FaceBook Building a Safer Community With New Suicide Prevention Tools

Facebook Utilising Artificial Intelligence to Avert Suicides

Facebook intends utilising artificial intelligence and updating its tools and services in order to avert suicides among individuals. This social media network which is the largest in the world had informed that it intends to integrate its prevailing suicide prevention tool for Facebook post in its live streaming feature namely Facebook Live together with its Messenger service.

The company had mentioned in a blogpost recently that artificial intelligence would be utilised in supporting spot users having the tendency of suicides. As per the New York Post, a 14 year old foster child in Florida had broadcasted her suicide on Facebook Live, in January. In live video stream, Facebook has been utilising artificial intelligence in monitoring offensive material.

Recently, the company had expressed that the latest tools would be providing a choice to users viewing a live video in reaching to the user directly and report the video on Facebook. Resources would also be provided by Facebook Inc. which comprises of reaching to a friend and get a help line to the individual broadcasting the live video. Among individuals in the age group of 15 -29, suicide is said to be the second leading reason of death.

Suicide Rates Escalated by 24%

As per a National Centre for Health Statistics study, in the United States from 1999 to 2014, the suicide rates had escalated by 24 percent after a period of almost steady decline. Suicide among youngster seems to be the final ultimatum in stepping in and ending their life when help and proper counselling is not available to the victim.

 Facebook has provided advice to individuals who would be at risk of committing suicide for years though till now it seemed to depend on other individuals in bringing about awareness by clicking a report button on a post. It has now progressed pattern-recognition algorithms in recognising if an individual seems to be stressed by training them with examples of the posts which could have been earlier identified.For instance, dialogue of sadness and pain could be an indication and responses from friends with comments such as `Are you ok’, or `I am concerned about you’, could be of some help.

System Being Rolled All Over the World

When a post has been recognized, it could be sent for quick review to the community operations team network. When someone who would be viewing the live stream tends to click a menu option declaring that they are concerned about the individual, Facebook then provides advice to the viewer with regards to how they could render help to the broadcaster.

The stream is also identified for instant review by the team of Facebook who in turn overlaps a message with a suitable recommendation whenever possible. This latest system is being rolled out all over the world. Presently, a different choice in contacting various crisis counsellor helplines through the Messenger tool of Facebook seems to be limited to the US. Facebook has mentioned that it needs to check if the other organisation would be capable of managing with the demand before it intends to develops the facility

The Spy Device in Your Pocket

Well-known Smartphones/Televisions – Remote Spying Devices

Volatile claims done by WikiLeaks recently stated that the CIA have the tendency of turning well-known smartphones as well as televisions into remote spying devices, emphasizing how unwitting consumers have enabled their passion for electronics in making them susceptible to concealed scrutiny.

According to Tyler Cohen Wood, former senior U.S. intelligence office, states that `it is a boon for the good guys as well as the bad guys. There is just so much information which is out there and everywhere one goes, our politics, when they are at home or not, their health, their pattern of life is out there which is owing to these devices’.

The accusations made by WikiLead along with the releaseof thousands of documents, claimed to be robbed from the CIA, has not been confirmed though officials state that they seem to be reliable.Presuming the accuracy of the documents, the leaked documents draws attention to how the consumers have unknowingly made themselves susceptible to hacking via the widespread utilisation of smart mobile devices. For the past 10 years, smartphones had overtaken the consumer electronic market. As per a research of November 2016, by the Pew Research Centre, around 77% of the people in the U.S. now tend to be in possession of a smartphone.

Procedure Enabled CIA Evade Encryption

This is a noticeable increase from 2011, when about 35% of the Americans had owned a smartphone. WikiLeaks had claimed that CIA spies had 24 exploits for smartphone which had been controlled by Android operating system of Google together with various exploits for iOS operating system ofApple.

