{ "model": { "rank": 3371, "code": "thing-q1647694", "model_id": "vr.tr.usb-flash-drive", "name": "USB flash drive", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a USB flash drive, assess its storage and connection state, and decide whether and how it may safely be connected, read, written, removed or retired.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q1647694/", "tier": 2, "score": 87, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "Kingston DataTraveler", "PNY 32GB Elite USB 3.2 Flash Drive", "Samsung FIT Plus", "Live USB", "EToken" ], "aliasCount": 5, "merged": 5, "knownIn": 87, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q1647694", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1647694", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T14:34:59Z", "providers": [ "Codex" ], "breadth": "recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read", "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "seconds": 26.9, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c4a-02c8-7180-8e0a-20a4cacd987a\n--------\nuser\nDescribe what is already known about one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: USB flash drive\nSense to describe: (none recorded)\nDomain code: PHY.OBJ\nAlso known as: (none)\n\n\nContext for this batch of 546 things:\n# Batch 003: 1001 ", "usd": 0, "recall": true }, "codex": { "seconds": 79.3, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c4a-02b8-7451-8292-50d7e4ca26a3\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: USB flash drive\nRegistry id: vr.tr.usb-flash-drive\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q1647694", "registryId": "vr.tr.usb-flash-drive", "name": "USB flash drive", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1647694/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.usb-flash-drive", "name": "USB flash drive", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a USB flash drive, assess its storage and connection state, and decide whether and how it may safely be connected, read, written, removed or retired.", "definition": "A USB flash drive is a portable solid-state data-storage device that combines non-volatile flash memory and a controller with a USB interface and normally draws operating power from the connected host.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the registered kind vr.tr.usb-flash-drive in PHY / PHY.OBJ: a portable flash-memory storage device with an integrated USB interface, including the characteristics and observable states needed to assess individual units without treating a product line or its stored content as the kind itself.", "in_scope": [ "Integrated USB connector, enclosure, controller and nonvolatile flash storage", "Host compatibility, USB enumeration and exposed device functions", "Advertised, reported and verified usable storage capacity", "Read/write behaviour, data persistence and observable failure symptoms", "Access protection, connection trust, safe removal and retirement" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Stored documents, software and other content as independently modelled information objects", "Host computers, operating systems and their general USB subsystems", "Removable memory cards and separate card readers", "Portable external SSDs and hard drives as neighbouring storage-device kinds", "USB authentication tokens, wireless adapters and other primarily non-storage peripherals", "Product lines, sales listings and individual asset records as separate catalogue entities" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Combines flash storage and a USB interface in one portable device; a card reader depends on a separately removable memory card.", "Provides persistent, writable file storage as its primary intended function; a USB security token primarily performs authentication or cryptographic operations.", "Retains stored data without continuous host power; it is not merely a volatile memory expansion device.", "Conventionally connects through a connector integrated into its body; devices marketed as portable SSDs can overlap technically, so ambiguous cases require an explicit classification basis." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Connector arrangement", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "USB Type-A; USB Type-C; multiple connectors; other; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Determines physical host compatibility and whether an adapter is needed." }, { "name": "USB capability and negotiated connection", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Documented supported USB revision and signalling capability; observed negotiated mode; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Separates device capability from the connection actually established and avoids inferring speed from connector shape." }, { "name": "Storage capacity", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Bytes, distinguishing advertised capacity, controller-reported capacity and capacity verified by write/read testing", "why_it_matters": "Supports space planning and detection of falsely reported or unusable capacity." }, { "name": "Volume organisation", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Observed partition layout, file systems, free bytes and mount status; unformatted; unreadable; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether a host can access the drive and whether an intended transfer will fit." }, { "name": "Measured transfer performance", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Read and write bytes/s with workload, duration, host, connection mode and test conditions", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes suitable transfer performance from an interface's theoretical capability." }, { "name": "Host-visible