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The use of social media platforms has hit the roof in recent times. Only five per cent of adults in the United States were using a social media platform in 2005, that number is now around 70 per cent, reveals a study.

While social media keeps us informed and entertained, it has a robust impact on our lives and psychological well-being. Here are four tools that can help you become more productive by limiting the time you spend on social media sites.

Freedom

Freedom is a social media blocker app that allows users to decide which websites and apps they want to limit on their mobile, tablets and desktop devices. Users can also block the internet.

Too many apps can spoil online learning

The app is helping its one million users to focus and increase productivity.

Freedom is free to use for the first seven sessions after which you will be required to pay a subscription fee. The app is compatible with Windows, Android, and Mac/iOS.

LeechBlock

LeechBlock blocks time-wasting sites that prevent you from having a productive working day. Users specify which sites to block and when as well as for how long. The Firefox add-on can also be used to stop users being constantly plagued by ads or messages.

LeechBlock also allows you to set a password to access prohibited sites to help "slow you down" in moments of weakness. If you can't help yourself, then LeechBlock will track the amount of time you've spent on blocked sites.

Adding sites to your 'blocked' list is easy - just go the the LeechBlock extension in your add-on manager and click 'Options' to add a site.

StayFocusd

StayFocusd is a free browser extension that increases productivity by limiting the amount of time we spend on certain websites.

This helps users stay focused on their goals and also prevents them from getting distracted.

Google suspends Parler social networking app from Play Store

Once the set time has been used up, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day. If you fear that you might cave in simply set the "Nuclear option" which is designed to prevent users from undoing the set restrictions.

The browser extension is only available for Google Chrome, hence it won't work on other web browsers like Firefox or Microsoft Edge.

RescueTime

RescueTime is an award-winning tool that tracks the amount of time you spend on various websites.

The app has over two million users and is available to use on Windows, Android, Mac/iOS, Chrome, and Linux devices. Its browser plug-in can be used on Chrome, Firefox, and Brave.

You can sync as many devices as you like.

RescueTime is free for the first 14 days of use, after which you will need to pay a subscription fee to continue using it.

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Use these tools to block social media apps from yourself and save time - The Express Tribune

Emerging technologies like digital twins, artificial intelligence and gaming visualisation have all contributed to a planning tool thats helping Liverpools 5G Create project build a more comprehensive, larger and complex 5G health, social care and education network.

The Liverpool 5G Health and Social Care Testbed began operation in the Kensington area of Liverpool in April 2018, and the Liverpool 5G Create: Connecting Health and Social Care project, announced in August 2020, set out to develop a private, independent 5G network for health and social care services in selected areas of the city.

The network is designed to reduce digital poverty for vulnerable people in need, providing safe, free and accessible connectivity to services including health, social care and education. The project will increase the area covered, upgrade existing mmWave nodes, integrate small cell technology and trial a range of new use cases in health and social care.

The 7.2m project was funded by the UKs Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) as part of its 5G testbed and trials programme to show how effective 5G is at supporting different sectors in the UK in this case, life-changing health, social care and education technologies.

The planning tool, designed by Liverpool tech company CGA Simulation, aims to save time and resources for projects planning a 5G network such as 5G testbeds, local authorities and transport hubs, including train stations and allow them to plan their network build online first.

The 5G network in Liverpool is said to be unique, as a hybrid 5G small cell public sector network of this scale hasnt been attempted before. 5G-supported remote GP consultations, online wound management, a haptic (remote hug) shirt, care homes sensors, an anti-anxiety app for children under eight, and support for children learning at home during the Covid 19 pandemic are among the technologies being trialled by the community. The 5G connection to use these technologies is provided free to the community during the course of the project.

Given that a broad spectrum of technologies is being trialled, the project created a hybrid network-of-networks to ensure all of the technologies are properly supported.5G mmWave technology,deployed by wireless networking equipment provider Blue Wireless, uses existing fibre to create a wireless mesh network, which forms the backbone of the 5G network in Kensington. This is aligned with a community LoRaWAN service, which supports internet of things (IoT) technologies. Telet Researchs Neutral Host small cell technology is currently being added to the network to provide user device access across the area.

