Features

First introduced in 1957 under the Lotus badge and in continual development since Caterham took over production in 1973, the Seven is — at face value — a simple but effectively minimalist recipe of undiluted and uncomplicated thrills. Capable of out-handling and out-performing far more complex and costly cars, the Seven’s philosophy rests on meticulous weight saving and its character defined by a distinct connected driving purity.

From a range of visceral, fun and lightweight road- and track-oriented cars bookended by turbocharged three-cylinder 80BHP and supercharged 310BHP variants, the 270S is entry-level among Caterham’s core naturally aspirated models. Accessible, affordable and more practical, the 270S is probably Caterham’s most usably fun daily drive yet, and is pitched perfectly to unlock its high-revving, direct, responsive and agile characteristics on road rather than require a track.

Lightweight sensibility

Much evolved and honed but little changed in ethos, execution and basic iconic design over many years, the Seven is a back-to-basics car where form follows function and light weight is paramount. Light, low and small with front mid-engine, exposed side-mounted exhaust, rollover bars, aluminium panels, rear drive, rear seating position and wheels pushed far to corners, the Seven features ideal within wheelbase weighting, low centre of gravity and a big footprint for stability. 

With Caterham’s lightweight sensibility is a self perpetuating one where lightness adds lightness, even steering or brake servo assistance is omitted, as they are simply unneeded. Cutting out anything remotely superfluous to the driving experience, the Seven features exposed suspension and wheels and is built on a lightweight but stiff tubular frame allowing for a soft top design without dynamic penalties. Meanwhile carpet or heater is even optional, depending on model.

Based on Caterham’s new nomenclature with S designation for more compliant road versions or R for stiffer hardcore track incarnations, and numerical model name denoting approximate power-to-weight ratio, the 270S develops 135BHP, yet weighs just 550kg, even with marginally heavier wide SV chassis — as driven — the 270S features light solid disc brakes all-round, while limited-slip differential and rear anti-roll bar are optional 270S features, but standard on the 270R.

Swift and sweet

Positioned far back in its chassis, the 270S is powered by a Ford-sourced 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine mated to a close ratio 5-speed manual gearbox driving the rear wheels. With variable valve timing and high compression and single — rather than more complex multiple independent — throttle body, the 270S’ sweet high revving engine is honed by Caterham to develop 135BHP at 6,800rpm — 10BHP more than its predecessor — and 122lb/ft at 4,100rpm.

With a resonant baritone staccato urgently rising and hardening, the 270S is eager and long-legged as revs rise. Peaky yet flexible, the lightweight 270S pulls confidently and responsively hard from idle through mid-range. Versatile even when cruising at speed in top gear and progressive in delivery throughout, it is, however, at its best revved hard and high as torque builds and peaks before it unrelentingly bears down on its 6,800rpm rev limit.

With precise, sensitive yet intuitive throttle and clutch pedal, the 270S launches smartly off-the-line, with a slight chirp as rear tyres dig in to tarmac. Blasting through the 0-100km/h benchmark in just 5 seconds, the svelte and swift 270S is an intoxicating and addictive drive. Accurate, succinct, snappy and stiff, the 270S’ gear change has a distinctly and satisfyingly mechanical feel. However, somewhat short ratios and old school aerodynamics limit the 270S’ top speed to 196km/h.

Intuitively interactive

Riding on sophisticated independent suspension with double wishbones in front and De Dion rear axle, the 270S also features relatively small alloy wheels shod with 195/45R15 tyres, which given its low weight provide the necessary grip while keeping unsprung weight and costs low. Meanwhile, unassisted brakes and steering initially feel stiff, but are highly effective, soon becoming second nature and providing precise and natural feel and feedback to instil driver confidence and involvement.

Focused and connected, the 270S’ low weight and small size allow for immediate, crisp, delicate and precise responses, with superb body and weight shift control. All about the driving experience and visceral, fun, natural and mechanical driver-car interactivity devoid of distraction, dilution or assistance like electronic stability control and ABS braking. Instilling a sense of clarity and control, and devolving driver responsibility for every input, the 270S focuses ones concentration like few other cars.

Tidy, exacting fluent through switchbacks, the 270S’ low weight allows one to come on the brakes hard and late without fade, before crisply darting into a corner. Level throughout a corner, it exits with poised panache as one comes back on power early and progressively. And with balanced weighting, agile reflexes, connectivity, quick 1.93-turn steering and accurate throttle control to dial in power, one can intuitively and flawlessly correct any slight rear if induced.

