Features

It is perhaps time to take a new look, a fresh approach to social networks. The term is used here in its broad meaning and includes all the virtual communities that we have become accustomed to in a few short years; accustomed to as if they’ve been around forever.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, WhatsApp, Skype, Google+, Viber, Snapchat and Instagram may be some of the largest and best known. Today, there’s also a plethora of other, often smaller networks, some specialised and others not, that people turn to for activities that have little to do with publishing your child’s last birthday photos, posting a selfie of your esteemed person doing nothing important at all, or checking what your long lost friend did over the weekend.

The fun part, the very element that initiated the trend, is still there of course, but these virtual communities also offer extraordinary opportunities for establishing professional contact and generating mutually beneficial business, finding work, improving communication and exchange of all kinds, and last but not least learning in ways that were absolutely unthinkable only 15 years ago. By the time you analyse and understand how one given application works on a major network there are already 5 new ones out there.

Learning and acquiring knowledge in countless fields through YouTube videos has almost become a “traditional”, “old” way, at least by Internet and information technology time measurement standards!

It is high time social networking and virtual communities are taken seriously by the population, beyond mere entertainment. 

The best recognition comes from schools and educational institutions in general. They do not just allow or encourage going to the networks and communities to learn, they even include them in homework, and this from ages as young as 8 or 9.

I was helping a young schoolboy with an interesting school assignment the other day. He started saying that he was to research, understand and then explain the military strategy that Romans applied when they were occupying Gaul some 2,000 years ago. When I asked him how he was supposed to do that all by himself, and to find the necessary sources of information, given that he is 9 and the subject not that simple or easy, he simply replied “the teacher wants us to do it using the Internet and social networking. Just give me some guidance to start and I’ll take it from there.”

The networks provide great opportunities for adult learning, more particularly, the one they want to get while they have a daytime job and a family and find it hard to go to college. Whereas a plain Google search will provide raw, one-way information, something that does not really qualify as learning or education, virtual communities let you establish a live discussion with other people about the topic you are exploring, with great interaction, an exchange of ideas, of thoughts, get guidance, advice. They let you ask specific questions and receive personalised answers. All the main ingredients that make structured learning and education are there.

 Of course one can always subscribe to formal online learning and even obtain university or university equivalent diplomas this way today. This, however, is different from the above for it is usually paid learning and a rather expensive one. Social networks and virtual communities on the other hand are free, because members help each other freely; they don’t ask you for a fee. Also, the fact that learning though them remains rather informal makes it pleasurable, more enjoyable and less stressful.

 The subject is vast, and some of the United Nations organisations already are recommending using virtual communities to improve learning in most fields.

When I was little, I was told to go and play outside till dinner time by my parents, that is. This confession itself should be enough to give away my age, which is what it is and clearly marks me from a generation that not only obeyed their parents but also considered playing outside as a safe and healthy activity. 

My siblings and I ran around with other children in our neighbourhood, and sometimes that is all what we did. We ran in circles singing “ring-a-ring-a-roses”, we ran from one side of the yard to another shouting “corner, corner, which corner do you want”, we ran in triangles chanting “I’m a little triangle, I have three sides” and we also made a sort of human train and ran in a straight file, singing “oranges and lemons sold for a penny”.

We would flop giggling and panting on the green lawn and get bits of grass stuck in our hair. Every other day we invented new games from parts of discarded boxes, strings, pens, marbles, seashells or rounded stones. There was no end to our creativity or our collective imagination.

Pieces of newspaper could be used in hundreds of different ways to design paper boats, airplanes, kites, caps, arrows or even slingshots. An innovative game, which we played when we got out of breath, was called Fortune Teller. 

It is long forgotten now so I have to rack my brains in order to remember how it was devised. Here a blank piece of paper was folded in a particular manner to form four petal shaped flaps. Once it was ready, we adorned it with colours and numbers. 

On each of the outer folds, the name of a colour was marked, in words. Inside those flaps there were four more flaps, all split down the middle for a total of eight. On every flap, a number was pencilled, and under those numbers, a predicted fortune was inscribed. The predictions were left to the creativity of the inventor, entirely. 

