extension. However, the extension does not include IP location so I have to manually type in the information.

The best way to obfuscate the Chrome history tracking is simple: usage of incognito window Under incognito, it's possible to avoid the auto-tracking of my website visits - therefore, those won't be exported to json file at the end of the week. I've actually been using this method when I revisit some websites in order to check their IP locations; because as I mentioned above, they don't automatically get saved and exported. All the extensions are off in incognito window as default, so it's important to allow access of IP Tracking Extension.

Assignment 05: Quant Self Intervention

Design or prototype an intervention that would help you to change your behavior based on the data you've gathered or based on the service you designed in you Quant Self Service. Tech or community or social based interventions are fair game.

• make your intervention tangible; make it visual or physical in some way.
• justify how your intervention works and why it is convincing for you and why it might (or might not) be a useful strategy for others.
  You might consider: - paper prototypes, a slide deck, a screen dummy, video, etc - using your quant self service idea as a foundation to build your intervention on

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Language Usage Tracking

The following application only focuses on writing thorough keyboard in either mobile device or pc. If you are a new user, it will ask the access to data about when you change your language, because it can be sensitive information. Once the user confirms, it lands to the Welcome (Get Started) page and will set up language types and devices to synchronize.

Profile

After the registration, the application won't ask accessibility question unless the user desires to stop the process of collecting data. Instead of Welcome page, now it will directly land on profile page and shows the average usage of different languages, list of languages, and list of synchronized devices. This page also has a role as setting page, so any visual change, language and device reset can be done in here as well. In order to see more details about data, tap the left top button and it will land on Time Map page. The default view of Time Map page is daily based.

Time Map

Once in the Time Map page, the user can navigate to further information as weekly based, monthly based, or yearly based data. Each page's graphic is color-coded according to language, which is adjustable element in setting page. Through these Time Map sections, the user can discover such aspects like: "I use more Korean during weekends", "English is my main language while I'm not on vacation", and "My usage of English is increasing every year".

Overall Wireframe

Assignment 04: Quant Self Service

Develop a mini service concept around your own personal data.

• Go through the process of and document creating persona, creating an empathy map, mapping your user journey (experience), sketching your service blueprint, and creating evidence of some of your service touchpoints.
• State clearly (if possible) the opportunities you've identified based on your research and exercises and follow them through to make a convincing and thoughtful collection of experiences in your service.
• make tangible some of your service touchpoints (for example paper prototypes, simple sketches, photographs/video). It is encouraged to prototype an aspect of your service or a video showcasing a scenario in which your service might operate to help make your idea more tangible.

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Mental Model

• Motives: Can the usage of certain language itself influence one's mind or ways of thinking?
• Expectation: Those who use more than one language have different occasions and tasks for each language.
• Challenge: Hard to manually document every moment I change my language usage.
• Currently using:
  • IP Tracking Extension (considering to stop it due to having less connection with language usage)
  • Reporter Application
• Experience: The two tools are not working very harmoniously, and has low accuracy

Persona

• The persona figure is solely based on myself.
  • Bilingual in Korean and English
  • Daily uses both languages
  • English for work, class, research and projects
  • Otherwise, mostly uses Korean but English rate is increasing
  • Has hard time tracking things daily
• THINKS
  • "Too tired. Don't want to use the Reporter App"
  • "I forgot to put my Reporter App to Asleep mode!"
  • "Wait, this is Korean site but has Japanese IP address"
• FEELS
  • Uncomfortable how simple process became complicated
  • Fun to see unexpected aspects about my language usage
  • Curious about some IP address locations
• DOES
  • Casually checks website's IP location
  • Ignore report notification because it's class time
  • Input my reports carelessly

Assignment 03: Dear Data Visualization

Using "dear data" as a guide, create a set of rules to visualize your data - you may use digital tools, but analog style is encouraged. Think about the ways in which Georgia and Stefanie parameterized the aspects of their records to produce their visualizations. Find ways to express your own personal style and aesthetic in the implementation of your rules.

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My initial discussion about Dear Data in class was done with Krizia and Miki, and we decided to do a project about a daily commute (an in-class sketch is included on the first image). Unfortunately, we struggled to adjust our schedule for further meeting, so the collective visualization that adds all our data was canceled. Nevertheless, I proceeded my personal one and was surprised that my visualization is very different from Miki's work, despite of the same topic.

This is the backside of my project, and as it's mentioned: one dot represents one minute. I found out that I have cycle of "walking - waiting train - riding train - walking" every time I commute, so I distinguished each part with different color. Color for "walking" changes upon weather, although if it happens during night~midnight it will be consistently dark navy.

When I collected data, I didn't want to carry around several pens and impulsively make mistakes on Joey's awesome paper. To avoid that, I made a little form in flash cards so I can quickly write down times. The data for February 9th is bit extraordinary, because I went home late after drinking for while. Surprisingly, I kept myself to continuously write down data but in extra messy way. Not to mention the different distance changed the overall commute time in much longer way and I ran out of space in the final piece only for the day.

Assignment 02: Document Your Methodology

Document your methodology for answering the questions you've set out last week - what are the tools you're using, the frequency of your measurements, helpful how-tos, pain-points and how you've overcome them, etc. Include photos, illustrations, charts, graphics, gifs, or video if necessary to effectively communicate and document your process.