Focus and fluency

Sat low within its cabin and exposed to the rushing wind and resonant engine and exhaust acoustics, the 270S is exhilarating, captivating and compellingly fun to drive through narrow sprawling and winding roads. At highway speeds it is settled and confident, requiring the occasional slight steering correction through strong crosswinds. And with its low and exposed driving position and lack of assistance, one instinctively becomes more, taking no unnecessary chances or making no careless input. 

With Caterham’s masterful knack for suspension set-up and tuning, the S270S is sure-footed, firm and settled on rebound and potentially ready for track driving. However, as the more road-biased version, it nevertheless is supple and fluent riding over imperfect British backroads and motorways. Owners can additionally opt for a personalised suspension and steering geometry set-up tailored to more precisely distribute weight to further improved handling, comfort, steering and braking abilities for a specific driver. 

Minimalist inside, the 270S features clear instruments, gauges and toggle switches, generous legroom and an upright, alert and focused driving position with good visibility and perfectly positioned small steering and stubby gear lever. More comfortable and useable than expected on long journeys, hip and shoulder room are, however, at a premium, even in the wide chassis SV version tested. An elemental open top car, the 270S, however, feature removable doors and occasional use clip-on soft top.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.6-litre, front-mid, in-line 4 cylinders

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC

Bore x stroke: 79 x 81.4mm

Compression ratio: 11:1

Gearbox: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 135 (137) [101] @6800rpm

Specific power: approximately 84.6BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 245.5BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 122 (165) @4,100rpm

Specific torque: approximately 103.4Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 300Nm/tonne

Redline: 6,800rpm

0-100km/h: 5 seconds

Maximum speed: 196km/h

Fuel capacity: 36 litres

Length: 3,250mm

Width: 1,685mm

Height: 1,115mm

Wheelbase: 2,305mm

Track, F/R: 1,463mm

Weight: 550kg

Steering: Rack & pinion

Lock-to-lock: 1.93 turns

Suspension F/R: Double wishbones/De Dion axle

Chassis: Tubular space-frame

Brakes: Discs

Tyres: 195/45R15

Extraordinary Renditions: American Writers on Palestine
Edited by Ru Freeman
Massachusetts: Olive Branch Press/Interlink Publishing, 2016
Pp. 451

Building on the tradition of “Authors Take Sides on the Spanish Civil War” (1937) and “Authors Takes Sides on Vietnam” (1967), this book contains essays, poems and short fiction from 65 prominent writers expressing their thoughts about Palestine. Considering the repeated Israeli assaults and human rights violations against Palestine’s people and land, editor Ru Freeman contends that “it is impossible any longer to take no side… our hands too are stained — if we remain silent — with the blood of others”. (p. 17)

This is not a collection of facts and figures, but a delving into the ethical issues at stake. A salient trend in many of the selections is connecting the US’ own record of violence against Native Americans and African-Americans in particular, to the tendency of many Americans to tacitly accept Israeli violence against Palestinians. The other side of this connection is the solidarity that has grown between Palestinians and the American Black liberation movement and other activists for justice. There is also a strong focus on children who are often targeted despite their innocence. There are frequent references to Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza, particularly to the shocking killing of four young cousins playing on a beach, as well as to settlements, house demolitions and the apartheid wall. 

The contributions are far from uniform. In addition to differing genres and aesthetic styles, there are different approaches and a few divergences. Some discuss the power of language and memory, the role of literature in effecting change, how poetry can elicit empathy, how fiction can illuminate the truth, or, conversely, how media can perpetuate disinformation. Others write about specific events or aspects of the conflict, relying on their first-hand experience, how Palestine first came to their attention or observations from a visit there. While some mainly decry violence, others express clear solidarity with the Palestinians’ struggle for their rights. 

The best of the contributions merge the writer’s political and ethical convictions with his/her views on the function of the arts. As stated by Kim Jensen, “Despair is chronic; no one can say that this is the world they would have chosen. But art does puncture holes in this pervasive despair and renders things visible that were previously invisible. Art shows us where to look and what to see… We cannot turn away from the Palestinian people and their need to be free from violence, dispossession, and cultural erasure.” (p. 397)

A particularly creative and poignant example of how fiction can reveal the human and ethical issues inherent in high-tech warfare is Ramola D’s story about Gaza. It begins by describing what five young sisters are doing in the moment they are killed by a bomb, and culminates with their burned bodies coalescing above the clouds and ascending to the plane that dropped the bomb. This is what the Israeli pilot saw: “a small group of children, sitting where no one could sit, forty thousand feet above the Earth’s crust, in icy cold, thrust forward at tremendous speed, on the nose of his fighter jet. All dead.” (p. 91) 

What would it take to awaken the human conscience? Ramola D seems to be asking.