It seemed complicated but after we got the hang of it, it was quite simple, really. 

The game started by twitching the outer pockets of the Fortune Teller with the index finger and thumb of both hands and you were asked to pick one colour. 

If the colour was blue, an alternate pinching and pulling of the folds was used to spell it out. Each pinch exposed the printed digits on the inner flaps, and each pull showed the rest of them. Then a number had to be selected that was again spelled out in a similar method. Finally, the much-dreaded fortune was revealed to the unsuspecting listener, who pretended to collapse in mock surprise. After recovering, the injured party would chase the opponent around the block in immediate retribution. 

Additionally, whenever my parents did not want me to eavesdrop on any of the grown-up gossip, they told me to go outside and play. This resulted in me being completely clueless about some of the juiciest scandals that occurred right under my nose, so to speak. 

“Where were you when your aunt eloped?” my husband asked the other day. 

“I was playing outside,” I replied. 

“And when your neighbour was arrested on corruption charges?” he queried. 

“Playing outside,” I muttered. 

“Were you ever indoors?” he wanted to know. 

“Yes of course! At dinner time,” I answered. 

“And before that?” my spouse was curious. 

“That’s a classical rhetorical question,” I said in cryptic response.

LONDON — Attention wearers of skinny jeans: don’t squat — at least not for long.

Doctors in Australia report that a 35-year-old woman was hospitalised for four days after experiencing muscle damage, swelling and nerve blockages in her legs after squatting for several hours while wearing tight-fitting denims.

“We were surprised that this patient had such severe damage to her nerves and muscles,” said Dr Thomas Kimber of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia, in an e-mail.

The patient, who was not identified, spent most of the previous day helping someone move, squatting for long periods while emptying cupboards. Clad in skinny jeans, the woman said they felt increasingly tight and her feet were numb as she walked home, making her trip and fall. Unable to get up, she spent several hours stranded outside before getting to the hospital. Kimber and colleagues published a report about the case online Monday in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Kimber said tight jeans have previously been reported to cause nerve lesions in the groin but not the kind of nerve problems in the lower leg and severe muscle damage they saw. He said squatting compressed the nerves in the lower leg, reducing the blood supply to the calf muscles and that the skinny jeans worsened the problem.

After being treated for four days — and having her jeans cut off — the woman still had some weakness in her legs but walked out of the hospital and later recovered fully. Kimber doesn’t know if the woman still wears skinny jeans but warned her against the dangers of squatting in them.

“I think it’s the non-stretchy nature of jeans that might be the problem,” Kimber said, noting that tight pants with more elasticity wouldn’t be as dangerous since they wouldn’t squeeze nerves and muscles. He doesn’t wear skinny jeans himself, but not because of the medical risks: “I’m too old to get away with them!”

PARIS — New research has added to tentative evidence that eating chocolate in modest quantities may be good for the heart, its investigators said on Tuesday.

Scientists in Britain looked at data from nearly 21,000 people who filled out questionnaires about their lifestyle, and had their health monitored for more than 11 years.

Their average daily consumption was seven grammes of chocolate, ranging from none to 100g.

The top fifth of chocolate eaters were 12 per cent less likely to develop heart disease and 23 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke compared to the bottom fifth of consumers, the researchers found.

The study, published in the British journal Heart, noted that most consumers of the confectionary ate milk chocolate, not dark chocolate which famously has a higher percentage of protective molecules called flavonoids.

“This may indicate that not only flavonoids, but also other compounds, possibly related to milk constituents, such as calcium and fatty acids, may provide an explanation for the observed association,” it said.

The team, headed by Phyo Myint of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, admitted the probe had limitations.

The study was observational, meaning it could not show cause and effect, merely an association which may be circumstantial.

Another question mark was to be found in “reverse causation”: participants who knew they had cardiovascular problems may have followed a healthier diet and eaten less chocolate.

The team also did a review of other published studies, covering more than 130,000 people in total, and said they had found a similarly beneficial association with regular chocolate consumption.

