Aug 27, 2009

General health in Timor-Leste: self-assessed health in a large household survey

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Volume 33 Issue 4, Pages 378 - 383

Published Online: 4 Aug 2009

Jaya Earnest ¹ Robert P. Finger ²

¹ Centre for International Health, Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia ² Centre for International Health, Curtin University of Technology, Perth and Department of Ophthalmology, Bonn University, Bonn, Germany

Correspondence to:
Dr Jaya Earnest, Associate Professor and Postgraduate Research Co-ordinator, Centre for International Health, Curtin University of technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA, 6845. Fax: (08) 9266 2608; e-mail: J.Earnest@curtin.edu.au

KEYWORDS

health • Timor-Leste • self-assessed • conflict • displacement • migration

ABSTRACT

Objective: Timor-Leste is one of the world's newest nations and became a democracy in 2002. Ranked 150 out of 177 in the 2007 UNDP Human Development Index, the country has the worst health indicators in the Asia-Pacific region. The objective of this study was to collect and analyse data on subjectively assessed general health, health service use, migration and mobility patterns.

Methods: The data collection involved recording self-reported status of general health using a structured questionnaire. The survey was administered to 1,213 Timorese households in six districts using a multi-stage random cluster sampling procedure. Basic descriptive statistical analyses were performed on all variables with SPSS version 13.

Results: More than a quarter (27%) of respondents reported a health problem at the time of the survey. Only approximately half of respondents assessed their health to be good (53%) or average (38%). Barriers reported in the uptake of healthcare services were no felt needed; difficulty in accessing services and unavailability of service.

Conclusions: Results reveal that Timor-Leste needs a more decentralised provision of healthcare through primary healthcare centres or integrated health services. Trained traditional healers, who are familiar with the difficult terrain and understand cultural contexts and barriers, can be used to improve uptake of public health services. An adult literacy and community health education program is needed to further improve the extremely poor health indicators in the country.

Implications: Key lessons that emerged were the importance of understanding cultural mechanisms in areas of protracted conflict and the need for integrated health services in communities.

Netskills: Web2practice

Image by Zach Seward via Flickr

Guides to emergent technologies and innovative practice

Are you thinking about using web2tools for research, administration or teaching? If so, make a quick start with the web2practice user guides.

The web2practice guides explain how emergent web technologies like RSS, microblogging, podcasting and social media can enhance your working practice. Each guide consists of a short animated video explaining the key concepts (such as microblogging in the example below), supported by a more in-depth guide covering potential uses, risks and how to get started.

Topics

Web2practice guides are available on:

Further topics are planned, including: Social Bookmarking, Blogging, Communications and Digital Identity. If there are other topics you’d like us to cover, please let us know.

Licencing

The web2practice guides are licenced through creative commons, so you are free to use, download and adapt them for teaching, staff development or other purposes permitted by the licence.

Project Team

The Web2practice team are Will Allen and Steve Boneham.

The project was funded by the JISC Users & Innovation Programme.

Groundbreaking Australian book gets to the heart of the YouTube phenomenon

13/08/2009

Australia's most successful YouTuber, Natalie Tran, is not a stripper, a file sharing pirate or a cy

ber bully as popular wisdom about the nature of YouTube might have you think.

YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture, by Jean Burgess and Joshua Green analyses the most successful videos with some surprising results. This analysis of the most popular, most viewed, and most discussed YouTube clips found that it’s not just videos about cyber-bullying or bizarre accidents that top the charts.

In the case of Natalie Tran, she is a highly successful performer who is also deeply embedded in the social network of YouTube, treating it as a virtual community where she is on equal terms with her audience. Tran’s regularly produced YouTube act (which goes under the name Community Channel) is based around the idea of a ‘bedroom vlog’.

“The Vlog, or videoblog, where the performer speaks straight-to-camera from an everyday setting like a bedroom, is probably the video form that is most representative of YouTube’s community and culture”, explains Dr Jean Burgess, the Australian co-author of the first comprehensive book on the YouTube phenomenon. “Many of YouTube’s most subscribed channels are home-grown examples of this form, not "big media" productions”

Rather than simply trading in negative and harmful images, the book demonstrates YouTube is a place where people share jokes, ideas and intimate details of their lives. It also found that when it comes to traditional media, the site is one where people go to understand history and current affairs through the sharing of news footage and political speeches.

So while most of us use YouTube to catch up on the latest viral sensation or to find our favourite music videos, for a small but significant number of users it’s also an online community where, as Burgess says, "Thousands of active YouTubers like Tran share ideas, entertain us and each other, and form an active network of lead users with high levels of digital literacy."

Also see Jean Burgess' blog for more details

Aug 26, 2009

Callers ring for service in Thailand

Published: 26/08/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

In terms of mobile phones at least, Thailand is one of the world's most communicative nations. There are more phones than people, according to the United Nations, and marketing figures show that more than 90% of all Thais above school age carry mobile phones.

But there is big trouble among this handset group. Even though there is competition, subscribers are routinely abused by the big companies who control the mobile phone business. There are signs the subscribers are getting angry enough to do something about it.

A recent meeting in Bangkok brought representatives of phone-using groups from across the region into one room to talk about mobile phone networks. The consumers were not at all happy. Complaints ranged from poor quality of calls to lack of help when subscribers switch systems, particularly in keeping their old numbers. So-called "mobile spam" in the form of unwanted text messages infuriates most phone owners. But the biggest complaint of mobile phone users in Thailand and around the region centres on the extra charges - unadvertised and unexplained to users, and available only in the small print on contracts, if at all.

