12/4/09

Hola Mundo Bella Perez Videoclip en español

Don Henley-The End of The Innocence

NEW MARCIA 2009 "SAY ULL BE MINE" OFFICIAL VIDEO (CABO VERDE)

Les maths en quête de mathématiciens

LE MONDE 

Pour la première fois depuis
vingt-deux ans, les mathématiciens
français tenaient à Paris,
les 1er et 2 décembre, les États généraux
de leur discipline.
Avec, au centre des discussions
de ce colloque baptisé "Maths à venir",
un surprenant paradoxe : alors qu'elles
sont plus que jamais nécessaires
au fonctionnement du monde,
les mathématiques sont, dans
les pays riches au moins, de plus
en plus boudées par les étudiants.
 
Où sont-elles ?
A peu près partout. Dans la microélectronique,
dans les simulations numériques
de systèmes complexes,
à l'image de celles utilisées par
les climatologues ; dans les logiciels
qui traitent les énormes masses
de données qui transitent sur le Net ;
dans les systèmes d'imagerie médicale ;
dans le fonctionnement, toujours plus
complexe, des marchés financiers, etc.

Et ce ne sont pas là des mathématiques
forgées de longue date, mais
"des mathématiques issues
de travaux tout récents", explique
Etienne Ghys, chercheur au CNRS
et professeur à l'Ecole normale
supérieure (ENS) de Lyon.

"Nous avons de plus en plus besoin
de mathématiques et disposons
de moins en moins de mathématiciens",
résume-t-il.

Ces besoins concernent les entreprises
pour une part désormais importante.
"En France, il y a environ
6 000 mathématiciens, dit ainsi
Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, directeur de
l'Institut des hautes études
scientifiques (IHES).

Tous ne travaillent pas
dans le monde académique : environ
un tiers d'entre eux sont en entreprise.
Il y a aujourd'hui une grande variété
de métiers réservés aux matheux."

Dans le monde occidental, à l'instar
de toutes les filières scientifiques,
les mathématiques séduisent pourtant
de moins en moins.

Une tendance d'autant plus
préoccupante que les dix
prochaines années verront
des départs en retraite massifs
dans la communauté
des mathématiciens français.

Des pays émergents, singulièrement
l'Inde et la Chine, connaissent
une tendance inverse : les carrières
scientifiques y jouissent
d'un prestige croissant.

"Aux Pays-Bas par exemple,
note M. Bourguignon, on a assisté
à un véritable effondrement,
avec seulement un peu plus
d'une centaine d'étudiants en maths
dans le pays en 2003, alors qu'ils
étaient plus de 1 000
quelques années auparavant."

Forte d'une école parmi
les plus brillantes, la France a
résisté plus longtemps que
les autres pays développés.

"Nous avons cru pendant
un temps que nous échapperions
à ce déclin, mais il nous touche
désormais de plein fouet",
explique M. Bourguignon.

"Au niveau L3 (bac + 3), nous sommes
passés en six ans de 6 000 étudiants
à 4 000 environ", précise
Marie-Françoise Roy, professeur
à l'université Rennes-I.

Cursus long et difficile, incertitude
sur les futures ouvertures
de postes dans la recherche
publique et l'enseignement supérieur,
salaires médiocres...
les écueils ne manquent pas.

Mais ce n'est pas tout.
"Il y a chez les jeunes une vraie
interrogation sur la manière
dont la science au sens large
façonne la société et sur
la manière dont la société a,
ou n'a pas, le contrôle
sur ces changements,
diagnostique M. Bourguignon.

C'est en somme une question
d'acceptabilité de la science."

Les mathématiques sont-elles
"acceptables" ?

 Certains se le demandent
depuis le déclenchement
de la crise financière.

Les mathématiques ont en effet été
rendues responsables de
la déconnexion grandissante
entre l'économie réelle
et les marchés financiers.

Pour Philippe Camus,
président d'Alcatel-Lucent ainsi
que du comité de parrainage
du colloque, "la faute n'en revient pas
aux mathématiciens, mais simplement
à ce que les outils imaginés grâce
aux mathématiques ont été
mal compris et mal utilisés".

Pour autant, ajoute M. Camus,
"il serait bénéfique que
les mathématiciens prennent
l'initiative de se doter d'un organe
qui serait en quelque sorte
leur autorité morale".

"Après tout, plusieurs disciplines
scientifiques disposent
d'un comité d'éthique
à même d'apprécier, voire de corriger,
leur impact sur la société",
plaide M. Camus, lui-même
mathématicien de formation.

La crise des subprimes aura-t-elle
eu un effet sur le désamour
des étudiants à l'égard de la discipline ?

Peut-être, mais rien n'est moins sûr.
Aujourd'hui, les mathématiques
financières fourniraient à elles
seules, au niveau master,
jusqu'au quart des étudiants
en mathématiques français...

Pour ceux des aspirants matheux
qui choisiront la recherche publique,
de nouveaux écueils existent.

Dans les pays développés,
l'organisation de la recherche publique
et surtout ses modes de financement
"tendent à s'uniformiser", explique
en effet M. Bourguignon, vers
"un contrôle toujours plus
tatillon des financements",
de plus en plus souvent alloués
sur un projet de quelques années.

"Si on demande à un mathématicien
ce qu'il aura démontré dans trois ans,
il est obligé de mentir !",
renchérit Etienne Ghys, qui précise
toutefois que l'Agence nationale
de la recherche (ANR) fait évaluer
les projets des mathématiciens
par leurs pairs.

