Multimedia Education

It is my vision is that, well within the lifetimes of today's students, it will be commonplace for almost all educated people to create multimedia, as well as use multimedia information that others prepare. This multimedia will either be for standalone play back as in a CD on a PC or for distribution over the Web. The advantages of learning or acquiring information for knowledge or entertainment by employing multiple sensory modalities hardly need restating. However, it is important to emphasize the advantages of actively creating multimedia, in addition to passively using others' creations.

This means that student- prepared book reports become multimedia book reports; lab reports include video observations and audio annotation; and the traditionally written Spanish homework becomes not just text, but also includes audio, graphics, and even video. It means that business people routinely add media to their memos, E-mail, and reports. Creating and making effective use of multimedia will substantially enrich peoples' personal lives, not just school lives and business lives. Few can doubt the enjoyment that multimedia E-mail delivers to Grandparents that live remotely to their grandchildren. Many of today's students will work actively in some capacity with interactive, digital information, in jobs that promise excitement similar to the present excitement.

How do we move toward this direction? The objective of this site is to pull together the best of the Web sites, to report on information relating to multimedia education, and to discuss issues among ourselves that can be helpful in providing education on multimedia. Together, we will be working toward answering questions such as the following:

· What will be the main impacts of multimedia (interacting with text, graphics, images, audio, and video) on students, professionals, and cultures?

· How can you quickly gain some technical competence in using and creating multimedia, so you can begin to accumulate valid experiences?

· What framework helps us to understand the effects of multimedia, now and in the next decade?

· How can you approach multimedia with the right expectations?

· What are suitable road maps and time tables?

· Where should you start selecting among many choices for hardware and software, all of which tend to be somewhat hard to use?

· How can you be more creative yourself?

· How can you foster multimedia creativity in others?

· What is the state of the art in multimedia hardware?

· Do you need to keep up with a new generation every six months?

· What will major challenges and opportunities be over the next several

· How can we divide software up into layers, in order to understand alternatives , incompatibilities, and hodge podges of acronyms?

· What software could give you good long-term return on your investments of time and dollars?

· What are useful evaluation criteria for applications?

· What organizations and styles of applications exist and how do you select and use them to achieve specific desired results?

· How do the four generations of applications differ in appearance and use?

· What techniques should you learn for using and creating applications for various cultures?

· How can you develop applications yourself?

· What authoring system and platform will you use to create your class project and what will your topic be?

· How can you best review others' research, and perform your own research, on subjects relating

to multimedia education?

· Where is the market for multimedia applications now and where is it going?

· Who are the key suppliers of applications?

· What are the impediments to profitable, effective multimedia creation?

· What are useful approaches to making money and managing authoring teams as they plan, develop, test, ship, and market applications?

· What tradeoffs are required and how do you make them?

· What skills are required now and in the future?

· Why is reusable content so important?

· How do you handle the legalities and ethics of copyrights and credits?

We will explore possible answers to these questions, with your help, with weekly reports and updates.

Top 20 Asian progressives

Other publications list Asia's most influential, or its most powerful or richest, but World Business is more forward-looking than that. We have spotlighted the individuals driving Asia forward - those that are helping to bring about rules-based civil societies, or who are advancing the cause of better governance, be it in business or government. One of the greatest guarantees of freedom is the free-flow of information, debate and commentary, and so our list includes several who are integral to promoting debate where governments of the region seek to restrict it. Included are several prominent bloggers who risk their livelihoods to bring to the people of Asia commentary and opinion that is a matter of course in the West.
We have included some of the region's prominent businesspeople, notable not only for their forward-looking approach but also for their philanthropy, which remains essential in Asia where governments for the most part lack sufficient resources to do all that should be done to take care of society's most vulnerable. And there are some prominent legislators: Asia is home to some of the world's most repressive regimes, but others, such as Vietnam's current leadership, have shown a preparedness to ditch ideology in favour of improving their people's welfare.
Some of the names will invite controversy: as administrator of Tibet, Hu Jintao was responsible for a crackdown in 1989 that saw hundreds of Tibetan protestors killed; Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad did not use his period of power to introduce greater transparency in government tendering or stamp out corruption in Malaysia's police force; and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, leader of the Maoists in Nepal, led a bloody decade-long war against the Nepalese government. But it is our contention that these individuals are now helping to reform Asia, so that in future the region's citizens will enjoy greater freedoms than in the past.

