A collection of new apps in Google’s Digital Wellbeing Experiments platform wants to help you find a balance with technology A ndroid mobile devices put the internet at your fingertips, but if your smartphone use is emerging into an addictive territory, Google is fine with you using them a bit less. The Mountain View-based company recently an- nounced its Digital Wellbeing Experiments platform, a collection of new apps that guide users in finding their balance with technology. It has released six apps on the Play Store already, and there are certainly more on the way. All of them are tasked with getting you to understand the place technology has in your life and how it can be healthier to focus on certain activities above others. Here are the initial Digital Well- being Experiments apps: Now, each time you unlock your device, the clock moves for- ward by one number. The idea behind this app is to limit how often notifications are thrown at you. Instead of delivering them all at once, Post Box gathers your noti- fications through the day and delivers them in an organised way up to four times daily. It helps you minimise distractions, by holding your noti- fications until a time that suits you Paper Phone helps you take a little break away from your digital world by printing a personal booklet of the key information you’ll need that day. The app lets you choose what to include such as favourite contacts, maps and meetings and then prints them directly to a sheet of paper. This app enables you to switch off from technology as a group, to spend quality time together. Just wait for everyone to join, then flip the switch together to begin your session. If someone in the group unlocks, the ses- sion will end, and you will be able to see how you did. It lets you spend qual- ity time together, switching off from technology as a group Morph helps you stay focused, by adapting your phone to what you are doing. Think about how you divide your time and choose the apps that are most important to you in each mode. Based on time or place, your phone will automatically adapt — giving you the right apps at the right time. MORPH It enables you to stay focused by get- ting the right apps at the right time PAPER PHONE It helps you find focus by going a day with only your essential apps DESERT ISLAND MOBILE ROBOT TO INSPECT THE LUNAR SURFACE FOR WATER N asa is sending a new rover to the Moon’s mysteri- ous south pole. If successful, the machine will be the first-ever to land on the Moon’s south pole with- out crashing. It will map the area’s water ice for the first time – information that will be crucial to future astro- nauts making extended vis- its to the Moon. It will also use a drill to collect data on different lunar soils. The golf cart-sized robot is called Volatiles Investi- gating Polar Exploration Rover, or Viper. It’s scheduled to land in December 2022 and spend about 100 days col- lecting data. Nasa plans to use it to build the first glob- al water resource maps of the Moon. Lunar horizon In its Artemis program, the agency plans to send astro- nauts to the lunar south pole in 2024 and also build a permanent Moon base. As- tronauts living there will possibly need to harvest wa- ter ice from the area, so they can break it down into oxy- gen (for breathing) and hy- drogen (for fuel). Landing a rover on the Moon is a complicated en- deavour. Moon landers must successfully carry out a series of complex commands while contending with its wonky gravity and terrain. Harvesting water Harvesting the Moon’s wa- ter is vital if Nasa wants to set up base there and spring- board to Mars. Astronauts travelling to Mars would need to make their jet fuel on the Moon. The lunar south pole re- mains a mysterious place, but we know it has ice. “This rover will help us answer the many questions we have about where the water is, and how much there is for us to use,” said Daniel Andrews, the new mission’s project manager. businessinsider.in It will be investigating the Moon’s south pole where the manned mission will land in 2024 Viper mobility testbed, an engineering model created to evaluate the rover’s mobility system Following two space- craft crashes in the past, landing on the Moon has proven to be difficult due to issues in communications during the final stages of descent, a phase known as ‘15 minutes of terror’. Photo: NASA/Johnson Space Center Self-driving cars can lead to more traffic congestion S ELF-DRIVING cars could worsen traffic congestion in the com- ing decades, partly because of drivers’ attitudes to the emerg- ing technology and a lack of willing- ness to share their rides. For the study published in the jour- nal Urban Policy and Research, a re- search team used Adelaide city in Aus- tralia as a test model and surveyed more than 500 commuters, including a mix of those who travel to work by car and pub- lic transport. “Autonomous or driverless vehicles are likely to have profound effects on cities. Being able to understand their impact will help to shape how our com- munities respond to the challenges and opportunities ahead,” said the study’s co-author Raul Barreto from the Uni- versity of Adelaide. Shifting attitude This research investigated commuters’ views on autonomous vehicle owner- ship and use, vehicle sharing, and their attachment to conventional ve- hicles. The team has also explored po- tential vehicle flow, with a mix of autonomous and conven- tional vehicles. According to the re- searchers, the key factors affecting the transition to autonomous vehicles are commuter attitudes to car ownership and wanting to drive themselves, rather than have technology do it for them, and con- sumer attitudes to car sharing. Peak period congestion “Our evidence suggests that as riders switch to autonomous vehicles, there will be an adverse impact on pub- lic transport. With most commuters not interested in ride sharing, this could in- crease peak period vehicle flows, which is likely to increase traffic congestion over the next 30 years or so,” Barreto said. “Under both scenarios we tested, the number of vehicles overall will eventually