“Cumulative evidence suggests that higher chocolate intake is associated with a lower risk of future cardiovascular events,” it said.

“There does not appear to be any evidence to say that chocolate should be avoided in those who are concerned about cardiovascular risk.”

A couple of squares of chocolate are around 16g, and an average bar of chocolate about 50g.

Commentators not involved in the research were cautious, noting too much chocolate can lead to weight gain, which is bad for the heart.

“You can’t draw a medical conclusion from this study,” said Arnaud Cocaul, a nutritionist at the Pitie Salpetriere Hospital in Paris.

“People who refrain from eating chocolate are not necessarily those who eat the most balanced diet.”

Added Tim Chico, a cardiologist at the University of Sheffield in northern England: “I would not advise my patients to increase their chocolate intake based on this research, particularly if they are overweight,” in remarks to Britain’s Science Media Centre.

LOS ANGELES — Apple’s abrupt about-face on paying royalties for songs during a three-month free-trial period for its new music service was a symbolic victory for superstar Taylor Swift and other artists, and a shrewd business move by Apple, at a time when the streaming phenomenon is causing major changes in the music industry.

The olive branch extended by Apple comes as music is increasingly being consumed on streaming services like Spotify and Deezer — to the detriment of album sales and iTunes downloads — heightening tensions between artists, labels and service providers over who gets paid and how much.

Apple had already agreed to share revenue from the new Apple Music service once users start paying a $10-a-month subscription fee for the service, which it plans to launch June 30. But the technology giant wasn’t planning to pay artists and labels directly for the use of their music during the free, 90-day trial period that it’s offering to get fans to try the service.

That changed quickly Sunday, after Swift posted an open letter to Apple opposing the lack of royalties during the free period, and declaring she’d be withholding her latest album “1989” from Apple Music because of it. Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue reversed the company’s trial-period terms, which had gone out to thousands of independent labels, including Swift’s Big Machine Label Group, after the technology giant reached a deal with major label groups Universal, Sony and Warner in early June.

The company needed to avoid a “PR nightmare” and quickly extinguish the firestorm that Swift had created, said Daniel Ives, tech stocks analyst with FBR Capital Markets.

“They needed to handle this perfectly,” Ives said, because Apple is facing an uphill battle against competing services like Spotify that are already well-established. “There can be no snafus or speed bumps, from the artists’ perspective, or any type of consumer backlash.”

Apple hasn’t publicly revealed how much it will pay in royalties for the free streaming period. Cue declined to offer financial details in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, but he said the payments will be based on a different formula than the company had already negotiated for sharing subscription revenue, since Apple won’t be collecting any revenue from the 90 days of free streaming. Instead, Cue said, royalties for the free streaming will be based on a standard amount for each time a song is streamed.

Jeff Price, the CEO and founder of royalty collection firm Audiam, said the free-period royalties could amount to about $25 million per month in the US alone if Apple Music pays the same as Spotify did in December 2014, according to publishers’ data. Ives noted the cost to Apple is “not even a rounding error” for a company that made $39.5 billion in profit and $182.8 billion in revenue for its last fiscal year.

While Apple Music doesn’t have any subscribers yet, compared to the 4.7 million Spotify had in the US then, its global launch in 100 countries could quickly change that. Still, Price says the gesture will likely be worth it for Apple.

“It got them an unlimited amount of public goodwill and artist goodwill,” Price said.

Some artists did praise Apple Monday for its decision, while many more cheered Swift for taking her public stand. Rocker Elvis Costello called Swift “our future president” on Twitter and added, “You tell ‘em, Girl.”

Artist grumbling about the lack of compensation during Apple Music’s lengthy free trial had been brewing since the unveiling of service at Apple’s developer conference two weeks ago.

The American Association of Independent Music expected a flood of sign-ups at launch, suggesting to its members in an e-mail they should reconsider releasing music to the platform right away: “We are struggling to understand why rights holders would authorise their content on the service before October 1.”

The fact that independent labels drove this change highlights their growing power in the music industry — and Apple’s practice of simply offering independent labels terms that had been negotiated with the majors, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst of the Enderle Group.

