Re: Woodchuck-Related User Behavior and Network Environment Study

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Hi, Nils,

Thanks for your question!

At Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:38:56 +0200,
Nils Faerber wrote:
> Will the results of the study be made publicly available and freely
> (re-)usable?

There are two types of results: the data collected and anything built
using the data.


The TLDR version:

The raw data will not be published, but the software developed
(Woodchuck) is available under the GPL and already works fairly well.

More information, as well as the software, is available at:

  http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck


The longer version:

The data collected will be published in aggregate form only.  That
means: neither raw data nor identifiable results will be published.
This is necessary to protect the privacy of anyone who chooses to
participate in the study.

The reason I'm collecting the data is because I want to understand how
to schedule delay-tolerant transfers, things like downloading
podcasts, RSS feeds, email and software updates.  The data will
(hopefully) help me in two ways.  First, I want to understand how
individuals use their cell phones and the environment in which they
operate (specifically, the network conditions and the available
power).  Second, data traces will allow me to quantitatively evaluate
different scheduling algorithms.


As part of developing the algorithms, I've built a framework called
Woodchuck.  Woodchuck is a server that opportunistically schedules
data transfers.  I've implemented it on the N900.  It works and you
can install it today:

  http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck/woodchuck.install

I've also ported/written a few applications for it.  Two that are
available and work are a Woodchuck-enabled version of FeedingIt, an
RSS reader (the patches have been accepted upstream, thanks Yves
Marcoz!):

  http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck/feedingit.install

And, APT Woodchuck, a program that more intelligently decides when
to download software updates on Maemo (i.e., it avoids fetching them
via the cellular network):

  http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck/blog/2011/09/14/APT_Woodchuck/

  http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck/apt-woodchuck.install

Work on Khweeteur, a twitter client for the N900, and gPodder is on
going.


Nils, I hope that answers your question.  If you have any other
concerns, please contact me!

Thanks,

Neal


> Am 03.10.2011 11:30, schrieb Neal H. Walfield:
> > Hello world!
> > 
> > We at the Hopkins Storage Systems Lab (HSSL) are trying to understand
> > how you, the tech elite, access and use data and how you access the
> > Internet on mobile devices.  We are interested in you, because we
> > think that your data-use habits may be indicative of what might become
> > common in a few years time.
> > 
> > We want to understand how you access and use data on mobile devices to
> > improve the user experience on mobile devices.  Specifically, we want
> > to:
> > 
> >   - Improve disconnected operation;
> >   - Make accessing data faster;
> >   - Increase battery life;
> >   - Reduce network connectivity costs; and,
> >   - Simplify data management.
> > 
> > We suspect that significant amounts of data that you use are
> > downloaded on demand and that this data could be effectively
> > prefetched.  Although prefetching sounds easy enough, there are a
> > number of issues that need to be considered: when should data be
> > prefetched? what data should be prefetched? how do we avoid exhausting
> > free space? how do we enable applications to coordinate the use of
> > shared resources?
> > 
> > To this end, we are conducting a user study.  We'd like you to
> > participate by running our data collection software, which gathers
> > information about the data you use, your network connectivity, and
> > your battery use.
> > 
> > To help by running the data collection software, which should take
> > about 10 minutes to install and not require any further interactions
> > on your part, please visit, on your N900:
> > 
> >   http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck/smart-storage-logger.install
> > 
> > or:
> > 
> >   http://tinyurl.com/wcssl
> > 
> > For more information about Woodchuck, please visit:
> > 
> >   http://hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~neal/woodchuck/
> > 
> > Much of the data that we collect will be anonymized.  No personally
> > identifying data will be published.  Data collection will last for
> > approximately one year.
> > 
> > Anyone with a compatible device may run the data collection software.
> > Your participation in this experiment is entirely voluntary.  Should
> > you choose to participate, your data will be kept confidential to the
> > extent possible by law.  Only researchers involved in this study will
> > see collected data.  Published data will not include identifying
> > artifacts (i.e., we will make every effort to prevent the identify of
> > participants from being determined from the data we publish).
> > Encryption will be used to transfer collected data and to verify the
> > server to which that data is uploaded.
> > 
> > If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at
> > neal@xxxxxxxxxx or Randal Burns, the principle investigator, at
> > randal@xxxxxxxxxx.  Your assistance in helping us meet our research
> > goals would be greatly appreciated.
> > 
> > 
> > Thanks for your help!
> > 
> > Neal Walfield
> > 
> > 
> > P.S. This study is research.  You will not receive any direct benefits
> > from participating in this study.  This study may benefit society if
> > the results lead to a better understanding of how data is used on
> > mobile devices.  The study is taking place at the Whiting School of
> > Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University in the United States.  The
> > principle investigator is Randal Burns:
> > 
> >   Email: randal(at)cs.jhu.edu
> >   Phone: 410.516.7708
> >   Mailing Address:
> >     Department of Computer Science 
> >     The Johns Hopkins University 
> >     222 New Engineering Building 
> >     Baltimore, MD 21218
> >     USA
> > 
> > Approved by HIRB on November 18, 2010
> > HIRB Study number: 111910
> 
> -- 
> kernel concepts GbR        Tel: +49-271-771091-12
> Sieghuetter Hauptweg 48
> D-57072 Siegen             Mob: +49-176-21024535
> http://www.kernelconcepts.de
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