The procedure seems to be further than wiretaps together with spooks probably with the ability of secretly activating the microphone on the smartphone or smart TV without any clue to their target. Moreover WikiLeaks also claimed that the procedure enabled the CIA to evade the encryption of WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Wiebo, and Confide together with Cloackman by hacking the smartphone which they tend to run on, collecting audio as well as message traffic before applying the encryption.

Apple had mentioned in a statement to ABC News that `while their initial analysis indicated that many of the issue leaked were already patched in the updated iOS and that they would continue to work to address any identified vulnerabilities rapidly.They would urge customers to download the latest iOS in order to ensure that they have the most recent security updates.

Spy Software Capable of Scooping Messages

After the original publication of this, the Director of Information Security and Privacy at Google, Heather Adkins had mentioned in a statement to ABC News that as they had reviewed the documents they are confident that security updates as well as protections in Chrome and Android have a tendency to shield users from several of these alleged susceptibilities.

 Their analysis seems to be on-going and they would implement any future essential protections. They have always made security a top priority and would continue to invest in their defenses’. As reported in August by ABC News, cybersecurity researchers had found at the time three main weaknesses in the operating system of Apple iPhone which had affected users all over the world, provoking the software company to release a security update. In that case the spy software was capable of scooping up messages of any number of apps inclusive of encrypted chat applications such as WhatsApp due to its sophistication.

Robots, Exoskeletons and Invisible Planes

Our body may be compared to a weak machine, which is equipped with fragile bones and sinews. However, with the invention of electrically operated exoskeleton, we often wish to get our humanity outfitted with some robosuits, which are intended to provide strength. Again, another technological invention is effective to make any airplane completely invisible to our eye and also radar. Recently, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has expressed everything about these high-tech innovations, which are best for military.

Director of DARPA, Steven Walker has said that while starting any project, they want to ensure whether it may bring about a significant transformation in the present world. On the decade of 60s, the agency had made a plan for linking computers in such a way that there may be a development of good communication. After that, ARPANET had been introduced before the invention of internet, which is used by us in the present day. The researchers have tried to make use of revolutionary technologies in order to help the soldiers.

Exoskeleton gives more comfort to the soldiers-

If we talk about the technologies, related to national safety, DARPA is now at a prominent position. And it is believed that the only things to give defense to a country are robots and invisible airplanes. At present, DARPA is also engaged with the project of creating an intricately programmed exoskeleton, which may transform a fighter into powerful soldier.

Often, the soldiers need to march through an extensive distance, and they carry weighty equipment or packs. Such lightweight, soft exoskeleton reduces the amount of weight, by lowering the load on the body of a soldier. This system makes use of power-driven cables in order to offer a mechanical help. Muscles of the users do not need to spend much energy.

Exoskelton has been created by Harvard University researchers, who have a deal with DARPA. The model of exoskeleton is going through a performance test. Soldiers put on the sample beneath a complete gear for battle and move through a path of about 3 miles. The technicians check the length of strides of the soldiers, activity of muscles, and use of energy. The main objective is to help soldiers in walking more distances, when they are holding heavy burdens with limited effort.

In the creation of invisible airplane also, DARPA has made lots of contributions. According to the director of this agency, those, who have been engaged with them, got a chance to implement their own ideas. An ex-director dealt with Air Force for the development of stealth aircraft for the first time.

Other projects for the benefit of fighters-

There are many other grand projects of DARPA. For instance, as lots of soldiers lose arms in wars, the scientists have created arms. And one of these arms has been approved by FDA. This arm may be stretched and bent also. A mechanical arm is also going to be developed by connecting it to the cortex in our brain.
Thus, technologies in the military world may amaze all of us in future.

MIT Media Lab Disobediance Prize Worth $25000

How Breaking the Rules Could Win You $250,000

The M.I.T. Media Lab has thrown everyone I a frenzy by laying down a proposition which is as simple as it can get. It is offering prize money worth $250,000 inch to those who are willing to go ahead, break the rules or indulge in shaking up the status quo. There are literally no rules attached to this offering and certainly it isn’t a joke purported by some people rather M.I.T. Media Lab has opened the nomination for its new Disobedience Award for all. In short it can be said this lab is aiming at congratulating the people for their courage to remove the shackles of the society or institution which results in bringing good in the society.

