Features

Launched earlier this year the latest incarnation of Mercedes-Benz junior executive C-Class model line is a larger and more luxurious and high tech offering than the car it replaces.

Using extensive aluminium construction and improved aerodynamics, the new model is a lighter and quicker, and more efficient and agile machine. Once dubbed the baby-Benz, the C-Class — and its 190-series predecessor — are now supplemented by a vastly expanded model range including the smaller, tentatively sportier and more affordable CLA-Class saloon, which has allowed Mercedes to focus their attention on consolidating the C-Class elegantly luxurious and high tech credentials — as a baby S-Class if you will — rather than chasing down an overtly ‘sporty’ interpretations of the junior executive saloon.

Larger but lighter

Given the C-Class is setting its sights at a more refined market segment, that isn’t to say it isn’t a rewarding or fun car to drive. In fact the new C-Class’ lighter weight and first in segment adaptive air suspension contribute to improving agility, body control and performance, while a very sporting high performance version is under development at Mercedes’ AMG skunkworks division.

However, in the nearby interim, the Mercedes C400 4Matic AMG will serve as the sportiest and most luxurious top-of-the-range model before the fully-fledged AMG debuts. Driven during the C-Class’ global Marseille launch, the 6-cylinder C400 4Matic goes on sale globally later this year, to join several 4-cylinder versions currently available in certain markets.

Constructed with 50 per cent aluminium content compared to its predecessor’s 10 per cent, the new C-Class’ body is 70kg lighter. Depending on model and specification, it is also up to 100kg lighter, more aerodynamically slippery at CD0.27 and as much as 20 per cent more fuel-efficient. 

The lightweight construction allows for larger 40mm wider and 95mm longer dimensions, including an 80mm longer wheelbase for improved rear leg room. Cabin space is generally improved, while luggage volume rises to 480-litres. Stiff and light, the new C-Class benefits in terms of performance, handling ability, crash safety, ride comfort and cabin refinement from noise and harshness, all of which was evidenced by agile, poised and better controlled dynamics along French Riviera back-roads and switchbacks.

Sophisticated snarl

Powered by Mercedes’ recently introduced twin-turbocharged direct injection 3-litre V6 engine mated to a 7-speed automatic gearbox, the C400 4Matic is quick and efficient, with 109.5BHP-per-litre. Developing 328BHP at 5250-6000rpm and 354lb/ft torque throughout a broad 1600-4000rpm band, the C400 4Matic can be estimated to cover the 0-100km/h sprint in under 5 seconds and onto an electronically governed 250km/h maximum.

Expected to weigh in at around 1,640kg owing to its four-wheel-drive system and larger V6 engine, the C400 4Matic’s estimated 160kg weight gain over the four-cylinder rear-drive C250, is generously offset by increased power and tenacious all-paw traction for brisk and composed off-the-line acceleration. Combined cycle fuel consumption is indicated by currently available figures as 8l/100km or less.

With four-wheel-drive traction and twin-turbochargers spooling quickly, the C400 4Matic bolts off-the-line and swiftly enters its maximum torque mid-range sweet spot, where it delivers effortlessly muscular motivation, for swift over-taking manoeuvres and confident performance on inclines. 

With its contralto snarl subdued by high levels of cabin noise isolation, and riding on a wave of torque, the C400’s twin-turbo is eager to rev hard to its maximum power band, where on-the-move acceleration is rewardingly brisk. Quick and smooth shifting, the C400’s 7-speed gearbox well distributes the engine’s torque and power for performance, efficiency and refinement.

The gearbox — and engine — can be set to several progressively sharper and more responsive modes, including a snappy sequential manual gearbox paddle-shift mode.

Refined ride and tenacious traction

Usually a feature reserved for high-end full-size luxury cars, the new Mercedes C-Class is the first in its junior executive segment to be offered with optional adaptive air suspension. Mated to a sophisticated all-round multi-link independent suspension, the C400’s self-levelling air suspension delivers a composed experience in straight lines and through corners, as it well-controls body lean, acceleration squat and brake dive. With four variable suspension stiffness levels, one can tailor the C400 to be silky smooth and stable on highways and refined and supple over imperfections. In sportier settings, the C400 is composed, controlled and poised through winding switchbacks, where it feels balanced, reassuring and grippy owing to four-wheel-drive and sticky 225/45R18 front and 245/40R18 rear tyres.

Refined even with low-profile tyres, the C400 4Matic AMG takes lumps and bumps in its stride, with ride only disturbed by the most jagged potholes. Heavier in front than the C250 — and ultimately not as crisp — the C400 4Matic is nonetheless tidy and alert turning in, with its variable electromechanical steering assistance and ratio tightening up for a sportier feel as one turns in. Holding cornering lines reassuringly, the C400 4Matic’s four-wheel-drive digs into tarmac as one comes back on power to sling-shot out of an apex. Extensive high tech safety and driver assistance systems include standard collision prevention system, which prevents 40km/h collisions and mitigates severity up to 200km/h, and optional lane keeping and semi-autonomous driving systems.