USB functions", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Storage only; storage plus additional interfaces; non-storage only; not enumerating; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Helps detect unexpected device behaviour before permitting use." }, { "name": "Access and write state", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Readable; writable; read-only; locked; inaccessible; unknown, with observed cause where available", "why_it_matters": "Determines which operations are possible and distinguishes intended protection from faults." }, { "name": "Physical connection condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Intact; loose connector; bent contacts; cracked enclosure; contamination; intermittent connection; unassessed", "why_it_matters": "Supports a decision to connect, inspect or stop using the device." }, { "name": "Data integrity evidence", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Verified for a stated test; mismatch observed; read/write errors observed; untested", "why_it_matters": "Prevents successful mounting from being mistaken for reliable storage." }, { "name": "Provenance and permitted host relationship", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Known supplier or custodian, evidence of acquisition, and hosts or environments authorised for use", "why_it_matters": "Supports connection decisions without treating USB identifiers as proof of trust." } ], "affordances": [ "Inspect the connector and establish whether a proposed host connection is compatible and permitted.", "Enumerate storage and other exposed USB functions in an appropriate inspection environment.", "Read, copy and verify files within the agent's access authority.", "Write, delete, format or test capacity when authorised and after accounting for existing data.", "Flush pending writes and request safe removal before disconnection.", "Quarantine a suspect unit or select an evidenced sanitisation and retirement procedure." ] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-usb-connection", "name": "Identity and USB connection", "description": "Establishes whether the object is a USB flash drive and how it physically and electrically connects.", "rationale": "A compatible-looking USB plug neither establishes storage function nor guarantees an appropriate connection.", "layers": [ { "id": "storage-kind-boundary", "name": "Storage kind boundary", "description": "Separates this kind from card readers, security tokens and overlapping portable storage products.", "findings": [ { "id": "integrated-flash-storage", "name": "Integrated flash storage", "description": "Record evidence that flash storage and the USB interface form one device whose primary intended function is portable data storage.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does the device contain its own flash storage, or does storage depend on an inserted card or another device?", "kind": "definition", "id": "integrated-flash-storage-q01" }, { "text": "If it overlaps with a portable SSD or security token, what documented function and construction justify classifying it as a USB flash drive?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "integrated-flash-storage-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "connector-and-host-link", "name": "Connector and host link", "description": "Records connector fit, host support and the connection actually established.", "findings": [ { "id": "usable-usb-link", "name": "Usable USB link", "description": "Distinguish connector geometry, documented USB capability and observed connection mode, including adapters in the path.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which integrated connectors are present, and does the proposed host require an adapter?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "usable-usb-link-q01" }, { "text": "What USB mode is negotiated through this host, port and adapter combination?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "usable-usb-link-q02" }, { "text": "Do connector damage, unstable power or repeated disconnections require stopping the connection attempt?", "kind": "action", "id": "usable-usb-link-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "capacity-and-volume-access", "name": "Capacity and volume access", "description": "Describes how much storage exists and whether its volumes can support an intended transfer.", "rationale": "Reported capacity, usable capacity and available file space are distinct constraints on USB flash-drive use.", "layers": [ { "id": "capacity-evidence", "name": "Capacity evidence", "description": "Separates label claims and controller reports from tested storage.", "findings": [ { "id": "verified-addressable-storage", "name": "Verified addressable storage", "description": "Record capacity values with their evidence and the extent of any write/read verification.", "questions": [ { "text": "How many bytes are advertised, reported by the controller and verified by a stated test?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "verified-addressable-storage-q01" }, { "text": "Can the required capacity test proceed without overwriting data that must be preserved?", "kind": "action", "id": "verified-addressable-storage-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "partitions-and-file-systems", "name": "Partitions and file systems", "description": "Captures the logical storage configuration that a host must interpret.", "findings": [ { "id": "transfer-fit", "name": "Transfer fit", "description": "Assess volume readability, writability, free space and file-size constraints against the intended transfer.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which partitions and file systems are present, and which can the intended host mount for the required access?