boots and thongs

 Australian government department has issued an official dress code to civil servants, ordering them to stop turning up in “onesies, ugg-boots and thongs”.

The immigration department, which typically makes headlines internationally for its role in detaining boat people in offshore detention centres, said it has issued a new dress code to its staff because they have been turning up in increasingly casual attire.

"There are certain things that wouldn't constitute professional business dress and that would be things like jeans, thongs [or flip-flops], ugg boots and so on," Jan Dorrington, a senior department official, told a parliamentary committee.

Asked whether staff actually turn up to work in ugg boots – the sheepskin footwear popular in Australia and New Zealand, and now, around the world – Ms Dorrington responded: "Ah, you'd be surprised.”

^{Ugg boots (Alamy)}

Mike Pezzullo, the departmental secretary, said he was asked to rule on the appropriateness of “onesies” – or loose-fitting jumpsuits for adults – even though he had not previously been familiar with the term.

"At one point Ms Dorrington came to me with a number of matters that had arisen and I was asked to, if you like, rule or make a determination around something called the wearing of onesies," he said.

"I didn't even know what a onesie was and I was shown pictures of such garb."

Asked by an MP for a definition of the term, Mr Pezzullo responded: “I had to put it out of my head very quickly, senator.”

He added: "I guess in the old days you would have called it a boiler suit of some description."

Mr Pezzullo said the rules were not draconian but designed to encourage "basic professionalism".

brilliant mathematician

he brilliant mathematician who won the Nobel in economics and whose life inspired a book and Oscar-winning flick `A Beautiful Mind’, died in a car crash on Saturday night. Nash’s contribution helped `Game Theory’ gain popularity, leading to its widespread use by  firms as mainstream corporate strategy.

What is game theory?

Game theory is a branch of mathematical economics first theorised by Jon Von Neumann in the 1930s. It involves the principles of probability in a multi-player world where each player (agent, firm etc) attaches a certain probability to the other players’ behaviour to an action he himself undertakes.

Which are the areas of application of game theory?

Game theory is applied in several areas of current research including space sciences, engineering, stock markets, auctions, multi-firm bids in corporate mergers and acquisitions, and even in geo-political diplomatic strategies of war and peace.

How does it work?

Game theory has several branches: Cooperative Games, Non-Cooperative Games, Strategic Games etc. Its work can be best explained in the context of auctions.

An auction is a non-cooperative game involving several players. Each player assumes that the other players would react in a certain way for every action of his.

A game of chess explains this more clearly. A chess player bases his moves assuming that his opponent would respond in a particular way and vice-versa. The strategies and tactics are based on these assumptions. In mathematics, these are called as “mixed probabilities” where the assumptions are based on incomplete information on opponents.

Are there any specific examples that can be cited that has used game theoretic tools as mainstream corporate strategy?

Yes there are. The acquisition of a European steel maker by an Indian company (Tata Steel) in 2007 reflects the principles of a non-cooperative game theoretic strategy. After the bids were submitted, both the Indian company and its rival, a South American firm, were asked to participate in an auction to win the rights of ownership of the target company. As the auction began and reached the ninth round, the Indian company announced the tactic saying that it would bid five pence more than whatever the South American rival bids.

The strategy was based on the probability that South American company would not bid beyond the certain point as the Indian company’s bid would anyway be higher by five pence than its rival’s. This move was based on the assumption that the probability of the rival continuing to bid beyond a certain level would be negligible. It turned out as planned. The probabilities were based on the financial muscle and other issues of the rival company, which the Indian firm had factored into the auction process.

What does Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp last year mean for the buyer in a game theoretic approach?

Facebook’s decision to buy WhatsApp for such a high price was probably based on its plans to penetrate the mobile internet arena, which is billed as the next big thing in the realm of social networking. WhatsApp, and some of its peers such as Viber, WeChat and Hike, could eventually bring the curtains down on SMS, the short messaging service.

For Facebook it was critical to embrace the emerging group messaging culture that is fast changing the grammar of social media communication. The deal brings on WhatsApp’s  then 450 million subscribers, of which 10% were then in India, to its fold, enabling its immediate expansion as an on-the-move network from mostly desktops and smart-phones. Facebook can use its mobile ad technology in a combo offer where it can aggregate for advertisers audiences based on both social networking and messaging.