Writing about the discrepancy between the US’ espoused ideals and its actual policy, Naomi Shihab Nye, who grew up in Ferguson, Missouri, before her family moved to Palestine, compares Ferguson with Gaza: “It’s easy to see how a white officer raising a gun against an unarmed black kid is simply wrong. Why is that harder for people to see about Gaza?” (p. 111)

Alice Walker, as usual, speaks truth to power in a beautiful, yet searing way that cannot be ignored. Her contribution combines her concern for the plight of children under occupation, with ridiculing the US prohibition on speaking to Hamas. In poetry and prose, she tells about an American delegation to Gaza meeting with Huda Naim, a Hamas official who did not look or speak as most of the delegation expected, with the discussion centring on their mutual wish for a better world for their children. 

Writing about the tunnels as a lifeline for the besieged people of Gaza, Matt Bell concludes with a metaphor that aptly describes the spirit in which this book was produced: “Poetry as shovel. Story as pickaxe. Novel as earthmover. Our voices are free and we can use them to bring attention to those whose voices are not. The ground of injustice and oppression is hard but surely there are those among us who are determined to break through. What is on the other side of every wall is another country whose borders exist on no map but whose citizens live everywhere.” (p. 199)

There are too many other excellent selections deserving of special mention to fit into a short review. Those of Duranya Freeman, Diego Vazquez, Adam Stumacher, Ammiel Alcalay, Nathalie Handal and others stand out for their eloquence and precision.

WASHINGTON — Paywalls were supposed to help rescue newspapers from the crisis of sinking print circulation as readers shifted to getting their news online.

But with a few exceptions, they have failed to deliver much relief, prompting some news organisations to rethink their digital strategies.

Newspapers in the English-speaking world ended paywalls some 69 times through May 2015, including 41 temporary and 28 permanent drops, according to a study by University of Southern California (USA) researchers.

Paywalls “generate only a small fraction of industry revenue”, with estimates ranging from 1 per cent in the United States to 10 per cent internationally, the study in July’s International Journal of Communication said.

“People are far less willing to pay for online news than for print,” said USC journalism professor Mike Ananny, an author of the study.

Newspapers are in a difficult spot, he added, because online advertising generates a fraction of print’s revenue, and news organisations are already pressured by falling print circulation.

Alan Mutter, a former Chicago and San Francisco newspaper editor who now consults for media organisations, said the research confirms that paywalls have value in relatively rare circumstances.

Free news

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have been relatively successful with paywalls because of their unique content, he said.

“It’s hard for a general-interest website to charge for news that you can get for free with a few clicks.”

Paywalls can backfire also “because they put a barrier between the newspaper and the casual reader,” he added.

“They are truncating the size of the digital market, when the most important factor for digital is scale.”

A survey this year by the American Press Institute showed 77 of the 98 US newspapers with circulations above 50,000 used some type of online subscription, which could be a “hard” paywall that fences off all content or allows some free.

But a number of English-language news organisations have dropped their paywalls in recent months, including the Toronto Star, and British dailies The Independent and The Sun.

Among US dailies, the San Francisco Chronicle dropped its paywall in 2013. The Dallas Morning News did the same in 2014 before reinstituting a “metered” system allowing up to 10 free articles.

Newsweek lifted its paywall for most content in February, limiting the number of free magazine features for nonsubscribers.

A study this year by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found only 10 per cent of readers in English-speaking countries were willing to pay for digital news.

That number rose to 15 per cent in Denmark and Finland, 20 per cent in Poland and Sweden and 27 per cent in Norway.

“English-language publishers face a more difficult task in trying to build a large paywall business because there is so much free English content,” Mutter said.

Notable exceptions

Of the paywalls erected in the past few years, many have delivered lackluster results, said Ken Doctor, a media consultant who writes the blog Newsonomics.

“The ones that were launched in 2012 to 2014 had good early results and they all largely stalled,” he said.

“They are no longer gaining much in the way of new digital subscriptions, and their print is in rapid decline.”

But there are some notable successes, in addition to the most prominent newspapers, Doctor said.

The Boston Globe raised its digital subscription price sharply to $1 a day and kept 90 per cent of its subscriber base, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has also had success boosting digital circulation revenues, he said.

Succeeding with paywalls means taking a long view and investing in journalism as well as technology, Doctor said.

“A publisher focused on the long term will recognise that it is reader revenue that is going to have to get them through this disruption,” he said.

“That means they need a large and experienced enough newsroom so the audience feels they are getting something sufficient and something unique,” he added. 

“They also need to invest in the digital products so the experience is better.”

However, Mutter argues that paywalls run counter to the goal of boosting readership, and that news organisations need to think differently.

“Print is failing and digital is hard,” he said.

Although newspapers are losing online ad revenues to online platforms, they have the advantage of knowing their local markets and businesses.

