Embedded Files
machina ex data
machina ex data
preamble
preamble
In order to better understand how we work, we require evidence. Evidence based health care, evidence based religion, evidence based economics.
We are more dependent on data than oil.
Since data is big, how do we collect our own for our own study?
What about remembering when you worked, who did the chores last, when you last took the dog out, tracking bills, your moods, your foods, ...
We can't track progress without measurement.
And measurement's can't be tracked without a place to log them. If we're tracking events, they by definition are made of time. Why not stick them into a calendar.
Maybe later we can look at the logs and extract some patterns. Looking at the patterns that already exist gives us a map we can follow in any direction we will.
Since many of us are already sharing a lot of this data with the Google, why don't we figure out how to utilize some of the services bought with our AI food (data). This tutorial assumes you have a google account.
Let's get started!
spreadsheets
spreadsheets
introducing:
introducing:
data ๐ข๐๐ค๐๐คก๐ฐ๐คฎ๐โ๏ธ
data ๐ข๐๐ค๐๐คก๐ฐ๐คฎ๐โ๏ธ
Spreadsheets are so foundational to what computers empower us to do, they helped launch both the Apple II and IBM PC, establish Microsoft's legitimacy, even the EFF and Mozilla were fueled by spreadsheets!
No, seriously, it really happened!
Even NASA wants to help you learn space math through spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets are too powerful it seems. If information is power, then spreadsheets can multiply that power with their cognitive enhancing abilities.
This expansive complexity comes at the cost of intuitiveness. In the noise of possibilities the practical signal can get lost. Calculations, data bases, and charts. Oh My!
Sure, a spreadsheet is a notebook that can do math for us, but at its core it's a notebook for collecting our data.
Getting started
Getting started
Step 1
First let's open up our Google Drive.
Hit the (+ New) button and a menu pops up.
Go down the menu to Google Sheets and select Blank spreadsheet.
We'll give it a good name: tracker.
Now, how do we fill it up with data!? It's our first step to analyzing our lives, collecting the evidence of what we've done, how it worked compared to expectations, everything.
Let's look over to the tools menu and create a form.
forms
forms
Legal Forms
tablets
introducing:
introducing:
โ๏ธ consistency ๐๐ณ๐
โ๏ธ consistency ๐๐ณ๐
Why forms? Couldn't you just type all this in yourself? Sure, but one power of forms is streamlining away errors in entry.
A form is a document with the repeated parts fixed in place. Only the parts for new information need to be altered.
Forms gained use in the ad-ministration of society by it's stewards in the legal system after the printing press, but already had been around for a long time.
The digital use of forms has brought about the emergence of everything from e-commerce to tweets, from searches to statuses.
Forms are the ubiquitous interface to the stateless action of the internet. Even without the text fields, the internet runs on forms.
Thredding the needle
Thredding the needle
Step 2
Our new form will already be named based on our current spreadsheet's name.
Let's start by giving our first question a name: Activities.
We can do multiple activities at once, so let's change the input type to checkboxes.
Let's make an emoji for a concise log entry.
If our activity is smiling, or feeling happy, this will work well. ๐!
We may want to add something else on the fly, so let's add "Other" as an option.
We probably have more than one type of activity we want to track. ๐ข
Assuming we aren't cataloging nothing, let's add validation to make sure we've checked at least one option.
Let's preview so we can test it!
liveform
liveform
Step 3
Nice!
Previewing takes us to a liveform.
We have a little form with emojis and room for additional activities.
Let's hit submit with nothing selected to see what happens.
Ah! That's cool!
Ok, let's try actually selecting something.
... and submit.
Cool, response has been recorded.
Ok, let's spice that completion message up a bit.
Go back to the form settings.
Let's go to the presentation settings.
Just a dash of spice.
Back to the liveform.
Maybe we have mixed feelings about the spice level here, but let's test it out.
There, that's spiced!
Look back in the spreadsheet and we can see the entries.
What's the layout of the data?
We get the timestamp of when the form was submitted in the first column.
And each question's answers take up one column. All the selected checkboxes are put into the same cell, separated by a comma and a space: (", ") . It does look like a face or an electric socket.
How do we plug this all into a calendar? Let's set one up first!
calendars
calendars
introducing:
introducing:
๐ฟโณ๐ time โฑโ๏ธ๐
๐ฟโณ๐ time โฑโ๏ธ๐
If you're tracking data across time, congratulations you have a calendar.
At their most basic level a calendar is a spreadsheet of events, combined with a human readable interface.
Look back in the spreadsheet and we can see the entries.
What's the layout of the data?
We get the timestamp of when the form was submitted in the first column.
And each question's answers take up one column. All the selected checkboxes are put into the same cell, separated by a comma and a space: (", ") . It does look like a face or an electric socket.
How do we plug this all into a calendar? Let's set one up first!
scripts
scripts
executions
executions
triggers
triggers
sites
sites
domains
domains
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