Some consumers believe the phone companies have deliberately misled their customers in order to boost the bottom line. And in Thailand, the bottom line of mobile companies is very impressive indeed. Last week, the No.1 network Advanced Info Services reported its second-quarter story of woe. Founded by fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and now controlled by Singaporean interests, AIS claims to have 27.9 million subscribers, most of whom pay in advance for their phone services. The company complained that its net profit between April and June dropped to "only" 4.2 billion baht, on revenue of 25.2 billion.

It's tough to feel sorry for companies making that sort of profit in the midst of a recession. The other two top phone companies, DTAC and True Move, report similar profits, in line with their customer base.

The UN's International Telecommunications Union recently reported that Thailand has 118 phones per 100 people of phone-using age. With that number of customers contributing that sort of income to the top phone companies, along with the government duopoly which also makes substantial profits from the business, consumers should get more for their baht.

The three major mobile companies recently made what can only be called a sham attempt to address the problem of text-spam. In fact, they well know who is sending unwanted messages to complaining customers. An AIS official admitted his company profits by selling blocks of SMS calls to commercial firms.

Consumers are beginning to appeal to the government and to the National Telecommunications Commission for action. The phone firms, getting a few baht here and a couple more there from almost every advance-pay customer, are making huge profits on questionable business deals. And they still won't even allow subscribers to take their numbers with them when they change providers, claiming it is far too difficult.

The government can, and will do only so much. Consumers owe it to themselves to organise against any perceived mistreatment by the phone firms. Questionable deals should be heavily publicised - members of the media are phone users, too. In extreme cases, boycotts can work far better than slow government officials. Telephone users, meaning pretty well all citizens, deserve a better deal. They should send a strong message to the phone companies that they are not going to take shoddy service any longer.

Govt set to enact security law in Thailand

PM cautions red shirts to control protest rally

Writer: PRADIT RUANGDIT and AEKARACH SATTABURUTH

Published: 26/08/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

The government will enforce the Internal Security Act in Dusit district from Saturday to Tuesday as part of strict security measures to cope with planned red shirt protests.

Police officers react to the testing of a special high-intensity loudspeaker at a riot control demonstration at the Metropolitan Police Bureau yesterday. The device emits a high-frequency sound painful to humans and has a range of three kilometres and will be on hand in case this Sunday’s rally by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship turns violent. APICHART JINAKUL

The act will be imposed in the district to protect Government House and government agencies which the demonstrators might target, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has been authorised to take charge of security operations in the district.

The act allows soldiers to step in to ensure law and order in the area. The government enforced the Internal Security Act in Phuket in July to prevent protesters derailing the meeting of Asean foreign ministers.

Red shirt protesters plan another major rally on Sunday at the Royal Plaza.

Under the law, the government would not ban peaceful protests. A rally could take place but it must not prevent government officials reaching their offices, Mr Abhisit said.

People would only be searched for weapons and authorities would consider the suitability of demonstrators' routes.

The prime minister said although the protest leaders insisted their demonstration would be peaceful, the government had learned from intelligence reports that there could be attempts to prolong the rally and make it spiral out of control to try to destabilise the government.

The government had to secure political order and a good atmosphere in the country to guarantee an economic recovery, he said.

Mr Abhisit and Mr Suthep said the government would not wait for the situation to get out of control before invoking the act. The act could be exercised when a situation was looking likely to occur, the prime minister said.

"I would like to stress that the government respects the rights and liberties of people but it is also duty-bound to secure order.

"We want everything to be as normal as possible. I don't believe people nationwide want to see a recurrence of April's incidents," Mr Abhisit said, referring to the anti-government protests that turned into riots in Bangkok during the Songkran holidays.

Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) that is planning the rally, said the government was abusing its power by invoking the internal security law and red shirt demonstrators would take strong retaliatory action.

He said the UDD originally planned to rally this Sunday only to protest against the government's delay of its petition for a royal pardon for Thaksin.

But by invoking the internal security law, the government was limiting people's rights, being dictatorial and showing its intention to confront the demonstrators, he said.

The red shirts would also wear black today to protest against Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda. They would gather in front of his Si Sao Thewes home today, Gen Prem's birthday.

Villar tops Pulse Asia poll in Philippines

Image by gmaresign via Flickr

Estrada in virtual tie,despite 2001 incident

By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter

If the presidential elections scheduled in May 2010 were held today, it would be a practically neck-and-neck race between Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. and former President Joseph Estrada, an opinion poll reported Tuesday.

In the latest Pulse Asia survey, one in four voters (25 percent) favored Villar as the country’s next head of state, and one in five voters (20 percent) chose Estrada as the country’s president despite his 2001 overthrow and conviction for corruption.

The nationwide survey of 1,800 adults was conducted between July 28 and August 10.

Only 6 percent of the respondents felt that the next president should not be corrupt, Pulse Asia said.

Villar also topped a survey made by Social Weather Stations in July when he received a 33-percent preference rating.

In the Pulse Asia survey, he and Estrada were followed by Vice President Noli de Castro (16 percent), Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero (12 percent) and Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd (11 percent).

“The other individuals included in the presidential probe obtained voter preferences of six percent or less,” Pulse Asia said.

It noted that “with less than nine months to go before the next elections, virtually every Filipino already has a preferred presidential candidate.”

Only significant change

Pulse Asia said that the only significant change in overall presidential voter preferences between May and August 2009 was recorded by Villar, with an increase of 11 percentage points in his favor.

Estrada also improved in his overall voter preference with 4 percentage points more.

Escudero experienced a slight decline in the level of public support for his presidential bid, with his rating down by 5 points.

Pulse Asia said that in the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), Villar was the most favored presidential candidate with 24 percent, followed by Escudero (22 percent) and Estrada (19 percent).