“They have to work hard at being local marketing partners in the markets they serve,” Mutter said.

USC’s Ananny said news organisations need to find creative ways to develop pay models that don’t put readers off. He also expressed concern that expanding paywalls may lead to a new “digital divide” where information is available only to those who can afford to pay.

The research suggests that “news organisations serve themselves and readers best when paywalls are fluid”, he said.

Many papers open up free content during major news events or emergencies, fulfilling a civic role, he noted. Others charge readers for access to special features or content.

“News organisations had better understand why they are dropping or raising paywalls,” he said. 

“If it’s done in an ad hoc or random manner, it doesn’t help.”

People who feel ill after eating wheat but who do not have celiac disease may finally have a biological explanation for their symptoms, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the US and Italy found that people who claim to have “wheat sensitivity” do have biological reactions to gluten proteins in wheat, rye and barley. It’s just that the reactions are different from what’s seen in people with celiac disease, which is also triggered by gluten.

People with wheat sensitivity have been a very difficult group to identify, because they’re mostly all self-diagnosed, said study author Dr Peter Green, who directs the Celiac Disease Centre at Columbia University in New York City.

While celiac disease can be confirmed through blood tests and biopsies, the same wasn’t true for wheat sensitivity, Green told Reuters Health.

“We had no biomarkers or anything to say they had a disease process going on other than reporting they don’t do well when they eat wheat,” he said.

As a result, people would put themselves on a gluten-free diet and ultimately feel better.

For the new study, the researchers analysed and compared the blood of 80 people who reported wheat sensitivity, 40 people with celiac disease and 40 healthy people without either condition.

In celiac disease, consumption of gluten triggers an autoimmune response that damages the small intestine. The patients with wheat sensitivity had blood tests showing signs of some intestinal damage too — although it was not the same kind of damage that’s seen with celiac disease, and they didn’t have the same pattern of antibodies in their blood that are characteristic of celiac disease. 

People with wheat sensitivity also had evidence of a body-wide immune response, which the researchers didn’t see in the people with celiac disease.

The results suggest there are identifiable and measurable traits in people with wheat sensitivity that are separate from celiac disease, write the researchers in the journal Gut.

The next step is to get a better understanding of what’s happening inside the intestines of people with wheat sensitivity, said Green. Also, the results should be confirmed in US patients, since most of the blood samples for the current study came from people in Italy.

“We’d like to confirm the findings in individuals here, but we need to see them before they go on a special diet,” said Green.

The new results confirm the existence that something’s going on in people with wheat sensitivity, he said.

“It also raises the likelihood that we’ll be able to develop a test,” he added. “Then, we can categorise individuals and treat them appropriately.”

My grandmother used to tell me the time of day, especially in summer’s sunny afternoons, by looking at the shadow of the furniture on the living room floor. It is only recently, some 50 years after, that I realise how beautiful, how simple, how poetic it was. Not that she didn’t have a wristwatch or that there were no clocks at all in the house; she just found it nice and convenient to read the length and the position of the shadow this way and to teach me how to. It’s the old sundial principle. It has been here almost forever and is as old as the Earth and the Sun themselves.

Fast forward 50 years and forget about anything natural or poetic. This is the age of the Internet, of wireless and high-tech. Today technology surrounds us with clocks and the aggressive display of the time of day wherever we look. These clocks are more insidious than e-mail, SMS, online ads or social networking combined, for we do not necessarily take the measure of their impact on us. They are simply telling us to “hurry up”. The level of the stress this creates is largely underestimated.

At any given moment, there’s at least four or five clocks displayed before your eyes. The one on your wristwatch, on your smartphone, on the computer’s screen, on the TV screen, on the satellite receiver, on the car’s dashboard, on the office desk phone set... Most kitchen electric appliances also feature a clock, the central heating timer has a clock, and many of us also have a clock on their bathroom’s shelf so that they do not get late going to work in the morning. Wall and ceiling projecting clocks follow you at night to help you to sleep, or quite the opposite, to cause insomnia in some cases. Oregon Scientific, for example, makes fantastic projecting clocks.

It is one thing to know the time of day and it is another to be constantly reminded of it, in multiple instances and countless formats, however attractive they may look at first sight. It is not anymore about “Time is money” but rather “Time is running out” and the psychological effect this has on us.

Multiple clocks also make us work more to maintain them and to keep them in time.

For all those models that are not digital and directly linked to the Internet where they take their settings from and are synced to, we have to adjust them manually twice a year, when we shift from summer to winter time and vice-versa. Indeed, more than half of them still are not part of the world of IoT (Internet of Things). Most car clocks for example, still need to be adjusted manually.

