Features

Can not we really do without 100 apps on our smartphone? Life used to be simpler.

With increased mobility, security on the Web is now everyone’s concern. As to knowing if things are any better, if we are more protected than before or if there are fewer viruses around and less hacking taking place, there is no clear cut answer, though in a general manner it will be a no, things are not really getting better.

Former president of Mozilla Europe, Tristan Nitot, put it bluntly, but rightly: “To use the Internet is to [implicitly] accept a certain form of surveillance.” We are unequivocally warned.

Smartphones and tablets are the new Achilles’ heel of the global network. The consumer tends to think that these devices do not really require the installation of antivirus software, that the operating system, be it Android or other, is well protected. The truth is that these systems are vulnerable as other platforms, such as Windows for example. They can even be more exposed to threats, given the large number of apps that we, in general, install on these portable devices, and that understandably increase the risk.

Installing a good antivirus on mobile computing equipment is not a luxury or a redundant precaution, but a necessity. Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Avira and the like provide inexpensive and good protection, often for as little as JD8 per year. In fact the term antivirus is not accurate for the best products are labelled as Internet Security and protect against various types of threats such as viruses, malware, downright machine intrusion and so forth. Antivirus is only part of the story.

Apps on mobile devices are treacherous. You have to know that whenever you install one you allow it to perform a large set of actions on your device and to have access to information stored on it and that — in principle — is not directly linked to the app’s primary function or usage. An example: the Uber taxi app asks to have access to your SMS messages! Incredible, but true. And yet, I do use it myself, I must confess. Although there is a warning from the app maker when you first install it, we all tend to accept the conditions without even reading the warning. And anyway, not accepting the conditions often means aborting the installation.

To reduce the risk there is the usual list of advice and recommendations such as not browsing suspicious websites, not opening unverified e-mails or attachments, not clicking commands or links that people send you without taking extra precaution and verifying the link, etc. There is a new one and it simply consists of installing as few apps as possible on your tablet or smartphone. The larger the number and the higher the risk.

Acknowledging the level of risk and the fact that it is spreading alarmingly, and willing to address it in the best possible way, authorities in Jordan have set a special unit within the General Security Department and that can help those who have been victims of an attack to track the perpetrator and sometime even obtain compensation. It may not be a foolproof remedy but it has already given tangible results in many cases, according to citizens’ stories. The unit has the capability to track the origin of the attack outside the country’s borders, in cooperation with similar units abroad.

The special department is called Cybercrime Control Unit, as translated from the Arabic name “Wahdat Mukaafahat Al Jaraa’em Al Elektroniyah”. It is part of the larger Criminal Investigation Department. They encourage anyone who may have been the victim of a cyber-attack to report it.

Introduced in 2015, the Corsa VXR version arrived shortly after the latest incarnation of Britain’s best-selling car model arrived in 2014. A hot super-mini hatchback rival to the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST, Peugeot 208 GTI, Renault Clio RS and Volkswagen Polo GTI, the compact Corsa VXR delivers agile handling, muscular output, eager performance and reassuringly stable, “big car” highway ride quality, characteristic of Vauxhall. 

Driven on UK roads, the Vauxhall Corsa VXR is sold globally as the Opel Corsa OPC. Founded in 1857, a carmaker by 1903 and General Motors subsidiary by 1925, Vauxhall began merging with GM’s German Opel brand by the mid-1970s. Offering an almost identical model line-up as Opel nowadays, Vauxhall is, however, consistently Britain’s second best-selling car brand with comparatively better market share and brand equity in its sole native market than Opel does in world markets.

Urgent appearance

Identical to the left-hand drive global Opel Corsa OPC save for its right-hand drive position and Griffin badge — as pictured — rather than lightning bolt emblem, the Vauxhall Corsa VXR is based on its predecessor’s basic platform with similarly compact dimensions yet practical cabin space and packaging. It is however a more sculpted, dynamic and athletic design with sharp headlights framing its hungry low trapezoidal grille, more powerful road-hugging stance, and considerably improved cabin and infotainment and assistance technology.