Elegantly athletic

With an air of confident yet discrete luxury, the C-Class is one of Mercedes best contemporary designs, and features elegant curves, athletic tension, sporty proportions and subtly toned surfacing. Complementing its luxuriously long distance between A-pillar and front wheel-arch the C-Class’ subtly muscular shoulders and gently arced roof taper to a pert boot with discreet built-in spoiler.

The AMG spec version’s tri-slat grille, grille-mounted emblem, 18-inch alloys and muscular lower bumper and sills bring out the C-Class’ sportier side. A wide grille is reflected by a raised bonnet centre complements the wide grille, while a design line flowing from under the grille, along headlight LEDs and through a descending upper side crease line — itself juxtaposed by an ascending lower line. 

With refined drive-train and suspension, the C400’s luxuriously appointed cabin is airy and comfortable. Along with increased cabin space, the steering column mounted gear selector liberates more centre console space. Ergonomic, supportive and versatile seat and steering adjustments provided ideal driving positions for drivers of extreme size difference. 

Well-integrating sporty and elegant design elements the C-Class’ richly appointed cabin features a chunky steering and coned dials and upright dashboard with metal-ringed circular air vents, like Mercedes’ sports models.

Soft touch textures and leathers are plentiful while the classy wood grain centre console is complemented by an Internet-enabled and smartphone compatible tablet-style infotainment touchscreen. Infotainment and vehicle menus can also be accessed via a centre console rotary selector and touchpad.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 3-litre, twin-turbo, in-line V6-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 88 x 82.1mm

Compression ratio: 10.5:1

Valve-train: 24-valve, DOHC, direct injection

Gearbox: 7-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive

Power distribution, F/R: 45 per cent/55 per cent

Ratios: 1st 4.38:1 2nd 2.86:1 3rd 1.92:1 4th 1.37:1 5th 1:1 6th 0.82:1 7th 0.73:1

Reverse: 1st 3.42:1/2nd 2.23:1

0-100 km/h: between 4.5 to 5-seconds (est.)

Maximum speed: 250km/h (electronically governed)

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 328 (333) [245] @5250-6000rpm

Specific power: 109.5BHP/litre

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 354 (480) @ 1600-4000rpm

Specific torque: 160.2Nm/litre

Fuel consumption, combined: 8-litres/100km

Fuel tank capacity: 66-litres

Length: 4,686mm

Width: 1,810mm

Height: 1,442mm (est.)

Wheelbase: 2,840mm

Track, F/R: 1,548/1,573mm (est.)

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.27

Boot capacity: 480-litres

Kerb weight: 1,640kg (est.)

Steering: Variable power-assisted, rack and pinion

Suspension: Multi-link, adaptive air suspension, anti-roll bars

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs/discs

Tyres, F/R: 225/45R18/245/40R18

NEW YORK — In a trend raising images of surrealism in the gym, bicycles have pedalled into the pool for a new fitness workout.

An increasing numbers of exercisers, seeking everything from a sanctuary from sweat, to joint relief, to a vigorous, whole body workout, are spinning their stationary wheels under water.

Esther Gauthier, the founder of the New York boutique water cycling studio AQUA, said some 80 per cent of her clients come from indoor cycling classes.

“You can burn 600 calories in 45 minutes, water is protection for your body, and when you cycle in water you get natural massage,” said Gauthier, 31.

The small, candle-lit classes, conducted in waist deep water that provides resistance for exercisers, are designed to de-stress. They range from interval training that incorporates abdominal and arm work, to power workouts that mimic uphill rides, to restorative sessions emphasising stretching and alignment.

AQUA, located in Manhattan’s trendy TriBeCa neighbourhood, began as a women-only space but Gauthier has added two classes for men.

“It turns out that women love that it’s separated,” said Gauthier, who discovered the workout in Paris, where she’s from.

Aqua cycling started in Europe, primarily in Italy and France, and has spread to more than 100 fitness facilities in the United States, according to Andrea Wilson of Hydrorider, an Italian company that manufactures underwater stationary bikes.

“We’re seeing the beginning of the US market,” said Wilson, who is based in Miami.

The workout caught on slowly in the United States, she believes, because aqua exercise was associated with the elderly and injured.

“In Europe, the fitness benefits are accepted,” she added. “Aqua cycling is for serious athletes.”

Because the workout is easy on the joints it can help marathoners and triathletes, whose joints take a regular pounding, to remain athletes longer.

David M. Rowland, director of Cornerstone Aquatics Centre, a swimming-focused health facility in West Hartford, Connecticut, said aqua cycling appeals to people who don’t perceive themselves as swimmers.