In the balance Luzon, Villar had 22 percent, Estrada (19 percent), de Castro (16 percent) and Escudero (15 percent). The balance of Luzon refers to all the regions on the main island except Metro Manila.

In the Visayas, Villar also recorded the highest voter preference with 30 percent, with de Castro behind him with 22 percent.

In Mindanao, he and Estrada and Villar tied, each with 26 percent.

Among the respondents belonging to the A, B and C socioeconomic classes, Escudero got 30 percent and Villar, 28 percent.

Cass D respondents also supported Villar (25 percent) and Estrada (19 percent).

In the Class E level, Villar and Estrada also tied (each with 23 percent), followed by de Castro (22 percent).

Presidential qualities

The Pulse Asia survey found that 25 percent of Filipinos vote based on the candidate’s accomplishments.

Also, about one in five Filipinos (20 percent) said that their candidate must be pro-poor.

Other qualities cited were the candidate’s being helpful to others (12 percent), especially overseas Filipino workers (8 percent); he or she not being corrupt (6 percent); proven capability in governance (four percent); goodness (4 percent); being principled (3 percent); and intelligence (3 percent).

The survey had a plus or minus 2 percent error margin at the national level, plus or minus 6 percent for Metro Manila, plus or minus 4 percent for the balance of Luzon, and plus or minus 5 percent for each of Visayas and Mindanao.

‘Vote of confidence’

Villar, in a statement, said that the Pulse Asia survey results reflected “the people’s vote of confidence” in him.

Despite the results, he added, he still expected his political rivals to continue with their “attacks” against him.

“But I am certain that the people are discerning and are not easily swayed by obvious demolition jobs against me,” Villar said.

He has been spending heavily on television advertising ahead of the November deadline for filing candidacies.

Fellow senators have accused Villar of using his influence to ensure road projects pass through his property projects.

Estrada, a former movie star, was convicted of corruption in 2007, six years after he was impeached and toppled in a bloodless coup.

The Philippine Constitution sets a single, six-year term for presidents but Estrada’s backers say that he is excluded from this since he did not finish his term, which was completed by the incumbent at present, Gloria Arroyo.

Estrada, who has announced he is willing to run for president again, was pardoned by President Arroyo after serving less than a month of a lifetime prison sentence.

In the Pulse Asia opinion poll, the respondents said that they favored Estrada because of his “pro-poor orientation.”

The former president, according to opposition leader and former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, would likely announce in the last week of September whether he would seek the presidency again by running in the 2010 elections.

Maceda, the spokesman for the United Opposition (UNO), in a statement also on Tuesday said that Estrada has met with Roxas and is in constant meetings with Sen. Loren Legarda and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, as well as Villar, in his bid to unify the political opposition.

Despite the apparent consultation, Estrada’s wish for the opposition to field a single standard-bearer in 2010, the UNO spokesman said, looked “dim.”

Jamby won’t give way

If the former president ran, he possibly would not be able to convince Sen. Jamby Madrigal to slide down to Vice President or senator in next year’s polls

“Only my conscience can tell me to slide down and no one else,” Madrigal said also on Tuesday.

She reiterated her determination to run for president in 2010 but remained open to talks with Estrada, who had claimed that he wanted to unite the opposition behind a single opposition standard-bearer.

Among the opposition wannabes, it was only Madrigal whom Estrada had not met with.

Madrigal, however, said that Estrada might be calling her one of these days, adding that she did not expect Estrada to talk with her about unifying the opposition.

She disclosed that the last time that she and Estrada talked was at the burial of former President Corazon Aquino.

Madrigal said that she has not chosen her running mate.
-- With Reports From Efren L. Danao And AFP

Recession threatens families in Cambodia

Layoffs among parents augur a rise in child labour: experts.

Photo by: Sovan Philong

Fourteen-year-old bookseller Vichet waits for customers along the riveside on Tuesday.

A STEEP decline in Cambodia's garment exports for the month of July has forced officials to reassess the strength of the global economic downturn and its impact on the country, as child welfare experts warn that the Kingdom's most vulnerable citizens - its children - may have the most to lose.

Official figures released Tuesday showed a 26.4 percent plunge in garment exports for July compared with a year ago and a 17.5 percent slide from June, - the latest in a series of grim economic indicators that prompted an admission by the head of the Cambodian Economic Association that the worst of the crisis could still be ahead.

Standing in the path of that slide, says Bill Salter, head of the International Labour Organisation's subregional office in East Asia, are Cambodia's children.

"The trend threatens to push 200,000 people back into poverty and erect new financial obstacles in front of children trying to access education,"
Salter said Tuesday during the launch of a national workshop studying the impact of the global economic crisis on child labour.

An estimated 40 percent of children aged between 7 and 17 years are currently engaged in some form of child labour, the group ChildFund Australia said in June.

Child labour rising
ILO officials said earlier this year that the number of children working in hard-labour conditions in Cambodia had grown from an estimated 250,000 in 2002 to about 300,000 this year.

The government has acknowledged the risks facing children, especially as families dependent on the garment sector - the Kingdom's largest industrial employer - suffer job losses or salary cuts that could prompt them to pull children out of school and into the workforce.

Cambodia's garment sector, which accounts for about 90 percent of the Kingdom's total exports, has borne the brunt of an economic downturn that can be linked directly to the rising numbers of children being forced into work, the ILO's Salter said, as cash-strapped families increasingly view education as a financial burden.

Veng Heang, director of the Department of Child Labour within the Ministry of Labour, said the link between the global crisis and child labour was no surprise.

"We knew that the economic crisis would impact children," he said Tuesday, adding that a rise in instances of child begging, scavenging and domestic labour would not be unexpected.