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Reporter App

• Tool: Reporter is an application for measuring certain aspects of one's daily life. The reports have to be done manually. However, once the user inputs an answer it automatically becomes one category that can be chosen next time. Also, if the sensors are activated, the app detects and record extra information. Manual input can be notified either random, semi-random, or regular. Currently I'm using semi-random notification with few customized questions.
• Tip: I haven't noticed for a week but there's Awake and Asleep toggle button on the right bottom, and according to its status the app won't send you any notification during sleeping time. Also, by turning on location sensor the app will detect if you are awake.
• Pros: In Reporter App's website, it says "Reporter can illuminate aspects of your life that might be otherwise unmeasurable." As a user who experienced it for two weeks, it does. Through my tracking experience with Reporter, I realized that I have several repeating categories in my daily life. The app's function of transferring my answer into categories definitely helped me to learn these patterns.
• Cons: Many things are uncertain, because the reports have to be done manually. I've had several times that I didn't hear the notification and missed the report due to various reasons, such as my phone was far away from me. I would like to compare this with a video game: when you have much freedom it's followed by more confusion as well. For that reason, I'm planning to proceed two different types of tracking.

IP Whois & Flags Chrome & Websites Rating

• Tool: IP Whois & Flags Chrome & Websites Rating is a Google Extension that displays server information about websites, including IP Address and location. First, I was searching for a way to track my language usage without reporting it manually. One of the ways I came up was tracking IP location - although it's not a perfect way because numerous websites use IP location from overseas. Nonetheless, it seemed to be an interesting tracking that is different from the first one. The collection of data will be done daily through Chrome history.
• Tip: Because I haven't tracked through this extension for a long enough time, I don't have much tips. One thing to mention is that there are several inaccurate IP display extensions, which will make no sense.
• Pros: Although it wasn't my attention, seeing difference between a website's IP location and the location where the website is being most used was entertaining. Convenient part of using Google extension is: I don't have to input or search information manually every time I switch websites, and the history will be saved so I can gather data easily.
• Cons: I would still have to document IP information of websites manually every end of the day. It will eventually expose what types of websites I visited.

Assignment 01: Quant Self Project Review

Find 3-5 examples of projects that relate to self-tracking and the quantified self and write a 1. short summary description of the project, 2. the project's broader significance, and 3. why it is interesting to you. When possible, speak to the project implementation as a way to catalog useful methodologies.

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Nicholas Feltron Annual Report

1. Feltron Annual Report from 2005 to 2014 contains Nicholas's personal data, such as location data, categories and amounts of physical activity, sleep, weight, continuous hear-rate, blood-alcohol levels, driving habits and computer usage.
2. The project's broader significance comes from the various data categories and merging of them in a format that reveals connections - provides context and suggests correlations.
3. It is interesting to me because his usage of typography and color is consistent and beautiful. Not only that, but also the fact that he repeated this process of making annual report about himself for ten years is impressive as well.

What's In My Bag?

1. Not exactly "self-tracking" project, but more of archive about what refugees carry around. The International Rescue Committee asked a mother, a child, a teenager, a pharmacist, an artist, and a family of 31 to share the contents of their bags and show us what they managed to hold on to from their homes.
2. The project's broader significance comes from presenting more individual life of each refugee than as mere numbers. Observing their bags and possessions allow the audience to see what life they've been living.
3. This project doesn't perfectly fit into the category of self-tracking because it's collected by many people. Also, its format is often used in many organizations, and my favorite is this one. However, I still thought tracking what's in someone's bag tells a lot of information and stories, and has potential to be used as self-tracking.

40 Days of Dating

1. 40 Days of Dating is an experiment by Jessica Walsh to date with her long-time friend Timothy Goodman, since they found themselves single at the same time. They agreed to date each other for 40 days, record their experiences in questionnaires, photographs, videos, texts, and artworks.
2. The project's broader significance comes from their closer observation towards the topic of relationship and love. It's been said that it takes 40 days to change a bad habit, so they went through "the motions of a relationship" for 40 days: the commitment, time, companionship, joys and frustrations.
3. It's interesting to me because it's unlike any other self-tracking that I've seen. It's unusual in a way that people usually start tracking to confirm their new habit, while Jessica Walsh artificially created a new habit(relationship) in order to record it.

Assignment 01: Reflection

Write a short reflection about what your current relationship with self-tracking (e.g. hopes, dreams, perceptions), questions you have about self-tracking and how it could help or harm you, and how you hope the course will help facilitate your interests. Write about which questions you've identified to track, how you plan to track those variables of interest, and what challenges you expect to encounter as well as what you hope to learn.

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When I hear about self-tracking, it immediately reminds me of a class I took during my undergraduate year, called Relational Design. It was a class focus on collecting massive amount of data from survey, documentation, and archive and transforming it into a meaningful graphic design form. One project that is specifically about self-tracking is the untitled project I took photos of every meal I ate.

It was fun as much as it was bothering, and made me realize certain diet patterns I wasn't aware of. However, it wasn't the most interesting projects I've done - and it's proven by the fact that I have no proper documentation of it. When I took photos of the food I ate, it didn't only contain information about ingredients. Those images contained all different sorts of information such as brands, location/background, and time/brightness. Also, I wasn't quite clear what can be "meal" to me, while I'm the type of person who eats heavy snacks quite often. The project taught me that solid rules and restrictions of collecting data, will give more regular and simpler outcome - which is easier to pull pattern out of it. For example, if I only collected the geographical sources of ingredients - it might have created a much meaningful project. On another hand, the action of collecting data will be harder, because not all types of food have clear origins of ingredients (or there can be "unknown" category).

Sometimes, that's not what people always want from archiving and documentation. Archive without rules is exciting as well, and I love all my meaningless photos and Instagram posts. The part that majority of people feel creepy about is that even from those meaningless photo uploads and clicks, companies are still available to quantify something from you. Maybe every component about myself can be quantified, and I just don't have enough tools to do so. As I've mentioned in my previous project, my goal for the next self-tracking is being less arbitrary as much as possible, while keeping interesting topic to track. Ultimately, I hope I learn something unknown about myself through this tracking.