More aggressive than the “garden variety” Corsa, the VXR’s features a honey-comb grille, more assertive bumper design with big side intakes. Meanwhile, a decorative hood scoop, 10mm lower ride height, prominent side sills, large tailgate spoiler, dual exhausts and rear air diffuser lend it a more grounded yet urgent demeanour. With optional Performance and Carbon packages — as driven — the VXR features carbon side mirrors and grille bar, in addition to 18- rather than 17-inch alloy wheels.

Quick and confident

Powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine developing 202BHP at 5,800rpm, the Corsa VXR packs quite the punch, with 0-100km/h dispatched in just 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 230km/h. Quick and eager to build power, the VXR’s mid-range is underwritten by a meaty and broad wave of torque, peaking at 207lb/ft throughout 1,900-5,800rpm during temporary overboost and 181lb/ft otherwise. Meanwhile, fuel efficiency is restrained at 7.5l/100km combined, but flexing the VXRs muscles is often tempting and increases consumption. 

With quick-spooling turbo, the VXR is responsive off-the-line, eager towards its redline. Its mid-range delivery is, meanwhile, versatile and muscularly over a flexibly broad band and, with swift 6.4-second 80-120km/h acceleration. Transmitting power to the driven front wheels, the VXR’s 6-speed manual gearbox features a precise short throw lever and light yet intuitive clutch pedal pick-up. Gearing is well judged for performance and efficiency, with an aggressively short first gear, tall sixth gear and close ratios in between.

Agility and control

Compact, agile and eager through narrow switchbacks yet comfortable enough on imperfect roads, and refined and stable at speed the latest Corsa VXR benefits from revised suspension design and settings, including new bushes and rear axle, and improved damper anti-roll bar rates. Its precise and quick steering has also been revised to deliver more natural road feel, while new mechanical — rather than electronic — Koni adaptive dampers reconcile the VXR’s taut cornering body control with a more forgiving ride.

Rapid, rewarding and reassuring, the Corsa VXR also receives tauter suspension rates and a Drexler limited-slip-differential to reduce torque steer and under-steer as part of the optional performance pack. Turning crisp into corner the VXR’s limited-slip differential allocates power to the front wheel better able to put it down to tarmac, so allowing it to dig in and pounce out with poise, purpose and power. Through successive corners, the VXR compact length and relatively wide footprint provides nimble agility, stability and grip.

Compact comfort

Refined from noise, harshness and vibrations, the VXR is smooth, settled and buttoned down over rebound, with a firm and controlled ride that remains forgiving and fluent for daily driving. Eager and adjustable when chucked through corners, the VXR’s capable chassis is complimented by robust and effective brakes, including larger 380mm performance pack front discs and lower profile 215/40R18 tyres. For more seasoned drivers and additional track driving fun, the VXR’s effective electronic stability and traction can be completely disengaged, or kept on standby in Competition Mode.

Well packaged, the small 3-door Corsa VXR comfortably accommodated four adult passengers during test drive. Shell-backed front seats with high side bolsters and integrated headrests were notably spacious, comfortable and supportive. Driving position is high-set but alert with controls ergonomically laid out, while front visibility is good.