Some watch manufacturers, like Japanese Seiko, make models that wirelessly follow the closest geographically available atomic clock to sync to it perfectly and never miss a second. We’re far, far away from grandma’s “furniture shadow on the floor”.

It is hard in such circumstances not to go wandering about the very notion of time and what technology is doing to us. Right now three things come to my mind.

The first is lyrics excerpts from Time, Pink Floyd’s legendary song from the album Dark Side of the Moon: “And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking.”

The second is these few hundredths of a second that make swimmers at Rio de Janeiro’s Olympics win or lose.

The third is about all the statistics that undeniably confirm that the average life expectancy is continuously increasing. We’re living longer it’s agreed, but are they taking into consideration the fact that we’re also living considerably faster? Is there any real benefit in the end?

Don’t be surprised if your friends and neighbours are soon covered in purple spots.

“Cupping” is poised to become the latest fad.

Swimming champion Michael Phelps’ use of cupping, a type of alternative medicine intended to ease muscle pain, has attracted nearly as much attention as his latest gold medal.

Cupping, which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, involves using cups to create suction on the skin. Fans claim that pulling the skin away from the body improves their blood flow. What’s not in dispute: The procedure leaves people covered in dark purple marks.

Phelps, who won his 19th Olympic medal Sunday, said he relies on cupping to heal sore muscles. And he’s not the only one. Track and field competitors in Rio are using it. So are male gymnasts at the Olympics. Celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston are big fans of the big dots.

But does it actually work?

There’s little to no medical evidence that cupping has any benefit, said Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and a former sideline physician for the New York Jets.

“There are studies on this, but they aren’t well done,” Glatter said.

In 2012, a review of 135 studies on cupping found it had some benefit for shingles, facial paralysis, acne and age-related wear and tear of the spinal disks of the neck. But authors of the review noted that the studies were not carefully done, so their results weren’t very valuable.

The review found cupping had no benefit for sore muscles.

That does not mean cupping is useless, Glatter said.

Cupping could work as a placebo, giving elite athletes a psychological boost, Glatter said. In other words, cupping works because people think it works. “When people feel better, they may perform better,” Glatter said. “But in terms of performance and power, [Phelps] already got that in the bag.”

While using a suction cup on sore muscles seems harmless, Glatter notes that people who heat the cups could potentially burn themselves. People could also develop infections.

“You’re causing tissue injury, and there could be bacteria on the skin,” Glatter said.

But cupping is not going to turn the average person into an Olympian, Glatter said.

“It’s a hickey, to be honest,” Glatter said. “What you’re getting is a large, circular hickey.”

While I was in London last week, everyone on social networking sites, including Pammi Aunty, was wishing happy friendship day to each other. What is a friendship day? I don’t know because it was never around when I was in school and had a lot of friends. To my mind it is a creative spoof on the definition of democracy, which was first described by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address, as a government, of the people, by the people and for the people. Similarly, friendship day is something, for the social media, by the social media and for the social media. 

Who is Pammi Aunty? Now, if you were a regular on Facebook, you would not be asking this question but for the benefit of those of you, who like my spouse, refuse to open an FB account and think it is a colossal waste of time and energy, let me tell you, Pammi Aunty is the best thing that happened to hordes of Punjabi speaking people all over the world. Modelled on a boisterous pop culture stereotype, behind Pammi Aunty’s fancy pink glasses and giant hair curlers is actor Ssumier S. Pasricha, whose wickedly hilarious impersonation of a typical Aunt complaining about everything under the sun has made him an overnight sensation on Facebook. Pammi Aunty has plenty of opinions and advice, all unsolicited, to offer on the problems of life. Her telephone conversations with her friend Sarla are exaggerated snippets of tongue-in-cheek humour. 

Following Pammi Aunty’s hysterics, I can state with complete certainty, that all of us have at least a couple of Pammi Aunties in our lives. If not more, that is. These self-assured women know everything and are a personification of the Encyclopaedia, Thesaurus and Google Search, all rolled into one. 

But I wonder what she would think of the strong impact that CTM has made on British cuisine to become such a part and parcel of it. Short for Chicken Tikka Masala, this Indian fare is now the national dish of Great Britain, according to the Lonely Planet’s Guide. The succulent red creamy chicken with the perfect blend of spices has an extraordinary fable.

About 5,000 years ago when tandoor clay ovens were invented, the local population was beginning to raise chickens at the same time and realised both made an awesome combination. But the small bite sized pieces, which we now call “Tikka”, came into existence, thanks to the nitpicking of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty. He was so wary of choking on the chicken bones that he ordered his Punjabi chefs to remove the bones before cooking the meat in the tandoor. The resulting delicacy was called “Joleh”, Persian for “Tikka”.

