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Fascinating stuff. Just today I was looking at the 30-40 tabs I bring up each time I start Chrome and I was wondering: doest having all this data in front of me

Fascinating stuff. Just today I was looking at the 30-40 tabs I bring up each time I start Chrome and I was wondering: doest having all this data in front of me help me remember to do various internet chores? Or does it get in the way? Better still, is it a sign I'm actually experiencing some other condition that shows itself in my context-switching? I think there's something to this. Having said that, I found this worrying: We hope to use our findings to develop a software application that could be installed on home computers and mobile devices. It would monitor your Internet usage and alert you when your usage patterns might signal symptoms of depression. This would not replace the function of mental health professionals, but it could be a cost-effective way to prompt people to seek medical help early. It might also be a tool for parents to monitor the mood-related Internet usage patterns of their children. One of the things I've noticed over the period of creating a lot of applications and sites is that any interaction with a computer can be interpreted in the opposite way from which it was intended. (I nominate this as Markham's Law of Technology Reciprocity) Upvote an article on HN? You're not just tagging articles for quality, the system is also tagging you to see what kinds of articles you upvote (whether or not that information is used or not is not important here). Have a lot of tabs on your browser and switch between them? You're not just engaging sites with the browser; the browser is also engaging you on how you spend your time. Show Facebook who you would like to invite to be a friend? Facebook is watching who you pick as folks you want to associate with socially. You are not just interacting with the net; the net is closely watching you. It's a two-way street. This can lead to some scary places. Having a computer monitor my actions and "help" me identify my emotional state and mental health could be awesome -- or it could be a tool that lets outsiders climb inside my head in ways no human has ever dreamed of before. If you think keeping your DNA information secret is important, you'll be having heart palpitations when you start thinking this stuff through. There's this world of data mining out there that mostly has to do with your internal thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. I'll repeat: I think this is a good thing. But hell if I'm happy about the trend in general.