Reste que le virage pris
ces dernières années en
Europe est potentiellement
"assez catastrophique" pour
les mathématiques, selon
M. Bourguignon.

Ces questions sont d'autant plus
cruciales pour les maths qu'elles
seules ont cette magie de
transformer subitement ce qui
peut sembler un pur jeu de l'esprit
en clé indispensable à la résolution
de nouveaux problèmes appliqués.

Philippe Camus en prend
pour exemple les travaux menés
sur les nombres premiers
(seulement divisibles par 1 et
par eux-mêmes), qui fascinent
les mathématiciens depuis des siècles.

"Jusque tout récemment, personne
ne voyait d'utilité à leur étude,
explique M. Camus. Aujourd'hui,
on se rend compte qu'un pays
dans lequel personne ne comprendrait
la théorie des nombres serait
complètement dépendant
de l'extérieur pour élaborer
ses systèmes de cryptographie."

De même, les deux fondateurs de
Google, Sergey Brin et Larry Page,
avaient sans doute en commençant
leur thèse en mathématiques à Stanford,
tout à fait autre chose en tête que
fonder la plus gigantesque
régie publicitaire en ligne.

Le secret de leur réussite
n'aura finalement été rien d'autre
qu'un algorithme,
une simple formule mathématique !

Stéphane Foucart

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

Un des secrets des stradivarius dévoilés

LE MONDE 
   
Le mystère, un des
plus épais de l'histoire de
la musique, tenait depuis
trois siècles.
Depuis la mort, en 1737,
à 93 ans, d'Antonio Stradivari,
des générations de luthiers,
de musiciens, d'acousticiens
et de chimistes avaient tenté
de percer le secret du maître.

Le bois, la colle, l'assemblage
des matériaux,
leur traitement : la composition
des fameux violons avait été
passée à la loupe, ou plutôt
à tout ce que la palette
scientifique proposait
d'optiques surpuissantes.

Un élément résistait toutefois
à l'analyse, celui-là même
dont le maître de Crémone
avait toujours refusé
de révéler la formule : le vernis.
 
C'est aujourd'hui chose faite.
Après quatre années
de recherche, on connaît
désormais la structure exacte
du mystérieux revêtement.

Une équipe d'une quinzaine
d'intervenants issus de
sept laboratoires français
et allemands, coordonnée
par Jean-Philippe Echard,
chimiste au laboratoire de
recherche et de restauration
du Musée de la musique, à Paris,
doit en faire l'annonce,
vendredi 4 décembre.

Une publication a été mise
en ligne sur le site de
la Angewandte Chemie
International Edition,
la plus importante revue
de chimie au monde.

Une version papier devrait
suivre en janvier, accompagnée
d'un article dans la revue Nature.

Autant dire que ces conclusions
devraient dépasser
le cercle des mélomanes.

L'œuvre d'Antonio Stradivari
tient de la légende.
De son vivant déjà,
les cours européennes
s'arrachaient ses réalisations.

Rescapé d'une épidémie
de peste qui décima
les luthiers de la plaine du
Pô (nord de l'Italie),
il régnait sur la profession.

Harpes, cistres, violes,
altos, violoncelles, basses,
et bien sûr
violons : 1 100 instruments
quittèrent son atelier au cours
de ses soixante-dix ans d'activité.
Il en resterait aujourd'hui
environ 650.

Entre-temps, le stradivarius
s'est imposé comme
une référence.
Dans les salles de concert,
où les virtuoses qui
le pouvaient l'ont adopté
presque unanimement.
Chez les collectionneurs,
les prix atteignent plusieurs
millions d'euros. Mais aussi
chez les luthiers et
les scientifiques qui ont
tenté de percer le "secret"
de Stradivari.
L'essence des arbres
(des épicéas pour la table,
des érables pour le fond) ?

La période de coupe
(traditionnellement une nuit d'hiver
par lune descendante) ?

Les plans exacts de
ses instruments étaient connus.
Pour le reste, on se perdait
en conjectures.
En 1830, le physicien
Félix Savart obtient du
grand luthier français
Vuillaume le droit de
désosser deux stradivarius.

Sans résultat. Par la suite,
on évoqua le traitement subi
par le bois: densifié par
une vague de froid, selon les uns,
dopé par un parasite,
selon les autres,
bonifié par un passage
dans la lagune vénitienne
pour les troisièmes; on copia
la perfection et l'équilibre
de son dessin, qui fixa
l'instrument dans
sa forme définitive.

Et l'on se pencha sur
le fameux vernis.

AH, LE VERNIS !

"Pendant deux cent
cinquante ans, on a tout entendu,
sourit Jean-Philippe Echard,
tout imaginé. En termes
de sonorité, comme
de couleur.

On a dit que Stradivari ajoutait
au liant de l'ambre fossile
de la propolis, cette gomme
rougeâtre que les abeilles
recueillent sur certains bourgeons,
ou encore de la coquille
de crustacés…"

Depuis la seconde guerre
mondiale, une quinzaine
d'articles scientifiques ont
été publiés sur le sujet.

Les réponses demeuraient
toutefois partielles.

L'échantillon – un ou
deux instruments – restait
insuffisant.

Réalisés par les seuls
chimistes, les travaux ne
permettaient pas de s'assurer
que la partie analysée
était bien d'origine.

L'équipe du Musée de
la musique a employé
les grands moyens.
Elle a intégré à son étude
un luthier, Balthazar Soulier,
qui avait déjà observé plus
d'une soixantaine de stradivarius.