Warnings over deteriorating child welfare came amid protests by thousands in the garment sector over slashed pay.

More than 70,000 garment workers have been laid off since the crisis began, industry analysts say, with another 100,000 under threat in the next two years.

Nearly 3,000 employees at the Sky High Garment Factory in Daun Penh district went on strike on Monday to protest drops in their salaries, inadequate working conditions and unexpected work stoppages.

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Iraq Shia leader dies of cancer

Image via Wikipedia

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of one of the most powerful Shia Muslim parties in Iraq, has died, his aides say.

Hakim had been suffering from cancer and had been receiving treatment in hospital in the Iranian capital Tehran.

He did not hold any government post in Iraq's elected Shia-led government since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but was an important power broker.

He took control of the Sciri party (later SIIC) after his brother was assassinated in Najaf in 2003.

The cleric, who was in his late 50s, was diagnosed with lung cancer during a trip to the US for tests in May 2007. He chose to receive chemotherapy treatment in Tehran.

The party has several senior cabinet members, and its militia - the Badr Brigade - has at times wielded considerable influence in Iraq's security establishment.

Revered family

Since falling ill, Hakim had cut back his political involvement and his son Ammar gained prominence. He is expected to take over leadership of the party.

ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM

Born circa 1950, died 26 August 2009

Leader of Islamist Shia party Sciri, later SIIC, since 2003

Back by Tehran, but maintaining close ties to its arch-rival Washington

Lost six of his seven brothers and 50 extended family members in resistance to Saddam Hussein

"He died a few minutes ago after battling cancer for 28 months," his son Mohsen announced in Tehran at about midday on Wednesday. He and his brother Ammar were at their father's bedside as he died, he added.

As heir to the leadership of one of the main anti-Saddam Hussein factions in Iraq, Abdul Aziz Hakim managed to keep good ties with both the American authorities and Iran, which strongly backed his group.

His brother and predecessor as party leader was the charismatic Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, who was killed along with about 100 supporters in a massive car bombing in the city of Najaf in August 2003.

The family is revered among Iraq's largest religious community, the Shia, for its tradition of scholarship and its bouts of resistance against Saddam Hussein in its southern Iraqi stronghold.

However, the quietly-spoken Hakim was distrusted by many Sunnis who saw him as too Iranian-orientated and sectarian in his political philosophy.

Some time after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the party changed its name from Sciri - the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

SIIC has been part of Iraq's ruling Shia alliance, the United Iraqi Alliance, led by the Islamic Dawa party of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

However, ahead of national elections in January, the SIIC announced last week that it would campaign from within a new Shia Muslim bloc.

Mossberg Solution: Iphone vs. BlackBerry

Image via CrunchBase

By KATHERINE BOEHRET

The old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence can be extended to our technology cravings. Even the person holding the shiniest new gadget can't help but eye a neighbor who has a different device and wonder, "What does that do that mine doesn't?"

Thoughts like these are especially prevalent when it comes to the devoted owners of BlackBerrys and iPhones. All too often, the people carrying these smart phones are curious about what one device has that the other lacks. This week, I'm going to save you the trouble and outline some of the personal usage ups and downs to each device.

Because I regularly use both gadgets and am accustomed to their different features, I have included fresh observations from five people who recently switched from BlackBerrys to iPhones. At my request, these people kept track of their impressions, noting the things they missed on their BlackBerrys along with things they preferred on the iPhones. This column isn't meant to promote one device over the other; rather, it is a summary of some people's sentiments, combined with my own observations in hopes of enlightening readers. I inevitably left out some differences.

The most outstanding observation from my switch group in favor of the iPhone was an appreciation for its applications, or apps.

They used things like driving directions for the first time because these apps looked and worked better on the iPhone than on the BlackBerry. And they went through a downloading frenzy during which time they found all sorts of apps for the iPhone, such as games, entertainment and those that enhanced business-travel productivity. "Browsing for games. Probably should leave the office now," said one person's notes.

Though Research in Motion's BlackBerrys also run apps (including some of the same ones as for the iPhone), BlackBerry's App World offers only a little better than 2,000 apps. Apple's App Store boasts more than 65,000. A shortcut to the App Store ships preloaded on iPhones. BlackBerry App World is preloaded or virtually preloaded by carriers at their discretion, so a shortcut to App World may not be visible.

My switchers were frustrated by the iPhone's battery life and complained of running low on battery. One person said, "I need to charge my iPhone a couple of times throughout the day which can be inconvenient, especially when traveling. With my BlackBerry I just charged it while I slept and it was good to go for the day."

Granted, these people were all using the iPhone 3GS and had previously used various models of BlackBerrys that ran on slower networks and had smaller screens—two features that require less battery. Still, worrying about running out of juice is a hassle. One person said his iPhone's weak battery was a tribute to the fact that he used it more often and for more things than he did the BlackBerry.

The most obvious difference between iPhones and BlackBerrys are the keyboards. The iPhone uses an on-screen keyboard, while the BlackBerry (except the touch-screen Storm model) uses a tactile QWERTY keyboard. As expected, the switchers had trouble using the iPhone keyboard—especially for the first few days. But after about a week, most people in the group had adjusted well to the on-screen keys and the iPhone's auto-correct feature that fixes mistakes as long as you keep typing rather than stopping to fix an error. One person said, "I was a skeptic, and didn't think the typing would work for me at all, but it actually hasn't been too bad."

Another said typing can be a real challenge at first, but that this could be overcome with a bit of practice.

Several people said they were still able to use their thumbs for iPhone typing as they did on the BlackBerry, though most preferred turning the screen horizontally to do this with slightly larger keys. Some said that they weren't typing quite as fast as with the BlackBerry's QWERTY keys but that they weren't too far off.