mpdaugherty 14y ago
Having too many tabs open at one time can definitely hurt my concentration. I can remember multiple times in the last few weeks when I just wanted to look up some specific information or send a single email, but upon switching back to Chrome, ended up answering other emails in my inbox or looking at tabs I had left open with articles that I wanted to read. I've started making sure I use an app (Pocket) to keep track of articles so I can close the browser tab immediately and read one article at a time exclusively, and on my schedule (e.g. sitting in a taxi or on the subway). For emails, I guess I should write them in a text editor before switching to GMail, so I just have to copy, paste, send.
larrys 14y ago
"Markham's Law" I will second that! But isn't the "You are the product" law prior art for that?
Groxx 14y ago
I fear the day Clippy asks me if I want help writing that snarky comment.
gregholmberg 14y ago
" ... wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein." [0] "... when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." [1] Nietzsche was a quotable fellow. [2] - [0] "Wikiquote - Nietzsche - Beyond_Good_and_Evil - Aphorism 146" http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil#Aphorism_146 http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil#Aphorism_1... [1] "When you stare into .. " http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/39793.html http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/39793.html [2] "Nietzsche quotes" http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche
SoftwareMaven 14y ago
Ironically, I know my internal state and the state identified by the study are antithetical. I realize the states are identified by statistics, but what happens when you really are an outlier?
vidar 14y ago
What is in those 30-40 tabs? I am genuinely curious!
- atto 14y ago
  I do this as well. Right now, I have 41 open, which is about normal. At work, I have another 50 or so open. I primarily use tabs as a "live bookmark", both positive ("remind me to look at this later"), and negative ("I don't want to deal with this now, but should later"). I usually browse non-linearly, where I go through an entire page opening interesting links in new tabs before moving on. Thus, I end up with tons of tabs that, by default, stay open. I usually do a quick clean up every few days. A sample: 1) JavaScript cheat sheet. I've been needing to brush up. 2) A recipe that I want to try soon. 3) Ask HN page on best Git GUI for Windows. We're switching to Git at work, and most developers use Windows, so I need to find something that will make the transition easier. 4) "How to Read Mathematics". I'd normally add this to Pocket and read on my Kindle, but I also want to send it to old professors. 5) A couple tabs for a pair of prescription sunglasses I'm considering buying, 6) My side project's Trello page. 7) Several pages with design ideas for my side project (both JS and CSS) 8) Long Ask Reddit threads I wanted to die off before I read them. 9) A couple blog posts I've been wanting to read, but not long enough to add to Pocket. 10) Links that I've opened after seeing HN's homepage. etc. http://i.imgur.com/Plmzb.png http://i.imgur.com/Plmzb.png
- philwelch 14y ago
  Here are my tabs: Window 1: 1. Episode guide for Babylon 5, which I'm currently watching my way through on days that I'm not watching Euro 2012 matches. 2. Strategy guide for a game I play. 3. Scott Chacon's "Pro Git" book, which I've been meaning to read. 4. A reddit/r/metal thread recommending doom metal bands, since I've liked a few doom metal songs on that subreddit and are meaning to get into the genre more. 5, 6. More reddit/r/metal threads for similar reference. 7. A blog post on Pry, the Ruby REPL/debugger 8. A web caching tutorial, which I found on Hacker News 9. A blog post about "Real World Clojure", which I found on Hacker News 10. A listing of 2 minute tutorials about R, which I found on Hacker News 11. A European seedbox provider's front page 12. This, which I've been meaning to share with my girlfriend, and which I found on Hacker News: http://amasci.com/amateur/whygnd.html http://amasci.com/amateur/whygnd.html 13. A wiki page about a comedian, as a reminder to check out his work later, since he's purportedly similar to two other comedians I like 14, 15. Youtube links to metal songs from /r/metal 16. Hacker News itself 17. A reddit/r/soccer thread with a video I've been meaning to watch 18. My monthly budget in a Google Docs spreadsheet 19. An interesting looking article about Copland, Apple's project to replace the Mac OS before they bought NeXT. 20. An old Ars Technica post about Mac OS X memory management that mentions Copland; a false positive in a recent Google search about the topic. 21. Bus directions from home to work on Google Maps 22. The purported homepage of "Balance of Power: 21st Century", which is down. 23. The Wikipedia article about the original Balance of Power game. 24. Similar to 22--this is actually the homepage, 22 is the top-level domain. 25, 26: This article and thread from HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4114295 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4114295 27, 28: Other HN threads 29: My threads 30: Reddit 31, 32: Various Reddit threads 33: An installment of Dinosaur Comics 34, 35: An HN thread--the same one, since I open "reply" links in a new tab. 36: This HN thread. 37: The tab I am typing this comment in. 38: This HN thread again. 39: My HN threads again. Window 2: 1. The homepage for orgmode, which I've been meaning to look into. 2. A Trello board for a personal project. 3, 4: A page about "GTD for hackers", which I found on HN awhile back 5, 6: Other random self-improvement links Window 3: 5 tabs of Coursera and other online course pages Window 4: 16 tabs of technical subjects I've been meaning to look into Probably less a sign of depression and more a sign of a surfeit of RAM and whatever mentality lies behind a cluttered desk....
loceng 14y ago
People use technology to cope, if they need. As we speak, I have 38 tabs open - and that's just on this computer. As you said, this helps me remember various chores online - email tabs open, still need to reply to them - news article open, still want to read that when I have a chance - etc.. I am a visual person and that's why tabs help me, they are queues. Perhaps what I need is to learn some discipline in opening a 'TODO' task list daily, though then I find that overwhelming; Maybe I need to try to give that a bit more of a chance, and maybe I just haven't found the right tool(s) that work for me? I imagine if I found a way to be more organized then my creative flow and potentially creative capacity would be diminished. I would potentially become too fixed on organization as the main importance, and that would take away from fluidity that creativity needs; Perhaps I need this, I don't know. If a service that tracked my behaviours was used to suggest better tools for me to use based on my patterns, then that'd be neat - however because they are a business and want to make profits - I can see it being used in less-than-pure ways.
plf 14y ago
I'm curious, did Newton name Newton's law himself or did other people do that for him? Did Gantt name his diagrams? Isn't it a bit vain to name a law with your own name?
- kaybe 14y ago
  At the very least, it will earn you 20 points on the crackpot index: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html

mpdaugherty 14y ago

Having too many tabs open at one time can definitely hurt my concentration. I can remember multiple times in the last few weeks when I just wanted to look up some specific information or send a single email, but upon switching back to Chrome, ended up answering other emails in my inbox or looking at tabs I had left open with articles that I wanted to read. I've started making sure I use an app (Pocket) to keep track of articles so I can close the browser tab immediately and read one article at a time exclusively, and on my schedule (e.g. sitting in a taxi or on the subway). For emails, I guess I should write them in a text editor before switching to GMail, so I just have to copy, paste, send.

larrys 14y ago

"Markham's Law" I will second that! But isn't the "You are the product" law prior art for that?

Groxx 14y ago

I fear the day Clippy asks me if I want help writing that snarky comment.

gregholmberg 14y ago

" ... wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein." [0] "... when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." [1] Nietzsche was a quotable fellow. [2] - [0] "Wikiquote - Nietzsche - Beyond_Good_and_Evil - Aphorism 146" http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil#Aphorism_146 http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil#Aphorism_1... [1] "When you stare into .. " http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/39793.html http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/39793.html [2] "Nietzsche quotes" http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche

SoftwareMaven 14y ago

Ironically, I know my internal state and the state identified by the study are antithetical. I realize the states are identified by statistics, but what happens when you really are an outlier?

vidar 14y ago

What is in those 30-40 tabs? I am genuinely curious!