How can Facebook’s agreement to pay such a heavy price for this purchase be explained through game theory?

Facebook’s strategy was simple: price out the rivals from the market. There were reports that internet giant Google was also in active discussions to buy out WhatsApp. Initial reports had claimed that Google had bid $10 billion for the company, just about half of the amount Facebook offered. Later reports suggest that Google upped its offer for WhatsApp after it learned how much Facebook would eventually pay the messaging service. It is an example of a game theoretic exercise, where firms try to out-think each other in a competitive market.

Malaysia migrant

Malaysian police have revealed grisly new details of their probe into hundreds of graves found on a people trafficking route, saying some of the corpses they had unearthed showed signs of torture.

While they did not elaborate on what methods of torture had been used, they said that metal chains had been found near some of the burial sites, suggesting some of the dead had spent time as prisoners.

The disclosures came in a police press conference on Monday, which followed the second large-scale discovery of shallow graves in the border zone with Thailand in less than a month. At the beginning of May, the skeletons of 33 migrants were found in a bamboo forest at an abandoned smuggling compound.

At Monday's press conference, Malaysian detectives said that a total of 139 suspected migrant grave sites had now been found in 28 people-trafficking camps along the Thai border.

Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia's national police chief said some of the graves, found since 11 May, probably contained more than one body, raising the possibility that the total number of dead could run into several hundred.

^{Forensic officials digging out skeletons from shallow graves in the border zone between Malaysia and Thailand (AFP)}

"They are not sure how many bodies are in each grave," he told reporters in Wang Kelian, Malaysia. "The first team of our officers has arrives in the area this morning to exhume the bodies."

The largest of the camps, which were found between May 11 and 23 in hard-to-reach mountainous jungle areas, could have held up to 300 people, according to Malaysian officials.

The dead are believed to be mainly Bangladeshi jobseekers and Rohingya Muslims fleeing Burma, where they face persecution at the hands of the country's Buddhist majority.

Thousands are ferried by traffickers through the region each year, but in recent years traffickers have taken to holding them hostage around the border areas until their families pay ransoms for their release.

Human rights groups say that most are in such desperate circumstances already that they have little choice to comply. They have also accused local officials of turning a blind eye to the trade in return for backhanders.

“Clearly this area has been an enclave for these ransom-for-release camps," said Philip Robertson, deputy Asia director with Human Rights Watch, in an interview with Voice of America. "And I don't believe for a second that that could take place without connivance, at some level, by the authorities.”

^{A Malaysian policeman dismounts from a truck transporting human remains exhumed from the graves (AFP)}

Past investigations by the Reuters news agency have shown ransoms demands ranging from $1,200 to $1,800, a fortune for impoverished migrants used to living on a dollar or two a day.

Pictures of the camps shown to journalists by Malaysian police showed basic wooden huts built in forest clearings.

The International Organization for Migration, said that migrants had been roaming in the Thai forests on the point of starvation and suffering vitamin deficiency.

"It's people who are skeletal, they have no fat on their body they're just bones. They can no longer support their weight," he told the BBC. "They are no longer a commodity to smugglers they're an example to others that they have to pay."

The camps were found along a 30-mile stretch of the Thai-Malaysian border and were only hundreds of metres from the graves discovered in Thailand at the beginning of the month.

^{A policeman and a rescue worker take pictures of bodies retrieved from a mass grave near the Thai border with Malaysia (Reuters)}

Mr Khalid said ammunition was also found in the vicinity, suggesting the presence of armed trafficking gangs.

"We were shocked by the cruelty," added. "We are working closely with our counterparts in Thailand. We will find the people who did this."

Thailand has taken into custody or issued arrest warrants for nearly 80 people in connection with the smuggling.