Some argue that this is not the real story. They contend Chicken Tikka Masala originated in British India where its spicy precedent was toned down to suit English palates. Regardless of its mysterious origins, organisers of National Curry Week claim that if all the portions sold in one year in the UK were stacked, they would constitute a tikka tower 2,770 times taller than the Greenwich Millennium Dome.

“Hello?” our daughter was on the phone

“Pammi Aunty this side,” I replied copying Pammi Aunty’s voice. 

“Where are you?” she questioned

“Why?” I sounded as suspicious as Pammi Aunty. 

“You want to have CTM?” she asked. 

“To celebrate FD?” I queried. 

“Oh mom!” she giggled. 

“Let’s go and make the GMD taller,” I gave in.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Forget about Olympic medals. The gold and silver sought this year in Rio de Janeiro are the colours of credit and debit cards.

Brazil is arguably Latin America’s most digitally savvy nation, with more than half its 204 million population regularly using the Internet.

As many arriving tourists have quickly discovered, Brazil is also a leader in the use of digital technologies for the hacking of credit and debit cards.

“When you have… something like the Olympic Games you have such a target-rich environment of rich targets,” said Alan Brill, the senior managing director of the cybersecurity practice for Kroll Inc. in New York. They are “people in many cases with far higher limits on accounts than otherwise… with more accounts, and more likely to use ATMs”.

The US cyber security research firm Fortinet, in a global report issued Tuesday, warned that criminals have been ramping up for the Olympics, which run through August 21. That means they’ve been setting up malicious websites that unwary users will click on and unknowingly deliver their passwords and PIN numbers to criminals who will then use them to hack into the users’ credit and bank accounts.

“The volume of malicious and phishing artefacts [i.e. domain names and URLs] in Brazil is on the rise,” the company said, noting that the rate of increase in Brazil was several times higher than the rest of the world. “The highest percentage growth was in the malicious URL category, at 83 per cent, compared to 16 per cent for the rest of the world.”

URL fraud involves webpages that look like legitimate online-payment sites but that steal the money consumers think they are directing to purchases or payments. In an appendix, Fortinet warned that combating cyber crime is low on the list of Olympic security issues for Brazilian authorities.

Two McClatchy journalists covering the Olympics in Rio had their cards hacked and cloned soon after arrival, and a third was informed after making a remote purchase in Brazil even before arriving there that his card had been flagged as compromised.

Leila Lak, a British documentary filmmaker who works in Rio and depends on her debit card to withdraw cash for daily expenses, has been hacked repeatedly.

“Mine has been cloned several times, and my bank [in London] told me it’s very common in Brazil. They expect it,” Lak said in a telephone interview from England, adding that she had been hacked just three weeks ago.

Hacking has become such a problem in Brazil that the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security warns about it on its website.

“The use of credit card cloning devices and radio frequency interception [RFI] at restaurants, bars and public areas is epidemic in Rio,” the department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council warned in a February report published on its website.

Trend Micro, a Dallas-based IT security firm, has studied the underworld market of cybertheft in Brazil and concluded that much of it happens when hackers succeed in compromising the portable point-of-sale machines popular in restaurants and stores here.

The card-reading machines are brought to a diner’s table when the bill is paid, and after reading the chip, the cardholder must enter a four-digit personal identification number. This chip-and-PIN technology, long used in Europe, has been held out as fool proof but has quickly proved otherwise.

“The actual merchant may be wholly unaware of what’s going on,” said Christopher Budd, a global threat communications manager for Trend Micro.

The card-reading machines may be infected with malware or the malware may be operating further up the information chain, causing a theft of information, Budd said, noting that even internet servers have been compromised.

A common scheme in Brazil involves so-called Chupa Cabras, the name for plastic skimmers here placed inside the card slots of ATMs. These go unrecognised by consumers and pass all their card and log-in information to criminals.

Another scheme involves a card fitted with a doctored chip that attaches malware to the card reader. When unsuspecting cardholders later use the card reader, it transmits their card information and personal data — like expiration dates and security codes — to thieves, who quickly clone the cards.

“The bad guys are able to cause malware to be downloaded onto the point-of-sale device so that every time the card is run an unencrypted version of the data is transferred to the bad guys,” said Brill. “The good news, if there is any good news, is that banks have been using more and more sophisticated systems to… identify suspicious transactions.”

Those improvements have grown out of necessity in Brazil, as card cloning now happens at breakneck speed. Criminals put McClatchy’s hacked cards to use in less than a day.

“The banks are really good at spotting when these things happen,” said Budd. “The shelf life of stolen information when it comes to credit cards is very short. When you see credit card information [for sale] in the underground, they’re going to specify how old the information is.”

