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GENEVA – Alcohol kills 3.3 million people worldwide each year, more than AIDS, tuberculosis and violence combined, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Monday, warning that booze consumption was on the rise.

Including drink driving, alcohol-induced violence and abuse, and a multitude of diseases and disorders, alcohol causes one in 20 deaths globally every year, the UN health agency said.

“This actually translates into one death every 10 seconds,” Shekhar Saxena, who heads WHO’s mental health and substance abuse department, told reporters in Geneva.

Alcohol caused some 3.3 million deaths in 2012, WHO said, equivalent to 5.9 per cent of global deaths (7.6 per cent for men and 4 per cent for women).

In comparison, HIV/AIDS is responsible for 2.8 per cent, tuberculosis causes 1.7 per cent of deaths and violence is responsible for just 0.9 per cent, the study showed.

More people in countries where alcohol consumption has traditionally been low, like China and India, are also increasingly taking up the habit as their wealth increases, it said.

“More needs to be done to protect populations from the negative health consequences of alcohol consumption,” Oleg Chestnov of the WHO’s noncommunicable diseases and mental health unit said in a statement launching a massive report on global alcohol consumption and its impact on public health.

Drinking is linked to more than 200 health conditions, including liver cirrhosis and some cancers. Alcohol abuse also makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV and pneumonia, the report found.

Most deaths attributed to alcohol, around a third, are caused by associated cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Alcohol-related accidents, such as car crashes, were the second-highest killer, accounting for around 17.1 per cent of all alcohol-related deaths.

China, India drinking more

Binge drinking is especially damaging to health, WHO pointed out, estimating that 16 per cent of the world’s drinkers abuse alcohol to excess.

While people in the world’s wealthiest nations, in Europe and the Americas especially, are boozier than people in poorer countries, rising wealth in emerging economies is also driving up alcohol consumption.

Drinking in populous China and India is rising particularly fast as people earn more money, WHO said, warning that the average annual intake in China was likely to swell by 1.5 litres of pure alcohol by 2025.

Still, Eastern Europe and Russia are home to the world’s biggest drinkers. 

Russian men who drink consumed an average of 32 litres of pure alcohol a year, according to 2010 statistics, followed by other Western countries including Europe, Canada, the United States, Australia and South Africa.

On average, every person above the age of 15 worldwide drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol in a year, according to the report.

Counting only those who drink though, that rises to 17 litres of pure alcohol each year.

But far from everyone indulges. Nearly half of all adults worldwide have never touched alcohol, and nearly 62 per cent say they have not touched a drink in the past year, the report showed.

Abstinence especially among women, is most common in low-income countries, while religious belief and social norms mean many Muslim countries are virtually alcohol free.

PARIS – Scientists on Sunday said they had used a harmless electrical current to modify sleep so that an individual has “lucid dreams”, a particularly powerful form of dreaming.

The discovery provides insights into the mechanism of dreaming — an area that has fascinated thinkers for millennia — and may one day help treat mental illness and post-trauma nightmares, they said.

Lucid dreams are considered by many psychologists to be an intermediate stage between two forms of consciousness.

They lie between so-called rapid eye movement (REM) dreams — which are concerned with the immediate present and have no access to past memories or anticipated events in the future — and being awake, which brings into play abstract thought and other cognitive functions.

In lucid dreaming, a state believed to be unique to humans, elements of secondary consciousness combine with REM dreams.

A characteristic is that the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming and is sometimes able to control the dream’s plot.

They may dream, for instance, of putting an aggressor to flight or of averting a catastrophic accident.

Researchers led by Ursula Voss at the J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt, used a technique called transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to explore the causes of lucid dreaming.

The gadget comprises two small boxes with electrodes that are placed next to the skull and send a very weak, low-frequency electrical signal across the brain.

The team recruited 15 women and 12 men aged 18 to 26, who spent up to four nights in a sleep laboratory.