“They can exercise without impact on joints and get resistance in every direction without overheating, said Rowland, a former competitive swimmer.

Cornerstone’s 14 bikes stand in about four feet of water, and the handlebars and seats are used for push-ups, sit-ups and abdominal work.

“When you get into water, it constricts the blood vessels,” he explained. “The heart has to work a little harder because of constriction.”

Karen Kent, a fitness and aquatic expert with the American College of Sports Medicine, said while cycling in water enhances the comfort of the joints, it does not offer the same kind of workout as pedalling on land.

“Anytime you’re in water you’re not negotiating all your body weight,” said Kent, who is based in Rhode Island. “When you’re biking [on land] you’re sitting in the saddle and engaging gravity. In water you’re not really engaging much in the saddle.”

Although beneficial, Kent said it isn’t the same as cycling on land. “You do get a cardiovascular workout, but it doesn’t represent what you’ve gotten on land.”

Refugees of the Revolution: Experiences of Palestinian Exile

Diana Allan

California: Stanford University Press, 2014

Pp. 309

In “Refugees of the Revolution”, Diana Allen addresses a debate that has been simmering for decades, though often out of the public eye: Does adhering to their right of return preclude Palestinian refugees from struggling to improve their living conditions? Her research focuses on a refugee community for whom this question is most acute, namely Palestinians in Lebanon and Shatilla Camp in particular.

Allen lived in Shatilla and Beirut for several years, and was originally involved in recording refugees’ oral testimonies about their expulsion from Palestine for Nakbeh commemoration. Soon, however, she realised that Shatilla Camp’s residents had experienced a second “Nakbeh” after the PLO’s 1982 departure from Lebanon. Since then, they have been consumed by a seemingly unwinnable battle against poverty, unemployment, lack of electricity and other basic services, caused by recurring attacks on the camps and the Lebanese state’s systematic discrimination. 

While not in any way contesting Nakbeh commemorations or the right of return, Allen began to question whether focusing solely on the refugees’ identity, as defined by the past, is the best way to support this marginalised community.

As a result of her encounter with the Palestinians of Shatilla, she redirected her research to the politics of everyday survival, examining the camp’s political economy, the refugees’ coping strategies, and the effects of material conditions on their identity and social relations.

Though kept in a waiting situation for years, refugees’ behaviour was found to be quite dynamic and geared to the present and future, not only to the past. “While Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have, in the last two decades, experienced new extremes of poverty, powerlessness, and political disillusionment, these conditions appear to be producing new forms of agency and subjectivity.” (p. 2)

Allen covers many aspects of camp life, from “how traditional social structures — kin relations, village ties, and factional allegiances — are being reconfigured by poverty and political duress”, to the desperate drive to immigrate — now viewed by many as the only way to attain a decent life. (p. 30)

New alliances and types of action are evolving as neighbours make common cause in order to solve daily problems, adding new layers to refugees’ identity. Allen’s observations made her “consider how the very anomalousness of camp life and refugee experience — placelessness, provisionality, and poverty — may be producing its own form of ‘Palestinianness,’ distinct from a national identity tied to ancestral land and return.” (p. 33)

One of the most interesting chapters analyses the political aspect of “electrical piracy” which Allen considers “a form of resistance” to repressive state policies whereby camp residents are charged for electricity they never receive. (p. 104)

In 2004, a prolonged electricity crisis led to sustained political mobilisation of camp residents regardless of political affiliation, leading to “the first democratic elections in the camp’s history”. (p. 31)

Less convincing is Allen’s suggestion that “dream talk” — recounting and interpreting dreams — has political connotations, although dreams certainly can’t be discounted as indicative of people’s perceptions and aspirations.   

Throughout her analysis, Allen, an anthropologist, is highly respectful of her subjects, and pays tribute to their extraordinary resourcefulness, humanity and sense of humour. Her tone is critical and self-critical, realising that researchers, journalists and solidarity activists come and go, while the refugees’ situation remains the same.

This is a book to be read by anyone wanting to understand the Palestinian situation as a whole, and to extend solidarity and support to Palestinians in Lebanon. Allen’s unique approach to refugees’ lived experience is complemented by Hisham Ghuzlan’s extraordinary black-and-white photos, which show very typical camp scenes, but seem to reveal the subjects’ inner reality as well as their abject material conditions.

By Juan Perez Jr.

Chicago Tribune (MCT)

Researchers with Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom won a share of Monday’s news cycle with a hip way to start your next doctor’s visit.

Instead of shaking hands with your caregiver, try a fist bump. Not because it looks cool, researchers said, but for the sake of improving public health.

A brief paper titled “The fist bump: A more hygienic alternative to the handshake”, set to be published in the American Journal of Infection Control, concludes the streetwise exchange transmits far less bacteria than a handshake. So, fist bumps could lessen the risk of spreading disease.