Criminals in Brazil count on weak laws and weaker enforcement. There have been high-profile social media postings by hackers showing off the money they’ve stolen.

“There is a definite sense that the cyber criminals don’t feel a need to hide or in other ways take measures to prevent capture,” said Budd.

Pitched as a rose-tinted retro-infused hatchback harking back to Volkswagen’s defining, first and longest running model, the Beetle is built on a modern Golf-based front-engine platform rather than an air-cooled rear “boxer” engine. The Beetle’s appeal is based on design, fashion and perceived quirkiness or charisma, much like the modern Mini and Fiat 500 that followed the first “new” Beetle’s 1997 debut.

Trading primarily on nostalgia and a certain “fun” factor, the regular hardtop three-door Beetle is in the cold hard light of fact comprehensively outclassed by its current seventh generation Volkswagen Golf stable-mate. However, with an emphatic and inherent emphasis on “fun” affordable drop-top motoring, the Beetle Cabriolet steals the limelight from its hardtop sister and sets its stall at sufficient distance from the superb contemporary Golf.

Stylish soft top

Based on a previous generation but still modern PQ35 Golf platform, there was an effort to downplay the current generation Beetle’s “retro-cute” appeal and present it as a sportier and more “serious” car when launched. Winner of the 2016 Middle East Car of the Year’s Compact Premium Convertible Award, the Beetle Cabriolet is, however, charming and stylish and well-reconciled goodtime soft top at ease in its character and design, even if it inevitably loses a slight degree of dynamic edge with its roof removed.

With its bug-eyed rounded design, defined sills, high flanks, arcing lines outboard stow-able soft top and bulbous wheel arches around 19-inch alloy wheels — as driven in SEL spec — the Beetle cabriolet oozes feel-good charisma. And especially with the absence of a Golf convertible, the Cabriolet more clearly carves out its own niche in the Volkswagen family than the hard-top version, without having to compete head-to-head with the current MQB platform Golf on outright ability and practicality.

Brisk bug

Powered by the previous generation Golf GTI’s two-litre turbocharged direct injection four-cylinder engine, rather than current GTI’s enhanced 10BHP more powerful engine, the Beetle Cabriolet develops 207BHP peaking through 5,300-6,200rpm and 207lb/ft torque at a broad 1,700-5,200rpm mid-range. At 1,505kg the Cabriolet is 85kg heavier than its hardtop sister, but remains brisk, with 0-100km/h dispatched in 7.4 seconds and a 225km/h top speed just 0.1-seconds and 2km/h behind the lighter hardtop. Low fuel consumption, meanwhile, rises slightly from 7.6- to 7.89l/100km for the Cabriolet.

Responsive off-the-line with scant little turbo lag and a muscular slight tyre-chirping urgency at full throttle, the Beetle Cabriolet’s steady and rich mid-range torque allows flexible in-town and highway on-the-move acceleration and underwrites build-up to its punchy and wide peak power. Capable, confident, quick, refined and fuel efficient, the Cabriolet drives its front wheels through an automated 6-speed dual-clutch DSG gearbox. With odd and even gears pre-emptively lining up on separate clutches, sequential shifts are executed seamlessly swift and smooth in auto or manual modes.

Manoeuvrable and comfortable

Comfortable and relaxed on highway with well-adjustable seats, intuitive infotainment screen and clear instrumentation, the Beetle Cabriolet is a practical top down daily driver that is refined with its top up. Riding on MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension the Beetle Cabriolet is reassuring, stable and settled on rebound, if less ultimately capable or focused than the Golf. Compared to its hardtop Beetle sister, the Cabriolet’s added weight and slightly reduced rigidity seem pretty imperceptible in regards to handling and ride. 

Narrow and upright, the Cabriolet offers good road views and manoeuvrability, while steering is intuitive, light, quick and accurate if not meaty in its approach to sportiness. Tidy into corners with good body control, the Cabriolet is not a racy hot hatch but is certainly confident and capable, and remains comfortable over imperfections despite grippy low profile 235/40R19 tyres. Agile, fun, poised and well controlling weight shifts through corners, the Cabriolet zips eagerly through winding roads and is manoeuvrable on urban streets. 

Upbeat and top down

Well-reconciling contemporary safety and convenience equipment with retro-inspired styling, the driven Beetle Cabriolet featured body-colour dash and door panel trim — in this case a lively and vivid red — to highlight its classic harms and airy ambiance. Upright, user-friendly and uncomplicated its dash and console feature circular themes, while fit, finish and materials are almost Golf-good. Manoeuvrable and easy to park with standard parking sensors and optional rear view camera, visibility is particularly good with the top down.