1. HU JINTAO, CHINA

Hu Jintao is the eighth General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and China's paramount leader and president. The general rule of thumb has become that each new Chinese leader is less hard-line than the last and Hu bears this out. He succeeded Jiang Zemin in 2002 and to date has shown himself to be cosmopolitan, worldly and technocratic. He speaks relatively unaccented Mandarin, unlike most of his predecessors, underlining his urbane image.

Hu rose through China's construction ministry, became involved in the Communist party and was introduced to a series of mentors who recognised his talent. He was appointed party chief of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1988, where he took a hard-line politically, instigating a crackdown in 1989 that saw the deaths of several hundred Tibetan activists. But at the same time, he liberalised cultural activities. This apparently paradoxical approach sums up his style: protect the Chinese state at all costs, but increase personal freedoms.

Since becoming president, one of Hu's priorities has been the development of China's poorer inner provinces to ensure a better distribution of the country's economic advancement. Transparency in government decision-making has also increased - China's news agency now publishes Politburo standing committee meeting details, and foreign journalists enjoy unprecedented access. Emphasis on GDP growth has lessened; instead, there is more concern with the quality of growth.

China's foreign policy, particularly its cultivation of links with African and South American states, illustrates that under Hu, China is becoming more of a commercial player on the world stage and less of a political strategist for its own sake.

2. RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN, MALAYSIA

Though more robust than that of Singapore, Malaysia's media is nonetheless tame. All significant media outlets are sympathetic to the government, there is little investigative journalism and discussion of many issues is discouraged. The newspapers focus endlessly on crime and lifestyle issues, and Malaysians tend to buy them for their job ads and to find out what's showing at the cinema. Increasingly, the serious reporting and commentary is done by bloggers, of which Raj Petra Kamarudin's www.malaysia-today.net is the best.

Petra, a nephew of a former king of Malaysia, founded Malaysia-today in 2004 and works on it full time. The site now gets an astonishing 1.8 million hits on an average day, making it much more popular than any Malaysian newspaper. Malaysia-today plays an enormously important role in its attempts to keep the government accountable. It reports on ministers' many business interests, nepotism and just about anything else that the government would prefer to keep quiet. Petra uses the site to denounce money politics, corruption and Malaysia's endless fascination with race and race-based politics. A popular, ongoing series is the Khairy Chronicles, which provides an account of the doings of the prime minister's young, unelected, but highly influential son-in-law.

Many reports have been made against Petra to the police, agents from Malaysia's Special Branch have questioned him on several occasions and his computers have been seized. Recently, he reported how the government intended to use a nominee company to borrow $50 billion, in order to avoid recording the loan as government borrowing. He has also reported on a particularly grisly murder that appeared to implicate senior government figures.

3. LOU JIWEI, CHINA

Lou Jiwei has been appointed to head the investment agency that will manage $200 billion of China's $1 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, which have accrued from inwards foreign investment and export earnings. Finance minister Jin Renqing said in March that the new agency will use "international best practices" and that "we will try to maximise profits and returns on our management of foreign exchange, guided by the principles of safety and risk management". The agency will model itself on the Singapore government's Temasek Holdings, but will be twice its size.

Educated and cosmopolitan, Lou's reputation as a moderniser precedes his appointment to the agency. He has been at the forefront of reforming China's economy for more than two decades and is a well-regarded technocrat. He spearheaded the reform of China's financial services industry during his seven-year term as vice-minister of finance. A protege of the reformist premier Zhu Rongji, Lou was pivotal in redesigning China's tax system and drawing up plans for a domestic bond market as the deputy head of the Shanghai Commission for Economic Regulation.

A computer programmer turned economist, he has always been a low-key policy specialist and perhaps represents the best hope for China's troubled Communist party. As the party's devotion to Marxist and Maoist ideology has waned, talent in running China's increasingly sophisticated economy has become more important. Unlike many of his colleagues, Lou did not join the rallies in Shanghai's People's Park in 1989 in support of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. He prefers to use more official channels and consequently has been one of China's most effective reformers.

4. NARAYANA MURTHY, INDIA

Narayana Murthy founded global consulting and IT services giant Infosys Technologies in 1981. He and a handful of other software engineers, who saw IT outsourcing's potential, have almost single-handedly changed how the world thinks about India. In the space of one generation, the popular perception has changed from one of chronic poverty and over-population to one of technical sophistication and a country on the move. Of course, the reality lies somewhere in between, but this change in perception has been more important within India than outside, giving Indians a new confidence. Importantly, it has shown that India can compete on the world economic stage in a sector not assisted by government or hidden behind tariffs.