The study’s conclusions may feel odd, but they’re actually part of a long-held discussion in the realm of healthcare.

“It’s tongue-in-cheek, but it’s important,” said Dr Rahul Khare, a professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, from his seat in the hospital’s emergency department.

Why? Because despite the millions of dollars that can be spent to implement and supervise complex infection-control protocols, containing infections in healthcare facilities [quite literally] lies first in workers’ hands.

“Healthcare workers’ hands become contaminated with pathogens from their patients, and, despite efforts to limit the spread of disease, cross-contamination of healthcare workers’ hands commonly occurs through routine patient and environmental contact,” a recent op-ed in the Journal of the American Medical Association said.

Khare and his colleagues — along with nurses and technicians — do shake patients’ hands. But they’re expected to rub globs of sanitizing liquid on their hands before they walk into an exam room, and again when they leave.

But eliminating handshakes from hospitals won’t be easy.

Consider, researchers wrote, the fact that health professionals “have been specifically encouraged to offer handshakes to meet patients’ expectations and to develop a rapport with them”.

Other alternative greetings seem less likely to catch on in today’s patient exam rooms. That includes high-fives, which researchers conclude also transmitted fewer bacteria than a handshake. The traditional “hongi” greeting, used by New Zealand natives and which researchers said “involves pressing noses and foreheads together”, might also look out of place in a hospital.

Even Khare rarely deploys the fist bump with patients.

“I do it when I see teenagers, that’s just their culture,” Khare said. “But an 80-year-old gentleman? I’m not going to fist bump him, I’m going to shake his hand.

“He might think I’m a bit of a strange doctor if I fist bumped him.”

On the other hand, Khare said a handshake’s grip on the patient-caregiver relationship can change. Especially if broader, rigorous studies can show a link between reduced hospital-based infection transmission rates and handshake elimination.

“If you can cut that by even 10 per cent by not shaking a person’s hand,” Khare said, “the amount of pain, suffering and financial cost that would save would be immense.”

By Wendy Koch

USA Today (MCT)

Have you yerdled yet? This isn’t a funky mix of yodeling and hurdling, but a new way to shop online — for next to nothing.

On Yerdle.com, consumers swap stuff they’re not using — say, the skirt that’s three sizes too small — for clothes that fit or other items they need. They exchange in-house credits and only pay for shipping, typically, $2 to $4.

Their new venue: the collaborative economy 2.0. As mobile devices make it easier to share goods, new apps are helping people save money and — by sending less to landfills — lower their environmental impact. They’re also bucking efforts, notably, Google Shopping Express and Amazon’s June debut of its Fire phone, to boost buying.

“People are sharing cars and hotel rooms — why aren’t they sharing things?” says Yerdle co-founder Adam Werbach, noting garages are often filled with useful stuff that’s gathering dust. He says his company, which launched a redesigned iPhone app this year, aims to give the second-hand market a face-lift and displace 25 per cent of what people buy.

“Sharing is the new shopping,” says Werbach, who was the Sierra Club’s youngest president in 1996 at age 23. To get Yerdle going, he teamed with Andy Ruben, Wal-Mart’s former chief sustainability officer and Carl Tashian, a Zipcar co-founder.

Re-use is hardly new. But the rise of e-commerce is pushing the concept beyond thrift stores run by charities such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army to websites such as eBay, Craigslist and Freecycle. Smartphones and social media are prompting a new wave of companies, such as Airbnb and RelayRides, which allow people to rent out bedrooms and cars, and others such as Swapdom, which help them trade goods.

Each works a bit differently, but Yerdle and similar auction site Listia offer all sorts of items — from jewellery and clothes to cameras and tablets — for no cost (other than shipping). They give members credits for signing up and giving away items that they can use to acquire other things. Listia also sells credits — something Yerdle may do in the future. Some goods are picked up, if both parties live in the same area, but most are mailed.

“I see this as an accelerating trend. It has a lot of promise,” says Kit Yarrow, consumer psychologist at Golden Gate University and author of Decoding the New Consumer Mind. “Young people have grown up with a different sense of ownership. They’re sharing-oriented.”

Yarrow expects the new sites will attract others, too. “They build on the nation’s puritanical value of not being wasteful,” she says, adding it gives people “emotional permission” to shop. She says sharing is an old-fashioned concept — a cup of sugar from the next-door neighbour or baby clothes from friends — that’s getting a new twist as communities move online.

That doesn’t mean it’s a sure sell. In an age when people can order just about anything with a single click on a cellphone, the idea of boxing up stuff and schlepping it to UPS or the post office might seem a waste of time.