“It certainly showcases to Apple that if they step on the labels, some of them can step back pretty hard,” Enderle said.

Withholding their latest releases from services like Spotify had already become the norm among top artists who see more to gain from download sales in the initial release period, including Swift and Adele, who herself is set to release “25” sometime later this year. But few artists have the same clout, and because download sales are falling in favour of revenue from streaming services, few spoke out publicly either for or against the plan.

Cue wouldn’t comment on whether Swift will now make her album “1989” available on Apple Music.

Ben Bajarin, a longtime Apple watcher and founder of research firm Creative Strategies, said he’d never seen Apple make such a quick reversal on a major business issue. But he said Apple had no reason not to change position after it was clear artists were upset. And it will likely even gain more favour among fans.

“If there were people on the fence about trying the new service, there are tens of millions that will probably try it now, just to see what it’s about, and that will help Apple achieve its goal faster,” Bajarin said.

GENEVA — The mighty lion, reclusive cave crabs and the world’s rarest sea lion are among nearly 23,000 species at risk of dying out, a top conservation body warned Tuesday.

In an update to its “Red List” of threatened species, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) hailed some clear advances in saving endangered species like the Iberian Lynx.

But, it warned, those successes have been overshadowed by declines in a range of species, with 22,784 species of animals and plants threatened with extinction.

“Our natural world is becoming increasingly vulnerable,” warned IUCN chief Inger Andersen, urging increased efforts to save species teetering on the edge.

Pointing to successes in increasing the populations of the long critically endangered Iberian Lynx and Guadalupe Fur Seal, she insisted “effective conservation can yield outstanding results”.

Following six decades of decline, the population of the Iberian Lynx, considered the world’s most endangered feline, has seen its numbers swell from only 52 adult cats in 2002 to 156 a decade later, IUCN said.

Intensive work to restore the rabbit populations the large spotted cats prey on, along with monitoring for illegal trapping and conservation breeding has allowed the species to move from the Red List’s “critically endangered” to the “endangered” category, it said.

Reintroduction programmes in Spain and Portugal and compensation paid to landowners who made their properties compatible with habitat requirements had also played a role, IUCN said.

The Guadalupe Fur Seal, which was twice thought to be extinct due to overhunting in the late 1800s and early 1900s has also seen its numbers increase, IUCN said.

The silky sea mammal native to the west coast of California and off the Guadalupe islands of Mexico has now moved from the “near threatened” to the “least concern” category, largely thanks to the enforcement of laws like the USA Marine Mammal Protections Act, it said.

The species has seen its population balloon from 200-500 individuals in the 1950s to around 20,000 in 2010.

That, however, is still 10 times fewer than before humans started hunting the seal for its dense, luxurious underfur, IUCN said.

Trade in lion bones

A range of other mammals have, meanwhile, fared far worse, due to hunting and the destruction of their natural habitats.

The lion remains listed as vulnerable at a global level, with its western African subpopulation listed as “critically endangered” due to over-hunting and dwindling prey.

Rapid decline has also been recorded in eastern Africa, which historically has been a stronghold for lions, IUCN said, warning that trade in bones and other body parts for traditional medicine in Africa and in Asia was a new and emerging threat to the species.

The organisation also highlighted the decline in the extremely reclusive African Golden Cat, a cinnamon-coloured feline about twice the size of a house cat living in Central Africa, which is now listed as “vulnerable”.

And it pointed to the New Zealand Sea Lion — one of the rarest sea lion species in the world — which now is listed as “endangered”, due mainly to disease and changes to its habitat caused by fishing.

IUCN also warned that two species of crab, Karstama balicum and Karstama emdi, found only in a single cave on the island of Bali, are now considered “critically endangered”, as they have been increasingly threatened by growing tourism and numerous religious ceremonies held in the cave.

LOS ANGELES — Pixar’s critically acclaimed “Inside Out” — an animated look at the mind of a pre-teen girl — could not defeat the dinosaurs of “Jurassic World” at the North American weekend box office.