The BlackBerry keyboard's static position below its screen means all letters, numbers and symbols must come solely from pressing those keys; this is done by pressing ALT or Shift keys for numbers and symbols. Some switchers noted that pressing a button to change the iPhone's on-screen keyboard from letters to capital letters or numbers took a bit longer than on the BlackBerry.

My switchers were ecstatic about using the iPhone's Safari Web browser. They enthusiastically said searching, browsing and reading were all made much better and more visually pleasing compared with their experiences on the BlackBerry browser.

If you are a BlackBerry user, you know that all received and sent emails are listed on the same screen. The iPhone behaves more like a computer, storing sent emails in a special folder you must back up to open. This takes a little while to get used to.

Some switchers said they wished the iPhone had something like BlackBerry Messenger, the always-on messaging system that works to allow communication between all BlackBerrys.

The iPhone automatically changes its time when you enter a new time zone. BlackBerrys remain set to their home time zone for time stamping all emails with that time—unless you change the time in settings.

RIM prides itself on being able to run multiple applications at once; the iPhone allows this with its own preloaded programs like Mail and Safari, but not with other apps.

One switcher, for example, was frustrated that Pandora, a radio-like app that plays music according to user likes and dislikes, turned off when he opened Mail to read emails while listening to songs.

The BlackBerry's AC adaptor takes up two power outlet spots, while the small, square iPhone plug occupies only one outlet, making it more versatile and able to charge in more locations.

The iPhone only works on one cellular service: AT&T. The BlackBerry is available from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and other carriers. My group used T-Mobile before changing to the iPhone's AT&T service.

There will always be something on someone else's device that looks more appealing than the one in your hand.

But the experience of using apps on the iPhone—and the huge selection of apps in the App Store—significantly enhance Apple's device.

RIM is continually improving its own store, but it needs to move quickly to keep its loyal users contented.

—Edited by
Walter S. Mossberg—Email:
mossbergsolution@wsj.com

How Social Media Help People Find Stolen Bikes

By ANJALI ATHAVALEY

When Heather McKibbon's bike was stolen in May, she didn't just get angry. She decided to get it back.

The 29-year-old project manager at a Toronto consulting firm alerted people to the theft through the social-networking site Facebook. Just hours later, a friend replied with a link to a bike for sale that looked like her own $1,300 Cannondale touring bike on eBay's Kijiji, an online classified-ads site. Ms. McKibbon recognized her bike and, posing as an interested buyer, arranged to meet the seller at a local subway station. She brought the police along as well, resulting in a small-scale sting operation.

Police arrested the man and returned the Cannondale to Ms. McKibbon, who claimed it with photos of herself on the bike, as well as its serial number. "It was a little overwhelming to realize that nobody in Toronto gets their stolen bike back, and here I was about to get my stolen bike back," she says.

Ms. McKibbon is one of a growing number of bike-theft victims who are using bike blogs and social-media sites such as Twitter to take matters into their own hands. These grassroots efforts come as bike theft rises in cities and college campuses around the U.S.

San Diego saw a 45% increase in reported bike thefts in the first half of this year from a year earlier. The police station covering the central part of downtown Los Angeles has seen a 72% increase in stolen-bike reports so far this year, the city's police department says. Austin and Philadelphia have seen increases for the past two years. The incidence of theft is likely even higher, cycling advocates say, because many victims don't bother reporting bike thefts.

The reasons for the theft boom are complex, including population growth in some locales, but generally, more people are biking these days—and they are riding pricier bicycles. Also, the economic downturn is contributing to the increase.

"Harder times mean more thefts," says Bryan Hance, founder of StolenBicycleRegistry.com, where people can list their stolen bikes free. Last month, the site received 335 listings, about twice as many as a year ago. "Bikes are a lot more expensive than they were five or 10 years ago," he adds. "The fact that they are worth more makes them more of a target."

Jonathan Maus, publisher of BikePortland.org, an Oregon blog that relaunched its stolen-bikes listings in June, notes that "a lot of the growth in biking is coming from new people. They may not understand how important it is to use a real lock."

Some cities are taking action in an effort to be more bike-friendly. In Austin, city officials are planning to curb theft through a new bicycle registry and an education campaign on how to correctly lock a bike. Last month, Boston launched StolenBikesBoston.com, where people can register their bikes and send out theft alerts on Twitter and Facebook.

So far, about 240 people follow the alerts on Twitter and 350 on Facebook. Boston police don't track bike-theft numbers, but "we wanted to head off the theft issue because as ridership increases, theft increases," says Nicole Freedman, director of the city's bicycle program.

Cities are also trying to provide safer bike storage. New York's city council passed a law last month requiring commercial landlords to allow the employees of building tenants to bring their bikes into their buildings—potentially making it easier for cyclists to store their bikes at work. Advocates of the law say that fear of theft is the No. 1 reason people don't ride their bikes to work. Some city employers, like Google Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG, already allow employees to store their bikes at work.

It isn't easy to park a bike in midtown Manhattan, says David Yassky, the city council member who introduced the bill. "A lot of people have put [a bike] in the street, and it has gotten stolen."

Many cyclists prefer to start their own grassroots movements against bike thieves. Senan Gorman, of Farmington, Conn., had his bike stolen a decade ago, but the pain is fresh. "It's still like it was yesterday," he says.

Two weeks ago, the 40-year-old flash developer launched an online community known as Karma Army for victims of sporting-equipment theft, focusing on bikes. Cyclists can send out Karma alerts about their stolen bikes to subscribers via RSS feed. He hopes to get police involved so that they, too, receive the theft alerts. The motto of the site, Mr. Gorman says, is simple: "It's bad karma if you steal someone else's stuff."