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "transfer-fit-q01" }, { "text": "Will the intended files fit within both available space and the destination file system's limits?", "kind": "action", "id": "transfer-fit-q02" }, { "text": "If reformatting is necessary, which existing data and compatibility requirements must be preserved first?", "kind": "action", "id": "transfer-fit-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "transfer-and-removal", "name": "Transfer and removal", "description": "Models active storage operations, performance and completion before unplugging.", "rationale": "USB flash drives are routinely moved between hosts, making transfer verification and pending writes central operational concerns.", "layers": [ { "id": "read-write-behaviour", "name": "Read/write behaviour", "description": "Assesses actual transfer behaviour under a recorded workload.", "findings": [ { "id": "workload-performance", "name": "Workload performance", "description": "Record measured read/write rates and interruptions without treating advertised USB speed as storage throughput.", "questions": [ { "text": "What sustained read and write rates occur for the intended file sizes and transfer duration?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "workload-performance-q01" }, { "text": "What host, port, negotiated mode, free space and workload conditions accompanied the measurement?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "workload-performance-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "write-completion-and-disconnection", "name": "Write completion and disconnection", "description": "Distinguishes application progress from completed storage operations and host release.", "findings": [ { "id": "safe-removal-state", "name": "Safe removal state", "description": "Record verification results, outstanding activity and the host's response to a flush or eject request.", "questions": [ { "text": "Has the intended copy been verified to the level required for this use?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "safe-removal-state-q01" }, { "text": "Have pending writes completed and has the host released the drive, or is a process still holding it open?", "kind": "action", "id": "safe-removal-state-q02" }, { "text": "After an unexpected removal, what integrity checks are needed before further writes?", "kind": "action", "id": "safe-removal-state-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "connection-trust-and-access", "name": "Connection trust and access", "description": "Records provenance, exposed USB functions and protection mechanisms relevant to permitted use.", "rationale": "A storage-shaped USB device can expose additional functions, while data protection depends on mechanisms that must be identified separately.", "layers": [ { "id": "provenance-and-enumeration", "name": "Provenance and enumeration", "description": "Connects acquisition evidence with observed USB behaviour.", "findings": [ { "id": "expected-device-functions", "name": "Expected device functions", "description": "Record expected and observed interfaces without treating a familiar label or USB identifier as authentication.", "questions": [ { "text": "What acquisition or custody evidence supports connecting this drive to the proposed host?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "expected-device-functions-q01" }, { "text": "Does enumeration expose only expected storage functions, or also keyboard, network or other interfaces?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "expected-device-functions-q02" }, { "text": "Do unknown provenance or unexpected interfaces require quarantine or a designated inspection environment?", "kind": "action", "id": "expected-device-functions-q03" } ] } ] }, { "id": "protection-and-unlocking", "name": "Protection and unlocking", "description": "Separates encryption, authentication, hardware write protection and host access restrictions.", "findings": [ { "id": "effective-access-protection", "name": "Effective access protection", "description": "Record the actual protection mechanism, current lock state and authorised means of access.", "questions": [ { "text": "Is protection implemented by the drive, encrypted volume software, a physical switch or host policy?", "kind": "definition", "id": "effective-access-protection-q01" }, { "text": "What documented unlocking, recovery and failed-attempt behaviour applies to this device?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "effective-access-protection-q02" }, { "text": "Is the requested read, write or unlock operation authorised in its current state?", "kind": "action", "id": "effective-access-protection-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "reliability-and-retirement", "name": "Reliability and retirement", "description": "Tracks evidence of storage failure and the conditions for recovery, reuse or disposal.", "rationale": "A drive may still enumerate while losing data, and flash-management behaviour affects what sanitisation methods can establish.", "layers": [ { "id": "failure-and-preservation", "name": "Failure and preservation", "description": "Records symptoms and prioritises preservation when data or device condition is deteriorating.", "findings": [ { "id": "integrity-and-failure-signals", "name": "Integrity and failure signals", "description": "Capture mismatches, read/write errors, unexpected read-only operation and intermittent detection without assigning an unsupported cause.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which failures are reproducible, and under what host, connector and workload conditions?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "integrity-and-failure-signals-q01" }, { "text": "What diagnostics does this drive actually expose, and what aspects of flash condition remain unknown?