Surtout, elle a assis
sa recherche sur cinq
instruments conservés
dans la collection
de l'établissement de
la porte de La Villette.

Quatre violons et une tête
de viole d'amour – un instrument
à douze cordes tombé en
désuétude au XIXe siècle
– réalisés
entre1692 et 1724,
autrement dit au cours
d'une très large période.

Sur chacun d'entre eux,
ils ont prélevé une parcelle
de vernis de la taille
d'un grain de semoule.

Et ils ont commencé
l'expérience,
ou plutôt les expériences.

D'abord ils ont passé
les particules au
microscope à ultraviolets.
Ils ont ainsi pu déterminer
que les échantillons étaient
composés de deux couches
avec, dans la seconde,
des grains de pigments.

"Mais nous ignorions encore
comment étaient composées
ces couches", raconte
Jean-Philippe Echard.

Les échantillons ont alors
pris le chemin de Saclay,
dans l'Essonne, pour être
analysés en lumière infrarouge
dans le synchrotron Soleil.

Cet immense accélérateur
d'électrons permet de
disposer d'une source
suffisamment intense
pour dresser la cartographie
chimique d'un matériau.

Et c'est là que l'information
essentielle est tombée: le maître
utilisait un simple vernis à l'huile.
Pas de sous-couche dopée
aux extraits de peau, d'os,
ou d'esturgeon, comme
le voulaient certaines légendes.

"Il n'était pas non plus allé
traire les abeilles de
Hongrie orientale une nuit
de pleine lune", s'amuse
Jean-Philippe Echard.

Non: pour sa base, le maître
utilisait une simple
huile siccative, à la façon
des peintres ou des ébénistes.

Cette conclusion a été affinée
au laboratoire du
Museum d'histoire naturelle,
à Paris. En couplant
deux techniques –
la chromatographie en phase
gazeuse et la spectrométrie

Restait à déterminer
le contenu des grains
de pigment. Cette fois,
c'est au Laboratoire de
dynamique, interactions
et réactivité (Ladir),
à Thiais (CNRS, Paris-VI) et
à Dortmund, en Allemagne,
que le dernier élément
du rébus a été déchiffré.

Et là, nouvelle surprise!
Le génial Antonio n'avait pas
inclus dans son vernis
du rouge, mais des rouges,
passant, au cours de sa vie,
d'un coloris nourri d'oxyde
de fer à un vermillon
au sulfate de mercure
pour finir avec un pigment
laqué à base de cochenille.

"Avec le vernis,
l'intentionnalité de Stradivari
n'était pas acoustique,
mais visuelle", conclut
Jean-Philippe Echard.

De quoi détruire le mythe ?
Pas sûr. "Le luthier reste
fasciné par la perfection
du travail, la méthode
extraordinairement aboutie",
assure Balthazar Soulier.

Le public écarquillera
toujours les yeux devant
le prix astronomique
des instruments.

Les meilleurs solistes,
gorgés de confiance,
continueront à le faire
sonner comme aucun autre.

Quant aux fêlés des
quatre cordes, artistes
ou scientifiques, ils
poursuivront leur recherche
éperdue du secret
du vieux maître de Crémone.

Nathaniel Herzberg

Link here
 
--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

The Sowers - You live in me

Surprise à Céline Dion (Roch Voisine,Garou,Pagny,Fiori)

Youssou N'Dour & Rokia Traoré - Birima ("Africa Live: Roll Back Malaria", Geneva, 2005)

Luniz - I Got 5 Five On It

Kizomba (Song Angelo Boss - Oh Fwa Oh Fele)

Naturally 7 Live in Paris Subway ! Full Clip

12/3/09

Kigali's Skyline to Gain From New $60 Million 5-Star Hotel

Kigali City is set to have a new
world class five-star hotel in a
record time of 28 months as
construction works have kicked off
with the Minister of Economic Planning
and Finance, James Musoni gracing
the ground-breaking ceremony
on Monday at the former Jali Club.

Billy Cheung, the New Century Development
Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
said at the ceremony that, "We are
very grateful for having taken
this remarkable step of construction
that will avail a truly 5-star hotel standard
on the Rwandan market.

We are very optimistic that
everything will go successfully
as laid out in the plan."

Cheung said that the preliminary
decision was based on their
unanimous intuition that Rwanda
is committed to creating one of
the world's best destinations
for investment and businesses.

"The subsequent feasibility study
proved us right and we are indeed
proud to be part of the
country's developmental agenda
pegged on rebuilding a country
that was left in tatters as a
result of the 1994 genocide,"
says the CEO.

"We are aware of this
country's reputation of sticking
to project's timelines and quality.

We have, as such, put in place
a strategy that will successfully
guide us to achieving the set target.

We pledged not to cause
a reputation loss" he further said.
 
The hotel, expected to cost
$60 million in terms of investment,
will have 242 rooms ranging
from deluxe rooms to Presidential Suites.

Marriott Hotels International Ltd Group,
an internationally acclaimed
operator, has already been
engaged on the exercise of
hotel management to ensure
a successfully market entry of the hotel.

"We intend to build the Hotel and
arrange for its management as
we go long. We embarked on
the process to engage
an International hotel Operator,
and here we are to proudly present
to you the Marriott Hotels
International Ltd Group," Cheung said.

"We have spent considerable
professional time and other
resources working with
the Marriott group
on the design of the hotel
and management aspects of
our long-term engagement
with them," he added.