Well built and user-friendly, if slightly busy, the VXR features a chunky flat-bottom steering wheel and standard heated windscreen, A/C and voice control infotainment system. Optional features include numerous driver assistance systems including rear-view camera and lane departure warning.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.6-litre, transverse, turbocharged 4 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 79 x 81.5mm

Compression ratio: 8.8:1

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

Gearbox: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive, limited-slip differential

Gear ratios: 1st 3.82:1; 2nd 2.16:1; 3rd 1.48:1; 4th 1.07:1; 5th 0.88:1; 6th 0.74:1

Final drive ratio: 4.18:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 202 (205) [151] @5,800rpm

Specific power: 126.4BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 156.2BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 207 (280) @1,900-5,800rpm

Specific torque: 175.2Nm/tonne

Torque-to-weight: 216.5Nm/tonne

0-97km/h: 6.5 seconds

80-120km/h: 6.4 seconds

Top speed: 230km/h

Fuel capacity: 45 litres

Fuel economy, urban/extra-urban/combined: 9.9-/6.2-/7.5 litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 174g/km

Length: 4,021mm

Width (inc. mirrors): 1,944mm

Height: 1,479mm

Wheelbase: 2510mm

Track, F/R: 1,472/1,464mm

Luggage volume, min/max: 285/1,090 litres

Kerb weight: 1,293kg

Payload: 377kg

Steering: Power-assisted rack & pinion

Turning radius: 10.6 metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 330mm/264mm

Tyres: 215/40R18

Pammi Aunty was in Jordan last month. Who is Pammi Aunty? People who read my columns regularly every week should not be asking this question. What they should be asking instead is what was Pammi Aunty doing in the Hashemite Kingdom? 

She, who is actually a he, was here to promote Jordan as a safe and friendly tourist destination, but if you saw his/her hilarious videos, he/she was essentially having the time of his life. Her life, I mean. No, his life is correct!

Confusion arises when I meet Ssumier Pasricha, the man behind the fictional character of Pammi Aunty. He is a suave looking gentleman and has acted in many television serials, theatre performances and movies. His alter ego, Pammi Aunty, on the other hand, is an impersonation of a typical middle-class Delhi Punjabi woman. She loves to gossip, crib and complain about many things to her best friend Sarla Bhenji, over the phone. With a purple towel wrapped around the head that has giant curlers sticking on it, pink oversized sunglasses and an AC remote that serves as a makeshift cellphone, the comedian literally sheds his identity and gets into the guise of Pammi Aunty, effortlessly.

Ssumier’s mother is Spanish but moved to India when she was 19 years old and speaks fluent Punjabi. His father is Indian and worries about him whenever he travels to distant countries like Jordan. A linguist, Ssumier is proficient in six languages, and switches from one to the next, easily. 

“Pammi Aunty resides in every house and is a combination of our grandmothers, neighbours and aunties. I belong to a Punjabi family and am constantly surrounded by them. One day I created this concept on Snapchat video with my nephew and it just clicked. I never expected it to go viral and have so many people relate to it,” he confides. 

Go viral it did, and how! According to him, the first 43 web episodes altogether received over 5 million views.

I don’t know how many views his videos endorsing the world heritage sites in Jordan got, but the clippings of Pammi Aunty floating in the Dead Sea while sipping tea were riotously comical. As were the ones he uploaded from Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. 

The manner in which Pammi Aunty talks to her son Timmy on the telephone is also very reminiscent of how our mothers spoke to us. It did not matter how old we were, after the initial greeting, they wanted to know whether we were eating properly or not. If the queries were ignored, it quickly deteriorated into an emotional wrangle of sorts and then a lot of time and effort was spent on placating our mums. 

In real life, Sumier is a soft spoken, courteous and extremely humble person. Dressed in a crisp white pantsuit, he exudes friendliness and warmth. After lunch in my house, he is hijacked by some Indian ladies and taken to a Pammi Aunty themed party held in his honour, in downtown Amman. 

In the evening, he comes to our home once again. He is carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers this time. Over drinks he explains how much he enjoyed working with the Jordan Tourism Board. 

“Pammi Aunty is amazingly funny” I compliment him. 

“She’s now becoming Aunty Preneur,” he says. 

“In other words, entrepreneur,” he corrects himself. 

“Don’t let her become Aunty National”, I caution. 

“In other words… ,” I leave him guessing.