Mr. Gorman is also asking cyclists to record video messages telling bike thieves how they feel about having their prized possessions stolen and to upload the videos to YouTube. "Maybe there will be some [thieves] who will watch them," Mr. Gorman says.

The proliferation of sites puts more eyes on the road to identify thieves, says Mr. Maus of BikePortland.org. "We're trying to empower the eyes of the community to get bikes back," he says. The site had 80 listings for stolen bikes in July.

Even Lance Armstrong has tapped social media to cope with a theft. In February, the seven-time Tour de France winner used Twitter, which allows users to share content through short text messages, to tell fans about his stolen bike.

"Whoa!! They just came to my room and said our truck was broken into and someone stole my time trial bike!" he posted. "APB out to the twitterati." After the bike was returned to police in Sacramento, he gave his Twitter followers an update: "Oh!! And they recovered the bike!"

Cyclists who manage to locate their bikes online or on the streets should avoid confronting thieves themselves and should get local law enforcement involved, police say. "We can certainly set up a sting," says Lt. Paul Vernon, head of detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department's central division.

He notes that law-enforcement officials are seeing more "Frankenstein bikes," or those constructed from stolen parts, on the streets. "The trouble for many people is proving that [a recovered bike] is their bike." He recommends that cyclists record the serial numbers of their bikes or even etch their names into them for identification purposes.

Getting a stolen bike back may not mean your troubles are over. When James Selman's bike was stolen from his work studio in Portland in June, he posted an alert on BikePortland.org. A week and half later, Joe Wilson, a 27-year-old electrical engineering student, saw the bike, a Seven Cycles custom single-speed, outside his apartment and matched it to Mr. Selman's listing.

Mr. Wilson, who noted that the thief was wearing regular sneakers, rather than the special shoes that work best with the high-end pedals on the bike, emailed Mr. Selman to tell him that he was stalling the thief while calling the cops. The thief was arrested and the bike returned to its rightful owner.

Though Mr. Selman is grateful that the perpetrator was caught, he got the bike back with $850 worth of damage—an amount below his insurance deductible that he will have to pay out of pocket. His homeowners insurance would have covered the loss of the $5,500 bike. "The way the system works, I would have preferred for it to stay gone," he says.

Ms. McKibbon, who recovered her bike in Toronto, also faced new problems. Last weekend, her bike's rims, gears and other components were stolen on a busy street in Toronto.

But she has a message for bike thieves: Watch your back. "The world isn't as big as it once was," she says. "You never know who's watching."

Sony Opens New Chapter in Rivalry With Amazon Over E-Book Readers

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By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER and NIRAJ SHETH

Sony Corp., hoping to steal some of Amazon.com Inc.'s thunder in the electronic-book market, unveiled a wireless reader that could be the strongest competitor to Amazon's Kindle this holiday season.

Priced at $399, the Sony Reader Daily Edition is $100 more expensive than the entry-level Kindle, but one-ups the market leader with a touch-sensitive screen and access to books from a range of sources, including libraries. Kindle users are largely limited to books from Amazon's online store.

The new Sony device also closes a critical gap with the Kindle. Unlike earlier Sony readers, it can be used to download books and periodicals using AT&T Inc.'s wireless network. The Kindle has offered similar wireless features since its debut with Sprint Nextel Corp.

The gadget, which will be in stores in December, adds to the increasing competition in the small, but fast-growing, digital book business. Although Sony was first to market with a reader, Amazon has dominated the business since introducing the Kindle in 2007.

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Video: Sony E-Book Links Readers with Libraries
Video: Sony's New Reader Passes "Dad Test"Now Sony and others are rolling out new e-reading devices with more sophisticated technology as increasing numbers of publishers release e-books and booksellers including Barnes & Noble Inc. open e-book stores.

Apple Inc. could further disrupt the market with a tablet device, expected to debut by early next year, that will let people read electronic books and newspapers as well as watch movies.

Sony's device works with e-books and newspapers from stores other than Sony's online store, which also gives access to free books from Google Inc.

"The point is not one device to one store," said Steve Haber, president of Sony Electronics's digital books business. "Readers can shop around for what interests them rather than be locked into one store."

An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on the Sony device. Earlier this year, the company released a Kindle with a larger screen targeted at textbooks, and also reduced the price of the smaller Kindle to $299.

Sony brought out its first e-reader for the U.S. market in 2006, but analysts say it has fallen behind Amazon because it lacked the Kindle's integrated wireless bookstore. Previous Sony readers had to be plugged into a computer to download books.

The Daily Edition prototype that Sony showed off at its New York launch displayed a blank screen without any text, and the company did not make a version available for hands-on handling. In contrast, when Amazon released its newest Kindle in May, it used a working version to demonstrate features and let reporters handle prototypes.

The new device "will help Sony narrow the gap between itself and Amazon, but Amazon will maintain its market lead into next year," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst for Forrester Research Inc. She estimated that more than two million e-readers will sell in the U.S. this year.

Sony disclosed Tuesday a marketing partnership with Cleveland-based OverDrive Inc. that will let users of Sony's wireless device enter their Zip Codes and library card number to see what e-books are available from their local library; they can then download e-books remotely to the device until the loans expire.

Sony's Daily Edition can be held vertically to display one page of a book or turned horizontally so that it shows two pages, which Mr. Haber said makes it feel "more like a real book." The sample Daily Edition that Sony showed at a press event Tuesday had a blank screen.

Book publishers are counting on digital books to revive their stalled industry. Newspaper and magazine publishers, too, are hoping that dedicated reading devices will offer new venues to expand readership and collect revenue for news and information, although e-reader subscriptions remain a fraction of circulation.

