First impressions

The website seems at a first sight quite cluttered and cahotic.

This is because:

• The nameplate is too small and in a odd position (on the left-hand corner) so that it is not immediately recognisable among advertising
• Too space has been dedicated to a banner on the top of the page that catches completely the attention of the reader
• There are at least twenty articles on the homepage without any categorisation, which makes the sites very difficul to read through.
• The typography is very small

The colour scheme is quite simple and coherent, with a good combination of white, green and some parts of text highlighted in grey.

Writing

The majority of the articles don’t follow Jacob Nielsen’s rules:

• The paragraphs are too long and dense, which descorages from going on reading . Each paragraph is about 100 words long without any space beetween sentences.
• There are no sub-headings.
• Bold is extensively used in the text.
• There isn’t any criteria in the presentation of news. On the top of the page there’s an article about national politics close to another one about sport
• There isn’t any hypertext link.

Content

The website is quite rich in terms of multimedia. there are viseos and photographs for most of the articles, but all this material is not displayed in a captivating and neat way.

A  weak point is that there are absolutely no links in the articles, which doesn’t allow the reader to have any possible background or in-depth analysis of the news.

Navigation

The main navigation on the left is consistent and easy to use. The subnavigation however is very confusing. Once you choose a kind of news you want to read about it’s like groping in the dark.

On the whole the website seems not be able to contain appropriately the huge amount of news that, being the website of a press agency, it has to.

Is it possible to create cohesion among people by sticking them together with chewing-gum? A guy in Muswell Hill said yes, it is.

I saw this chap for months and months, lying on the pavement, every windy, snowy or rainy day, painting something. But what? And above all, why? When finally my curiosity exceeded my shyness, I had the chance to get to know the most soul-warming person I’ve ever met, Ben Wilson, also known as The Chewing Gum Man, as he introduces himself to me.

He’s giving shape to the most genuine, basic and profound idea of art: taking the harsh reality of life and transforming it into something beautiful, full of meaning and worthy of admiration.

He’s creating a chewing-piece-of-art, painting a miniature on a minuscule white spot that before was in somebody else’s mouth, then was discarded, and now regains life and sense through his paintings.

Art, he simply claims, can be just an instinctual form of self-expression and a way to make the world better by creating a profound connection between people.

And the demonstration of this is right there under my nose. During our conversation an awful lot of people stop to say “hi”, some of them commission the artist to paint a personalised chewing-gum with their names or a message for somebody special, others just watch him, dying with curiosity.

So, when you’re walking down the road, after a working day or going to the supermarket, just keep your eyes wide open! Trust me, Ben’s chewing-gums will stick in your mind!

The November 2008 Mumbai attack  hasn’t been the first terror attack but it’s been without any doubt the most cruel and heinous.

From 26 to 29 November 2008 173 people lost their lives in a series of ten terrorist attacks across Mumba

 Is Britain prepared?  According to what Mr. Clarke points out no, not at all.

In his opinion an India-style terror attack would cause in London a massacre and turn the city into a temporary war zone.

What makes Britain particularly vulnerable in the event of such an attack is that the country doesn’t have an armed conventional police.

Moreover the armed police is trained to deal with armed criminals, but wouldn’t be able to cope with a multi-site, mobile terroristic incident like the one in Mumbai.

Probably the relevant point here is not whether the police is well-trained or not, but if we even need a military force to deal with the terroristic threat.

As the last events in Mumbai showed, the police were not prepared for an attack of this magnitude. The police anti-terrorist squad even lost their chief early in the day. The police seem underfunded and underequipped for something of this magnitude.

On the contrary police forces seem to be confident enough.

Jamie Johnson, a Metropolitan Police officer, in a conference at the University of Westminster  when asked about this possible scenario said that police receive an intensive training in order to be able to face a broad range of terror attacks, included chemical and gas attacks.  