But Pixar, now part of the Disney empire, nevertheless set an impressive record — for the biggest opening of an original movie, animated or live-action, not based on sourced material, with $90.4 million in ticket sales.

It’s a huge win for Pixar in a summer of superhero sequels and the ferocious Indominus Rex.

“That’s a big deal considering the top grossing movies these days usually have Roman numerals trailing them,” said Jeff Bock of industry tracker Exhibitor Relations, referring to the seemingly endless stream of sequels.

“Disney is, bar none, the best at marketing their films in the industry. They make every animated film an event, but unlike other companies, they almost always back it up with quality.”

“Inside Out” — which has received nearly universal rave reviews — portrays human emotions of Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust and Sadness as distinct characters who sit at the control panel in the mind “Headquarters” of young Riley.

Until now, the record for the opening of an original movie was held by James Cameron’s landmark sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar,” which opened in 2009 at $77 million — and went on to become the highest  grossing box office hit of all time.

“Inside Out” has grossed about $132 million worldwide, according to another box office tracker, Rentrak.

It had the second biggest opening of a Pixar film, behind $110.3 million for “Toy Story 3” in 2010.

Many critics have called it one of Pixar’s best ever, comparing it to other beloved masterpieces like “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo”. It has earned a stellar 98 per cent approval rating on go-to movie review site RottenTomatoes.com.

Oscar time?

Some are already saying that director Pete Docter and his team should get their Oscar acceptance speeches ready.

“Though the year is not even half over, we have our first clear front-runner at the Oscars,” said showbiz predictions website GoldDerby.com.

Some are even looking beyond the obvious Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and sizing up the chances for “Inside Out” to be nominated for Best Picture.

Docter has experience on that front — he also directed “Up”, the first Pixar film to be nominated for the top Oscar.

“Inside Out” — which features the voices of “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler, “Twin Peaks” actor Kyle MacLachlan and the ever-adaptable Hollywood actress Diane Lane — nevertheless could not dethrone “Jurassic World”.

The fourth film in the popular “Jurassic Park” series co-produced by Steven Spielberg raked in $106.6 million this weekend, and has pulled in a total of more than $400 million in North America in just two weeks.

It is quickly closing in on the $1 billion mark worldwide, according to Exhibitor Relations and Box Office Mojo.

But experts say the success of “Jurassic World” takes nothing away from “Inside Out”.

“This sets up a very nice box office momentum that will hopefully continue to boost the fortunes of what everyone has been counting on as a record-breaking summer movie season,” said Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian.

As for the rest of the weekend box office, the comedy “Spy” starring Melissa McCarthy took third place with $11.2 million in ticket sales.

Natural disaster thriller “San Andreas” — featuring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson — took home $8.7 million for fourth place, and coming-of-age film “Dope” debuted in the fifth spot with $6.1 million.

“Insidious: Chapter 3,” the latest installment in the supernatural horror series, earned $4.1 million in ticket sales for the sixth spot.

Team singing sequel “Pitch Perfect 2” took in $3.5 million for the seventh spot.

Dystopian action flick “Mad Max: Fury Road” starring Charlize Theron got $3 million in ticket sales for eighth place.

The ninth and tenth spots were rounded out by the Marvel juggernaut “Avengers: Age of Ultron” at $2.8 million and “Tomorrowland” at $2.2 million.

A modern motoring hero likely to be a future classic in its’ own right, the Audi RS4 Avant is a classy but muscular high performance compact executive car that is also a practical and safe all-weather four-wheel drive family estate. Successor to the now collectible 1994-95 RS2 Avant, the agile, grippy and swift RS4 is impressive on many levels and is a thoroughly well rounded vehicle.

The go-to manufacturer for executive segment high performance estates — or Avant in Audi-speak — the smaller of the Inglostadt automaker’s executive super-estates is powered by a sweet, eager and high-revving naturally aspirated V8 engine, unleashes its power in a progressively urgent manner, but is likely to be replaced by a more efficient but probably less exacting turbocharged engine in future. 