Sony didn't disclose any newspaper or magazine publishers that would support the Daily Edition. "We are working with a number of newspaper and magazine publishers and will reveal more information about this closer to the time the product is available," a spokesman said.

The Sony device will give publishers their first mass-market alternative to the Kindle to sell e-reader editions of their periodicals. Publishers say Amazon keeps 70% of the revenue from sales of Kindle subscriptions for newspapers and magazines, and Amazon controls all the customer data.

Newspaper and magazine executives have said Sony is amenable to striking more favorable partnership terms, though several publishers also said Sony has been slow to reach agreements, such as whether their relationships with Sony would be exclusive.

—Shira Ovide contributed to this article.

Write to Geoffrey A. Fowler at geoffrey.fowler@wsj.com and Niraj Sheth at niraj.sheth@wsj.com

Boris Nemtsov: Putin Failed to Pacify the North Caucasus

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By Boris Nemtsov

One of the biggest myths perpetrated by Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine is that during his 10-year rule over Russia, the former president and current prime minister succeeded in “pacifying” the North Caucasus. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we are witnessing today is the start of the third Caucasus war in 15 years, following the two Chechen wars of 1994 and 1999.

There was the June 22 attack on Ingushetia's President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the recent murders of Chechen human-rights activists Natalia Estemirova and Zarema Sadulaeva, and last week's terrorist attack in Nazran, which killed scores and maimed hundreds. Add to these the near-daily attempted murders of police officers in Dagestan (according to the local interior ministry, there have been 128 murder attempts against law-enforcement officials since the beginning of this year alone) and the constant kidnappings in Chechnya (Russian human-rights watchdog Memorial documented 74 kidnappings and 16 killings of Chechen residents between January and June). And this is only an abridged catalogue of the blood spilled in the North Caucasus during the past few months.

There are several reasons why the "pacification" of the region has failed. Vladimir Putin committed a fateful mistake when he struck cynical deals with influential clans in the North Caucasus to keep the region under Moscow's formal control: Federal money and blank checks on lawlessness to often criminal and corrupt local leaders were exchanged for their personal loyalty and support during so-called elections. The result of such deals is that the laws of the Russian Federation no longer apply in the North Caucasus, which is ruled by increasingly repressive regimes.

According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, Chechen authorities practice extrajudicial killings and punitive house-burnings against the relatives of suspected insurgents. Memorial workers and other rights activists in Chechnya point to constant surveillance of their activities by the local authorities. Before she was herself kidnapped and murdered, Estemirova, who worked for Memorial, was investigating the "disappearances" of people in Chechnya.

Meanwhile, the Moscow-installed Chechen leader, Putin friend and former militant Ramzan Kadyrov, has built a veritable personality cult around himself since coming to power in 2007. Moscow continues to supply 70%-90% of the revenue to the regional governments there, but it has failed to extend the writ of Russian law to the Caucasus.

Another important reason for the Kremlin's Caucasus failure is the elimination of democratic procedures. "Elections" in which Mr. Putin and his party receive 100% of the vote on a 100% turnout in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan are a throwback to Soviet times. They have left citizens without any real influence over their governments. The Kremlin's stubborn insistence on retaining former KGB Gen. Murat Zyazikov as president of Ingushetia despite overwhelming local opposition has no doubt greatly contributed to the recent upsurge in violence in that region.

Finally, Russia's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (cheered on by separatists in the North Caucasus) after last year's Georgian war could come back to haunt Moscow. With this action, Mr. Putin and his successor in the Kremlin, Dmitry Medvedev, signaled that threats and blackmail can go a long way in achieving the separatists' goals. If and when the federal government, crippled by the economic crisis, stops its generous flow of money to the corrupt North Caucasus elites, Chechnya, Ingushetia and other republics of the Russian Caucasus may be tempted to follow the path of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The main lesson of recent tragedies is surely that cynicism, brutality and propaganda will not solve the very real political, economic and security problems of the North Caucasus. These problems can only be solved with honest policies based on the rule of law, democracy and respect for the rights of citizens.

—Mr. Nemtsov was deputy prime minister of Russia (1997-1998) and is a leader of the Solidarity opposition movement.

Egypt Pressures Muslim Group

Image by dlisbona via Flickr

By ASHRAF KHALIL

CAIRO -- Egypt has accelerated a crackdown against the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, amid uncertainty over succession plans by President Hosni Mubarak and ahead of next year's parliamentary polls.

Authorities last week detained 30 Brotherhood members in the city of Suez. Two days later, security forces arrested seven midlevel Brotherhood officials gathered for a meeting in Cairo. The next day, officials rounded up an additional 18 members northeast of the capital. Two detainees have since been released, but the 53 others rounded up remain in custody without charges.

The flurry of detentions appears to be wider ranging than previous crackdowns on the group, targeting activists and Brotherhood leaders seen as moderates and reform-minded. In July, two prominent young Brotherhood bloggers, Abdel Rahman Ayyash and Magdy Saad, were detained at Cairo's airport. They spent a week in custody before being released.

In June, Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, another prominent moderate and a member of the Brotherhood's ruling guidance council, was arrested. He remains behind bars, uncharged, on a rolling series of 15-day detention orders, the latest handed down Sunday.

Brotherhood officials and some analysts say the crackdown is the latest push by Mr. Mubarak to marginalize the group. "It has become a zero-sum game," said Khalil al-Anani, an expert on Islamist political movements. In a July article published in the Daily News Egypt newspaper, Mr. Anani wrote that the Mubarak regime seeks "to eradicate [the Brotherhood] completely from political life."

Officials aligned with the government suggest the crackdown has more to do with public criticism of Egypt's muted reaction to an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. The Brotherhood organized public demonstrations over the issue, in defiance of a government security lockdown.