AMMAN — Renowned Mexican conductor José Areán is in town, invited by the Mexican embassy in Jordan. He will be conducting the Jordanian National Orchestra for an exceptional concert to take place on Thursday evening at Al Hussein Cultural Centre. The event is aptly billed as a Mexican-Jordanian friendship concert.

In addition to impressive credentials and an already brilliant international career, Arean possesses the one quality that prevails over all others when it comes to leadership and orchestral conducting: charisma. It only takes a few minutes talking to the maestro to realise how charismatic he is.

Speaking to The Jordan Times over a cup of coffee in the hall of a hotel in Amman, and in presence of the Mexican consul Mariana Herrera, Areán said that he has already made rehearsals with the local orchestra and was very happy with the outcome. He said that the musicians “were very much motivated” and that “this makes a big difference in the end”.

He commented further, saying that whereas the local musicians did have the technical skills required for difficult interpretation of modern music, motivation often compensates for and even comes as a more important factor than just pure technical skills.

Himself a pianist and guitarist, Arean belongs to the new generation that easily bridges the gap between classical music and perhaps more commercial genres such as, for instance, pop music. 

An open mind and the ability to “crossover” styles is one of the traits of great musicians today. Music should always be alive he added, insisting that in his book of rules “the orchestra must not be a museum”. He explained that there is currently a profusion of Mexican classical musicians and composers, and that all types of music nicely co-exist.

He spoke at length and with passion about famous Mexican musicians who truly shine in their country and abroad, naming, among others, tenors Francisco Araiza and Javier Camarena.

The programme of Thursday’s concert is made of a very interesting blend. There will be a piece especially composed by maestro Mohammad Siddiq, the resident conductor of the Jordanian National Orchestra and the director of the National Music Conservatory. The piece is titled Trumpet poem and will feature soloist Hind Sabanegh on trumpet.

Areán will also be conducting several pieces composed by Mexican musicians: Arturo Marquez and Jose Pablo Moncayo, and one arranged by Carlos Chavez but originally written by Danish-German organist Dietrich Buxtehude, a chaconne in E minor.

Last but not least, Areán was still keen to have one traditional classical piece on the programme, the beautiful Piano Concerto No. 2 by Franz Liszt that will feature Ghadeer Abdo on piano.

SEOUL — Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. scrapped its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on Tuesday less than two months after its launch, dealing a huge blow to its reputation and outlook after failing to resolve safety concerns.

Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire and on Tuesday it finally pulled the plug on the $882 device in what could be one of the costliest product safety failures in tech history.

The decision to scrap the Note 7 came after fresh reports of fires in replacement devices prompted new warnings from regulators, phone carriers and airlines.

“[We] have decided to halt production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 in order to consider our consumers’ safety first and foremost,” the South Korean firm said in a filing to the Seoul stock exchange.

Samsung said earlier it asked all global carriers to stop sales of the Note 7s and the exchange of original devices for replacements, while it worked with regulators to investigate the problem. The company is offering to exchange Note 7s for other products or refund them.

Samsung’s decision to pull Note 7s off the shelves not only raises fresh doubts about the firm’s quality control but could result in huge financial and reputational costs.

Analysts say a permanent end to Note 7 sales could cost Samsung up to $17 billion and tarnish its other phone products in the minds of consumers and carriers.

The premium device, launched in August, was supposed to compete with Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone for supremacy in the smartphone market. Well received by critics, its first problem was a shortage as pre-orders overwhelmed supply.

But within days of the launch images of charred Note 7s began appearing on social media, in the first sign that something was seriously amiss with the gadget.

“This has probably killed the Note 7 brand name — who knows if they’ll even be allowed to re-release it,” Edward Snyder, the managing director of Charter Equity Research, said before Samsung announced it was halting sales and production of the smartphone.

Cause unknown

The South Korean firm did not comment on whether it had identified the cause of the fires in the replacement devices, although officials in Seoul said it was looking at several possibilities including the batteries.

