Apps That Help You Manage Your Life 用App應用點亮你的生活

Chris+Nuttall

“Know thyself，” advises the ancient Greek aphorism—and before others get to know you better， a modern-day thinker might add， given the surveillance to which we are all subjected to today.

If learning is to be life-long， we should get used to being assessed by the latest science of data analytics—a continuous monitoring of our thoughts， interests， attention span1）， productivity and overall performance culled2） from our interactions with online courses， social networks and other services. Then there are the data produced from observing us through cameras and sensors in our smart devices， and through an increasingly smart world around us.

But what if all this data could be turned to our advantage and we could stay a step ahead of those wanting to get our measure3）， whether in education or our working lives？ We have the means to do this with our gadgets and with new services that are emerging.

Companies are being forced to accept the “bring your own device” trend of workers using their own smartphones， tablets and laptops in the office and these devices contain a multiplicity of apps and sensors that can help us know our strengths and weaknesses， while optimizing mind and body for better performance.

I have tried many of these devices and services for reviews， but my experience pales4） next to BMC Software5）s Chris Dancy.

His day typically begins with him being woken by his Philips Hue lights6）. These are WiFi-enabled light bulbs whose color and intensity can be set with an iPhone app. His sleep patterns7） will have been recorded by a BodyMedia armband8） that has a range of sensors for monitoring sleeping and waking activity.

Stepping on to his Fitbit Aria WiFi scale9）， his weight is recorded and sent to an app. As he meditates， eats and gets ready for work， records are created for his activities， calorie consumption， mood， the temperature and humidity and what music he has enjoyed. Apps and services that enable this include Insight Timer10）， a meditation app that logs your progress， and WeMo11）， a home automation switch that will turn on and off lights and other devices， with remote control enabled through its own app.

Dancy also uses Lose It12）， a weight loss service； Spotify13） for logging his music； Netatmo14）， a personal weather station that monitors air quality； MoodPanda， a mood diary， and the Wahoo Blue HR15） heart-rate strap. All of these have related apps for your smartphone.

During his working day， there is another smorgasbord16） of services to record activity. Evernote17） stores notes and bookmarks， Trello18） helps organize projects， Google Drive19） stores documents. A lot of this is stitched together by Zapier20）， a service that lets you automate tasks such as data collection between more than 190 online services. Shopping at lunchtime can be recorded by a personal finance app such as Mint. He also uses Placeme21）， a free app that automatically records your whereabouts. Like him， I prefer RunKeeper22） for recording walks and cycling—it uses my phones GPS to map my routes， which gives it an advantage over other pedometer-based accessories.

Dancy uses the Withings23） blood pressure monitor in the late afternoon， then takes to GetGlue24） to organize his TV viewing， before checking his various social feeds gathered by Jolicloud25）， setting Nest—his WiFi thermostat26）—and retiring to bed.

This all might sound a tad27） data-obsessive， but he points to the benefits of these life-hacking28） and recording methods. Data collection means I could forget everything he had just told me， he said. This was true—I have pulled a list of all these services from one of his online feeds rather than going through my notes.

He argues we will have to integrate the technology of our personal selves into the technology of our work and study， and while it may look complicated and too much trouble now， the capabilities of these services are growing fast， as are devices—the new Samsung Galaxy S4 phone has added sensors measuring temperature， humidity and atmospheric pressure， for example.

The overall benefit is to empower people to optimize their environment for their day-to-day activities and make them masters rather than victims of their data. Unlike the mechanic plugging a computer into a car to read its vital signs， we would no longer be the human middleware29） between machines.

“認識你自己。”希臘古訓這樣勸誡道。而當今的思想家或許會補充一句：在別人更了解你之前。因為如今，我們全都生活在監視中。

學習若要伴隨終身，我們就應該習慣最新的數據分析科學對我們的評估——當我們與在線課程、社交網絡和其他服務互動時，我們的想法、興趣、注意廣度、生產力和整體表現都會受到持續的監視。我們智能設備上的攝像頭和傳感器，還有這個日益智能化的世界都在觀察我們，數據便由此產生。

無論在學校還是職場，如果這些數據都能為我們自己所用，如果我們總能比那些想要了解我們的人搶先一步，又會怎么樣呢？有了手頭的智能產品和層出不窮的新服務，這一點我們不難做到。

各公司不得不接受“自帶設備”這一趨勢，允許員工在辦公時使用自己的智能手機、平板電腦和筆記本電腦。這些設備上的應用程序和傳感器五花八門，可以幫我們了解自身的優缺點，同時把身心調整到最佳狀態，從而有更好的表現。

為了寫測評，我試用過其中不少設備和服務，但比起BMC軟件公司的克里斯·丹西，我的經驗還是相形見絀。

丹西的一天從被飛利浦的智能照明系統喚醒開始。這些燈泡自帶無線上網功能，其顏色和亮度可由一款iPhone應用設定。丹西的睡眠類型將由臂帶式的BodyMedia記錄下來。這款健康儀配有一套傳感器，用于監測睡眠活動。