After the volunteers had experienced between two and three minutes of REM sleep, the scientists applied tACS, or a “sham” procedure that produced no current, for around 30 seconds. The current was below the sensory threshold, so that the subjects did not wake up.

They then woke up the volunteers and asked them what they had been dreaming.

In control of the dream 

“The dream reports were similar, in that most subjects reported to ‘see myself from the outside’ and the dream was watched from the outside, as if it was displayed on a screen,” Voss told AFP.

“Also, they often reported to know that they were dreaming.”
The volunteers were tested at frequencies of two herz (Hz), six Hz, 12 Hz, 25 Hz, 60 Hz and 100 Hz.

“The effect... was only observed for 25 and 40 Hz, both frequencies in the lower gamma frequency band,” Voss said. 

“This band has linked with conscious awareness, but a causal relationship had so far not been established. Now it is.”

When the volunteers were stimulated with 25 HZ, “we had increased ratings for control of the dream plot, meaning they were able to change the action at will,” she added
The study, reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience, gave several anecdotes from the recruits about what they had dreamt.

“I am driving in my car, for a long time,” said one. “Then I arrive at this place where I haven’t been before. And there are a lot of people there. I think maybe I know some of them but they are all in a bad mood, so I go to a separate room, all by myself.”

The battery-operated tACS was applied so that the current flowed between the frontal and temporal regions, located on the forward top and side of the brain respectively.

The study suggests that front temporal tACS might help to restore dysfunctional brain networks which are fingered in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Applied during REM sleep, it could also one day help victims of post-traumatic stress disorder to overcome recurrent nightmares by placing them in charge of the dream plot, the paper theorises.

JAKARTA – BlackBerry will this week launch a new budget handset in Indonesia, one of its last bastions, a major step in the ailing smartphone maker’s fightback against titans Samsung and Apple.

The Z3, which is designed for Indonesia but will likely be introduced in other emerging markets later, is the first new BlackBerry phone since chief executive John Chen took the helm of the crisis-hit company in November. 

The handset is also the first to be produced from the Canadian firm’s partnership with Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, which makes gadgets for Apple, and is a key test of whether the new strategy will work.

The company believes the device will be a hit in Indonesia, where many have remained loyal to BlackBerry, with a spokesman saying that “this product will deliver something that should resonate with consumers”.

But analysts believe it may already be too late for a comeback by the company that pioneered modern smartphone culture but has been unable to keep up with competition from Apple’s iPhone and handsets using the Google Android operating system. 

Recent years have been dismal for BlackBerry, and it has suffered heavy losses and slashed thousands of jobs.

The company even put itself up for sale last year but abandoned hopes of finding a buyer several months later, and ousted chief executive Thorsten Heins. 

Since Chen took over, there have been small signs of improvement. The company reported a loss of $423 million in the three months to March 1, which was not as bad as had been feared.

As part of its turnaround strategy, the smartphone maker announced the tie-up with Foxconn in December, which involves transferring to the Taiwan company manufacturing and inventory management, while allowing BlackBerry to focus on software and services.

BlackBerry has chosen to launch its first new phone from the partnership in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy with legions of social media-mad young consumers, where its devices remain popular but it has nevertheless lost ground in recent years.

 Low retail price 

The phone has a five inch (13 centimetre) touchscreen, like most of BlackBerry’s newest handsets which do not have the physical keyboards of the older devices. 

It is designed specifically with Indonesian consumers in mind. The BBM messaging service — wildly popular in Indonesia — comes loaded with pictures of local cartoon characters for users to send to one another. 

There is also a limited edition with “Jakarta” engraved on it.

BlackBerry believes the low price — it will retail for around $200 — will be a particular selling point. 

Previous phones released on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system in Indonesia were more expensive, such as the Z10 which sold for around $700, and received only a lukewarm response.

Online pre-orders, which began on April 28, have been healthy, according to retailers.