“It is more difficult to analyse the cause of the accidents this time because of various patterns of the accidents,” an official with the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, which met with Samsung and experts on Monday, told Reuters.

China’s quality watchdog said Samsung would recall all 190,984 Note 7s sold in the mainland.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Samsung was making the right decision by halting sales and exchanges of the device.

“No one should have to be concerned their phone will endanger them, their family or their property,” CPSC Chairman Elliott Kaye said in a statement.

The US Federal Aviation Administration and South Korea’s transport ministry added their voices to concerns from the aviation industry, saying no Note 7s should be used or charged inside airplanes.

Verizon Communications Inc., the largest US wireless carrier, said it may shift marketing away from the Note 7 heading into the critical holiday selling season.

“We have the new iPhone, we’re about to launch the new Google Pixel, which is exclusive to us. We’ve got great phones from Motorola as well,” Verizon spokeswoman Kelly Crummey said.

“I think you’ll see our marketing focused on those devices because there is certainty on those at this time.” 

PARIS — An obscenely powerful hybrid sports car, a family-friendly SUV with enough space for seven adults, and an electric vehicle that promises to keep going for over 500 kilometres on a single charge — those are some of the notable vehicles shining on the display stands under bright overhead lights at the Paris Motor Show.

Executives at this year’s show are talking about how the industry can adapt to — or, better yet, profit from — disruptive change such as electric engines, networked vehicles, car sharing, and autonomous driving. All that could start coming together between 2020 and 2025, some think.

Right now, however, they have some cars they want to sell.

Here are five of the vehicles getting the most attention at the Paris Mondial de L’Automobile, which runs through October 16. If you are lucky enough to be in the City of Light, an adult ticket costs 16 euros ($17.90).

Ferrari Laferrari Aperta

This limited edition of the Ferrari’s LaFerrari supercar offers the pleasures of open-top driving in a car that performs pretty much like a Formula One racer. It’s a hybrid, meaning its electric motor assists the monster 12-cylinder internal combustion engine to add even more powerful acceleration. 

The car does 0-100kph in less than three seconds, and offers a top speed of 350kph. With the top off, aerodynamic design channels away the airflow so that the two occupants can conduct a conversation even at high speeds. That’s if they’re not relishing the finely tuned roar of the engine, or its “soundtrack”, as the company puts it, promising “full, harmonious sound that’s more intoxicating than ever”. All 200 are already sold at prices of 1.8-2 million euros ($2-$2.2 million).

Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid

It’s a comfortable four-door sedan. No, it’s a high-performance sports car. If it’s the Panamera, it’s both. The all-wheel drive car draws on the technology used in the company’s 918 Spyder supercar so that the electric motor continually adds power; the car accelerates to 100kph in just 4.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 270kph.

It can go up to 50 kilometres on just the battery — making the vehicle a little quieter than, say, the company’s 911 sports car — and emits a relatively low 56 grammes per kilometre of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas blamed by scientists for global warming. The vehicle goes on sale in November. The price in France is 110,222 euros ($123,680).

Jaguar Land Rover Discovery

The first complete redesign of the Discovery in 12 years, this family oriented large SUV has room for seven adults in three rows. The seats can be rearranged remotely through a smartphone app even when the operator is outside the vehicle, and the second and third rows can fold flat in 14 seconds. The suspension automatically lowers the car 4 centimetres to make it easier to get in and out. There are six charging points, places to store iPads, 9 USB ports, and a 4G Wi-Fi hot spot that can handle up to eight devices. There’s no shortage of power for towing, with three diesel variants of 180, 240 and 258 horsepower and a 340 horsepower gasoline engine. Prices start at 50,900 euros and head north to 74,300 euros.

Opel Ampera-E

This is the European version of the Chevrolet Bolt five-door hatchback going on sale this year in the United States and early next year in Europe. It has attracted attention by getting a range rating of 383 kilometres under the US standard on a full charge; the company promises a 500 kilometre range as measured by the European standard. It claims drivers can add 150 kilometres in 30 minutes of charging.

