This is the first post in a new series of “Toolmaker Talks” we’re starting on the Quantified Self blog. There are many conducting personal QS projects, and much of what is featured on the QS blog is about: what did they do? how did they do it? and what have they learned? Now, we want to…
The entertaining and curious Joe Betts-Lacroix shares his investigation to decide which device he will use to track sleep. He includes how he uses each device, his opinions and how one device makes him feel that his sleep matters! (Filmed at the Quantified Self Silicon Valley meetup at Stanford’s Calming Technologies lab.)
What We Are Reading Newsletter from Oct 16, 2011
–This review was written by Ryan Viglizzo for my class DIY Health at NYU ITP (Tisch School of the Arts). In this class, students design systems of self-care that help people take stock of themselves by exploring ways to measure, reflect and act upon their health and lifestyle.– Moraveji asks, “What would it be like…
This is the first of a series of posts to give you a sneak peek behind the scenes at Quantified Self Labs, for a bit of flavor on how we work. In case you’re thinking about it, it’s best not to try to reach us by phone or ask us to schedule a call. It’s…
Ari cured himself of Crohn’s disease by experimenting with some unusual supplements, nutrition and fitness regimens, and tracking every bit of it. Four years ago, Ari was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. After a couple of years of intense pain, sixteen pills a day, and yet another visit to the hospital, he decided to take control…
What We Are Reading Newsletter from Oct 9, 2011
Since we started the Quantified Self in 2007, we’ve enjoyed watching the idea grow and spread. Recently, I decided to revise our FAQ about how to start a Quantified Self Show&Tell to take advantage of what we and others have learned from doing this many times over. I asked Show&Tell organizers around the world to…
John Sumser had a 7-year period of disasters after he quit smoking. He faced cancer twice, diabetes, asthma, divorce, family death, and more. Throughout this period, he was measuring himself. As he went back through his data, he found one central thing underlying all of his problems – stress. John tells his colorful story and…
Seth Roberts offers an interesting perspective on how he has been able to accelerate his own self-discovery. He suggests combining the QS rigor of self-experimentation with the Paleo ideas on diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Seth believes both QS and Paleo communities can benefit by learning from each other. In the video below, he also compares…
This is a guest post from Jerry Jariyasunant: Hi! I’m a graduate student at UC Berkeley in Systems Engineering and I’m part of a team interested in learning about travel behavior. We’re interested in how people get around and seeing how aware people are about their travel habits compared with their peers, and their impact on the environment. We’ve designed…
Last month 75 QSers attended the New York Show&Tell #13 that was held on Wednesday, August 24th at NYU ITP, one of our regular sponsors in New York. Thank you to my co-organizer, Brian Gallegos, who helped pull together this recap for the blog. Ari Meisel Ari cured himself of Crohn’s disease by experimenting with…
Joe Betts-LaCroix reports below on his recent experiment with a 28-hour day. He describes in engaging detail how he set up a tent in a crawlspace under his house, how his family reacted to the experiment, and what he learned from it. Definitely worth watching if you’re doing any sleep experiments! (Filmed at the 20th Bay Area…
We started Quantified Self as a casual meeting for users and makers of self-tracking tools. Now that our project has evolved into an active, international community, I’d like to offer a concise description of what it’s about. This will help if you are organizing a Quantified Self show&tell, giving a talk, or launching an independent…
Robin Barooah gives an insightful talk below on embodied learning. He used a binary self-tracking system, without keeping any of the data, to train his body to know what foods made him feel energized or lethargic. This awareness helped him to lose 45 pounds over the course of several months, but more importantly, it serves…
The power of the Quantified Self community is in the individual stories of self-tracking and self-experimentation that QS’ers around the world are sharing with each other. With this post, I want to invite you, if you haven’t already, to share your story – what did you do? How did you do it? What did you…
Here’s a quick video from Andrew Schaaf. He built an open source app for the Mac that logs attention and usage data, including your mouse position and which app is at the front of the stack on your screen. The data is private and stored on your computer. If you’re interested in raw data on,…
A recent meeting of the Amsterdam Quantified Self group saw a talk about health insights gleaned through accidental lifelogging. The speaker (who asked not to be named) has bipolar disorder, and has been using last.fm over the past 7 years to track his music listening and compare it with his friends’ music patterns. He talks about…
Ernesto Ramirez strikes again! His recent talk at QS San Diego called Quantified Self on a Budget is one of our most viewed videos. We were lucky enough to have Ernesto come up to San Francisco to share his thoughts on how self-tracking can enhance your memories and help you reflect on your life. He…
A colleague I’ll call John has decided to start tracking his mood for a long period of time (years). He explains why: A few years ago, after a severe manic attack, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The attack was preceded by an intense period of stress, then two weeks of elevated mood, increased social…