“The response is positive and hundreds of units were sold in less than a week after the pre-order started,” said an employee at vendor Global Teleshop, who declined to be identified.

The phone will be launched on Tuesday in Jakarta and will go on sale in the following days.

BlackBerry has refused to say which emerging markets it might take the phone to next, but analysts speculated it would likely be others in Southeast Asia. 

But even the picture in Indonesia, one of the company’s healthiest markets, is increasingly dire and the Z3 may be too little too late, analysts warn.

“The launch of this device is really BlackBerry’s final stand in the Indonesian market,” Sudev Bangah from telecoms consultancy IDC told AFP.

IDC says BlackBerry’s market share peaked in Indonesia in 2011 at about 43 percent and remained healthy in 2012 only to suffer a collapse in 2013, when it fell to around 13 percent. 

And Bangah said it was unlikely the new device would be BlackBerry’s saviour in Indonesia.

“Do we expect a mass exodus to this device? Hardly likely,” he said, adding IDC expected BlackBerry’s market share to fall to around 10 percent this year.

NEW YORK – For people who want to avoid packing on extra pounds, a new study suggests going above and beyond commonly cited exercise guidelines. 

“Current recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 60 minutes of vigorous exercise per week might not be sufficient to prevent long-term weight gain,” lead researcher Trine Moholdt told Reuters Health in an e-mail. “More is needed.”

How much more remains an open question. Moholdt, from the KG Jebsen Centre of Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, advocates as big a dose of exercise as possible to stave off chronic illnesses and maintain weight.

The Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit group that is the health arm of the US National Academy of Sciences, suggests normal-weight adults spend an hour a day doing moderate-intensity physical activity.

But the US Department of Health and Human Services sets a lower bar, recommending at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity for general health, though in prior research that amount has failed to be sufficient for weight control. 

The American College of Sports Medicine says at least 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise three days per week can also fulfill exercise recommendations. 

The guidelines were set as a goalpost for adults aiming to avoid chronic illness, not to maintain weight.

Moholdt and her team studied the weight and exercise patterns of more than 19,000 adults, assessing them three times over 22 years. During that time, women gained nearly 19 pounds, on average, and men almost 17 pounds. 

Only those who exceeded the recommended weekly 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 60 minutes of vigorous activity were able to avoid significant weight gain over both the first and second half of the study period, according to findings published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. 

Even participants who reported getting more exercise than prescribed gained weight, the authors write, calling some weight gain throughout adult life “inevitable”.

“The study clearly shows we gain weight over time,” Dr. I-Min Lee told Reuters Health. “If we want to slow the gain in weight, we need to increase the physical activity.”

“People with the largest gains in weight were the least active. Those with the smallest gains were the most active,” she said. An epidemiologist from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Lee was not involved in the current study but has done similar research.

In a 2010 study, she found that middle-aged women who averaged about an hour a day of moderate-intensity exercise successfully kept off excess weight. 

She described moderate-intensity exercise as walking briskly enough to be able to continue a conversation but being unable to sing.

The National Weight Control Registry, which gathers information from people who have successfully lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a least one year, reports that 90 per cent of its members exercise, on average for about one hour a day. 

In the US, where health experts predict half of adults will be obese by 2030 unless lifestyle habits change, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that less than 48 per cent of adults exercise enough to improve their health.

In the current study, inactive women gained 12.5 pounds more than women who exercised in excess of US guidelines, and inactive men gained nearly eight pounds more than their most active counterparts. The research did not take participants’ diets into consideration.

Lee and Moholdt both stressed that any exercise is better than none. 

“Everything counts,” Moholdt said. In another study, people who reported doing just one sweaty exercise session a week lived longer than those who weren’t active at all, she said. 

“For weight-gain prevention, however, it seems that more is required,” she said. 

“If you’re heavy and you are physically active,” Lee said, “you still are better off compared to someone who is overweight and not physically active.”