Those distances may not be equalled in everyday driving, with the European test standard, for example assumptions relatively gentle acceleration. Many obstacles remain before all-electric vehicles reach widespread acceptance. Will this car be a significant jump toward making electrics seem more practical to price-conscious regular car buyers? As always, the market will provide the answer. The US manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $37,495.

BMW X2

BMW showed off a potential new addition to its X-series of SUVs and crossovers, this one offering a sportier take with a flat roofline and big air intakes giving the grill a wider, more aggressive look. The company calls it a “sport-activity coupe”, referring to its lower roofline — more like the sloping shape of a coupe than a boxier SUV. BMW tweaked the trademark kidney shaped twin grilles, flipping them upside down so that they narrow from bottom up. 

The look is enhanced with a different slant to the windshield and lower stance. “The BMW X2 is really tapping into a new market, the sort-of coupe style SUV. It is showing that SUVs are not just about being practical, they can be fun and they can be sporty as well,” says Jim Holder, editorial director of Autocar, automotive magazine. It’s still a concept car, meaning no date for it to go on sale or price information.

PARIS — A study presented at a scientific congress recently reported a link between long naps and a higher risk of diabetes, though it couldn’t say if daytime sleeping was a symptom or a cause.

People who slept more than an hour each day were 45 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, a debilitating condition associated with overweight and a sedentary lifestyle, the study found.

Individuals with diabetes are unable to naturally regulate their blood sugar levels. 

Without treatment, the disease can lead to blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure, heart disease and premature death.

The meta-analysis — a review of existing scientific literature — by Yamada Tomahide of the University of Tokyo and colleagues, covered more than 300,000 people of Asian and European origin from around the world.

For naps of less than 40 minutes, the link with diabetes disappeared, they noted.

Experts not involved in the research noted that the statistical correlation revealed nothing about cause and effect.

The study, they added, has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed science journal.

“It can falsely appear that their illness followed increased napping, rather than the other way around,” said Benjamin Cairns, a researcher at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit of the University of Oxford.

“This could mean that long naps appear to cause diabetes or other diseases, even when only the reverse is true.”

Naveed Sattar, an expert on metabolic disease at the University of Glasgow said the results should be taken with a generous pinch of salt.

“It’s likely that risk factors which lead to diabetes also cause napping,” he wrote in a comment distributed by the non-profit Science Media Centre.

Only clinical trials — experiments in which scientists could test the impact of napping by comparing two or more groups of people — can reveal whether too much day-time sleeping is bad for health.

“Without proper trials, we simply will never know the answer,” Sattar said. 

The study was unveiled at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Munich, Germany.

The Weight of Paradise
Iman Humaydan
Translated by Michelle Hartman
Massachusetts: Interlink Books, 2016
Pp. 244

In “The Weight of Paradise”, Iman Humaydan tells the story of three women, a great love, an expired love, a fleeting but fateful love and a potential one. Noura and Maya are both writers concerned with human rights, particularly for women, but they never meet. Sabah, who connects them, is uneducated but experiences first-hand what they write about. All three long for truth, justice and passionate love. All are haunted by the past.

Noura, a journalist, comes to Beirut in the early 70s, to escape repression in her native Syria. The story she most wants to tell is why her sister, Henaa, committed suicide after becoming pregnant by an army officer. Inspired by her Armenian grandmother’s mantra: “Life is a right”, Noura publishes the story but pays with her life in 1978. (p. 125)

Prior to her murder, she meets and marries Kemal while on assignment in Turkey, and gives birth to their child in war-torn Beirut, before they manage to reunite and immigrate to France as planned. Kemal and the child hold the keys to the story’s future. 