Stephen Tankel, expert on conflict and security studies at King’s College of London told Bury the Lead “an attack like this is obviously very difficult to deal with, but my presumption is that most of the people who are in charge of keeping us safe should have probably anticipated something like this if they had done their jobs. Every time there is a spectacular attack like this, like 9/11, or in Mumbai, it’s quite normal to feel as though  this is something that is entirely new and we would be unprepared for. I think an attack of this magnitude would be difficult for any security service to handle anywhere in the world”.

Click here for a backgroung to Is Britain ready for a Mumbai-style attack?

In July 2008 the Government published the End of Life Care Strategy, a massive ten year plan that aims to provide people approaching the end of life with more choice about where they would like to die and more support.

 The plan involves a training for medical staff in order to enable them to talk more comfortably about death with patients allowing them to express and make the best decisions while approaching the end of life.

The government also allocated 286 million pounds to guarantee a better palliative care by 2011.

The report from the National Audit Office, published in November 2008, has basically formally pointed out with the evidence of statistics some problematic areas that were well known by the experts.

“Sweden’s efforts to help women involved in prostitution have been pushed aside after they made buying sex illegal a decade ago, May-Len Skilbrei, Nordic Gender Institute researcher, said in Dagsavisen.

To avoid falling into the same trap as Sweden, Skilbrei argues that is important for Norway to look to its neighbour to learn from their experiences.

She presented the findings of Nordic Gender Institute in their newly published study on Nordic prostitution.

One of the most profound findings was that growing trafficking and an increase in foreign prostitutes the last ten years have forced the law changes we now witness.

Norway, Finland and Denmark have seen large groups of foreign women on the visible prostitution market, while that has not been the case in Sweden, Skilbrei said.

Reduced street prostitution and blurred indoor market

Being the first country in Europe to make buying sex illegal, Sweden’s law was implemented in 1999 as part of the Violence Against Women Act, where prostitution was defined as a serious form of male violence against women.

Ten years on Swedish police report on increased difficulties in trafficking investigations and a blurring of the prostitution market.

According to Nordic Gender Institute’s study prostitutes are experiencing more violence and they have become more dependent on pimps to get work .

The reduction in Sweden’s street prostitustion is drastic, but it’s important to remember that most of the prostitution in Scandinavia goes on indoors, from mobile escort services to brothels and apartments, Skilbrei said.

According to Nordic Gender Institute’s research, looking at numbers is not sufficient to understand the effects of Sweden’s law.

“The Swedish government might have felt that they had “solved” the prostitution problem by getting the prostitutes off the streets, but making a new law cannot be the final step”, Skilbrei warns.

She is curious to see whether “giving out condoms to prostitutes while arresting the buyers” will prove to be a sufficient method for Norway too deal with the world’s oldest profession”.

Click here to go to main article: Norwegian prostitution law will ‘hit the weakest’

Extra: Click here for comment piece on Norwegian prostitution debate: Save a punter

]]> http://burythelead.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/1195/feed/ 0 karolinehjorth http://burythelead.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/background/ http://burythelead.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/background/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:14:19 +0000 karunyakeshav http://burythelead.wordpress.com/?p=1081 ]]>

Honda's 2007 'Earth Car'. Image courtesy Red Cyan, licensed under creative commons

The World Motorsport Council, the decision making body of the FIA, approved a series of radical cost-cutting measures following the shock exit of Honda from F1.

On 5 December, Japan’s second largest car maker announced plans to withdraw from the 2009 season because of the difficult conditions in the global auto market, brought on by the financial situation.

This put around 1000 jobs at Honda Racing F1 team and engine supplier Honda Racing Development at risk.

With most teams having already finalised their driver line up for next year, Honda’s racers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello could be left without a seat in 2009.

The immediate prospects for Bruno Senna are also in doubt. The 25 year-old nephew of legendary racer Ayrton Senna had earlier tested for the team and was being considered as a replacement for fellow Brazilian Barrichello.

“Difficult Decision”

In a statement, Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui said that the “difficult decision” had been taken by Honda to “protect its core business activities and secure the long term.”

Honda was one of the highest spenders in F1 with an estimated budget of £300m in 2008. Racing success was Mr. Fukui’s personal ambition.