The reason behind launching this award

It has been said that there are huge number of people who actively doing really important things for the betterment of the society which usually results from either breaking the rules or simply sticking to their beliefs. Those people know that they will be punished for this but yet they move forward without fear of repercussions and punishment. Our world is filled with such exceptional people but most of them go unnoticed or endure hardships on their own without any financial help. This award will help in recognizing such individuals or groups who gives us courage just like Malala and others.

M.I.T lab further points out they had found out that in most of the large institutions there are basically two ways of making progress. It is either by following the rules and working as per the stated process or in some extreme cases taking radical approach which does away with the process and rules and helps in opening a new road towards success. Apple not giving a backdoor to the government agencies can be taken as a prime example of doing something away from the rules even knowing that it can lead to punishment.

All you need to know about the MIT Award 

M.I.T has not suddenly launched this prize money for an award out of the blue rather than had announced it last year but the nomination process has been established just now. The prize money in cash is being funded by the Reif Hoffman who is popularly known as the co-founder of the largest professional website called LinkedIn. The entries for this award will be reviewed by a panel of judges comprising of scientists, activists, engineers and designers. All the living individuals and eligible to participate in this award and the submissions are open from this week and it will end on May 1. The recipient of this prestigious and ambitious award will be announced by the M.I.T on July 21.

As stated earlier this award created a certain level of excitement among the people. The Executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution named Jamila Raquib has stated that she would like to someone gets benefitted by the prize. She further elaborates that kind of award will help in bringing varied kind of structures, knowledge and resources to the individual or group which is not easy to get in this age.

For Nomination Follow.

Google Develops Invisible Web Security Captcha Form

Privacy has become a huge concern for the social media platform and large tech firms which deals with horrendous amount of private data. Google has come forward with a noble solution in form of developing such website security checks which isn’t visible enough to be tampered by the hackers. Currently usual internet users had to prove they are human through giving a click on the ‘I am not a robot’ checkbox or checking the pictures on the screen but Google new system will simply make them go away.

A new system of proving you are ‘human’

Currently websites heavily rely on the ‘captcha’ which usually asks users to complete a puzzle displayed on their screen and this captcha is designed in such a way that a computer will struggle to complete it correctly. Captcha came into being to thwart the attempt of the bots from accessing and using the websites. Now Google has developed a system which essentially helps in tracking how users interacts with the website in order to prove that they are human, this will be mean that puzzle are no longer necessary on the website if this system find everything is fine with users activity or behavior.

The puzzles developed by the companies in designing the Captcha has helped them in developing a number of things like Google has utilized it train its artificial intelligence algorithms. An example will help in showing how Google is making its AI smarter with the use of captcha puzzle. If it AI is unable to recognize the house number present in the image by the Streetview car then it will through that image in the Captcha system in order to get human input.

Google set to secure the websites with reCaptcha

Google has long ago introduced that reCaptch system which helped in simplifying the process of making users check certain puzzle in order to prove they are human. Nowadays almost all the websites are relying on it safeguard themselves from hackers and surge of attacks on their servers against the barrage of information feed by scammers. The box utilized for the Captcha helps in monitoring how each person is interacting with it and it then helps computer in understanding the human clicks from the bots.

A example will help in illustrating this fact when an automated script used by the hackers for getting though the captcha then computer notes that it has taken a second to fill up the form and there has been not movement of the mouse at all. All these activities are enough to give it a red flag.

Google has went ahead to improve this system which has done away with the check box as well. Now the system will focus on analyzing the how users has interacted with the other elements on the website which includes the ‘submit form’ button. If this system finds that there has been suspicious activity on the website then it will trigger puzzle on the screen for the user or bot to solve.