With little top down wind buffeting when windows are up, the Beetle Cabriolet is a practical daily convertible even in chilly weather with the heater on high. The electric soft-top roof operates at up to 50km/h, opening in 9.5 seconds and closing in 11 seconds. Spaciously in front, the Cabriolet’s rear seats offer slightly more headroom but are narrower than the hardtop Beetle. Storage spaces include twin glove boxes, and a useful, but not vast 225 litres boot, down 85 litres from the hardtop version.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, cast iron block/aluminium head, turbocharged transverse 4 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 82.5 x 92.8mm

Compression ratio: 9.6:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, variable timing, direct injection

Gearbox: 6-speed dual clutch automated, front-wheel drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 208 (210) [155] @5,300-6,200rpm

Specific power: 104.8BHP/litre

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 207 (280) @1,700-5,200rpm

Specific torque: 141.1Nm/litre

0-100km/h: 7.4 seconds

Maximum speed: 225km/h

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.89l/100km

Fuel capacity: 55 litres

Length: 4,278mm

Width: 1,808mm

Height: 1,473mm

Wheelbase: 2,540mm

Track, F/R: 1,578/1,554mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.37 (estimate)

Unladen weight: 1505kg (approximately)

Headroom, F/R: 998/956mm

Elbow room, F/R: 1459/1,157mm

Legroom, F/R: 1048/797mm

Luggage capacity: 225 litres

Steering: Variable electric-assisted rack and pinion

Lock-to-lock: 3 turns

Turning circle: 10.8 metres

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated disc/disc

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson strut/multi-link

Tyres: 235/40R19

CHICAGO — US health regulators have cleared the way for a trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida that can reduce mosquito populations, potentially offering a new tool to fight the local spread of Zika and other viruses.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday that a field trial testing Intrexon Corp.’s genetically engineered mosquitoes would not have a significant impact on the environment. The announcement came as Florida officials grapple with the first cases of local Zika transmission in the continental United States.

Florida health authorities have identified 16 Zika cases spread by local mosquitoes and are ramping up aerial pesticide spraying of a Miami neighbourhood where all of the people are believed to have been infected.

Pregnant women are most at risk from Zika, which can cause a rare birth defect in foetuses called microcephaly. The Zika outbreak was first detected last year in Brazil and has spread rapidly in the Americas, primarily through mosquito bite.

Intrexon’s Oxitec Unit has been working for years to kick off a trial in the Florida Keys to assess the effectiveness of its mosquitoes to reduce levels of the insects that carry diseases, including Zika, dengue, Yellow Fever and chikungunya.

The Oxitec method involves inserting an engineered gene into male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. When they mate with female mosquitoes in the wild, they produce offspring that cannot survive to adulthood. 

The FDA has been reviewing Oxitec’s application for use of its technology as an investigational new animal drug. Its environmental assessment helps clear the way for the company to begin a clinical trial in Key Haven, Florida, that would test whether the genetically modified mosquitoes will suppress the wild populations over time.

Results of that trial would be used to support approval of the company’s technology, a process that could take more than a year. Similar testing in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands have shown that the Oxitec mosquitoes can reduce local Aedes aegypti populations by more than 90 per cent.

‘They are using us’

To begin the trial, however, the company must first await the results of a vote in the November 8 general election seeking community approval for the trial.

Oxitec Chief Executive Hadyn Parry said in a conference call that the vote is non-binding, and the decision about whether to proceed is up to the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, the local body responsible for mosquito control.

Community support in the vote is not guaranteed.

In Key Haven, a suburb of large, waterfront homes near Key West where the trial is slated to take place, yard signs have popped up declaring “no consent” to the release of genetically modified mosquitoes.

Kathryn Watkins, a Key Haven resident recruited by trial opponents, is seeking election to the board overseeing the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District.

“It just has everyone scared,” Watkins said, adding that local residents see themselves as unwilling test subjects. “The genetically modified male has to mate with a wild female, and the wild female has to bite us in order to lay eggs,” she said.

“They are using us in this trial without consent,” she added.

As his company awaits the vote, Parry said he intends to ask the FDA for an emergency-use authorisation that would make the product available to help battle Zika in the United States. The FDA has approved several diagnostic products under this designation.

But it is not likely to be granted under current statutes. FDA spokeswoman, Theresa Eisenman, said there is no “fast-track” designation for new animal drugs, and emergency-use provisions in the applicable law do not apply to animal drugs. 

The World Health Organisation has declared a global health emergency over Zika’s link to microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems. The agency has suggested that alternative approaches to fighting mosquitoes that carry the virus might be an important way to suppress mosquito populations.