Murthy served as Infosys chairman for 20 years until 2002, and as executive chairman of the board and chief mentor from 2002 to 2006. The company expects revenues of more than $3 billion this year. He has been prominent in the fight in India for better corporate governance and was appointed chairman of the Securities & Exchange Board of India's Committee on Corporate Governance in 2003.

He is a member of the advisory board of Harvard Business School's Corporate Governance initiative. He is also on the board of directors of INSEAD and is an independent director of DBS, Singapore's largest bank. In March, he became chairman of the Asia Business Council, and he joins Unilever's board this month as a non-executive director. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honours, and in December 2005 was voted the seventh most admired CEO/chairman in a global study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In March, he denied that he was interested in running for the presidency of India.

5. NGUYEN TAN DUNG, VIETNAM

Nguyen Tan Dung was appointed prime minister of Vietnam in June 2006 after the retirement of his predecessor, Phan Van Khai. At 57, he is the first Vietnamese communist leader to be born after the August Revolution in 1945 and is Vietnam's youngest prime minister. Like Khai, he is a reformer and a moderniser; he was appointed to carry on the economic reforms that have seen the economy grow at about 7% a year and permitted the country's admission to the WTO in 2006.

Dung is a technocrat and is economically literate, but he is not the only moderniser in the government. Nguyen Minh Triet, who was appointed president when Dung was appointed prime minister, is also a reformer. And the third member of the power triumvirate, communist party chief Nong Duc Manh, is another keen moderniser with a strong preference for privatising state-owned assets.

Dung was appointed one of five deputy prime ministers in 1997; a year later he was also made governor of Vietnam's central bank, the State Bank of Vietnam, where he pushed forward monetary reform and bank mergers, thus giving the country's financial system a more stable foundation. On becoming prime minister, he nominated fighting corruption and developing the Vietnamese economy in a sustainable way as two of his priorities. On one of his first overseas trips as prime minister, Dung met the Pope at the Vatican in January, the first Vietnamese leader to do so.Dung is overseeing Vietnam's progress from a communist state to a more market-oriented country that is an active and mature participant on the world stage. He is firmly committed to carrying on the legacy of his recent predecessors - that of further openness and economic freedom.

6.MUHAMMAD YUNUS, BANGLADESH

Born in 1940, Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank, which provides micro-credit loans to poor, would-be entrepreneurs who would otherwise be denied credit by the formal banking system. For his efforts, he and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Yunus is also the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the World Food Prize and the Sydney Peace Prize.

Yunus graduated in economics from Dhaka University, later obtaining a PhD in economics from Vanderbilt University. He first became interested in what later became known as micro-credit during the 1974 Bangladesh famine. His first loan - from his own pocket - was for $27 to a woman who made bamboo furniture. He soon realised that very small loans could make a big difference to poor people who want to start or expand a small business.

In 1976, the Grameen Bank started to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. It has since lent more than $5.1 billion to 5.3 million borrowers. More than 96% of loans are to women: they are more impoverished and have also proven to be more diligent repayers than men. Repayment is encouraged by lending to informal groups whose members act as co-guarantors. The success of the Grameen model has inspired similar efforts throughout the developing world and there are now micro-credit institutions in more than 23 countries.Yunus announced in February that public pressure to intervene in Bangladesh's violent and complex political arena had forced his decision to set up a new political party. The country has been ruled by a military-backed administration since 11 January, when the president declared a state of emergency and cancelled parliamentary elections.

7. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, MALAYSIA

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's prime minister from 1981 to 2003, was perhaps Asia's most misunderstood leader. Mahathir had plenty of critics, but the country's impressive development under his stewardship is undeniable. Also undeniable is his popularity among Malaysia's minority ethnic groups, particularly the Chinese, who comprise about 30% of the population. Mahathir managed to persuade different ethnic groups to think of themselves as Malaysians, despite economic and education policies that favoured the majority Malay population at the expense of the commercially successful Chinese minority.

These policies helped to break the nexus between great wealth and (Chinese) ethnicity, thus making the Chinese less of a target politically in the event of unrest. Mahathir also kept a lid on Islamic fundamentalism, showing not just Malaysia but much of the Islamic world that economic progress and Islam can go hand in hand. Under Mahathir, the media and the judiciary lacked independence, but Malaysians enjoy far more political freedoms than the citizens of neighbouring Singapore.

Mahathir resigned as prime minister while still popular and at a time of his choosing. In retirement, he has emerged as a loud critic of the new administration, bringing to Malaysia a level of public debate that few would have thought possible. His regular interventions on policy issues have almost given Malaysia the strong opposition voice that it has not previously had.He has attacked the government for not doing enough to tackle the widespread corruption, and has criticised the concessions given to foreign firms that invest in an economic zone in southern Malaysia. Even out of office, Mahathir continues to modernise his country.