“Our biggest challenge is to make it easy and convenient enough,” says Gee Chuang, co-founder and CEO of Listia, which launched in 2009. Still, he says his Mountain View, Calif.-based company now has more than 7 million members and 200,000 available items. He says dropping off a bag of clothes at Goodwill may be more efficient, but the giver doesn’t get the joy of knowing who will benefit.

Listia also partners with retailers Wal-Mart and Best Buy, so shoppers can use credits to buy new things, or in the case of Amazon, gift cards.

Werbach says much of the second-hand economy is “dusty and dirty”, so he’s trying to make it a pleasant retail experience. For those in San Francisco, where Yerdle is based, there’s a “share” spot for people to pick up and drop off. For others, Yerdle has pre-negotiated low shipping rates and sends mailing labels to the “givers” who are paid by the “winners”.

He says mailing items incurs fewer greenhouse gas emissions than manufacturing new products.

Yerdle now has more than 120,000 members and at any given time, its iPhone app lists about 8,000 items, the price of which is determined either by the “giver” or by bidding. To expand trading, Werbach says he plans to redesign the website and launch an Android app.

Esther Yeh, a 29-year-old optometrist in Emeryville, Calif., is an avid yerdler. She says most of the items traded are in “superb condition”. She’s seen motorcycles and cars posted, as well as super-cheap items such as glue sticks. She’s given away about 30 items, including a new Bella Cucina rocket blender, and received about 10, including an Apple keyboard.

“My husband hates it and thinks it’s a big waste of time,” she says, because he prefers to throw cheap stuff away and sell more valuable items. She says she wants even basic goods to be reused. Now that she’s received a few choice items, she says her husband is warming up to the idea.

“It’s rewarding to get rid of stuff you’re not using. It’s liberating,” says Valerie Taylor, a 43-year-old teacher from Houston, who says she’s a bit of a packrat. “I’m streamlining my closet so I know what I have,” says Taylor, who’s been posting clothes that no longer fit and has received — in return — 70-year-old photography books for her dad and finger puppets for her nieces.

Werbach got the idea for Yerdle after a trip to India, where he met women setting up “saving circles”. They’d save money to buy things that they could share with each other. After leaving the Sierra Club, he launched the environmental consulting and communications firm now known as Saatchi & Saatchi S. But like Ruben, he wanted to do more to address the planet’s pressing needs.

So did Ian Monroe, who teaches courses on climate change at Stanford University and had flown to 21 countries to set up renewable energy projects. “The hypocrisy in my own life started to bother me,” he says, noting that flying can easily offset the environmental gains of other lifestyle choices such as reusing bags or driving a Prius.

On Earth Day, April 22, he launched nationally a website — Oroeco.com — that tallies the carbon value of purchases, food consumption, mode of transportation and energy usage. The estimates are based on life-cycle analyses developed by the University of California, Berkeley’s CoolClimate research group.

The website suggests win-win ways consumers can save money and lower their carbon footprints, such as reducing consumption of red meat. “What’s great,” says Oroeco’s Chief Technology Officer Kristin Cummings “is that many actions that improve climate also save a lot of money.”

NEW YORK — An upstart US food technology company has developed a unique fermentation process using mushrooms to reduce bitterness in cocoa beans that it believes will cut sugar content in chocolate candy.

A year after first launching its fermentation method to reduce bitterness in coffee beans, one of the world’s biggest commodity markets, MycoTechnology, Inc. is expanding into cocoa and will launch its process on Tuesday.

The market is smaller, but the potential may be bigger with health-conscious consumers seeking lower-calorie foods amid mounting concerns about obesity and diabetes.

“We use mushrooms that we train specifically to remove unwanted aspects of food and infuse it with the natural health benefits of the mushroom,” said Alan Hahn, chief executive of MycoTechnology, Inc., formed in 2013 in Denver, Colorado.

“Particularly with chocolate, the bitterness is a big issue. We remove that bitterness and the need for sugar is reduced drastically.”

About half of the average milk chocolate bar is made of sugar, according to industry experts. Hahn said his MycoSmooth technology, invented by the company’s chief science officer Brooks J. Kelly, can cut the amount of sugar needed in the average chocolate bar by half, from 31 grammes to about 15 grammes.

The company is in talks with “major chocolate players” in the United States, but Hahn declined to name them.

From its Denver headquarters, the company will start processing its own beans as well as those on behalf of its customers and will licence out the technology.

The process will compete with other more widely used methods, including the “Dutching” process that was developed in the 1800s and modifies the bean’s taste with an alkalising agent.

MycoTechnology’s chemical-free process reduces the bitterness, rather than masking it, at minimal cost. It adds “pennies per lb” to the cost of cocoa, Hahn said.

Coffee to cocoa

MycoTechnology’s chocolate plans may, however, not be as simple as they first appear.