Taut and sinewy

Tight, robust and cohesive, the RS4 Avant’s design is tautly wrapped and urgently sinewy. With a big foot print the RS4 has an athletic and assertive presence, while muscularly blistered wheel arches housing huge and grippy 265/30R20 tyres are a nod of homage to Audi’s most celebrated 1980-91 Quattro high performance rally-bred sports coupe. 

Hungry and formidable, the RS4 Avant’s and sculpted surfacing playfully fetchingly contrasts with the driven car’s vivid factory bespoke lime green paintwork. With its gently sloping roofline tipped with a tailgate spoiler, the RS4’s other distinctive sporty details include sharp front lower air splitter and rising chrome-tipped lower rear diffuser with wide integrated oval exhaust tips

Behind the RS4’s heavily browed and slim squinting headlights, huge ringed and gaping trapezoidal honeycomb grille and wide air intakes sits an all-aluminium 4.2-litre V8 engine. Situated just ahead but as close to the front axle as possible, the RS4’s engine layout allows for its unique Quattro four-wheel drive and improves agility over predecessors.

Seamlessly urgent

Eager and willing the RS4’s naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8 features linear delivery, crisp throttle response and high rev thrills. Swiftly accumulative, the RS4’s power delivery surges smoothly but urgently, from tick over to redline. Rewarding and eager to be wrung hard, the RS4 develops 444BHP at a frantic and howling 8250rpm and a flexibly wide 317lb/ft torque peak throughout 4000-6000rpm.

With all wheels digging tight into tarmac, the RS4 bullets from standstill to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds, while a nominal 250km/h top speed can be de-restricted to 280km/h. Confident and flexible throughout its rev range with precise throttle control for unleashing exact power increments, the RS4 is responsive and pulls hard from tick over, building through a versatile and muscular mid-range, before reaching its zingy, and urgent top-end.

Driving all wheels through a standard-fit 7-speed automated dual clutch gearbox the RS4 shifts seamlessly, smoothly and swiftly through gears. In manual mode, one can sequentially self-shift through paddle-shifters mounted behind its chunky contoured flat-bottom steering wheel. And with direct fuel injection, the RS4 Avant returns an acceptably modest 10.7l/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency.

Quick committed cornering

With Quattro four-wheel drive, the RS4 is characterised by its defining characteristics include tenacious traction to effectively put power to tarmac and seemingly never-ending grip levels through corners. Able to vary power distribution between 70 per cent frontwards and 85 per cent rearwards and with optional limited-slip differential, across the rear axle, the RS4 grips and goes through winding hill climbs like a roller coaster.

Resolved and committed through corners, the RS4’s high grip limit is gradually telegraphed with its’ heavier front end’s natural inclination for mild un-dramatic under-steer. This is, however, easily corrected by easing off the throttle, as it tightens its line. Hugely reassuring through corners, the RS4’s reduced 56 per cent front weight bias pays dividends in making it pointier and more agile than predecessors. 

An agile and grippy hill climb hero the RS4 attacks corners with tidy turn-in, tautly composed body control and epic grip reserves. Quick, direct and meaty the RS4’s steering is precise through corners and reassuring on-centre at speed. A 40:60 rear-biased default power distribution lends greater agility, and with precise, progressive and crisp throttle control one can push hard and early out of corners.

Sporty and spacious

Impeccably planted and with steely resolve at speed the RS4 Avant is a natural Autobahn-stormer, and is buttoned down and settled on rebound. Taut through corners, the RS4 drove smooth and firm — but not punishingly so — with optional 20-inch alloys on UAE roads. But for more imperfect road textures, standard-fit 19-inch alloys would be more forgiving.

With thoroughly well-constructed feel, the RS4 is refined a discernibly sporty inside, with driver-tilted dash, supportive body-hugging sports seats, clear instrumentation and user-friendly infotainment menu, from which one access its’ adjustable vehicle driving settings and modes. Available only in five-door Avant body, the RS4 is a practical and accommodating “lifestyle” family estate with nominal 490-litre cargo volume expanding to 1430 litres with rear seats down.