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "integrity-and-failure-signals-q02" }, { "text": "Should further writes stop while readable data is copied or specialist recovery is considered?", "kind": "action", "id": "integrity-and-failure-signals-q03" } ] } ] }, { "id": "sanitisation-and-disposition", "name": "Sanitisation and disposition", "description": "Determines an evidenced route to reuse, return, recycling or destruction.", "findings": [ { "id": "residual-data-decision", "name": "Residual data decision", "description": "Distinguish ordinary deletion and formatting from a sanitisation outcome supported for the particular device and data requirement.", "questions": [ { "text": "What manufacturer documentation or applicable sanitisation guidance supports the proposed method for this drive?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "residual-data-decision-q01" }, { "text": "What can the method establish about inaccessible or remapped flash areas, and what remains unverified?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "residual-data-decision-q02" }, { "text": "Given data sensitivity, drive condition and verification limits, is reuse acceptable or is physical destruction required?", "kind": "action", "id": "residual-data-decision-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes", "name": "Check these first", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "This describes the device kind, not a particular product model or physical unit; all information is recalled rather than source-verified.", "Capacity, dimensions and throughput ranges are illustrative and should be checked against representative products; USB interface speed is not actual storage throughput.", "Connector shape does not establish USB transfer speed, encryption capability or certification; host support, filesystem compatibility and bootability require separate checks." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes-q01", "text": "Which of these check these first hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "USB Type-A drives", "USB Type-C drives", "Dual-connector drives", "Hardware-encrypted drives", "Ruggedized drives", "Write-protected drives" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "USB Vendor ID and Product ID", "value_or_pattern": "VID:PID, each a 16-bit value commonly written as four hexadecimal digits", "note": "The USB Implementers Forum assigns vendor IDs; vendors assign product IDs. These identify a vendor and product designation, not an individual unit." }, { "scheme": "USB serial-number string descriptor", "value_or_pattern": "Manufacturer-defined string", "note": "May identify an individual device, but can be absent or duplicated and is not proof of authenticity." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "USB 2.0 Specification - USB Implementers Forum; relevant to drives implementing USB 2.0.", "USB 3.2 Specification - USB Implementers Forum; relevant to drives implementing its SuperSpeed transfer modes.", "USB Type-C Cable and Connector Specification - USB Implementers Forum; relevant to Type-C drives.", "USB Mass Storage Class, Bulk-Only Transport specification - USB Implementers Forum; widely used for host access to flash-drive storage." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Transferring files between compatible computers and other host devices.", "Distributing documents, media, software and firmware updates.", "Providing bootable operating-system installation or recovery media.", "Keeping offline copies of files.", "Storing recordings or playback media for compatible appliances." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Advertised storage capacity", "typical_range": "Common examples span 8-512; larger and smaller drives exist", "unit": "GB (decimal)" }, { "quantity": "Sequential read throughput", "typical_range": "Approximately 10-400 across ordinary USB 2.0 and USB 3.x products; strongly device-dependent", "unit": "MB/s" }, { "quantity": "Sequential write throughput", "typical_range": "Approximately 3-200 across ordinary products; sustained speed can fall after a write cache fills", "unit": "MB/s" }, { "quantity": "Physical length", "typical_range": "Approximately 15-80, including compact and conventional designs", "unit": "mm" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Flash-memory wear and retention loss can cause unreadable or corrupted data; endurance depends on memory technology and controller behavior.", "Disconnection or power loss during writes can corrupt files or filesystem metadata.", "Connector damage, electrostatic discharge, moisture or controller failure can make the device inaccessible.", "Counterfeit capacity reporting can cause silent data loss when writes exceed the actual installed memory.", "Loss or theft can expose unencrypted information; malicious devices can carry malware or impersonate other USB device classes." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "name": "External solid-state drive", "difference": "Usually a distinct drive assembly connected by cable and designed for higher sustained workloads; compact integrated products blur the commercial boundary." }, { "name": "Memory card", "difference": "Uses a card interface and form factor, such as SD, rather than integrating a USB host connector; a USB card reader is a separate interface device." }, { "name": "USB security key", "difference": "Primarily performs authentication or cryptographic operations rather than providing general-purpose file storage." }, { "name": "USB adapter or dongle", "difference": "Provides another function, such as networking or interface conversion; USB attachment alone does not make a device a flash drive." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of USB flash drive this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does an existing Vercy world model already own USB flash drives or the relevant portable flash-storage concept, requiring a link instead of a new publication?", "What registry boundary should distinguish compact USB flash drives from portable SSDs when construction, connector arrangement and marketing categories overlap?", "Which USB-IF specifications and compliance evidence apply to the connector, protocol and power behaviour of each supported subtype, and which marks can be verified?", "What sourced capacity, dimension, performance, endurance and retention ranges are representative enough to use without turning product-specific claims into kind-wide expectations?", "Which diagnostics and sanitisation procedures are demonstrably supported across relevant drive controllers, and where must health or residual-data status remain unknown?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 35 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "unclassified", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a USB flash drive, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a USB flash drive, assess its storage and connection state, and decide whether and how it may safely be connected, read, written, removed or retired.", "characteristics": { "substance": "material", "origin": "manufactured", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "varies" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: Kingston DataTraveler, PNY 32GB Elite USB 3.2 Flash Drive, Samsung FIT Plus, Live USB, EToken.", "5 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 87 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a USB flash drive, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "matter you can touch", "physicalCharacter": [ "Mobility varies between examples.", "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by form and material. The registry holds no appearance data, so what a USB flash drive looks like has to come from research." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "Kingston DataTraveler", "PNY 32GB Elite USB 3.2 Flash Drive", "Samsung FIT Plus", "Live USB", "EToken" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 87 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 5 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one USB flash drive from another, and a USB flash drive from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a USB flash drive sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a USB flash drive from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a USB flash drive is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a USB flash drive is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a USB flash drive is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a USB flash drive is, how it got there and where it may go (varies).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a USB flash drive is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a USB flash drive is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a USB flash drive passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a USB flash drive between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a USB flash drive, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a USB flash drive is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use-and-operation", "name": "Use and operation", "description": "What can be done with a USB flash drive and what it takes to do it.", "rationale": "An agent that can recognise a thing but not act on it has only half a model.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-use", "name": "Intended use and function", "description": "What a USB flash drive is for, and what it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-and-purpose", "name": "Function, purpose and misuse", "description": "The function a USB flash drive performs and the uses that fall outside it.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-and-purpose-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the use of a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "function-and-purpose-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the use of a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "function-and-purpose-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the use of a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "handling-and-procedure", "name": "Handling and procedure", "description": "The steps, skills and tools involved in using a USB flash drive.", "findings": [ { "id": "procedures-and-skills", "name": "Procedures, skills and required tools", "description": "What an agent needs before it can act on a USB flash drive at all.", "questions": [ { "id": "procedures-and-skills-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes handling a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "procedures-and-skills-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about handling a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "procedures-and-skills-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once handling a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a USB flash drive came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a USB flash drive and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a USB flash drive is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a USB flash drive, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a USB flash drive, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a USB flash drive is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 13, "findings": 15, "questions": 45 } } } }