Cutting the sugar content may pose new hurdles for confectionery makers if they cut sugar use and replace it with higher cocoa or milk content. Both are more expensive than sugar.

“If you wind up taking sugar out and raising the [cocoa] liquor content, you will raise the fat content of the bar, which will be higher calories,” said Ed Seguine, president of Seguine Cacao Cocoa & Chocolate Advisors in Hannover, Pennsylvania, with over 30 years’ experience in chocolate product research.

“It doesn’t make economic sense because you’ve got to put something in its place,” Seguine said.

After coffee and cocoa, MycoTechnology is looking at widening the use of its procedure to bulk agricultural markets like rice and other grains.

In the process, MycoTechnology takes fermented beans, sterilises them and then inoculates them with their unique strains of mushroom root systems that have been trained specifically to remove bitterness.

The beans are then placed in a sealed bag and for the following 7 to 21 days, the roots do their work. Mushrooms naturally feed on moisture, oxygen and sugars.

NEW YORK — What I find fascinating about Amazon’s Fire phone isn’t the gizmos such as the 3-D imagery or the camera scanner that helps you get more information about products.

Rather, I like that Amazon is thinking a lot about how phones ought to work.

The iPhone and its Android smartphone rivals are so much alike that companies have been suing each other for stealing ideas. The Fire phone uses Android, but Amazon has modified it to the point that it’s barely recognisable.

That means the phone offers new ways to navigate, discover and, of course, shop — all enabled by new features from the world’s largest online retailer.

That doesn’t mean everyone should rush out to get a Fire phone.

Many apps available for iPhones, Android and even Windows phones aren’t available for the Fire yet. Some features didn’t work as well as I anticipated. I couldn’t use the Fire’s Siri-like voice search to get weather or directions, for instance. And when I used Amazon’s Maps app to get directions to the US Capitol, I got the town of Capitol, Montana. Talk about getting lost.

Amazon may fix some of these issues by the time the phone ships, and other fixes will likely come through future software updates, but consider that it took Amazon’s tablet computer two years to become a strong contender to Apple’s iPad.

The Fire has a 13-megapixel camera and a screen that measures 4.7 inches diagonally, a comfortable size for one-handed use.

It’s available in the US through AT&T starting at $200 with a two-year contract and $650 without one. That’s on par with other high-end phones, plus you get double the storage and a free year of Amazon’s Prime membership with Fire. Still, Amazon.com Inc. has typically undercut rivals on just about anything else sold on this planet.

Price parity could make it tough for Amazon to compete in a crowded smartphone market, despite these features:

Dynamic perspective

Using four infrared cameras, the phone gauges where your head is and redraws images on the screen continually so they appear 3-D.

Beyond aesthetics, the technology lets you tilt the phone slightly for more information, such as Yelp ratings on nearby restaurants. If the information is covering up, say, a street name on a map, just tilt it away.

With tilts, you can scroll down as you read news articles or switch between the front and back of dresses when shopping. You can control game characters without touching the screen. Swivel the phone as though you’re turning a doorknob to unveil a menu of options or supplemental information such as song lyrics.

Developers of non-Amazon apps will have to enable the feature, so with eBay’s shopping app, you still need to swipe to see the other side of a dress.

The gestures also take getting used to. I got frustrated when the swivels didn’t work; turned out my motion was too slow. And in testing out the gestures, I somehow placed separate orders for a $109 camera and a $150 hard drive accessory, thanks to a one-click shopping feature. It took an hour to notice the first errant order. Fortunately, I was able to cancel both in time.

Firefly

A side button launches the Firefly scanning app, which recognises bar codes, business cards and various products. Firefly also recognises sound, including songs and scenes in movies and TV shows.

Once there’s a match, you can swivel the phone to buy an item through Amazon, add a phone number to your contacts app or learn more about a movie through Amazon’s IMDb.

I found only four non-Amazon apps that have enabled Firefly. So after scanning the movie poster for “Stranger by the Lake”, I could launch the Flixster app for more information, but I couldn’t go directly to Netflix because that app hasn’t enabled the feature yet.

Firefly is more comprehensive and reliable than other scanning apps I’ve tried. I was surprised it managed to identify the model of the landline phone on my desk. For magazines, it identified specific issues, not just the title. But there are still mistakes, such as my laptop’s keyboard being identified as headphone amplifiers.

Mayday help

Introduced with the Kindle Fire HDX tablets last fall, Mayday provides live technical support around the clock. The tech adviser who appears on your phone can hear you, see your screen and draw marks to show you where to press or swipe.

This feature works well on the tablet, but as helpful as the advisers try to be, they are still getting used to the phone. One directed me to Apple’s support forums to figure out how to transfer iPhone contacts even though Amazon’s website had step-by-step instructions. The advisers are also learning how to guide you on tilting or swivelling.