TAIPEI – Apple plans to release its new iPhone in August, a month earlier than expected, after sales were hit by new big-screen models from its rivals, a major Taiwanese newspaper reported Friday, citing supply chain sources.

The Economic Daily News quoted unnamed sources as saying Apple had acquired parts from various Taiwanese suppliers such as wafer maker Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co. and Largan Precision, a leading maker of lenses used in mobile phones, for the handset expected to be called iPhone 6.

Taiwanese electronics contract makers including Foxconn and Pegatron have also been notified by Apple to start their assembly lines for the new handsets likely around late June, said the mass-circulation national newspaper.

US-based Apple has decided to roll out the 4.7-inch (12cm) screen version of the new model in August, a month early, as recent sales have been affected by the launch of bigger-screen phones from rivals such as South Korean giant Samsung and Taiwan’s HTC, the report said.

A high-end variant of the iPhone 6 with a 5.5 or 5.6-inch (14.2cm) screen will still be unveiled in September as previously planned, it said, adding that Apple expected total sales of 80 million units for both versions. 

Japan’s Nikkei business daily reported in March that Apple would release its next iPhone in September, its latest salvo in the smartphone wars where it has lost global market share to rivals such as Samsung. 

Apple released its current iPhone 5 in September 2012 and newer versions in the series last year.

A number of top Taiwanese electronics companies have been behind the production of the iPhone series by supplying components or assembling the handsets.

The latest to come onboard is the world’s biggest contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which reportedly started producing chips for the next iPhone in February.

That news fed rumours that Apple is reducing its reliance for parts on Samsung, its main competitor in the mobile phone market and a bitter rival with which it is contesting several copyright court battles globally.

The companies named in the Economic Daily News report declined to comment. 

TORONTO – Finding new smartphone and tablet apps is getting easier, thanks to new apps designed to help people discover still more apps.

Most people discover apps by searching app stores or through referrals from friends and family, according to global information and measurement company Nielsen. But critics say such marketplace searching makes it difficult for people to discover new content outside of the most popular apps.

With more than one million apps on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store, the two major app marketplaces, and growing numbers on Microsoft’s Windows Store, the numbers can be daunting.

“The sheer number of apps available, combined with a lack of tools to help them find them, makes it difficult for consumers to find what they’re looking for,” explained Raul Casta?on-Martinez, senior analyst focused on mobile apps at Boston-based Yankee Group.

Tappd, a new app for iPhones, takes aim at the problem. Users select topics of interest, such as books, finance or sports, and the app curates recommendations from friends, mobile app experts and other users of that app.

“It changes the discovery process away from what’s being downloaded the most to what friends, experts and people with the same interests are talking about right now,” said David Duncan, co-founder of Tappd, based in Melbourne, Australia.

“As many apps are now free, it’s not about the price of the app, but the time you have to invest,” he noted. “I don’t want to invest a lot of time into an app and find out it’s not right for me.”

App Social, for Windows Phone, works in the same way as Tappd, curating app recommendations from friends and technology influencers. But Quixey, a web and Android app, takes a different approach.

It allows users to search for apps based on what they are trying to do or achieve. Searching for “book a flight” or “read Obamacare news” yields apps pertaining to that goal.

“People should be able to find the apps they want by just typing in what they want to do,” said Liron Shapira, co-founder at Quixey, based in Mountain View, California.

Quixey, which is free, lists iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry apps.

Major technology companies are also working to make content inside apps accessible by search engines, which will also help consumers find new apps — what the industry calls deep linking — according to Casta?on-Martinez.

“Apps have grown in a silo isolated from the rest of the Internet,” he explained. “App content doesn’t show up in a typical search if you use Google or Yahoo or Bing.”

“As they grow in relevance, and the number of minutes we spend on mobile devices continues to increase, consumers will need better solutions,” he added.

Is it a computer or just a computerised device? Is it merely a rhetorical question or does it really matter now that most digital electronics work and act like computers?