Maya returns to Beirut from Paris in 1994, and is working on a film about reconstruction of the downtown. Instead of sorting out her fraught relation with her son after the death of his father, from whom she was estranged, she throws herself into absorbing the stories of others, the present and former residents of the buildings being demolished to make room for the new. “She didn’t understand why the company had asked her to document the memory of these places, without noticing that it was in fact completely erasing this memory”. (p. 44)

Still, she finds her own purpose when she discovers a small suitcase filled with mouldy letters, photos, diaries and miscellaneous papers in a half-destroyed house. With long experience in restoring antique books, she carefully unfolds and reads them all, leading her to Sabah’s house in an old quarter overlooking the downtown. Seeing these artefacts unleashes Sabah’s memories of Noura and her own life. 

Born in Mardin, Sabah almost suffers a fate similar to Henaa’s after she takes off on a grand motorcycle tour with her lover. Instead, her family marries her off to an impotent cousin in Beirut. She makes the best of it, but when the war breaks out, her husband is kidnapped, putting her at the mercy of gang-like militias who take over the area. Noura is one of her few friends. The day she is killed she entrusts all her papers to Sabah, who adds some of her own, leaves them at her employer’s house, and tries to forget the pain of the past as she is again left alone to witness the horrors of the war raging below her. 

The three women’s stories illustrate their shared conviction that life is a right, but also the many threats to this right, violations which Humaydan has protested in her previous novels — killings, forced disappearances, sectarianism, repression, false morality and intolerance. In this novel, she adds another dimension by broadening her scope beyond Lebanon to encompass Syria and Turkey.

By virtue of her characters’ origins and migrations, she shows the demographic and cultural commonalities of these three diverse societies, but also how diversity is threatened by the same factors that threaten life, plus the ethnic intolerance generated by narrow nationalism. Armenians, Kurds and the Arabs of Antakia all figure into the narrative as do the Jews of Beirut who left after the departure of the PLO, which had afforded them protection.

In his love letters to Noura found in the suitcase, Kemal writes of the perpetuation of violence that has destroyed much of the region’s potential. Referring to the massacres against Armenians, he notes, “When a regime starts to make such bloody choices, stopping is difficult — indeed impossible”. (p. 59)

The structure of this novel is intriguing: the characters’ stories mostly unfold in retrospect via memories, diary entries and letters, interspersed with chapters in now-time, creating a fragmentation that conveys the real ruptures in their lives. This focuses attention on their similarities rather than their differences. At some points, the individuals blur into a generic human daunted by man’s inhumanity to man. Humaydan skilfully draws together many stories and themes to reach a conclusion which is actually a new beginning.

The act of writing is also a theme in the novel. Noura writes in her diary that “good writing begins with despair. It’s the compass of writing — that’s when we know that the blue hour, that moment between twilight and darkness, dawn and morning light, is near and that words are waiting to come out into the light”. (p. 131)

While writing the truth can set one apart from family, land one in prison, tear up one’s life or end it, it can also pave the way to healing. Humaydan writes to reveal truths that are often forgotten or deliberately hidden. She writes to reveal another version of people’s history that has been distorted by authoritarian states and false nationalism. She writes to reveal the possibilities for love and compassion if people insist on looking for them.

WASHINGTON — A new study finds that great apes show some key abilities to see the world from someone else’s point of view — a trait that once was considered uniquely human.

An international study found that chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans seem to have this ability, even when they know that point of view is dead wrong. It’s called theory of mind, or the ability to know that others have different beliefs and perspectives.

Researchers in the Japan, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom put a specific part of theory of mind to the test — understanding that someone else may have false beliefs — and the apes passed, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science. While apes had shown other aspects of understanding others’ perspectives, previous studies had not shown them to grasp the complex concept of understanding others’ false beliefs, said study authors Christopher Krupinye and Fumihiro Kano.

It’s a concept humans develop around age 4 or 5.