drop. However, total vehicle trips may increase, and some of the predicted benefits of au- tonomous vehicles may not eventuate until a lengthy transition period is com- plete.” IANS Simply put, a truly driverless car must be capable of navi- gating to a destination, avoid- ing obstacles, and parking without any human interven- tion. To accomplish this, a dri- verless car must have an artificial intelligence system that senses its surroundings to avoid collisions. WHAT IS A SELF-DRIVING CAR? UNLOCK CLOCK Unlock Clock helps you con- sider your tech use, by counting and displaying the number of times you unlock your phone in a day. However, this won’t appear as an app when downloaded from Play Store. You can find it in your Live Wallpaper library. POST BOX WE FLIP It acts as a printable paper phone that helps you take a break from your digital world Desert Island helps you find focus, by challenging you to go a day with only your essential apps. Just pick the apps that are most important to you, then give it a go for 24 hours. Spam callers will be fined ` 70 lakh per call with new US law, When will India do the same? D uring a busy day or even a lazy one, the last thing you want to do is an- swer a phone call from an unknown number. And in case that call is the irritat- ing spam call — it’s the absolute worst. Mere recording being played after receiving the call, how annoy- ing that is! However, looks like this robocall issue in the US will soon be a thing of the past. The US Congress has approved a landmark bill that puts a stop on il- legal robocalls from companies. The bill will be soon signed by the US President in the coming weeks for it to be turned into a law. Under the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, short for the TRACED Act, the Fed- eral Communications Commission could fine robocallers up to $10,000 (` 70 lakhs) per call. The law also asks for major carriers in the US to install technology dubbed STIR/SHAKEN within their networks to easily trace the number and let the user know if its genuine or just a robocaller. While this is definitely cool that illegal annoying robocallers would no longer be functioning in the US, we can’t wait for a rule like this to come to India. India does have its own kind of robocaller blocking through the DND initiative where you can call your telecom operator to add you on the DND list, thus fil- tering these annoying calls. How- ever, sometimes this too isn’t enough and robocallers and up con- necting to our phone. ➤ Recently TRAI has released DND 2.0 app on Android where users can sign up their numbers to be put on the DND list. Moreover, they also have the ability to report a spe- cific spam SMS or call right through the app for the govt to nail it down. 06 “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” Isaac Asimov, writer SCI-TECH
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A collection of new apps in Google’s Digital Wellbeing Experimentsplatform wants to help you find a balance with technology
Android mobile devices put the internet at yourfingertips, but if your smartphone use isemerging into an addictive territory, Googleis fine with you using them a bit less.
The Mountain View-based company recently an-nounced its Digital Wellbeing Experiments platform,a collection of new apps that guide users in findingtheir balance with technology.
It has released six apps on the PlayStore already, and there are certainlymore on the way. All of them are taskedwith getting you to understand the placetechnology has in your life and how it canbe healthier to focus on certain activitiesabove others. Here are the initial Digital Well-being Experiments apps:
Now, each time youunlock your device,
the clock moves for-ward by one number.
The idea behind this app is to limit how often notifications are thrown at you. Instead of delivering them all at once,Post Box gathers your noti-fications through the dayand delivers them in anorganised way up to fourtimes daily.
It helps you minimise distractions,by holding your noti-fications until a time
that suits you
Paper Phone helps you takea little break away from
your digital world byprinting a personalbooklet of the key information you’ll needthat day. The app lets you choose what toinclude such as favourite contacts, mapsand meetings and then prints themdirectly to a sheet of paper.
This app enables you toswitch off from technologyas a group, to spend qualitytime together. Just wait foreveryone to join, then flipthe switch together to beginyour session. If someone inthe group unlocks, the ses-sion will end, and you willbe able to see how you did.
It lets you spend qual-ity time together,switching off from
technology as a groupMorph helps you stayfocused, by adapting yourphone to what you are doing.Think about how you divideyour time and choose theapps that are most importantto you in each mode. Basedon time or place, your phonewill automatically adapt —giving you the right apps atthe right time.
MORPH
It enables you tostay focused by get-ting the right apps at
the right time
PAPER PHONE
It helps you findfocus by going a day
with only your essential apps
DESERT ISLAND
MOBILE ROBOT TO INSPECT THELUNAR SURFACE FOR WATER
Nasa is sending anew rover to theMoon’s mysteri-ous south pole. If
successful, the machine willbe the first-ever to land onthe Moon’s south pole with-out crashing. It will map thearea’s water ice for the firsttime – information that willbe crucial to future astro-nauts making extended vis-its to the Moon. It will alsouse a drill to collect data ondifferent lunar soils.
The golf cart-sized robotis called Volatiles Investi-gating Polar ExplorationRover, or Viper. It’s scheduledto land in December 2022 andspend about 100 days col-lecting data. Nasa plans touse it to build the first glob-al water resource maps ofthe Moon.
Lunar horizonIn its Artemis program, theagency plans to send astro-nauts to the lunar southpole in 2024 and also builda permanent Moon base. As-tronauts living there willpossibly need to harvest wa-ter ice from the area, so theycan break it down into oxy-gen (for breathing) and hy-drogen (for fuel).
