Better Living Through Data

jradavenport (3020071) writes "Using two years of continuous monitoring of my MacBook Air battery usage (once every minute), I have been able to study my own computer use patterns in amazing detail. This dataset includes 293k measurements, or more than 204 days of use over two years. I use the laptop over 50 hours per week on average, and my most productive day is Tuesday. Changes in my work/life balance have begun to appear over the two-year span, and I am curious whether such data can help inform how much computer use is healthy/productive."

Comments

Experimental controls

[i kan reed]

It's nice that you have data. Not having data is worse.

But you have a one-subject unaligned, uncontrolled collection of data. The line between inference and magical thinking is narrower than you think, and just because the skinner box gave you food when you crooked your neck doesn't mean crooking your neck causes food to come out.

Re:Experimental controls

[Anonymous Coward]

It depends on what you use the data for. The skinner box setup could provide a time series when a particular bird gets hungry (enough to crook its neck). Helpful if you only care about predicting when the bird might get hungry.

In the battery instance he sounds like he's asking if there's any use for this data in analyzing his personal work-life balance(?) which to me seems a bit of a stretch.

you have data

[gl4ss]

but the data serves you no purpose, besides that it probably shows your battery isn't as good as it used to be.

need more data i think

[shadowrat]

I am curious whether such data can help inform how much computer use is healthy/productive

You could keep stockpiling this data for your whole life, die, and draw the conclusion that all that computer usage must have killed you.

Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

"and my most productive day is Tuesday"

Are you seriously attempting to correlate battery use and productivity? Using MS office should have very little battery drain as compared to CPU/GPU intensive applications but it doesn't mean one is more productive than the other. I can open a browser and play a flash game and use more battery than I would if I were writing code. Simply using the laptop also doesn't mean productivity, as browsing the internet isn't productive but uses battery life.

Re:Really?

[CanHasDIY]

I can open a browser and play a flash game and use more battery than I would if I were writing code. Simply using the laptop also doesn't mean productivity, as browsing the internet isn't productive but uses battery life.

Conversely, a graphics designer creating and rendering complex 3D models all day would use far more battery life than someone using Excel to create a catalog of their Magic cards.

Good grief ...

[CaptainDork]

Got any thorough analysis, with Power Point slides, on the frequency at which you clip your toe nails?

Waste byproduct in SI units would be helpful, as well.

Oh Crap

[Cummy]

There you go suggesting yet another 'useful' way for companies to monitor me and try to monetize my data. So target advertising won't be enough, soon it will be targeted and timely delivered as well in the process slowing down my (what's supposed to be) high speed connection. At the same time I get bombarded with irrelevant junk that is transforming what is supposed to be my productive time in to a never ending fight to maintain that conference call and somehow kill that the pop-up of some skillful, artistic and beautiful but in appropriately timed video of the girl doing naked yoga poses.

How do I convince my CEO that my cousin used the computer without my knowledge just once before all the pop-ups started to happen? Maybe I can send her a log of the my battery usage.

Re:Lies, damn lies and statistics

[rogoshen1]

this changes everything about the abortion debate! :)