Link here

--
J-L K

12/2/09

Equality through education – it's what Namibia is striving for

Peter Mortimore is a teacher and
researcher and the former director
of the Institute of Education,
University of London.
He is currently a professor at
the University of Southern Denmark


Namibia has a thirst for
education – let's hope it doesn't get
hijacked by the privileged
     
Peter Mortimore

The Guardian

Article history

Before our forthcoming election dominates
every aspect of public life, I want to report
on education in a developing country
which, last week, experienced its
third-ever election: Namibia.

The British Council, in association with
the Namibian government,
is undertaking a series of projects
addressing inequality in education
and, this summer, I was invited there
to give a series of related lectures.

Namibia is the size of a combined
Great Britain and France, but has
a population a quarter the size
of Greater London. It includes the sand dunes
of the Namib and Kalahari deserts and
is home to spectacular game parks.

Diamonds, uranium and tungsten,
together with growing tourism,
have the potential to make it wealthy.

The country is committed to preserving
its pollution-free atmosphere and cites
the protection of the environment
in its constitution.

Peopled since the 14th century by
tribes people such as the Ovambo,
and more recently by Afrikaaners from
South Africa, Namibia was a
German colony from 1884 until 1915
(a few coastal towns look positively Bavarian).

It became part of the British empire
under a League of Nations mandate,
but was taken over by South Africa
and subjected to apartheid.

The South West Africa People's Organisation
struggled for liberation for three decades
before finally gaining independence in 1990.

There is a fierce pride in the newly
won freedom. Much energy is devoted
to the creation of a better society,
although the election campaign
has re-evoked some racial tensions.

Not surprisingly, given its history,
Namibia is still an unequal community
with massive differences in income.

Health care is limited, and housing
conditions in townships and
rural areas – to western European
eyes – are dire.

The infamous Bantu Education Act,
imposed by South Africa in 1953,
gave black children low-quality,
poorly funded instruction within
a restricted curriculum.

White children attended separate,
well-funded schools.
On achieving independence,
Namibia began creating
a universal system – building schools,
training thousands of teachers and
enhancing existing skills, designing
a new curriculum and shifting
the language of instruction
from Afrikaans to English.

The government currently spends
6.9% of its gross domestic product
on education – higher than
many western countries.

Schooling is still not free – annual fees
for one child amount to the equivalent
of a month's salary for many workers.

Yet there is a great thirst
for education. On a pre-dawn drive north,
I saw countless children in
immaculate school uniforms walking
alongside the dust roads to schools
often five or six miles away.

Some infants are unable to attend
until they can walk that far.

The University of Namibia has two sites.
One newly designed campus is in Windhoek;
the other, in a former army barracks,
lies close to the Angolan border.

Both need more books, extra computers
and funds to keep the libraries open
in the evenings.

One of the students explained to me
how difficult it was to keep up with
her course reading because the house
where she lodges has no electricity
and darkness falls at 6.30pm.

Namibian academics appeared
well qualified: many professors
have doctorates from the UK and
the US or, increasingly, from China.

A number of impressive British teachers
are involved with Namibian schools,
courtesy of Voluntary Service Overseas.

I met one enthusiastic former
senior teacher from south London
who is helping to raise the quality
of teaching and learning
in schools in some of the poorest areas.

Like many African countries,
Namibia has been hit hard
by HIV/Aids. The government provides
anti-retroviral drugs, but numerous pupils
have lost both parents,
and the lives of many teachers
and students will, in due course,
be further blighted.

Observing the strenuous efforts
of Namibians to obtain schooling is,
for a westerner, deeply humbling.

Better educational opportunities should
enable more people to rise
above poverty and help
to reduce the current massive inequalities.

I fervently hope that Namibia will
find a way to avoid the
situation – common in so many
"developed" countries – whereby
those who are already socially
and economically advantaged
ensure that the education system
perpetuates their
own families' privileged status.

Peter Mortimore is former director
of the Institute of Education

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

12/1/09

RIM BlackBerry How To: Back Up and Restore

Backing up the information on

your BlackBerry regularly can

be the difference between

a minor headache--temporarily

missing contacts--and

a full-blown catastrophe

--permanently

deleted personal data.

Follow these four simple

steps and avoid

the later scenario.

  
  
Click here to find out more!
CIO — Anyone who has ever
experienced the pain of losing
all the data on a PC or
handheld intimately knows
the value of backing up
personal information, whether
it's an iTunes music collection,
digital photo album
or address book.

This can be easier said
than done, but BlackBerry users
are in luck: The handheld data backup
and restore process for
Research In Motion (RIM)
smartphones couldn't be simpler
when you use the BlackBerry
Desktop Manager software,
which ships with every
new RIM device.

Our previous BlackBerry tips

of week included list of our

favorite BlackBerry downloads--

free, open source and otherwise--

keyboard shortcuts for both novice

and expert BlackBerry users

and battery life advice, as well as

tips and tricks to help you

understand and optimize--even

expand--your RIM

smartphone's memory.

This week we'll demonstrate how

you can protect the valuable data

on your BlackBerry by backing it

up on your PC's hard drive--we'll

even show you how to

automatically backup your device

data in preset intervals.

To get started, all you'll need is

your BlackBerry device, the latest

version of RIM's BlackBerry

Desktop Manager, a Microsoft

Windows PC--the desktop

software's not currently available

to Mac users--and a USB cable

to link your mobile phone

and computer.