I have fond memories of my college years, and particularly one of our thermodynamics professors. He was a bright person and came from Armenian ancestry. We loved him but his somewhat old-fashioned manners often made us smile, albeit gently. Those were the days of the early portable scientific calculators like the legendary Texas Instruments TI-30 circa 1977, for those who remember the model. This dear professor used to tell us “take your computers and perform this calculation…”  By computer he meant calculator!

For many years the French actually called “calculateur” any computer. Besides, in English “to compute” can be used as a synonym for “to calculate”. One of most widely accepted definitions of computer is a device that has a processor, memory, a storage area and a minimum of a few input/output units. Today, countless devices that are not called computers comply with the definition.

Desktop computers, laptops, tablets and of course smartphones are obviously computers in their own right. Though less obvious, the case of digital cameras is interesting to analyse. These devices have a processor, memory, a permanent storage area and several input-output units. High-end models do much more, with some of them being fit with WiFi to let you immediately send your photo over the web. Moreover, the graphic processing capability of a professional DSLR camera easily compares to a powerful digital processor, not any.

Some cameras by Canon or Nikon can process, simultaneously, a huge RAW image and a compressed jpg image of the same shot taken, generating, storing and displaying a total of 40 megabytes of high definitions images in a fraction of a second, faster than what many laptops can do. It is therefore no wonder that these beauties cost a few thousand dollars. Even by taking into consideration the importance of the optical part of these devices (the lenses), the digital electronic part today takes precedence. But they still call them cameras.

From cars to elevators and household appliances, not forgetting musical instruments, there is hardly a manufactured machine or device that does not feature a full-fledged computer in it, even if it’s deeply buried in its entrails. Surely the industry cannot call them all computers and needs to be more specific.

The name does not matter much as long as we, users, realise how much “computer” has been designed and put in the device we are using, just to be able to better deal with it and then to make the best out of it.

Take Roland’s latest generation of digital pianos, the V-Piano Grand. It is a piano, of course, but the computer part in it, or parts I should say, is overwhelming. From the primal generation of the sound it delivers to all parameters that control everything from the keyboard touch response to the tone, the computer does everything. And it does it very well. Players can even programme the machine to respond to the style they play in many different ways. And yes, you can connect it to the Internet for regular software version update and maintenance! The V-Piano does it all and it does it rather well. With its $20,000 price tag it had better. Buying a V-Piano thinking it is only a musical instrument would be too bad.

Perhaps the main consequence of all these computers placed inside consumer equipment is the fact that no one today can refuse to deal with computers, and with networks for that matter. However friendly and easy the man-machine interface may be, computer thinking and logic have become a must; there’s simply no escape.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s the older generation would say “I am not and do not want to be tech-minded, I just want to use the device.” This doesn’t work anymore for there’s a minimum technical knowledge to acquire whatever the equipment, even if it’s an apparently dummy microwave oven or wristwatch. Up to a good extent, we all need to be in harmony with computer technology and in tune with computer thinking.

NEW YORK — Facebook wants to increase its advertising and get more clicks on all kinds of ads. It believes tapping into the lucrative small business market will help it achieve those goals.

Sheryl Sandberg, the social media company’s operating chief and “Lean In” author, says the key is showing business owners how to find new customers by creating Facebook pages and by buying ads that appear on individual Facebook users’ pages. The company plans a campaign called Facebook Fit with workshops in five cities to show small business owners the nuts and bolts of using Facebook as a marketing tool.

“They don’t have enough customers. This is their No. 1 problem and we can help them solve it,” Sandberg said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The small business market has been difficult to crack for digital companies like Facebook and Google, said Greg Sterling, an analyst with the mobile technology research service Internet2Go. Many owners with Facebook pages are reluctant to advertise, limiting the revenue the company can make from small businesses.

“Many of them are struggling just to provide regular content updates or to understand how to use social media, let alone become masters of social media advertising,” Sterling said.