“In Thailand what we've seen is local politicians and police being arrested. That's a first step,” added Mr Robertson. “But they're not getting to the real masterminds, the sort of senior patrons behind these movements. And I'm expecting that we may see the same on the Malaysian side, as well, that a few low-level scapegoats will be rounded up to take the blame for what was happening here.”

soney xperiaz

soney hopes to tempt potential phone shoppers with the Xperia Z's unique mix of durability, sexy design, and a powerful camera. Now available for preorder at T-Mobile for $99.99 down (and 24 payments of $20 per month) and hitting stores on July 17, it's billed as the company's top mobile device and has a lot to prove. Sadly, the Xperia Z's pokey imaging system and short battery life can't stand up to the likes of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, both sold by T-Mobile for the same up-front price. Those competing gadgets add up to better buys, that is unless you absolutely must have a water- and dust-resistant smartphone.

Design
Looking more like a mysterious monolith than your average smartphone, the Sony Xperia Z's almost featureless rectangular shape doesn't give up its secrets easily. Its glossy black, all-glass chassis has a smooth surface that's practically blank and a front face devoid of any physical buttons

A 3-megapixel front-facing camera, tiny notification light, and earpiece above and a minute speaker below are the only distractions from the Xperia Z's huge 5-inch screen. As a matter of fact, the phone's sole tangible controls sit on the Xperia's right edge -- a large circular power key placed next to a trim volume bar.

That doesn't mean the handset lacks the typical allotment of ports and connections. On the contrary, the Xperia Z hides them under protective flaps to guard against rude intrusion from dirt and liquids. Indeed, Sony claims that the Z meets the IP55 and IP57 international protocols for durability. That means you can immerse the phone in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes without any issues. The same goes for exposure to dust and other fine particles, which will have a hard time slipping through the Xperia Z's defenses to its sensitive electronics.

Sony's special sauce
The Xperia Z doesn't run vanilla Android. Rather, Sony has grafted its own UI on top of Google's operating system. Thankfully it's a light alteration consisting mainly of a tweaked lock screen and notification shade. For example, the Xperia lets you jump straight to the camera or music player from the lock screen. The phone also offers six home screens instead of plain Android Jelly Bean's five.

Of course this wouldn't be a real Sony smartphone if it didn't hawk content from the company's library of digital entertainment, called the Sony Entertainment Network. A Video Unlimited app serves up movies and TV shows for download, either to rent or purchase. Be warned, though, that once you rent video and begin playing it, you have up 24 hours to enjoy it. After this time period expires, it vanishes in a virtual puff of smoke. Additionally you're locked into viewing video content on the specific phone you downloaded it to.

The Music Unlimited application lets subscribers listen to streamed or cached songs in addition to a range of genre-based music stations, provided you pay a $9.99 monthly fee. The only way to download music to the phone for listening offline, however, is to add tracks to a playlist, then set that playlist for offline access. You also must kick the Music Unlimited app into offline mode. Needless to say I found all the steps required to watch and listen to Sony's digital content on the Xperia Z add up to a confusing and often frustrating procedure.

iPad 4

iPad 4 with Retina display review

Update, 20 Mar 2014: The iPad 4 is back! Apple has announced that the iPad 2 is being discontinued, and that the iPad 4 - which is just called 'iPad with Retina display' on theApple Store - is being revived to takes its place. In this article we present our updated iPad 4 review, and help you decide whether you should buy the iPad 4 or the iPad Air (or something else entirely).

For more info, see also our iPad Air review and our specific article iPad Air vs iPad 4 comparison review.

The iPad 4 with Retina display launched in November 2013, and we promptly reviewed it (you can see our original review on the second page of this article). Handing out a 4-star rating, we pointed out that the iPad 4 was an exceptional tablet but represented a limited upgrade from the iPad 3. "If you have an iPad 3 there really is no reason to get an iPad 4 - unless you really want 4G LTE," we wrote.

Sixteen months later - during which time the iPad 4 has been briefly discontinued and then returned to the line-up - we return to our iPad 4 review and reconsider that verdict. We've had long-term use with the iPad 4 now, and more experience of its advantages and limitations. And the market has changed somewhat; rival tablets have moved on, and Apple's iPad Air has launched. With the iPad 2 consigned to the dustbin of history, is now a good time to buy an iPad 4, or are better options available?

iPad reviews | iPad Air review

iPad 4 with Retina display review: The basics

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