《How the IoT Is Changing Our Future》 It's snowing heavily this morning. Brett was just awakened by the sound of music from his smart clock. It went off at six o'clock - half an hour earlier than yesterday. Every morning his smart clock receives traffic information and adjusts his wake-up time depending on the road conditions. Currently it is playing a cheerful song, which was chosen to match his tastes and help him forget yesterday's bad mood. Feeling refreshed, Brett stands up and walks to his closet. The doors open and a light shines down on the suit that best fits his important meeting today. When he walks into the living room, his TV turns on automatically and switches to a traffic report. Then his kitchen lights change colors to indicate that his coffee machine has finished brewing fresh coffee for him. This situation could soon become reality, thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT).

The IoT is a network of objects that exchange and act upon data collected by sensors and software they have. In this system, everyday objects - not only traditional electronic devices but also things like food packaging and clothing - can interact with one another. Right now many things are connected to the Internet, but they have to be manipulated by humans in order for information to be exchanged. With the IoT, however, things connected to the Internet will be communicating with one another without human intervention. This system will boost efficiency by saving us time, money, and effort. Some reports expect the number of connected devices to reach 1 trillion in 2025. However, we don't have to wait until then to see the effect of the IoT on our lives.

《Smart Home》 Smart homes are houses equipped with devices that operate automatically or can be controlled remotely. These devices make life more convenient. For those who want to wake up without noisy music, installing smart blinds might be the answer. These blinds slowly open in the morning to let the sun naturally wake you up. In addition, they can regulate your home's temperature by controlling the amount of sunlight allowed in. Another helpful smart device is the smart refrigerator. Gone are the days when you ran out of milk or eggs. This refrigerator will keep track of all the items it contains and text you to get what you need the next time you go shopping. It will also remember the expiration dates of all the items inside it, so you won't have to worry about having spoiled food.

The IoT and smart-home sensors can also protect your home from damage. For example, placing moisture-detection sensors around things that might leak water, such as sinks, boilers and drains, will save you a lot of future trouble. If the sensors detect any leaks, they will quickly notify you so that you can stop the leaks and prevent them from becoming bigger problems. Furthermore, with a smart security system, you can enjoy a new sense of certainty and control from anywhere at any time. Not only can this security system alert you and the police of a break-in, but it can also allow you to use your phone to monitor your home remotely.

《Smart Healthcare》 Are you wearing a fitness tracker or a smartwatch right now? Then you're already participating in smart healthcare. These IoT wearable devices track and analyze your vital signs, such as your heart rate and body temperature, to help you reach your fitness goals or keep healthy. For instance, if your wearable device notices a change in your body temperature, it can warn you that you will soon be coming down with a cold. Along with fitness lovers, people suffering from diseases can also benefit from IoT wearable devices. For example, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is a small wearable device for diabetic patients. To use it, patients must insert a disposable sensor under their skin. Throughout the day, the sensor tracks the patients' blood sugar levels and transmits that data to their smartphones. This allows patients to adjust their lives around their diabetes. When this data is paired with the appropriate software, doctors can also use it to advise their patients accordingly.

《Smart City》 If our homes and devices are smart, why not our cities too? Barcelona is a great example of a city working toward that goal. In order to improve the efficiency of the city's street lamps through IoT technology, a strategy called the Barcelona Lighting Master Plan has been implemented. Merely two years after the plan was first launched, over 1,100 lamps have been transformed into smart lamps equipped with LED lights. These lamps stay bright when people walk by but darken when no one is nearby. Moreover, they also serve as free Wi-Fi hotspots and monitor the city's air quality by using sensors. These improvements have enhanced the efficiency of the city and resulted in an approximately 30% reduction in energy usage as well. The IoT is also helping many cities deal with a garbage crisis through waste-management sensors. These sensors are attached inside trash bins throughout the cities to track how full they are. Once a sensor detects that a bin is full, it automatically requests a garbage truck. Because of this system, the number of trips garbage trucks make has been greatly reduced. Not only do these cities save a lot of money on operational costs, but they also have less traffic and pollution.

As we speak, conversations about the impact of the IoT are taking place all over the world. Without a doubt, advancements in the IoT will make life much easier. However, we should be careful not to get overly optimistic. There are also some negative aspects that we should consider, such as potential issues with privacy and security. If we brush these issues aside, it is easy for our trust in IoT devices to be abused. Therefore, it is important to understand the opportunities and challenges we will face as we build more and more things to be a part of the IoT. After all, we, not our devices, should be the ones shaping our future.