Once these are worked out, though, it should reduce requests for help you get from tech-challenged friends.

The carousel

Most phones have home pages filled with icons to various apps. The Fire shows just one at a time, based on what you’ve recently done. Swipe left or right to get the others.

These icons do more than take you to apps. Some are for specific content, such as a recent book or video. Some app icons also preview content underneath, so you can delete an e-mail or see a news headline without opening the app.

Apps for various Amazon services, such as e-books, audiobooks, music and video, have been designed to work with the carousel, so watching one movie will give you recommendations for others.

The Fire is a good start at offering a fresh approach to smartphones. More outside apps will need to take advantage of the innovations for the phone to be useful beyond people who already use Amazon services extensively.

WASHINGTON — Your smartphone is not only your best friend, it’s also become your personal trainer, coach, medical lab and maybe even your doctor.

“Digital health” has become a key focus for the technology industry, from modest start-ups’ focus on apps to the biggest companies in the sector seeking to find ways to address key issues of health and wellness.

Apps that measure heart rate, blood pressure, glucose and other bodily functions are multiplying, while Google, Apple and Samsung have launched platforms that make it easier to integrate medical and health services.

“We’ve gotten to a point where with sensors either in the phone or wearables gather information that we couldn’t do in the past without going to a medical centre,” says Gerry Purdy, analyst at Compass Intelligence.

“You can do the heart rate, mobile EKGs (electrocardiograms). Costs are coming down, and these sensors are becoming more socially acceptable.”

The consultancy Rock Health estimates 143 digital health companies raised $2.3 billion in the first six months of 2014, already topping last year’s amount.

An analysis by the global consultancy Deloitte suggests that smart glasses, fitness bands and watches, should sell about 10 million units in 2014, generating over $3 billion and that the number of devices will hit 170 million by 2017.

“Many health- and fitness-related technologies have multiple applications and encourage wearers to be more engaged in their own fitness, help modify behaviour by reminding wearers to exercise or take medication,” Deloitte’s Karen Taylor says in a July report.

Patients take control

The California start-up MD Revolution has created a system adapted from a concierge medicine practice, which allows participants to track a variety of health indicators using mobile or wearable devices.

The company uses fitness and other tracking devices to address “imminently preventable conditions such as diabetes or hypertension,” says spokeswoman Lisa Peterson.

“We are creating a new specialty in digital health in which people can interact with nutritionists, exercise physiologists to receive a plan and coaching, to prevent or reverse chronic diseases,” she told AFP.

Peterson said the company using existing commercial devices from makers such as Fitbit or Jawbone and plans to launch its own app for its users.

She noted that the launching of health platforms by Google and Apple “will make it easier for us to integrate more devices and apps”.

Recent studies suggest that people who use connected devices to monitor health and fitness often do a better job of managing and preventing health problems.

A study led by the Centre for Connected Health found that people who use mobile devices did a better job of lowering dangerous blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

A separate study published in the July 2014 issue of Health Affairs found that data collected by devices is not only useful for patients but can help doctors find better treatments.

“When linked to the rest of the available electronic data, patient-generated health data completes the big data picture of real people’s needs, life beyond the healthcare system,” said Amy Abernethy, a Duke University professor of medicine lead author of the study.

Some firms have even more ambitious plans for health technology.

Google, for example, is developing a connecting contact lens which can help monitor diabetics and has set up a new company called Calico to focus on health and well-being, hinting at cooperation with rivals such as Apple. And IBM is using its Watson supercomputer for medical purposes including finding the right cancer treatment.

Better care, good-bye office?

Joseph Kvedar, a physician and founder and director of the Boston-based nonprofit Centre for Connected Health, said mobile technology has the potential to keep people engaged in their own care, and lessen the burden on the healthcare system.

“One of our goals is to do away with the vast majority of offices,” Kvedar told AFP.

“That’s not because office visits are a bad thing but you should think about care as a continuous function and mobile technology allows you to do this in a way you could never do before.”

Kvedar said some health platforms that required patients to upload data had a mixed record but that mobile is growing because “people are addicted to their smartphones.”

Doctors should not fear this technology, he said, because patients who use it often stay healthier.

“For the vast majority of things, you the patient are in charge and we are just the sherpas,” he said. “Engaged patients get better.”

In the Country of Men

Hisham Matar

New York: Dial Press/Random House, 2008

Pp. 246

In this novel, Hisham Matar portrays the impact of state and social repression on the human psyche, interpersonal relations and family dynamics in particular, through the eyes of a young boy. As the story makes clear, arbitrarily exercised power does not necessarily unite people to oppose it, but sometimes divides them, each trying to protect themselves and their loved ones. It is just as likely that one betrayal will lead to another as that it will create solidarity among victims. The sacrifice of friendship and principles appears as a bi-product of dictatorship, just as cruel as torture and killing, for it breaks down trust and people’s sense of self.