However, Honda had failed to see results. At the end of the 2008 season, the team placed ninth out of ten teams, having scored only 14 points from 18 races.

With Bloomberg reporting Honda sales down by around 30% in the US market, it was only expected that Honda’s interests in motorsport would be the first to be cut back.

The move brought the focus back onto the financial viability of running a Formula One racing team.

According to the BBC, teams like Williams and Toyota remain “vulnerable” due to losses and high budgets.

Earlier during the 2008 season, Japan based Super Aguri too withdrew from racing due to financial difficulties.

What next?

But the team may still be on the grid in time for the first race in Australia on 29 March 2009.

The company’s statement confirms that the team has been put up for sale.

Chief Executive of Honda Racing F1, Nick Fry said on the team’s official website that they had already been approached by “potentially suitable” investors.

Reuters reports that the Formula One Teams Association has been given till Christmas to find a buyer.

BBC’s sports correspondent Adam Parsons estimates that the team could go for a nominal price of £1. However, the costs of running the team in the expensive sport of Formula One would be at least £40m.

Honda had been in racing since the 1960s. The team had earlier pulled out in 1968 before returning as an engine supplier in the 80s and team owner in 2004.

Since 2006, the team has been exclusively owned and run by Honda Motor Co., Ltd., when it finished fourth in the Constructors championship.

Click here for original article – F1: End of the era of extravagance?

F1 pit stops will no longer be the same. Pic courtesy: Varlen. Licensed under creative commons

Anyone who thought that Formula One with all its billions could weather the financial storm was on the wrong track.

The economic crisis has hit the car manufacturers hard and massive budgets of motorsport’s elite could well be a thing of the past.

On Friday, the FIA approved a series of radical changes that are expected to cut costs by one third of present levels and alter the experience of F1.

The new regulations, detailed in a statement available on the official Formula One website, include a ban on in-season testing except during race weekend and scheduled practice next year.

Engines will now have to last three races.  Teams are limited to eight engines per driver, with an additional four engines for testing.

A ban on tyre warmers and refuelling during races will be introduced in 2010.

Standardised transmission and shorter races could be brought in following market research.

As for the engine, a low cost power-train from Cosworth will be made available to all independent teams from 2010, at a fraction of present costs.

End of F1 as we know it?

Their elegies for the sport have already begun.

Fan complaints mention the three most visible aspects of change – standardised engines, ban on refuelling and the prospect of shorter races.

Viewers are concerned about F1 turning into A1 racing.

“We must wait and see what it will be like with a more equal field for the drivers to test their talents. I’ll be a different kind of racing,” says Vaishali D., motor sport journalist in India.

And how many times will all-out racing be sacrificed in favour of saving the engine for the demands of two more races?

Also, the ban on refuelling during races will mean that pit stops will be over in the three seconds it takes to change the tyres.

No more pit lane poker, splash-and-dash, or Fort Knoxesque  guarding of fuel-load secrets.

No more sitting on the edge of your seat chewing your nails out while waiting to see how the minutely thought out strategies behind varying fuel loads unfold.

And we still wait to see the implications of this rule on qualifying.

As for shorter races…the mere suggestion leaves most fans incredulous.

Cutting-edge technology

FIA President Max Moseley insists that these changes will not affect how fans watch the sport.

“The only people who can really appreciate a 10m euros gearbox are the people who build it and take it apart,” he said to the BBC. 

But motorsport purists argue that Formula One is as much an acknowledgement of smart engineering as it is about driving to win.

It’s about the barely noticeable cutting edge technology that can add one hundredths of a second and thus ten places on the grid for a car.

F1 advancements addressing the need for speed, safety and efficiency has found its way to road cars.

A changing sport

The new cost cutting measures follow the shock exit of car manufacturer Honda from F1 due to the financial situation.

Earlier during the season Japanese based Super Aguiri had pulled out, and many teams including Williams are operating with huge losses.

But this is not the first time F1 rules have been changed.