Researchers tracked the eye movements of the apes as they watched 40-second movies that showed someone in a King Kong costume trying to fool a man. The man watches King Kong either hide a rock in a box or — in a different version of the experiment — hide himself in a hay bale. Then, after the man leaves, King Kong moves the rock or moves out of the bale.

So at this point, the man doesn’t know the rock or King Kong has moved — but the ape watching the movie does. When the man returns, the ape looks at where the man last saw the rock or King Kong, showing that it can anticipate the man’s false belief that the rock or King Kong remains in the same place.

That shows that the ape is getting the concept of others’ false beliefs, and this is a “critical” aspect of cognition, said Kano, a comparative psychologist at the University of Kyoto.

“Apes have some understanding of others’ actions and can predict others’ actions even when those individual are acting on misinformation,” said Krupinye, who conducted psychological research at Duke University and is now at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. “This kind of skill is central to a lot of sophisticated human behaviour that we use in cooperative context and culture and communications.”

But this may not be a full understanding of others’ false beliefs, Kano cautioned.

Yale cognitive science professor Laurie Santos called the test results “really remarkable” and “very surprising” because tests in the past have not found primates understanding someone else’s false beliefs. But Santos said she’s reserving judgement because the study’s sample size is small — 29 apes — and there is no good explanation why the apes pass this test and failed other, similar ones.

Joel Fagot and Raphaelle Malassis at Aix-Marseille University said in an e-mail that it was “a very exciting study on an important question, but this study is probably not THE definitive demonstration of false belief in apes”.

It’s a bit like hybrid cars, a good compromise between the too expensive fuel consumption and the not-yet-perfected fully electric car. New inkjet printers with refillable ink bottles come as a solution that makes sense, somewhere between the inadmissibly expensive traditional ink cartridges and the ideal world where we would not be printing at all.

For many years we have been listening to advice and recommendation not to print on paper unless really necessary. Up to a certain extent it is working rather well. There is no doubt that most of us have learnt how to avoid printing e-mails, photos and virtually any digital contents that we use and share electronically. Online banking alone is saving the world tremendous amounts of paper and ink. Especially since electronic messages and online banking statements and digital transactions receipts have become legal documents, perfectly accepted in a court of law.

Still, we have not yet made it to the point where we do not need to print anything at all.

Printers manufacturers have acknowledged the situation and the trend, and are responding with solutions that make sense and that significantly reduce the running cost of the equipment. It is saving users money and at the same time protecting the environment a little more. It may be only a drop in the ocean of the COP21 Paris Conference on climate change that has just received a new boost this week with the European Parliament signing the global treaty, but like with any big endeavour, every bit counts.

Epson, the current leader in the inkjet market, is making printers that use fixed inks of bottles that can be easily refilled by the user. Compared with the previous ink cartridge system, this solution presents a double advantage. The first is that refilling bottles that remain installed in the printer saves the user the cost of the expensive cartridges that are complex and are costly to manufacture. Moreover, the empty cartridges must be discarded and replaced with new ones; hence the negative impact on the environment.

The second advantage is that the new inks chemical formulation is simpler and allows for many more pages printed per volume of ink. The two innovations combined result in actual savings of about 60 per cent compared to the older cartridge system. This is a significant contribution to the consumers’ pocket and to the protection of the environment. Besides, the company’s refillable ink bottle system is aptly called EcoTank.

Epson’s tour de force is to have managed, despite the change, to maintain printing quality that is equal or superior to that of the cartridge printing system.

Whereas laser printers are still very popular in the business environment, more particularly when it comes to black-only printouts or very large volumes of printing, if only because they are fast, inkjet printers on the other hand — though slower than lasers — remain the first choice at home, in small offices and whenever high quality colour photographs must be printed. Because they use toner and not ink, laser printers cannot print on special, top quality stationery like glossy photo paper that inkjet printers can easily handle. Hence the efforts of companies like Epson to design more cost-efficient and environment-friendly models.