1) Download the Latest Version

of RIM's BlackBerry Desktop Manager

First, you'll want to download

the latest version of RIM's BlackBerry

Desktop Manager software, which

at the time of this article's time

of publication is v4.5.

To determine which version

of Desktop Manager you're

currently running, launch

the program via Windows

Start Menu by clicking

All Programs, BlackBerry and

Desktop Manager.

When the program's open, hit

the Help tab on the main screen

and then choose About BlackBerry

Desktop Manager.

The software version will be listed

on the General tab.

If you're not running Desktop

Manager v4.5, visit RIM's site

and download and install

the latest version of the software.

2) Launch Desktop Manager,

Connect Your BlackBerry and PC

Next, launch the desktop manager

software if you haven't already

done so. Follow the procedure

detailed above to open the program

if you didn't choose to create

a desktop shortcut upon installation.

When the program is running,

connect your BlackBerry device

to the PC via USB cord.

Close any dialogue boxes that

may appear when your BlackBerry

is connected, including

the desktop manager box that

informs you it's searching

for application updates.

Your BlackBerry should now

be connected to the software

and the word "Connected" should

appear in both the top and

bottom left corners of

the desktop manager screen.

If you're still not connected,

try unplugging the device

and inserting it into

another USB port.

3) Backup All or Some

of the Data on Your BlackBerry

Click on the Backup and Restore

icon in the top right corner of

the desktop manager

home screen. The following screen

should offer three

separate options: Backup, Restore

and Advanced.

To save all the personal data

stored in your BlackBerry's internal

memory, hit the Back up tab,

choose a name and location

for the file and hit Save.

The backup process should

take about a minute, and your

BlackBerry screen will display

a graphic of a connected handheld

and PC while it's in progress.

image of BlackBerry Desktop Manager transfer screen on handheld

You can also set your BlackBerry

Desktop Manager to automatically

backup device data in

preset intervals (5 days, 7 days,

14 days, etc.) whenever you launch

the program and connect

your smartphone and PC.

To do so, click the Options tab

beneath the Backup icon,

and on the following screen

fill in the box next to

Back up my device data

automatically every XX days.

Then choose the specific data

you want backed up.

For instance, you can opt

to back up all of

your device data, or all data

except messages and/or

data that's synced with

an organizer app.

When you've selected

the information you want

to copy, hit OK and then click

the Back up tab on

the main screen.

To further customize
the specific information you
wish to back up, click
the Advanced tab on
the main Backup and
Restore
screen.
You'll quickly see
a dialogue box that displays
the application's progress
scanning your device database,
and then a screen with
two columns appears: one column
on the left named Computer
Databases
and another on
the right titled Device Databases.
In the right column, select
the specific device data you
wish to backup and then
hit the left-facing arrow between
the columns to copy
the information from
the Device Databases side
to the Computer Databases.
Once you've transferred all
the data you wish to copy,
open the File dropdown
menu--located directly above
the Computer Databases
column--choose a name
for your backup file and
save it to your hard drive.

4) Restore Data to Your

BlackBerry Using

Desktop Manager Files

Restoring BlackBerry device data

using the desktop manager

software and backup files

created using the application

isn't difficult at all.

First, you'll want to locate

your backup files so they're

easy to find when you try

to restore data.

Next, launch the BlackBerry

Desktop Manager, click

the Backup and Restore icon

in the top right corner and

on the next screen,

and choose Restore.

Browse to the appropriate

backup file on your hard drive

and click Open.

You'll then be asked

to confirm that you wish

to replace all the existing data

on your device with

the information in

the backup file.

Hit Yes, and the desktop manager

starts restoring your data.

This can take several minutes

depending on the amount

of information in the file.

image of Computer Databases and Device Databases from BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Restoring only specific device data,

such as address book contacts

or custom AutoText entries,

is similar to the above-mentioned

process, but instead of hitting

Restore on the main Backup

and Restore screen,

click Advanced.

Then open the File dropdown

menu on the left--directly

above the Computer Databases

column--and open an existing

back up file.

Choose the specific data

you'd like to restore from

that file and click

the right-facing arrow

between the Computer

Databases and Device

Databases columns.

When the progress box

disappears, your data has

been restored and

you're good to go.

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

India to Set Up Automatic Monitoring of Communications

By John Ribeiro

IDG News Service — India plans
to set up a centralized system
to monitor communications on
mobile phones, landlines and
the Internet in the country,
a minister told the
Rajya Sabha,
the upper house
of Parliament, on Thursday.

Indian laws allow the interception
and monitoring of communications
under certain conditions,
including to counter terrorism.

A pilot of the new Centralized
Monitoring System (CMS) is
to be started by June next year,
subject to clearances by
other government agencies,
Gurudas Kamat, Minister of
State for Communications and
Information Technology told
the Rajya Sabha, according to
an announcement by
the government's Press
Information Bureau.

The CMS will have central and
regional databases to help central
and state-level enforcement agencies
intercept and monitor communications,
the government said.

It will also have direct electronic
provisioning of target numbers
by government agencies without
any intervention from
telecom service providers, it added.

It will also feature analysis of
call data records and data mining
of these records to identify
call details, location details,
and other information of
the target numbers.

The current system used by
the government for call monitoring
can be easily compromised
because of the requirement of
manual intervention at many stages,
the minister said.

Interception using the new system
will also be instant, he added.

The statement by Kamat comes
on the anniversary of
a terrorist attack on a number
of sites in Mumbai, including
two premium hotels,
a railway station, and
a Jewish community center.

The terrorists are believed
to have used mobile communications
and the Internet extensively
to plan and execute their attacks.