Classy, refined and luxurious without being ostentatious, the RS4’s cabin is well appointed with natural leathers, metals and soft textures. Well-equipped with standard and optional sports, convenience, infotainment and safety features, the RS4’s optional equipment includes sports suspension and steering. Optional semi-autonomous driver assistance and safety systems include adaptive cruise control and lane keeping, blind spot and parking assists.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 4.2-litre, in-line V8 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 84.5 x 92.8mm

Compression ratio: 11:1

Valve-train: 32-valve, DOHC, direct injection

Gearbox: 7-speed automated dual clutch, four-wheel drive, limited-slip rear-differential

Top gear / final drive: 0.62:1/4.38:1

Power distribution, F/R: 40 per cent: 60 per cent

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 444 (450) [331] @ 8250rpm

Specific power: 106.7BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 247.3BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 317 (430) @ 4000-6000rpm

Specific torque: 103.3Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 239.5Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 4.7 seconds

Top speed: 280km/h

Fuel consumption, urban / extra-urban / combined: 14.6 / 8.5 / 10.7 litres/100km 

CO2 emissions, combined: 249g/km

Fuel capacity: 61 litres

Length: 4719mm

Width: 1850mm

Height: 1416mm

Wheelbase: 2813mm

Track, F/R: 1599 / 1586mm

Overhangs, F/R: 884 / 1022mm

Headroom, F/R: 1026 / 971mm

Luggage volume, min / max: 490 / 1430 litres

Unladen weight: 1795kg

Weight distribution, F/R: 56 per cent: 44 per cent

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning Circle: 11.6 metres

Suspension: Multi-link

Brakes, front: Ventilated, perforated 365mm discs, 8-piston callipers

Tyres: 265/30R20 (optional)

The Mythology of Work: How Capitalism Persists Despite Itself
Peter Fleming
London: Pluto Press, 2015
Pp. 215

Using psychology, philosophy, political theory and up-to-date research, Peter Fleming questions why work has become such an overwhelming part of 21st century life, even as less work is required for human survival. Technology should have shortened working hours, but the opposite has occurred. “Smart phones and laptops mean that we are always contactable and this facilitates the creeping encroachment of work over our lives.” Yet, surveys reveal that “only about 13 per cent of the global work force considered themselves ‘engaged’ by their jobs,” with the rest feeling deeply alienated. (p. 3)

Fleming links this discrepancy to neoliberal capitalist conditions — stagnating real wages, rising housing costs, aggressive taxation of working people, the state’s withdrawal from providing public services and the resulting accumulation of personal debt. In his view, employees work not to survive but to subsidise the existence of the rich, sometimes called the 1 per cent, who benefit from tax breaks and workers’ indebtedness. 

“This is the irony of state-sponsored shareholder capitalism. It is the workers — via tax — who are the true investors. But that investment is immediately expropriated to bankroll the neoliberal war machine, confer costly assistance to large multinational firms free of charge, and pay for the expensive mistakes made by incompetent government bureaucrats…” (p. 17)

A background check of top government and business leaders dispels the myth that they hold their positions due to special skills that would justify their excessive earnings, which can reach 143 times the average wage of their employees. 

New ideology and management forms have evolved to keep people working more than they need to, as “neoliberalism aims to enlist the entire subjective personality of the worker”. Fleming terms this the “I, Job” function: “You are your job — 24/7” (p. 56) 

Thus, work becomes what we are rather than what we do. The boundaries between work time and free time are erased, creating a total system from which there seems to be no escape. Moreover, “creativity and innovation are successfully wedded to self-exploitation,” with detrimental effects on both. (p. 8) 

With trade unions mostly disabled, workers’ status is increasingly precarious: they work longer hours for less money and can be easily fired, abandoned by the firm and the state. Since their identity and self-worth is totally tied to their job, their insecure status has high social costs, such as mental and physical illnesses, increased use of stimulants, work-related deaths and suicides.

Fleming dissects managerialism, which is not actually about getting the work done better, but about controlling the work force, often at the expense of productivity and safety, of which he gives some horrifying examples. He also analyses how the deregulation and subcontracting practiced in neoliberalism means that firms are not accountable for the damage inflicted on employees or the environment. In a particularly incisive chapter entitled “Corporate Ideology as False Truth Telling,” he shows how big businesses have recalibrated their PR to deflect criticism of the human and environmental damage their activities cause. By telling partial truths, they avoid broader, more damning critique. 