丹西一站在Fitbit Aria無線智能電子體重秤上，他的體重就會被記錄下來，并發送至一個App應用。當他在思考、吃飯和準備上班時，他的這些活動、消耗的熱量、情緒、體溫、濕度和他剛聽過的音樂都會被記錄下來。在能夠實現上述功能的應用程序和服務中，有一款冥想應用程序——“冥想定時器”，它能記錄你的所思所想；還有一款名為WeMo的家用自動開關，可以通過其自帶的程序遙控燈光和其他設備。

丹西還利用“減掉脂肪”的服務減肥，用“聲破天”記錄音樂，用個人氣象站Netatmo監測空氣質量，用MoodPanda書寫心情日記，用Wahoo藍牙心率帶監測心率。所有這些在您的智能手機上都有相關應用。

在工作日，丹西會用另一套服務來記錄活動。“印象筆記”用來存儲備忘錄和書簽，Trello用來管理項目，谷歌云端硬盤用來存儲文檔。這些應用大多由Zapier整合，該服務能夠幫助你實現任務自動化，比如在190多個在線服務之間收集數據。午餐時間的購物花銷則被記錄在Mint這樣的個人理財應用中。他還用免費應用“我在這里”來自動記錄行蹤。和他一樣，我愛用“口袋健身教練”來記錄我的散步和騎行里程。這款應用利用我手機的GPS標記路線，比其他基于計步器的設備要更勝一籌。

臨近傍晚，丹西會用Withings量量血壓，然后打開“密友”整理一下要收看的電視節目，再看看Jolicloud為他搜羅的各種社交方面的反饋信息，最后調好他的Nest無線恒溫器的溫度，上床睡覺。

這一切聽起來或許有點數據強迫癥的味道，但他一語道出這些“生活黑客式”記錄方法的好處。他說，數據收集意味著我可以把他剛說的話忘得一干二凈。的確如此，這一份包含了上述所有服務的清單是我從他的某個在線訂閱記錄里找到的，而不是通過查閱我的筆記。

丹西認為，我們終究會將用于個體自我的技術與工作、學習方面的技術結合起來，雖說目前這可能看起來有點復雜、困難重重，但這些服務的功能正在飛速提升，智能設備也一樣。比如，三星新款手機Galaxy S4就添置了能測量溫度、濕度和大氣壓的傳感器。

總體的好處是，人們將有能力來優化日常活動所處的環境，掌控自己的數據，而不會為其所困。和那種將一臺電腦連到汽車上來讀取重要數據的技工不同，我們將不再是夾在機器之間的人型中間設備。

1. attention span：[心]注意廣度，注意力的持續時間

2. cull [k?l] vt. 采集（花等）；收集

3. get ones measure：估計，摸清，了解

4. pale [pe?l] vi. 顯得遜色，相形見絀

5. BMC Software：BMC軟件公司，美國一家企業管理軟件提供商

6. Philips Hue lights：飛利浦公司推出的一種可高度定制的智能照明系統

7. sleep pattern：睡眠類型

8. BodyMedia armband：BodyMedia公司推出的一款臂帶型健康儀

9. Fitbit Aria WiFi scale：一款由新興公司Fitbit發布的無線智能體重秤

10. Insight Timer：“冥想定時器”，一款易于使用的定時器應用程序

11. WeMo：全稱為“WeMo Light Switch”，一款由貝爾金公司（Belkin）推出的智能無線開關

12. Lose It：“減掉脂肪”，一款卡路里跟蹤減肥應用

13. Spotify：“聲破天”，一款音樂試聽軟件

14. Netatmo：由Netatmo公司推出的一套為iOS設備量身定做的天氣監測儀

15. Wahoo Blue HR：由蘋果公司出品的一款心率監測器

16. smorgasbord [?sm??（r）ɡ?s?b??（r）d] n.〈喻〉大雜燴

17. Evernote：“印象筆記”，一款筆記管理軟件

18. Trello：一個輕量級團隊流程協作和列表管理平臺

19. Google Drive：由谷歌公司推出的一項云存儲服務

20. Zapier：一款面向企業應用的任務自動化工具

21. Placeme：“我在這”，一款能夠自動跟蹤和記錄地點的智能手機應用

22. RunKeeper：“口袋健身教練”，一款由蘋果公司推出的能記錄健康數據的健身應用

23. Withings：全稱為“Withings Pulse”，一款由Withings公司推出的健身追蹤器

24. GetGlue：“密友”，一款能推薦電影、音樂和圖書的娛樂“簽到”應用

25. Jolicloud：一款針對上網本設計的操作系統，使用Linux內核。

26. thermostat [?θ??（r）m??st?t] n. 恒溫器

27. a tad：少許

28. life-hacking：生活黑客理念，指通過一些有創意的小技巧或是運用現代智能技術來提高效率的生活方式。

29. middleware [?m?d（?）l?we?（r）] n. [計]中間設備