The government brought into
force earlier this year
the Information Technology
(Amendment) Act 2008,
an amendment to an earlier law,
which broadened the
government's powers
to intercept and
monitor communications.

Some experts have argued that
the government should
set up an organization like
an ombudsman to ensure
that information collected
during surveillance
is not misused.

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

Getting Even With A Cheater

Sweet Revenge 

by Bobbi Misick

Learning that your man is cheating
is likely to make your blood boil--even
if you've suspected that he's been
playing around for quite some time.

When your partner burns you that
deeply, "it's a natural urge to want
to get revenge," says infidelity expert
Ruth Houston, author of "Is He Cheating
On You...829 Telltale Signs."

While Houston acknowledges that
the best revenge is to leave him and
never look back, she understands
that taking the high road can be hard.

ESSENCE.com asked Houston
to share her insights on what you
can do after you've caught
him red-handed.

ESSENCE.com: What is the most
common revenge tactic?


RUTH HOUSTON: 
Women are more
inclined to have a retaliatory affair
 than men are.
But most women who are really bent
on getting revenge will usually resort
to destroying personal
property of cheaters.

ESSENCE.com: What are the
consequences of revenge affairs?


HOUSTON:
Revenge affairs usually
backfire. It generally doesn't work out
the way the woman thinks it will.
Either he doesn't care or he's not
able to get past revenge cheating.

Men are not as forgiving
as women are. Usually it's such
an affront to his manhood that,
if she's desirous of getting
the relationship back on track,
it can totally destroy [any chance of that].

ESSENCE.com: What are
the consequences of
destroying his property?

HOUSTON:
It's not a good idea.
It can either land you in jail or
escalate to violence with the partner.

ESSENCE.com: What are some
legal ways to get revenge?

HOUSTON:
There are about
seven states remaining--Hawaii, Illinois,
Mississippi, New Mexico,
North Carolina, South Dakota
and Utah--where a married woman
can sue [her husband's] mistress
for "alienation of affection,"
and she can get money
from the mistress.

If the mistress is a woman
of means, the betrayed wife
can make a pretty penny.

Some women will look to
run up [their husband's] charge
account and max out
their charge cards.

If he's a man of means, he'll have
less money to buy the Cadillacs
and the expensive things
that he's used to.

If there are children involved,
many times a woman will deny
her man access to his children
or she may divorce him and
take such a huge chunk of
his income for alimony and
child support that he has nothing
to live on, and, in many cases,
the mistress doesn't want him any more.

ESSENCE.com: What is
third party revenge?

HOUSTON:
Some women will go
through a third party to get revenge.
For example, if the person comes
from a very religious background,
the woman may reveal the affair
to [her man's] church family or
a minister.

If it's a workplace affair, [she] may
go to human resources.
If he's cheating with a woman
who is married or in
a committed relationship,
[his wife or girlfriend] may tell
the spouse or significant
other of the mistress.

Also, wives and girlfriends are
privy to their man's deep
dark secrets.

If he owes back taxes, many women
will blow the whistle.
If he's involved in some
shady activities, some women
will drop a dime.

ESSENCE.com: What's your
advice to those who want
to seek revenge?

HOUSTON:
Revenge is not healthy
to actually carry out, but
some people really and truly can
not get past the infidelity unless
they feel they have evened the score.

The best revenge is just to ignore
the cheater; put him so completely
out of your life and let him see
that he was so insignificant in
your life that he didn't cause a ripple.

It's easier said than done, but if you
try to let some time pass and
think rationally about it, then
you'll realize it's not worth the trouble.

I don't advocate revenge at all,
but if you have to do something,
do something harmless.

ESSENCE.com: Give us
an example of something
harmless that women have done.


HOUSTON:
[Before she left her husband]
one woman cut one arm off of all
of his business suits and that
Monday when he got up
to put his suit on, one arm
was missing from all of his suits.

In her mind she evened the score,
but it was pretty harmless,
except that he needed
to buy some new clothes.

Read more of Houston's tips for dealing
with infidelity
at www.InfidelityAdvice.com.

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

How To Profit From The Chocoholic’s Worst Nightmare

by Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

In the volatile world of commodity

investing, they're called "softs."

But we know them as commodities like

coffee, sugar, orange juice and cocoa.

And when it comes to investing,

the latter represents an excellent

opportunity right now.

Cocoa grows predominantly in the

West African nations of the Ivory Coast

and Ghana, which churn out 40%

and 20% of the world's production

respectively.

Because of the particular growing

conditions for soft commodities,

prices tend to fluctuate due

to weather issues, political conflicts,

credit shortages and the

inability to respond to rising prices.

When any of those happen – as

they frequently do, companies have

to cope by charging more.

And that means investors

can do quite well…

A Sour Mix

Right now, things aren't so

sweet for chocolate lovers.

While analysts expect cocoa

demand to recover quickly from

the global economic downturn – growing

anywhere between 1.5% and 3%

between 2009 and 2010 – the market

cannot sustain that kind of pressure.

The increase in cocoa-craving

consumers will create a

growing market deficit for the

fourth year in a row, rising from

62,000 metric tons in 2008 to

73,000 this year according to

the International Cocoa Organization.

And with the industry forecasting

that consumption will outpace

supply yet again next year,

the cocoa market could very well

enter its worst period

of shortage in 40 years.