Landing a rover on theMoon is a complicated en-deavour. Moon landers mustsuccessfully carry out a seriesof complex commands whilecontending with its wonkygravity and terrain.
Harvesting waterHarvesting the Moon’s wa-ter is vital if Nasa wants toset up base there and spring-board to Mars. Astronautstravelling to Mars wouldneed to make their jet fuel onthe Moon.
The lunar south pole re-mains a mysterious place,but we know it has ice. “Thisrover will help us answer themany questions we haveabout where the water is, andhow much there is for us touse,” said Daniel Andrews,the new mission’s projectmanager. businessinsider.in
It will be investigatingthe Moon’s south pole where themanned mission will land in 2024
Viper mobility testbed, an engineering model created toevaluate the rover’s mobility system
Following two space-craft crashes in thepast, landing on theMoon has proven to bedifficult due to issues incommunications duringthe final stages ofdescent, a phase knownas ‘15 minutes of terror’.
Phot
o: N
ASA/
John
son
Spac
e Ce
nter
Self-driving cars can lead tomore traffic congestionS
ELF-DRIVING cars could worsentraffic congestion in the com-ing decades, partly because ofdrivers’ attitudes to the emerg-
ing technology and a lack of willing-ness to share their rides.
For the study published in the jour-nal Urban Policy and Research, a re-search team used Adelaide city in Aus-tralia as a test model and surveyed morethan 500 commuters, including a mix ofthose who travel to work by car and pub-lic transport.
“Autonomous or driverless vehiclesare likely to have profound effects oncities. Being able to understand theirimpact will help to shape how our com-munities respond to the challenges andopportunities ahead,” said the study’sco-author Raul Barreto from the Uni-versity of Adelaide.
Shifting attitude This research investigated commuters’views on autonomous vehicle owner-ship and use, vehicle sharing, andtheir attachment to conventional ve-hicles. The team has also explored po-tential vehicle flow, with a mixof autonomous and conven-tional vehicles.
According to the re-searchers, the key factorsaffecting the transition toautonomous vehicles arecommuter attitudes to carownership and wanting todrive themselves, ratherthan have technology doit for them, and con-sumer attitudes to carsharing.
Peak period congestion
“Our evidence suggeststhat as riders switch toautonomous vehicles,
there will be an adverse impact on pub-lic transport. With most commuters notinterested in ride sharing, this could in-crease peak period vehicle flows, whichis likely to increase traffic congestionover the next 30 years or so,” Barreto
said. “Under both scenarios wetested, the number of vehiclesoverall will eventually drop.However, total vehicle tripsmay increase, and some ofthe predicted benefits of au-tonomous vehicles may noteventuate until a lengthytransition period is com-plete.” IANS
Simply put, a truly driverlesscar must be capable of navi-gating to a destination, avoid-ing obstacles, and parkingwithout any human interven-tion. To accomplish this, a dri-verless car must have anartificial intelligence systemthat senses its surroundingsto avoid collisions.
WHAT IS A SELF-DRIVING CAR?
UNLOCK CLOCK
Unlock Clock helps you con-sider your tech use, bycounting and displaying thenumber of times you unlockyour phone in a day.However, this won’t appearas an app when downloadedfrom Play Store. You canfind it in your LiveWallpaper library.
POST BOXWE FLIP
It acts as a printable paper phonethat helps you take a break
from your digital world
Desert Island helps you find focus,by challenging you to go a day with
only your essential apps. Just pick the apps that aremost important to you, then give it a go for 24 hours.
Spam callers will befined ` 70 lakh percall with new US law,When will India dothe same?
During a busy day or evena lazy one, the last thingyou want to do is an-swer a phone call froman unknown number.
And in case that call is the irritat-ing spam call — it’s the absoluteworst. Mere recording being playedafter receiving the call, how annoy-ing that is! However, looks like thisrobocall issue in the US will soon bea thing of the past.
The US Congress has approved alandmark bill that puts a stop on il-legal robocalls from companies. Thebill will be soon signed by the USPresident in the coming weeks for itto be turned into a law. Under theTelephone Robocall Abuse CriminalEnforcement and Deterrence Act,
short for the TRACED Act, the Fed-eral Communications Commission
could fine robocallers up to $10,000 (` 70 lakhs) per call. The law also asksfor major carriers in the US to installtechnology dubbed STIR/SHAKENwithin their networks to easily tracethe number and let the user know ifits genuine or just a robocaller.
While this is definitely cool thatillegal annoying robocallers wouldno longer be functioning in the US,we can’t wait for a rule like this tocome to India. India does have itsown kind of robocaller blockingthrough the DND initiative whereyou can call your telecom operatorto add you on the DND list, thus fil-tering these annoying calls. How-ever, sometimes this too isn’tenough and robocallers and up con-necting to our phone.
➤ Recently TRAI hasreleased DND 2.0 app onAndroid where users cansign up their numbers tobe put on the DND list.Moreover, they also havethe ability to report a spe-cific spam SMS or call rightthrough the app for thegovt to nail it down.
06 “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathersknowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
Isaac Asimov, writer SCI-TECH
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