Planning the network was said to be complicated and the planning tool used to bring it to life has proved an integral part of this ambitious build.The tool creates a 3D digital copy of the network build area using local data from Ordnance Survey, local authority mapping and theOffice of National Statisticsto accurately access where houses, roads, lamp posts and street furniture are located replicating these in a visual display, said CGA managing director Jon Wetherall.

Using the planning tool, we can analyse how a 5G connection penetrates through walls, and where 5G nodes should be placed to navigate around obstructions like trees, he added.

This process saves time and money for planning teams, insisted Liverpool 5Gs technology lead, Andrew Miles. The tool maps where on lamp posts, the side of buildings, or street furniture, the 5G nodes should be placed to communicate effectively via line of sight. This reduces planning time as the hard work can be done online rather than by foot, he said.

It is a cost-effective, efficient and easy-to-use alternative for teams on a tight budget. The planning tool can also generate a kit pack for planning teams, which lays out the exact technical parts needed to erect the working 5G network. They know exactly which parts to order and when, he added.

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Liverpool health, social care and education 5G network expands - ComputerWeekly.com

Russia will block Twitter within a month if it fails to delete banned content, authoritiestoldstate media Tuesday.

Vadim Subbotin, the deputy chief of Russias state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, issued the warning a week after the country began slowing down the social media platforms speed over the dispute. The agency acted amid tensions with western social media platforms over what Moscow calls censorship against its state-affiliated accounts.

Weve taken a month to watch Twitters reaction on the issue of removing prohibited information. Appropriate decisions will be made depending on the social network administrations actions, the state-run TASS news agency quoted Subbotin as saying.

If Twitter doesnt comply with Roskomnadzor and Russian legislations requirements, then we will consider the issue of completely blocking the service in Russia, he warned.

The watchdog says the banned content at the center of the conflict involves more than 3,000 posts containing information about suicide, child pornography and drugs that apparently remained online since 2017. Polls say a mere 3% of Russians use Twitter.

Experts interviewed by The Moscow Times called Russias announcement that it would disrupt Twitter access unprecedented but noted that it was unclear how it would be carried out.

The Kremlin has said it supports Roskomnadzors efforts to force foreign platforms to comply with Russian law.

President Vladimir Putin last month raised fines for social media giants accused of discriminating against Russian media. On New Years Eve, he granted Roskomnadzor the power to block social media platforms if they are found to discriminate against Russian media.

Putinaccusedsocial media giants in January of controlling society and restricting the right to freely express viewpoints.

Russia previously banned the social networking website LinkedIn for failing to store users data on Russian servers and, more recently, reversed a decision to ban the Telegram messaging app after a two-year attempt to block it.

This article first appeared inThe Moscow Timesand is republished in a sharing partnership with the Barents Observer.

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Russia threatens to block Twitter within 30 days | The Independent Barents Observer - The Independent Barents Observer

CLEVELAND, Ohio The Cleveland Clinic and the NFL Players Association are working together to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the diagnosis of neurological diseases and guide treatment, the health system and players union announced Tuesday.

The joint initiative seeks to use technology to identify neurological diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimers and determine how they might progress. The goal is to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to inform interventions and treatment, said principal investigator Dr. Jay Alberts from the Clinics Lerner Research Institute. Alberts is also vice chair for innovation for the Clinics Neurological Institute.

The opportunity we have here is that were going to be looking at a tremendous amount of data, Alberts said. By looking at all of that data and then using machine learning we are going to be able to work together and create these interesting, impactful models.

The Clinic/NFLPA initiative will use data from 60,000 of the Clinics neurological patients, who will remain anonymous, to develop algorithms related to cognitive impairment. The goal is to use the technology and a patients short-term clinical data to predict their long-term outlook.

The research will provide insight for prevention and treatment programs for current and former football players, the news release says.

This partnership with Cleveland Clinic is an exciting extension of our unions ongoing commitment to advancing the physical and mental health of our player members, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said in the news release. As the physician community learns more about neurological disease through the resulting clinical decision-support tools, the better informed we will be in providing education and safety initiatives for professional football players.