To make it worse, El Nino weather

patterns could affect production

in Indonesia, the world's third-largest

producer, and Ecuador,

the seventh-largest.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria – the

fourth-largest producer – political

problems lowered exports by

22% earlier this year and could

affect the crop at any point again.

But even with all of that, the real

reason cocoa prices should

soar is down to the Ivory Coast…

The Ivory Coast's Lagging Production

Thanks to too much rain and the

Black Pod Disease – a fungal

infection that can ruin

entire crops – the Ivory Coast

reported a poor cocoa harvest

this year. And even if it gets

perfectly favorable weather

in the months ahead, the country

could deliver a still smaller crop

due to too many aging trees.

And it's not simply a question

of planting new trees. That endeavor

requires time and money,

the latter of which small farmers

in that region – already among

the world's most heavily

taxed growers – simply don't have.

Under that kind of stress, Ivory Coast

output could decline as much as

15% in 2010 – some

100,000 metric tons.

And that's on top of a

200,000 metric ton drop in

the 2008-2009 season.

This has cocoa buyers such

as Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) and

Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) worried.

Both firms have launched programs

aimed at replanting trees,

in a desperate effort to avoid

a long-term decline in output.

The problem is, no one is certain

whether those efforts will succeed,

especially with the region's largest

cocoa workers' union threatening

to strike if its demands for

government subsidies and

farmers' co-operatives aren't met.

And finally, we have the fact that

many chocolate manufacturers

have yet to cover their needs

for next year…

Enrich Your Portfolio

Not good news for chocoholics.

But if you're an investor, it could be

a sweet ride, as prices move

to their highest levels

since February 1980.

With the problems in the Ivory Coast

looking like they could take

a while to resolve, investors still

have plenty of time to get

on board this upward trend

in cocoa prices.

Experienced commodities traders

could take advantage through

the cocoa futures or

futures options market directly.

But a simpler way is to invest

through an exchange-traded

note (ETN).

Trading on the New York Stock

Exchange just like a stock,

the unleveraged Dow Jones-UBS

Cocoa Subindex Total

Return ETN (NYSE: NIB) is

based on cocoa futures and will

mirror the performance

of cocoa, minus the fees.

Good investing,

Tony Daltorio

P.S. For more commodities

recommendations, take a look at

the Xcelerated Profits Report.

The advisory issues picks

on gold, natural gas, sugar

and other everyday commodities

that could prove extremely

lucrative for savvy investors.

For more information,

take a look here.

More on this topic (What's this?)


This Commodity Rally Is Bigger
Than Gold (Red Hot Energy
and Gold - Global..., 10/12/09)

Old-fashioned commodities;
old-fashioned strength
(Contrarian Profits, 11/11/09)

Read more on Cocoa,
Commodities at Wikinvest

Related Investment U Articles:


Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

11/30/09

How far can Rwanda go in expanding tax bracket?

Mr Paul Kagame: Rwanda president
and chairman of the
EAC summit. Photo/FILE


By Eugene Kwibuka  (email the author)

BUSINESS DAILY

Until last year, Jean Nepomuscene
Ndahimana, a street hawker in
the Nyamirambo area of Kigali
in Rwanda, was able to go about
his business selling socks
without being hassled by the police.

He bought a small house in the
town's poor suburb of Rwampara
for his family and was able
to make a respectable, if simple, living.

But last year the government began
to enforce a trade law
prohibiting street hawkers.

The police began a campaign
to get hawkers off the streets and
Mr Ndahimana found himself
in a dilemma: unable to afford
a trading licence to sell his wares
legally, but not prepared
to give up his livelihood.

So he continued to sell his socks
while trying to dodge the police.
He has evaded them many times.

But the 30-year-old says he has
also been arrested, even temporarily
locked up, and had his goods
confiscated innumerable times.

He ended up in debt, was forced
to sell his house and to send
his wife and two children back
to his home village while he continues
to try to eke out a living while
staying one step ahead of the police.

Create jobs

"President Kagame said that
every Rwandan should create a job
and this is the job I created for myself,
why should I be denied (the right)
to do it?"

he asks while carefully setting out
the various socks that he sells.

A banner banning street
hawking hangs close by.

Mr Ndahimana's predicament is
becoming a common story in Kigali,
where the government is currently
trying to bring the informal sector
into the tax bracket.

President Paul Kagame has said
he wants his government to raise
enough money through taxes so that
Rwanda no longer depends
on foreign aid from countries
such as Britain.

At the country's eighth National
Tax Day recently, where awards
such as "most compliant and
exemplary taxpayer" are handed out,
Mr Kagame called upon all
Rwandans to stop looking at tax
as a burden but rather a means
of facilitating the country's progress
and economic growth.

But there are many hurdles,
not least the high cost of
buying the necessary licences.

Small-time traders like
Mr Ndahimana say they
cannot afford to pay.

Mr Ndahimana spends around
Rwf 85,000 ($150) a month buying socks.

If he sells them all he can make up
to Rwf 10,000 ($18) over two weeks.

Mr Ndahimana insists he is
too poor to formalise his business.

"Starting a shop is too expensive
for me and it doesn't guarantee me
that I will obtain the profit I used
to get by hawking," he says.

"I always tell [the police and
local officials] that I will continue
to do it because despite their threats
this is how I earn a living."

Mr Ndahimana's determination
to stay in the informal sector
presents a challenge for the government.

Difficulties of collecting taxes

Collecting taxes in many
developing countries is hard.

The Rwandan Revenue Authority,
which was set up in 1995,
has been held up as
an example of success
in terms of tax collection.