atto 14y ago
I do this as well. Right now, I have 41 open, which is about normal. At work, I have another 50 or so open. I primarily use tabs as a "live bookmark", both positive ("remind me to look at this later"), and negative ("I don't want to deal with this now, but should later"). I usually browse non-linearly, where I go through an entire page opening interesting links in new tabs before moving on. Thus, I end up with tons of tabs that, by default, stay open. I usually do a quick clean up every few days. A sample: 1) JavaScript cheat sheet. I've been needing to brush up. 2) A recipe that I want to try soon. 3) Ask HN page on best Git GUI for Windows. We're switching to Git at work, and most developers use Windows, so I need to find something that will make the transition easier. 4) "How to Read Mathematics". I'd normally add this to Pocket and read on my Kindle, but I also want to send it to old professors. 5) A couple tabs for a pair of prescription sunglasses I'm considering buying, 6) My side project's Trello page. 7) Several pages with design ideas for my side project (both JS and CSS) 8) Long Ask Reddit threads I wanted to die off before I read them. 9) A couple blog posts I've been wanting to read, but not long enough to add to Pocket. 10) Links that I've opened after seeing HN's homepage. etc. http://i.imgur.com/Plmzb.png http://i.imgur.com/Plmzb.png
philwelch 14y ago
Here are my tabs: Window 1: 1. Episode guide for Babylon 5, which I'm currently watching my way through on days that I'm not watching Euro 2012 matches. 2. Strategy guide for a game I play. 3. Scott Chacon's "Pro Git" book, which I've been meaning to read. 4. A reddit/r/metal thread recommending doom metal bands, since I've liked a few doom metal songs on that subreddit and are meaning to get into the genre more. 5, 6. More reddit/r/metal threads for similar reference. 7. A blog post on Pry, the Ruby REPL/debugger 8. A web caching tutorial, which I found on Hacker News 9. A blog post about "Real World Clojure", which I found on Hacker News 10. A listing of 2 minute tutorials about R, which I found on Hacker News 11. A European seedbox provider's front page 12. This, which I've been meaning to share with my girlfriend, and which I found on Hacker News: http://amasci.com/amateur/whygnd.html http://amasci.com/amateur/whygnd.html 13. A wiki page about a comedian, as a reminder to check out his work later, since he's purportedly similar to two other comedians I like 14, 15. Youtube links to metal songs from /r/metal 16. Hacker News itself 17. A reddit/r/soccer thread with a video I've been meaning to watch 18. My monthly budget in a Google Docs spreadsheet 19. An interesting looking article about Copland, Apple's project to replace the Mac OS before they bought NeXT. 20. An old Ars Technica post about Mac OS X memory management that mentions Copland; a false positive in a recent Google search about the topic. 21. Bus directions from home to work on Google Maps 22. The purported homepage of "Balance of Power: 21st Century", which is down. 23. The Wikipedia article about the original Balance of Power game. 24. Similar to 22--this is actually the homepage, 22 is the top-level domain. 25, 26: This article and thread from HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4114295 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4114295 27, 28: Other HN threads 29: My threads 30: Reddit 31, 32: Various Reddit threads 33: An installment of Dinosaur Comics 34, 35: An HN thread--the same one, since I open "reply" links in a new tab. 36: This HN thread. 37: The tab I am typing this comment in. 38: This HN thread again. 39: My HN threads again. Window 2: 1. The homepage for orgmode, which I've been meaning to look into. 2. A Trello board for a personal project. 3, 4: A page about "GTD for hackers", which I found on HN awhile back 5, 6: Other random self-improvement links Window 3: 5 tabs of Coursera and other online course pages Window 4: 16 tabs of technical subjects I've been meaning to look into Probably less a sign of depression and more a sign of a surfeit of RAM and whatever mentality lies behind a cluttered desk....

loceng 14y ago

People use technology to cope, if they need. As we speak, I have 38 tabs open - and that's just on this computer. As you said, this helps me remember various chores online - email tabs open, still need to reply to them - news article open, still want to read that when I have a chance - etc.. I am a visual person and that's why tabs help me, they are queues. Perhaps what I need is to learn some discipline in opening a 'TODO' task list daily, though then I find that overwhelming; Maybe I need to try to give that a bit more of a chance, and maybe I just haven't found the right tool(s) that work for me? I imagine if I found a way to be more organized then my creative flow and potentially creative capacity would be diminished. I would potentially become too fixed on organization as the main importance, and that would take away from fluidity that creativity needs; Perhaps I need this, I don't know. If a service that tracked my behaviours was used to suggest better tools for me to use based on my patterns, then that'd be neat - however because they are a business and want to make profits - I can see it being used in less-than-pure ways.

plf 14y ago

I'm curious, did Newton name Newton's law himself or did other people do that for him? Did Gantt name his diagrams? Isn't it a bit vain to name a law with your own name?

kaybe 14y ago
At the very least, it will earn you 20 points on the crackpot index: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html