Artificial intelligence refers to a collection of technologies, and experts believe they have the potential to improve health care. One type of AI called machine learning uses algorithms to find patterns in large amounts of data. It can use those patterns to make predictions -- for example, Spotify uses machine learning to recommend a song you might like based on other songs youve listened to previously.

That could mean better treatment for patients. For example, Clinic researchers are currently studying whether aerobic exercise could slow the progression of Parkinsons. If AI and machine learning could help diagnose Parkinsons early on, physicians could prescribe a specific exercise regimen to help the patient, Alberts said.

We can actually start using different interventions or different approaches, and be much more prescriptive, Alberts said.

The partners also envision the models being used to help provide better health care in rural and underserved communities. A doctor in a rural area may see only three or four Parkinsons patients, but the project could provide valuable insights into how to treat them, Alberts said.

The Clinic and NFLPA also plan to work with other partners to create a research network to evaluate and create phased research projects. The network will publish any request for proposals for further projects that could further advance the understanding of neurological diseases and their progression.

Were hoping we can attract others universities, or even startups or established companies, to come in and work with us on data sets, or even bring new data to the table, and think about how we can create better and stronger models, Alberts said.

For years, studies have focused on the risk of neurological disease that football players face through brain injuries such as concussions. A 2012 study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found NFL players are at a higher risk of death from brain diseases like Parkinsons, Alzheimers and ALS.

The effort is not focusing on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease that has been linked to brain injuries that occur in football and other contact sports. That is due to the fact there is less available data on CTE, and AI and machine learning improve with large amounts of data, Alberts said.

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Cleveland Clinic, NFLPA to use artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis and treatment of neurological dis - cleveland.com

A team of Rochester Institute of Technology researchers that develops artificial intelligence systems capable of learning over time is putting its work to a unique new test: creating machines capable of playing the popular video game Starcraft II. While tasking artificial intelligence with playing a science fiction strategy game may seem odd at first glance, researchers think it could be an important stepping stone to advancing practical solutions such as self-driving cars, service robots, and other real-world applications.

Christopher Kanan, an assistant professor at RITs Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, received nearly $210,000 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to work on phase two of the Lifelong Learning Machines (L2M) program this year. After having success with their research in phase one of the L2M, Kanan and his team were selected to work on this new project led by SRI International and includes collaborators from American University and Georgia Tech.

: A. Sue Weisler

Assistant Professor Christopher Kanan, left, and imaging science Ph.D. student Tyler Hayes, right, discuss artificial neural networks in this photo taken in 2018.

Kanan specializes in artificial neural networkscomputing systems inspired by the biological neural networks that make up human brains which have distinct advantages over many of the artificial intelligence systems used today. Current systems are typically built using training sets to master tasks and deployed to perform that task in perpetuity, but cannot learn new tasks on the fly without suffering from a problem called catastrophic forgetting. Kanan has built systems that can learn more organically by mimicking elements of the human brain, which will be helpful for the task at hand.

The system needs to learn how to play the game and retain information about skills it learns along the way, said Kanan. One thing that we are responsible for integrating into SRIs system is teaching it to learn very quickly to avoid bad outcomes. Our human brains have a region called the amygdala thats specifically responsible for learning fear, so we are trying to integrate specific modules for learning aversion into the system.

Kanan said another benefit of the neural networks he is developing is that they are far more computationally efficient. Many current artificial intelligence systems require vast amounts of computing power and electricity to operate, placing a toll on budgets and the environment.

The grant from DARPA will help fund three RIT graduate students to work on the project over the next year, including Tyler Hayes, an imaging science Ph.D. student from Buffalo, N.Y. She said she is excited to work on the project because catastrophic forgetting presents a major obstacle for artificial intelligence systems and the team is pioneering novel approaches to solve the problem.

I think its an important problem we need to be thinking about, especially in todays day and age, said Hayes. Traditional networks that need to be trained offline and cache all the data in a server might be OK in some applications, but when you deploy a lot of these systems in real-time, you want them to be able to adapt to their environment and change. Im excited that our lab is working on some of the biggest current challenges for continual learning including image classification, object detection, and visual question answering. Its going to make these systems much more applicable in real world scenarios.

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RIT researchers helping to develop artificial intelligence systems capable of playing 'Starcraft II' | RIT - RIT University News Services