A three-fold increase in tax revenues
between 1998 and 2006 saw
the national budget also grow
three-fold, from Rwf 175 billion
($308 million) to Rwf 528 billion
($928 million).

And as tax revenues have
increased the proportion of
Rwanda's budget financed
by aid has declined.

In 2001, only 34.62 per cent of
the total budget was financed by
domestic sources, while in 2008
it hit 44 per cent and is
expected to rise again this year.

However, Rwanda's major remaining
hurdle to strengthening its
domestic revenue base is
integrating the country's informal sector.

According to the Private Sector Federation
(PSF), an organisation
dedicated to promoting business
in Rwanda, about 0.3 per cent
of tax payers currently contribute
48 per cent of Rwanda's tax revenue.

There are fewer than 3,000
registered companies paying
national taxes in Rwanda,
according to a case study on
the Rwandan Revenue Authority
by the UK's Department for
International Development (DfID)
and the Foreign Investment
Advisory Service (FIAS).

Of these, the top 13 companies are
estimated to pay some 80 per cent
of all taxes collected in Rwanda.

"Over 40 per cent of Rwanda's dealers
are in the informal economy,"
says Gerald Nkusi Mukubu,
director of the Taxpayer Services
Department at the Rwanda
Revenue Authority.

"Every year we have a target for
tax collection and it depends on
the situation of the country's economy.

If all of those people in the
informal sector pay taxes, there is
no doubt that we can finance
the whole budget of the country."

Explaining the importance of paying taxes

Gustave Tombola, the Director
of Research and Consultancy
at Kigali Independent University,
recently led a three-year
research project into taxing
small and medium businesses.

He says if the government is
to successfully collect tax
from the informal sector
it will have many hurdles to overcome.

"The biggest challenge of taxing
the informal sector is to locate
where its businesses are
working from," he said.

Mr Tombola, who defines
the informal sector in Rwanda as
any business with no clear
accounting records, adds that
the second challenge is
a lack of knowledge about
the tax system by informal sector workers.

Because they do not always
understand the system, and cannot
afford to hire an accountant,
they can end up paying
higher taxes than they need to.

The study calls on the Rwanda
Revenue Authority to train
small and medium enterprises
on fiscal laws and visit them
to explain the importance of paying taxes.

Sells vegetables

In Nyamirambo market, just
a few metres from where
Mr Ndahimana hawks his socks,
Julienne Mukarugambwa,
a 56-year-old mother of
six children has a different story to tell.

Mrs Mukarugambwa sells
vegetables from a small,
one metre square space that
she rents for Rwf 3,600 every month.

This fee covers Rwf 2,000 as
a tax for the district, while
the remainder pays towards
cleaning and guarding the market.

With an outlay of around
Rwf 15,000 ($26) on vegetables
for resale, Mrs Mukarugambwa can
make a profit of
Rwf 4,000 ($7) in two days.

She says that she is happy to pay
tax as it is good for her country.
However, more importantly, she says,
it means she no longer faces
any hassle from the police.

"I am happy today because no one
threatens me," she said.

"I would have died from police beatings
and efforts to escape arrest if
I hadn't come here," she says,
gesturing to her stall.

"I also think that the taxes we pay
help to support the country's many
orphans, widows, and AIDS patients."

The aim of the RRA is now to turn
the country's Mr Ndahimanas into
Mrs Mukarugambwas.

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

11/29/09

Décès de la princesse Ferial

La princesse Ferial lors des
funérailles du prince Rainier
de Monaco (AFP)


NOUVELOBS.COM

La princesse Ferial, fille du roi
Farouk 1er d'Égypte, est morte
d'un cancer de l'estomac à Genève,
où elle s'était définitivement installée.

Elle sera enterrée dans
son pays d'origine.

La princesse Ferial, fille du roi
Farouk 1er d'Égypte, chassé du
pouvoir en 1952, est morte
dimanche 29 novembre à Genève
après sept années de lutte
 contre un cancer de l'estomac,
a-t-on appris auprès d'un
proche de la famille, Lotus Abdel Karim.

La princesse Ferial était née en
1938 à Alexandrie (nord), de l'union
du roi Farouk avec Farida,
sa première femme.

Elle avait suivi des études en Suisse,
où elle s'était définitivement installée.
"Elle sera enterrée en Égypte.

Sa dépouille sera rapatriée (...) d'ici
un à deux jours", a précisé
Lotus Abdel Karim.

Le père de la princesse avait abdiqué
dans le cadre de la révolution de 1952.
Son fils, Ahmed Fouad
(Fouad II d'Égypte) lui avait alors succédé,
mais il avait été contraint de rejoindre
sa famille en exil après
la proclamation de
la République en 1953.

(Nouvelobs.com avec AFP)

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda

France and Rwanda agree to restore ties

 Seattle Pi Europe

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS -- The French presidency says

France and Rwanda have agreed

to restore diplomatic ties three years

after they were cut off amid

tensions over a

French judicial investigation.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's office

says his chief of staff, Claude Gueant,

has met with Rwandan President

Paul Kagame in the African

nation's capital. It says the men

agreed Sunday "to re-establish

diplomatic relations between

the two countries."

Rwanda decided in November 2006

to break diplomatic ties with

France after a French investigating

judge accused Kagame of ordering

the 1994 assassination of Rwandan

President Juvenal Habyarimana.

The downing of the plane sparked (?)

the violence that led to the

slaughter of more than 500,000 people,

mainly Tutsis and moderate Hutus,

in less than 100 days.

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda