Grid Awareness MDE - Poster

Hello All,

Next week I will be attending the Ubiquitous Computing Spring School at the University of Nottingham. According to the programme it's going to be such cool experience (they even asked us to bring our swimming suits for the pool at the hotel's spa).

They also asked us to bring a poster for our PhD researches. Therefore I made mine:



You can download a PDF version of it here: Download >>

Regards, and enjoy it!!!

2009 Early Goals Reached

Hello All,

OK, I know I have been pretty quite lately with this blog, but today I will tell you what has been keeping me busy. First of all: University. I have just been notified that my PhD work has been accepted for the Doctoral Colloquium at Pervasive 2009 in Nara, Japan. You can just imagine how badly happy I am about this good news: first, because it shows that there might be someone actually interested in all the things I am doing; second, because I will fulfil another one of my childhood dreams, namely, to visit Japan. That's gonna be so cool. By the way, my PhD research is about bringing a lot of elements from the Pervasive Computing field into the molecular biology lab. I would be very happy if you take a look at the submitted paper for the conference and let me know what you think. Download Here >>

The second thing keeping me busy is, once again, all those thoughts about politics, economics, developments, etc. So I decided to write an article and submitted it for the Saint Gallen Symposium 2009, in Saint Gallen, Switzerland (I already applied and made it to Saint Gallen 2006). The outcome is that this year I will also be invited to Saint Gallen as a participant. That's definitely a cool experience, with all the putsch it can be. Please take a look at my contribution, it's a good piece of state-of-the-art development policy. Download Here >>.

Last, and maybe least, is that my two good friends Andres Castaño and Juan David Gonzalez, and me, are launching a new blog in Spanish called called "Al Dia Movil" http://blog.aldiamovil.com/ about mobile technologies. It's not aimed at the tech-savvy but rather to entrepreneurs and business decision makers. I hope all of you that can read Spanish sign up for the feed.

OK, that's it for now. Any questions? Let me know!

Richard St. John: 8 Secrets of Success

Another great TED speech.



Regards,
Juan David

Grid Awareness as Persuasive Technology

Grid computing as been "the power behind" many applications. Grid solutions have covered services from file sharing, to web serving, to high load algorithm execution. Grid architectures have been traditionally those of server farms and clusters. However, recent works try to use P2P networks in the construction of grids with highly distributed and heterogeneous computers. 

The MiniGrid project explores the possibilities of using grid technologies, with a P2P architecture, in the everyday workings of a molecular biology lab. Our efforts focus in the usage of the MiniGrid for executing parallel versions of DNA analysis algorithms.

The P2P nature of the MiniGrid leads us to the problem of having a peer base big enough for the grid to offer a substantial advantage in terms of processing power. However, peers are managed by people, and this people need to be approached in order to have them join the grid. For this purpose I am exploring an interdisciplinary solution. Dragging elements from the Persuasive Technology and the Pervasive Computing fields, our Grid Awareness system proposal intents to persuade a research group to use the MiniGrid.

The Grid Awareness system (the name might change) is a Multi-Display Environment (MDE) that builds on concepts from calm technology to show the level of activity of the grid at a given time. The system has a standalone screen, a public touch screen and a web interface. The target organization is a molecular biology research group made up of 30 researchers. The aim is to have the researchers use the grid due to the persuasive mechanism of the MDE system.

The system will tap into the P2P network of the MiniGrid and continuously gather data about the grid usage. This data is later converted into graphics that reflect the level of activity in the grid. Initially, the Public Screen and the Web Interface components of the MDE will be deployed without using the grid. The researchers will see the drawings both in the corridors of their lab and on the web page, and they will have no information as what the drawings mean. After a week or two an initial group of 2 researchers will start using the grid services. As they use the MiniGrid the activity is reflected in the MDE system. Along with the new images a leaflet explaining the reasong for changes in the screen is made available, and instructions for how to join the MiniGrid. The MDE has to be designed and deployed in such a way that the researchers are motivated to join the MiniGrid so their activity is also reflected in the MDE.

Now, I will describe what the persuasive side of such a system is, according to Fogg's perspectives to Persuasive Computing:

1. Intentionality Perspective: The grid awareness system described before would inherit both endogenous persuasive intent and exogenous persuasive intent. The endogenous intent is inherited due to own intent as technology designers to persuade the researchers in the group to use the MiniGrid services. The exogenous intent is inherited because of the desire and sponsoring of the group leaders to have the system persuade the researchers to use the MiniGrid.
   
   
2. Functional Triad Perspective: The Grid Awareness system leverages the tool and medium persuasive technology areas. The system works as a tool as long as it allows the users to interactively monitor the state of the grid and get information about its usage and their participation in it. The system also works as a medium because it provides visualization mechanisms, promotes the understanding of cause/effect relationships and motivates by providing a "feeling" of the MiniGrid.
   
   
3. Level of Analysis Perspective: The Grid Awareness system is targeted at the organizational level, due to being the research group as a whole the beneficiary of the adoption of the MiniGrid.

Conclusions

This blog posts presented the Grid Awareness system that I am working for as part of my PhD. The system is grounded in concepts from Pervasive Computing and Persuasive Computing. And in the near future I will be publishing here more details regarding the design and implementation.

Scott MacScience Jensen - My First Persona Construction

This is my first persona construction according to Lene Nielsen's parameters:

Scott MacScience Jensen is a 28 years old 3rd year PhD student. He is rather tall, fit body, and always very formally dressed. He is single, but lives together with his girlfriend Marie in an apartment close to the university in Aarhus. He and Marie are both from Vejle, and they are very sporty. That's why Scott is surely exercising with Marie whenever he's not in the lab.

Scott went to Aalborg University where he was very active organizing student activities. Many of his friends have also moved to Aarhus, so he always finds some social activities to attend.

Scott has a master degree in Biotechnology and works for the Nucleic Acid Function and Technology group of Aarhus University. Three labs and twenty people make up the research group. Scott's lab employs 6 resident researchers; there is one guest researcher, and eventually one or two master students working there. The lab is known worldwide for its works on DNA machines. Scott works under supervision of Professor Jørgen Kjelm and sometimes receives advice from other Post Docs during the weekly group meetings that all members attend.

Scott is very independent in his work, and could spend weeks working on his own. However, Scott meets with his professor every two or three days. For these meetings Scott has to present the progress in his work and receives guidance on how to continue. Scott roughly knows what his colleagues are working on, and the little he knows comes from the group meetings. 

The research project Scott is involved in is trying to create DNA machines that identify viruses. He had initially worked developing different shapes with DNA using the technique called DNA origami, and he plans to use some of that knowledge later in his research. Scott also has to look after the group's website, making sure it works and the contents are up to date.

Scotts has spent most of his PhD in the lab and now he's preparing to wrap up his thesis. Therefore Scott mainly works from his office space that’s located in the same building as the lab but one floor above. Scott works with different molecular analysis tools including the CLC Bio Workbench. However he prefers using other tools that he has been using for years, and they do the same as the CLC Bio Workbench.

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The following image shows how Scott fits the organizational hierarchy of the group, and the other personas that are part of it:

NOTE: The picture was taken somewhere from the Internet using Google Images. If you have any problem with that please excuse me and let me know and I will change it.

Personas: From Theory to Practices

The usage of Personas in Interaction Design initiatives has been my focus of reading the last few days. However, I have mainly focused on the works of Cooper and Nielsen.

Today I was given a lead about a more pragmatical short paper presented at the NordicCHI 2008 titled "Personas: From Theory to Practices". I strongly recommend reading the short paper, and I would like to share some central ideas I can extract from it:

1. Personas never completely built up from user data. They are greatly made up by the designers imagination.
2. Every created Persona keeps developing as the design project goes on.
3. A Persona is built from a combination of traits from different users + the designers imagination. Is never from a single user.
4. Sometimes the design team works with an Unspoken Persona. This situation leads to each design team member having in mind a different Persona.

Do you use Personas in your design efforts? How do you use them?

Regards,

Juan David Hincapie Ramos

Carta de José Guillermo Ángel a Golda Meir

Este señor es simplemente dilicioso de leer, ademas, nunca crei que compartieramos la mismo vision sobre lo que pasa en Israel. A continuacion reproduzco su carta a Golda Meir, ahora que estamos en plena guerra entre Israel y Hamas en la franja de Gaza.

A Meir
José Guillermo Ánjel R. - Medellín | Publicado el 17 de enero de 2009


Querida y recordada Golda. De nuevo el Medio Oriente se sacude y como siempre el malo de la película es Israel y tiene como oficio (y como Sísifo) que limpiar y sacudir la colcha, lavarla y ponerla a secar para que otros la ensucien desde el vecindario.

Para la derecha, que Israel cometa errores o aparezca persiguiendo a otros, es un plato fino. Las derechas (Franco, Hitler) siempre han pregonado que el mal proviene de los judíos (que misteriosamente son comunistas y capitalistas al mismo tiempo). Y así han tenido un chivo emisario a los desmanes que ellas mismas cometen.

Para la izquierda, Israel es un invasor y un abusivo, pues ataca con todo cuando lo que debería hacer es dejarse pegar y escupir, bombardear permanentemente y, como muestra de buena fe, dejar que los hombres bomba exploten en buses y supermercados. Los judíos deben aguantarlo todo, decía Stalin.

En términos de guerra y política, hay un concepto: carne de cañón (que sirve de trampa). La carne de cañón alborota el avispero, crea emociones fuertes y es usada para intereses muy distintos a lo que se les prometió. Y es la que pone las muertes que después aparecen en las pancartas y ayudan a que las votaciones crezcan a punta de eslóganes emocionales.

Próximamente habrá votaciones en Irán, que se vale de los palestinos para hacer propaganda. También sirve esa carne de cañón para dañar pactos, en este caso el que adelanta Israel con Siria con la mediación de Egipto y Francia. Y daña lo logrado, como sucede con la buena convivencia entre palestinos cisjordanos y autoridades israelíes. Total, querida Golda, lo que pasa no es gratuito. Y lo peor, se ha pensado cuidadosamente.

Desde los tiempos de la OLP (que usted vivió a fondo, Golda Meir), las barreas humanas han sido parte de la estrategia de quienes atacan a Israel. Y la gente de Hamas y Hezbolá (islámicos delirantes que se han educado en el odio ciego y esquizofrénico), que se mueve entre niños, mujeres y ancianos (en la última batalla de Beirut el asunto fue evidente), usa esta estrategia como parte de la guerra de la propaganda. Los corazones se inclinan frente a los desvalidos, no importa que estos hayan sido colocados en primera fila (como carne de cañón) en lugar de ser amparados y protegidos. Y esta ha sido la piedra en el zapato, pues quienes atacan a Israel no quieren ningún arreglo sino ser víctimas, mostrar víctimas y así ganarse un espacio político como luchadores y no como creadores de un espacio habitable.

Golda Meir, nació en Kiev en 1898 y murió en Israel en 1978. Fue primera ministra (1969-1974). En la entrevista que le hizo Oriana Fallaci, habla de ella como de una abuelita excepcional. Golda creía que los niños eran el futuro y que quien era capaz de exponer un niño a un fuego cruzado, no tenía nombre.

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El link al articulo es:
http://www.elcolombiano.com/BancoConocimiento/A/a_meir/a_meir.asp

Y he creado un filtro sobre el feed de El Colombiano para que recibir cada sabado su columna en mi lector de RSS.

Saludos!