Meanwhile, Facebook needs to get more small business advertising to stay competitive with Google, said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with eMarketer, a digital research company.

“They need to be sure they’re seen as a strong partner to small business owners,” she said.

Facebook has updated its technology to make it easier for business owners to use, Sandberg said. The company is targeting those who don’t have the time to sit down at a desktop PC and update pages or ads.

“Now they’re able to manage their pages from a mobile phone. Two years ago, they couldn’t,” Sandberg said.

Facebook says it is used by 25 million small business users worldwide. The company does not report the number of businesses in the US or any other country.

Many very small companies that don’t have websites use social media services like Facebook to reach customers. When a Facebook user “likes” a company’s page, that customer’s Facebook friends see posts on their own pages about the company. Businesses can also buy ads that appear on individual Facebook pages.

Facebook is also creating small business advertising products Sandberg said will be affordable. For example, companies will be able to spend $10 to promote a post on other Facebook pages, something they were unable to do in the past. Facebook pages will remain free.

“We’re hoping they’ll want to become advertisers if we can help them just spend a few dollars to help them promote a product,” Sandberg said.

Facebook is in a good position to get more revenue from small businesses simply because so many of them already use it. But the company must still convince them ads are a good investment.

“They have to make it really simple, affordable, measurable — a small business owner has to be convinced of the success and efficacy of the ad campaign,” Sterling said.

Facebook has held workshops for small businesses in cities and towns across the country the past two years, often in partnership with local chambers of commerce and business groups, said Dan Levy, Facebook’s director of small business. 

By Ed Fletcher

MCT

To tweet or not to tweet?

As companies flock to Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to tout their brands, many businesses are still struggling to strike the balance between immediacy and the need to exercise enough control to prevent ill-advised posts, tweets and other social media embarrassments.

A pornographic picture recently sent from US Airways’ official Twitter account is a fresh example of a social media misstep. In that instance, the company says an employee didn’t mean any harm, but mistakenly posted a picture of a naked woman playing inappropriately with a toy plane.

Examples of embarrassing posts on official company social media accounts are legion: a reference to “hitting the hay” during a horse-meat scandal, a glib mention of “not being able to tell the truth” and posts making light of airplane crashes, to name just a few.

Separately, the actions of individual employees using their own social media accounts sometimes have brought unwelcome attention to their employers. Perhaps the most infamous example of 2013: the public relations professional who turned to Twitter to write, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”

Where being quick on the trigger can be risky, there is an upside to a timely post.

Gordon Fowler, president and CEO of 3fold Communications in Sacramento, Calif., said a quick response to a pop-culture phenomenon can bring much more exposure to social media messages that would otherwise go unnoticed.

“People are trying too hard to be relevant,” said Fowler, who recently invited people to get over the sourness of tax day by visiting the company’s “Tax Day Bitter Bar” for a lunchtime lemonade. Guests were then invited to take pictures and share them via social media.

The three most popular US social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — were conceived and continue to serve primarily as platforms for millions of individuals to connect, but more and more businesses are using them to reach customers. Some 93 per cent of marketers use social media to reach a vast and growing audience, according to statistics compiled by social media expert Erik Qualman. More than 1 billion people use Facebook, while Twitter boasts of 115 million active users monthly.

Local communications professionals agreed that staying out of the social media pool is not an option.

“Social media or new media has become a big part of my business. If you don’t have a social media presence, then you don’t really have a presence,” said Doug Elmets, a veteran communications consultant and owner of Elmets Communications. “It’s the way people communicate these days.”

“Nowadays consumers are talking to each other, so it’s important to be in that conversation,” Fowler agreed.

Fowler and Elmets differ somewhat, however, when it comes to how much control they think businesses should exercise over who should post on their behalf. Fowler suggested brands stay most nimble by placing social media tools in trusted hands and trusting them. At his company, nearly half of his 16 employees have access to the corporate Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Vimeo accounts. He advises his clients to have defined roles and responsibilities, distinct areas of focus for social media channels and clear guidelines.