Since 1950 when the sport became official, new rules have been implemented almost every year. This included a ban on refuelling during races from 1984 to 1994.

The new F1 season, with 18 cars confirmed to race, will begin on 27 March with the Australian Grand Prix.

Click here for background: Honda exits Formula One

According to the new report published by Fafo, an estimated 40 percent of prostitution in Norway is conducted on the street, with the rest taking place indoors.

Norwegian and Nigerian street prostitutes are the two weakest groups of the country’s 3ooo prostitutes and will be hardest hit by the new ban, Fafo told Aftenposten.

From 1 January 2009 it will be illegal for Norwegian citizens in Norway and abroad to purchase services from prostitutes, while selling will remain legal.

Procuring and human trafficking are already illegal and the new ban is modelled on legislation passed ten years ago in Sweden, with clients facing fine or jail for up to six months.

The law was sanctioned by the Norwegian council of state on 12 December.

In the government’s statement that followed, Justice Minister Knut Storberget declared that “people are not merchandise and criminalising the purchase of sexual services will make it less attractive for human traffickers to look to Norway.”

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Out of sight out of mind

While proponents say the law will reduce prostitution without punishing the prostitutes, opponents argue it will only force the prostitutes to go underground and make them even more vulnerable.

Prostitutes’ support groups claim the law will be ineffective and question how realistic it is that the law will be enforced, particuarily abroad:

“This is a renovation law that will clean up the streets but move the prostitution indoors”, Liv Jessen, director of the Pro Centre, a support group for prostitutes, told Aftenposten.

“The ban will reduce street prostitution but it won’t stop women from working indoors. The girls will just have to rely more on pimps than before to get clients”, she said.

Jessen argues the law will only pass on the problem to other countries when the Nigerian and other foreign prostitutes leave Norway to find more work.

“That is another reason why I have been against this law”, she said.

Jessen is insecure about the future of the Pro Centre itself:

“Prostitution will not disappear, but it will be organised in other forms. We intend to change accordingly”, she said.

Click here for background article

Businessworld offers the bedtime story: On a trip to Asia, Dietrich Mateschitz comes across Krating Daeng (‘Red Bull’ in Thai), a cheap tonic favoured by blue-collar workers to keep alert.

The Austrian businessman takes a sample back home, launces an adapted version of Krating Daeng in 1987 and calls it Red Bull.

Instead of traditional advertising, Bized explains how Red Bull’s anti-branding strategy got under the skin of the Generation Y, the ‘millennials’ born after 1981 who were believed to be cynical of traditional marketing strategies.

Scouting for hot spots in universities, bars and clubs, the initial ideal market was mapped out and the ‘viral’ marketing strategy were implemented: Find a university, recruit cash- strapped students and let them work their word-of-mouth magic in their own environment.

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Sporters, clubbers and worried mums

Hanging out with boundary- pushing extreme sporters was another trick of Red Bull’s trade in the 90s.

Red Bull's two crimson bulls Photograph: Karoline Hjorth

Like a man in his middle aged crisis Red Bull hooked on to the Cliff-divers, kiteboarders, snowboarders, motocrossers, mountain bikers, paragliders, street lugers, ice cross downhillers, skateboarders and surfers.

‘Millenial’ clubbers, hip sporters and students pulling all- nighters soon discovered the effects of the drink and the infamous vodka-Red Bull combination was born.

Playing on associations with danger, edginess and youth culture, Red Bull carefully cultivated its mystique.

But as Bized mentions in its analysis of Red Bull’s market strategies; the long approval times  in many countries and boycotts by concerned mothers stirred rumours of the dangers of Red Bull.

The softdrink is banned in Norway, Uruguay and Denmark because of health risks listed on its cans.

One can of Red Bull contains 80 mg of caffeine, around the same as a normal cup of brewed coffee, according to Reuters.

It seems to take a more than worried mums before alcoholic mixers go out of fashion: Red Bull sold 3.5 billion cans in 143 countries last year, Reuters says.

Click here to go back to the main story: Charleston and Red Bull- It’s a Christmas party!