The analysis is enlivened by references to many other scholars’ ideas as well as to movies and other elements of popular culture. As a professor of business and society at City University London, Fleming is well placed to describe how the neoliberal agenda impacts on higher education. 

Fleming’s motivation for mercilessly critiquing the existing state of affairs is conviction that humans could be living much better lives. Throughout his logic-driven analysis, he queries what can be done. This is not an easy question as neoliberalism’s structure precludes most forms of labour struggle used in the past, but in the conclusion, he sets out some bold proposals that would indeed reverse the useless misery of the present system. 

While Fleming’s point of departure is the situation prevailing in the UK, US and other advanced countries, his concern is worldwide: “it is the Global South that bears the horrific brunt of neoliberal global governance policies, especially children…” (p. 148)

LOS ANGELES — The world’s leading video game show ended Thursday with the industry feeling renewed vigour after years of worry that play on mobile devices was leading to decline.

More than 52,000 people from 109 countries attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade gathering in Los Angeles where blockbuster console games were stars and virtual reality gear got ready in the wings.

“I’ve been impressed by the quality of the presentations and strong line-ups of content,” Sony Computer Entertainment chief Andrew House told AFP at E3.

“I like to think the industry has got a spring back in its step.”

The E3 show floor spanned the Los Angeles Convention Centre, with some 300 exhibitors showing off more games, accessories and related offerings, according to the Entertainment Software Association, which organises the annual event.

“E3 demonstrated both the remarkable transformation of entertainment taking place on all video game platforms-virtual reality, augmented reality, hardware, mobile and handheld-and awesome games,” said association president Michael Gallagher.

E3 buzz on social media trumped anything seen in the past, with 6.3 million tweets on Twitter tagged to the gathering and 7.5 million “likes” racked up by E3 related posts at Instagram, the ESA boasted.

“I love that there is a lot to attract new people to the industry,” said Yves Guillemot, chief of French video game powerhouse Ubisoft. “It is a really mature industry with a lot of creativity. It shows that the potential to grow is really high.”

Twitch vs YouTube

Video game broadcasting platform Twitch reported that, at times, a half-million viewers watched E3 press conferences. More than a million E3-related videos were posted to YouTube.

YouTube waded confidently into turf dominated by Amazon-owned Twitch, with a service tailored for the hot trend of video games as spectator sport.

The globally popular online video-sharing service provided industry insiders an early look at YouTube Gaming at E3.

“Having a destination where you can get all the gaming content you care about is really important,” YouTube head of gaming partnerships Ryan Wyatt told AFP as he demonstrated the soon-to-be-launched venue for live or on-demand video focused on gaming. “That is why we created this.”

The online arena for video game channels incorporates the search smarts of Google, which owns YouTube, to present fresh or must-see content from streaming live play and comic commentary.

YouTube Gaming will debut in Britain and the United States in the coming months, featuring on-demand video as well as live broadcasting of games being played.

Virtual future

Trailers and live-play from hotly anticipated console games set for release in the coming year played out on giant overhead screens on the show floor, grabbing attention from throngs of people below.

Glimpses of the future could be spotted throughout the show floor in the form of games and gear designed to immerse players in virtual worlds.

Facebook-owned virtual-reality company Oculus showed off games being crafted by independent developers, along with “Touch” controllers it is creating to give people virtual hands they can use in fantasy worlds.

Sony likewise enticed E3 attendees with its Project Morpheus virtual reality head gear.

“Virtual reality is coming around,” Guillemot told AFP.

“Next year, people will be surprised by what is at E3; there could be experiences that stay in people’s minds for quite a while.”

Oculus and Sony are both aiming to release their virtual reality head gear next year, pricing details have yet to be disclosed.

Enhanced capabilities of new-generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles, along with the promise of virtual reality, were credited with giving the video game industry renewed life.