Most poignantly, the novel chronicles the conflicted feelings of Suleiman, the nine-year-old storyteller, as Libya’s intelligence service cracks down on his neighbours, friends and eventually his father in 1979, as opposition to the Qadhafi regime’s excesses peaks among students and democratic intellectuals. 

Matar is not content to simply expose the cruelty of the regime; he has a keen eye for social problems and injustices of all kinds. As the story opens, Suleiman is conflicted by his experience of the adult world. His mother’s alcoholism and his father’s aloofness and frequent absences “on business,” confuse and sadden him. Like most children, he loves his mother and father, and wants to be together with them both. Yet, when his father is away, his mother tells and retells the story of how she was forced into marriage against her wishes, and he often witnesses examples of his parents’ incompatibility. He is in the untenable position of imagining himself saving her from a forced marriage all the while that he is a product of that union. Attempts to shield him from knowledge of his father’s political activities inevitably make him realise that his parents aren’t telling him the truth. That they are doing this for his own protection makes it no less irksome for him. Suleiman is quite intelligent and wants to be treated as a full partner in the family.     

Matar’s writing is truly masterful as he reveals each of these three main character’s point-of-view even though the story is completely told in Suleiman’s voice. The reader sympathises with each of them in turn, gets angry at each, sometime laughs at or with each. They are real, a mix of virtues, faults and contradictions. Putting politics aside, Matar has a great and complex human story to tell. Suleiman narrates his dreams, fantasies and memories, his perceptions of the natural and human world, with compelling innocence. But this innocence is increasingly eroded as the novel progresses and he struggles to make sense of the opaque adult world that lacks a child’s logical clarity. The reader will sometimes delight in Suleiman’s interpretation of adult behaviour, at other times be saddened by what he has to face, but above all be touched by his boundless love for his mother. 

The book title, “In the Country of Men,” is emblematic of the novel’s complexity, for “men” has multiple connotations. Most often it refers to the strongmen of the regime, but it also refers to the “High Council” — the mother’s name for the gathering of the men in her family that decided to marry her off at the age of fourteen after she was seen in the company of a young man. The extent to which these male qualities — political repression and social control — overlap is never completely spelled out, and the political opposition is also male. Suleiman too wants to be a man. Which version of manhood will he choose? Which definition of bravery — to oppose injustice or to keep silent in order to protect your family?

“In the Country of Men” has received much critical acclaim, especially as being a first novel. Indeed, it exhibits all the maturity and complexity of a seasoned writer. As a dissection of human emotions and behaviour under difficult circumstances, where there are no good choices to be made, it is unmatched.

Sally Bland

LOS ANGELES — The past week for “Weird Al” Yankovic has been a little weird by the standards of the curly haired, accordion-playing, oddball master of pop music parody.

The 54-year-old singer of such songs as “Eat It”, a culinary spoof on Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit “Beat It” and “Amish Paradise”, the send-up of rapper Coolio’s 1995 sensation “Gangsta’s Paradise”, scored his first No. 1 album on the US Billboard chart with “Mandatory Fun”, following a weeklong rollout of music videos.

“It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around that,” Yankovic said in an interview. 

Seemingly eclipsed at his own game by the rise of parody and fan-generated music videos online over the past decade and shut out from MTV when the network largely gave up music videos for original programming, Yankovic has survived by tapping into social media.

“I realised that the Internet was pretty much where my bread was buttered,” said the three-time Grammy winner, whose three-decade career has been due largely in part to the success of his humorous music videos.

“I wanted to do something that would appeal to the online community and things on the Internet go viral quick,” he added.

Yankovic released eight new songs each day beginning on July 14 with “Tacky”, a celebrity-filled video of Pharrell’s international hit “Happy”, which itself has spawned countless fan videos.

“There was always the danger people would get tired of it, by the third day I was wondering if people would be going, ‘Oh no, more Al’,” said Yankovic of the eight videos that have so far racked up more than 40 million views.

“Mandatory Fun” sold 104,000 copies in its first week, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. It also became the first comedy album to reach No. 1 since 1963’s “My Son, the Nut” by Allan Sherman.

“It kind of had a snowball effect,” the three-time Grammy winner said of the videos. “By the end of the eight days there was a little bit of a Pavlovian effect as well, because when it ended, people were like, ‘Where’s the “Weird Al” video?’”

The singer, whose new fare about aluminium foil parodies poor grammar to the tune of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Lorde’s “Royals”, said it took about two years to complete the album and videos.

Yankovic was able to field cameos by actors Jack Black, Eric Stonestreet and Margaret Cho among others and partnered with websites such as Nerdist.com and Will Ferrell’s Funnyordie.com as a way to help with its launch.

“I wish I had YouTube when I was starting out,” he said.