In a January statement, the group's supreme guide, Mahdi Akef, challenged the regime to cut political and economic ties with Israel, and fully open the border with Gaza.

"The Brotherhood has been overstepping their role regarding foreign policy," said Abdel Moneim Said, head of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, and a member of the powerful Policies Secretariat in the ruling National Democratic Party. Now the government, he said, "wants to remind them of the limits of the game."

Efforts to obtain comment from government officials were unsuccessful. Egyptian officials typically speak of the Brotherhood as a threat to public order and often refuse to refer to it by name in interviews, instead calling it "the banned group."

The 81-year-old Mr. Mubarak has ruled Egypt for almost three decades. In June, he looked frail receiving U.S. President Barack Obama in Cairo, triggering a fresh bout of speculation about his health.

During his trip to Washington this month, however, he looked more vigorous, quieting health concerns. Still, Mr. Mubarak has never made a succession plan clear, refusing even to name a vice president.

The Brotherhood's influence here has fallen in recent years. Technically outlawed, it still fields Brotherhood-affiliated candidates in Egyptian elections. In 2005, those candidates won 20% of seats in parliament, which triggered roundups and detentions.

Egypt also amended its constitution to make it more difficult for independent candidates, like those affiliated with the Brotherhood, to run. The Brotherhood boycotted local council elections last year after the government rounded up more than 800 of its members, including dozens of prospective candidates.

Some reformist members say the new crackdown could backfire by radicalizing members. The group swore off violence in the 1970s.

Probe of CIA Imperils Interagency Trust

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By SIOBHAN GORMAN and GARY FIELDS

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's decision to investigate CIA interrogation practices increased tension between the agencies and prompted a sense of betrayal among some CIA officers, current and former officials said.

Rivalries had raged since the early days of the Central Intelligence Agency's World War II-era forerunner, the Office of Strategic Services, and the trust built in the wake of the 9/11 attacks could be shattered by the investigation, these people said.

Many CIA officers were stunned by Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to launch a probe. Some were deeply angered by what they consider a selective declassification of documents describing the acts at issue, former agency officials said Tuesday.

Of particular concern to some: their agency's decision not to release a rebuttal of a 2004 CIA inspector-general report criticizing the agency's conduct in interrogations along with the report, which was made public Monday in response to a lawsuit.

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"The employees that were involved wrote a joint rebuttal and they believe it was ignored deliberately by [Justice] for political reasons," said one former CIA official.

Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said her department doesn't have the authority to declassify CIA documents, and the CIA didn't identify any rebuttal as being responsive to the lawsuit.

An intelligence official said rebuttals are considered part of the draft rather than final version of an inspector general report, and sometimes affect the final language. Thus, the CIA didn't release the rebuttal "to keep confusion to a minimum." The official added that the "CIA made it clear that there were components of the agency that had serious heartburn with the inspector general report."

The CIA officers who feel slighted believe they handled matters properly by reporting misconduct and allowing the agency to discipline officers for transgressions, a former official said.

This official said all the officers he knows who were involved with the interrogation program have retained lawyers, despite administration assurances that the government would cover legal costs for those who acted within legal guidance they were given.

"Their view is, they policed themselves and they turned themselves in," he said. Now, "they have to fight al Qaeda and the U.S. government at the same time."

Some also worry that administration plans for greater oversight of the CIA renditions program, which transfers some detainees to other countries for interrogation, will make the program unworkable because governments won't cooperate if they feel too many U.S. officials are involved and won't keep activities discreet.

Justice spokesman Dean Boyd said the CIA concurred with recommendations for enhanced oversight. A counterterrorism official added that the goal is to "ensure that rendition, which out of necessity requires confidentiality, remain a tool that can help take terrorists off the street."

Others at the CIA are reserving judgment to see whether the preliminary investigation develops into prosecutions, current and former officials said. CIA Director Leon Panetta has built up goodwill with his troops, who believe he is aggressively protecting their interests, these people said.

They cited a memo Mr. Panetta wrote Monday calling the agency's conduct "an old story" and his statement that his responsibility is "to stand up for those officers who did what their country asked and who followed the legal guidance they were given."

Over at Justice, officials worried they may have picked the wrong fight. One Justice official said it is risky to take on the CIA because it is a powerful agency.

Another federal law-enforcement agent said he and his colleagues also fear the cooperation and information-sharing born of necessity after the 2001 attacks will dry up. The relationship could regress to the point when two of the hijackers were allowed to slip into the U.S. even though the CIA had spotted them at a terror summit in Malaysia in 2000, the agent said.

"We need the information-sharing to be successful to do our jobs," the law-enforcement agent said.

Regarding the potential for frayed relations, Ms. Schmaler said Justice officials "look forward to continuing to work side-by-side with our colleagues in the CIA to keep the American people safe" and that intelligence officers "deserve our respect and gratitude."

She also reiterated that "anyone who acted within the confines of [legal] guidance would not be prosecuted."

CIA spokesman George Little pointed to Mr. Panetta's statement that the issues being investigating have already been examined.

"He is also determined that nothing disrupt the agency's core mission, which is to protect the country today and into the future," he said. "The CIA is working closely with the Department of Justice to try to achieve that."

Write to Siobhan Gorman at siobhan.gorman@wsj.com and Gary Fields at gary.fields@wsj.com

Aug 27, 2009

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Aug 26, 2009

PM cautions red shirts to control protest rally

By KATHERINE BOEHRET

By ANJALI ATHAVALEY

By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER and NIRAJ SHETH

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By Boris Nemtsov

By ASHRAF KHALIL

By SIOBHAN GORMAN and GARY FIELDS

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