While Elmets agrees that social media relevance requires capturing the moment, he says it’s often better to sacrifice some timeliness for clarity of message.

“If you don’t have some form of oversight or a catalytic converter, there is no telling what is going to spew out of the tailpipe,” Elmets said. “Sacrifice nimbleness for a tad bit of security. It’s better to be safe than sorry in your communication, especially for your business.”

One of his biggest clients, Thunder Valley Casino in Placer County, Calif., has a handful of people responsible for social media on behalf of the business, which employs 2,500 people. For some of his smaller clients, Elmets said, he serves as the trusted hand on the social media accounts.

Being nimble is often the key to scoring a social media win, Fowler said. He cited the advertising response of the maker of Oreo cookies to the 2013 Super Bowl blackout.

Advertising experts declared that Nabisco “won the marketing Super Bowl” with a timely ad sent out via social media during a third-quarter power outage that delayed the game. “Power out? No problem,” said the Twitter ad. Attached was a picture of an Oreo with the caption: “You can still dunk in the dark.”

Within a day, the Oreo tweet had been retweeted 15,000 times and had 20,000 likes on Facebook, allowing it to reach an audience hundreds of times larger than the company’s base of followers.

There are a few rules that I have made in my home. I try to apply them to my family and myself as closely as possible. For instance: No eating meals in front of the television; no talking to the hired help in a disrespectful manner; switching off the lights when one leaves a room; finishing off all the food that you have dished out on your plate; and so on and so forth. These guidelines are easily understood and adhered to by all of us. 

Also, one day of the week I have earmarked as my workday. Since I freelance for various publications, it helps me in disciplining myself, meeting my deadlines. But the problem is that this is also the day when the rest of the world is resting, with schools, offices, factories and most of the shops also closed. But in my own little universe, it is a time for toil. 

To get myself into the groove of things, the most important regulation I have drafted in my house is that whatever happens, I should not be disturbed when I am locked up in my study. To emphasise the point, I have told my domestic workers that unless there is an accident, a fire or some such excessive calamity, I must not be told about it. While I am working, that is. 

After a few clarifications like, are hunger pangs catastrophic, does the collapse of a garden shed qualify and is running out of cooking gas a disaster, by my over enthusiastic staff, they pretend to leave me alone. 

But there is this wise saying in my home country India, which, when roughly translated, means a home chicken and a lentil have the same value. What it highlights is the fact that even the most successful of persons are taken for granted when they are in their domestic territory. 

I should know. I am a prime example of this. Nobody takes my job seriously in my familial front. And since I don’t dress myself out in a formal jacket and move around with a sober briefcase bulging with official documents, my occupation is not given any importance. When I’m writing, my uniform consists of sweat pants, faded T-shirt and slip-on shoes. This is far too casual a look to be associated with any sense of authority. Or sobriety. 

My cellphone, which sometimes does not ring for so long that I even forget what my ringtone sounds like, usually starts ringing the minute I step into my den. Why can’t I put it on silent? Of course I can, but the worry that someone might pass away in far off lands, while my phone is on quiet mode, keeps interfering with my thoughts. 

This morning I put my phone inside the table drawer and my writing was cruising along smoothly. Then I heard some stage murmurs outside my door. 

“Why are you here today?” my housemaid was asking. 

“Water pressure-pump problem”, that sounded like the plumber. 

“Hush! Not so loud, who called you?” she screeched in a stage whisper. 

“I want to talk to Madam, why are you muttering?” he asked

“Shhhh! Come tomorrow,” she said.

“You shhhh yourself, and call Madam,” he interrupted

“Is house on fire? You had accident? Roof falling down?” she ticked off the list. 

“No, no and no,” he answered

“Then go, go and go,” she dismissed him. 

I must raise her salary, said the voice in my head!