《Tricks behind Statistics》 In today's world, there is a lot of statistical information around us all the time. Every time we read an article on the Internet or see a commercial on TV, we are likely to come into contact with numbers and figures. Generally, these numbers help us make better decisions in our daily lives. For example, when we choose which movie to see, we can check the ratings and see the reviews of thousands of viewers. Similarly, when people see statistics that show fastening a seat belt greatly increases the chances of surviving a car accident, they may choose to wear one themselves. These are just a few examples of how statistical information plays an important role in our lives. However, is it safe to believe statistics exactly the way they are presented to us? Unfortunately, statistics can be misused in many ways. Let's learn about some common tricks behind statistics.

《Samples: How Many and Who?》 On the Internet, Minjeong sees an advertisement that reads, "100% of users report brighter and softer skin with Blossom Company's liquid facial soap." It claims that these results are from an independent laboratory and are guaranteed by a public agency. Minjeong does not question the statistics and buys some bottles, despite the high price. However, although Minjeong uses the soap for a few months, she does not experience any noticeable changes. Did Minjeong just happen to buy a defective product? Or was the advertisement completely fake? When Minjeong read "100% of users," she should have asked herself, "Where did the company get this figure?" If Minjeong had read the tiny letters at the bottom of the ad, she would have found that the sample included only five people. As in this case, when a sample is not large enough to show a wide range of results, it can be misleading. By using small samples, companies can come up with any results they want and use them for their own purposes.

People can also get the wrong idea from statistics when a sample is not random. For example, a restaurant may put survey cards on the tables, hoping to know what most customers think about its food, service, or atmosphere. However, few cards will be filled out by normal customers, because they don't have any reason to do so. Only those with strongly positive or negative reactions are likely to respond to the survey. This method of choosing a sample is called "voluntary response sampling." Such samples are biased in favor of strong opinions and underrepresent the moderate ones. Therefore, when you see a statistic, remember that the sample is just as important as the statistic itself. How many people were in the sample? Who were they? If you don't know, be careful not to leap to conclusions.

《The Trap of Averages》 ABC Corporation wants to hire some employees. In order to look like a well-paying company and to recruit competent candidates, the company decides to distribute a press release that says the average yearly salary of its employees is $57,000, which is quite high. However, the fact is that more than half of its employees earn no more than $30,000 or less a year, and the most common salary for employees is only $20,000. Did the company spread false information? How is this possible? It's because the company used the trap of averages. Averages can show different pictures depending on which type is chosen. To understand the meaning of different types of averages, let's look at the illustration on the next page.

Most often, the term "average" indicates the "mean." It is calculated by adding all the values in a group and dividing the result by the number of group members. However, the mean is not the only kind of average. There are two more kinds: the "median" and the "mode." The median is the number that is exactly in the middle of all the other figures. In this case it is $30,000, because 12 employees are making more than $30,000 and 12 are making less. The mode is the number that appears most frequently - $20,000 in this case. As you can see in the illustration, there's only a handful of people that are earning an average salary of $57,000 or higher. However, because the company wanted to be perceived as a well-paying one, it used the mean, which results in a deceptively high average salary. An average is convincing because it is so simple. To avoid being tricked, however, you have to know what sort of average is being reported. You also need to find out the distribution of the values in order to get a more accurate idea of the real data.

《Same Data, Different Graphs》 In mass media, graphs are often used because they display data more efficiently than tables of raw data do. However, graphs can be misleading, too. Let's look at the two graphs below. The two graphs shown here illustrate how data can be misrepresented. In the first graph, the vertical axis goes all the way up to 100 and all the way down to 0, which makes the decrease in the percentage look modest. In the other graph, only 10 percentage points are shown, from 65 to 75, which makes the change seem much more extreme. Notable is the fact that the two graphs are based on exactly the same data. So, if you want to point out the seriousness of skipping breakfast, you can use the second graph. In fact, you can make nearly any graph more convincing in favor of your argument by cutting off the graph at a certain point. Hence, whenever you see a graph, you should check the units on the vertical and horizontal axes to see what the highest and lowest values are. Don't simply assume the visual impact is the same as the real story. Check whether the graph is presented in a specific way to emphasize a point.

《Look with a Critical Eye》 When people state opinions in articles, speeches, debates, or advertisements, they often give some statistics to support or reinforce their point. If these statistics are found through proper research methods, then they are objective facts. However, many statistics that you see and hear could just be numbers that are meant to convince you of a certain view. Therefore, the next time you come across some statistics, don't blindly accept any data that is presented. Look at the statistics in detail with a critical eye, and then judge whether or not they are convincing.