8. LI KA SHING, HONG KONG

Sir Li Ka Shing has broken the mould. When most ethnic Chinese become big in business, it usually means they simply become even bigger traders of goods. But not Li. An immigrant from mainland China, he had his start making and selling plastic flowers. As he became more successful, he moved increasingly into providing services, albeit with infrastructure development - specifically, providing port services in Hong Kong, mainland China, India and elsewhere, and more recently becoming a worldwide force in telecommunications services.

By moving beyond the old cultural stereotype, Li has transformed his group of companies into one of Asia's first home-grown genuine multinationals. He is admired around the world rather than merely in Hong Kong as an astute investor, and along the way has made himself the world's ninth richest individual, with an estimated fortune of $23 billion. But he does not lead an extravagant lifestyle: the main indicator of his wealth and status is that he's rarely seen without a large contingent of bodyguards.

Cheung Kong Holdings emerged in the early 1970s; today, the group operates in 54 countries and employs 220,000 people. In 1979, Li acquired Hutchison Whampoa, which became the vehicle for his electricity generation, ports and telecommunications interests. Li was an early investor in telecoms group Orange, before selling out to Germany's Mannesmann Group in 2001 for a profit of more than $15 billion. In January 2007 Hutchison agreed to sell its 67% stake in Indian mobile phone operator Hutchison Essar to Vodafone for $9 billion.Li has established the Li Ka Shing Foundation for charitable works and is a major donor to education and healthcare - he is believed to have given away more than $1 billion to date.

9. JAIME AUGUSTO ZOBEL DE AYALA, PHILIPPINES

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is the head of the influential Ayala Group, one of the Philippines' biggest business groups. Zobel studied economics at Harvard and has an MBA from Harvard. He is an intellectual, has a truly global outlook and is a strong promoter of the principles of corporate governance in a country that sorely needs them.

Ayala has interests in real estate, water supply, automobile distribution, banking and food production, and has a reputation for being prudent and conservative. Zobel serves as chairman of the family holding company, Ayala Corporation, the group's mobile telephone operator Globe Telecom and the Bank of the Philippine Islands. He is also co-vice chairman of the Ayala Foundation, a leading corporate donor in the Philippines. The foundation has a US-based arm that encourages Filipinos to contribute to social development programmes in the Philippines.The family's sound management practice is exemplary by Asian standards. It does not have private business interests that run parallel with its listed companies, and so it is free of the conflicts of interests that bedevil many Asian family-controlled conglomerates. All Ayala businesses are listed or belong to a parent company that is.

The family is of Spanish descent, but under Zobel it has moved to open its management ranks to Filipinos of any ethnicity. Family members are involved in the group's management only if they have the requisite professional skills. The group has raised its accounting practices to international standards, ahead of that mandated by the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Philippine GAAP.

10. SYED MOKHTAR AL-BUKHARY, MALAYSIA

Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has built himself up from almost nothing to be one of Malaysia's richest men. He has developed port facilities and an airport in southern Malaysia, as well as amassing interests in property, hotels, power stations, rubber plantations, banking, retailing and construction. His companies are run by professional managers throughout, rather than family members.

He dislikes publicity and is remarkable by Malaysian corporate standards in not using his shareholders' money to buy a corporate jet, a helicopter or a fleet of Mercedes-Benz. He has no interest in personal aggrandisement. Instead, his great passion is his charitable foundation, the Al-Bukhary Foundation, into which he has poured millions to build mosques, schools and hospitals. The foundation has also built, stocked and runs the Islamic Art Museum in Kuala Lumpur, a world-class institution that puts Malaysia's National Museum to shame. A modern Muslim, he does not believe that women should cover their heads or faces and feels that Islam should return to what it was once known for: commerce and the arts.

In late 2006, his MMC Corporation, together with a local partner, won an extraordinary $30 billion infrastructure deal in Saudi Arabia to develop a new industrial and commercial city. It's a huge undertaking for any company, let alone a Malaysian one, and it represents how Al-Bukhary likes to do business. He is a strong promoter of Muslim cross-border investment and trading ties, in the same way that other commercial ethnic groups trade across borders. Al-Bukhary is a breath of fresh air for corporate Malaysia and an inspiration to Muslims everywhere.

11. SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO, INDONESIA

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected president of Indonesia in 2004. To some, his presidency has been disappointing, but then it could barely be anything else. Indonesia's problems are so enormous and intractable that the job is near-impossible. So why is Yudhoyono one of Asia's top progressives? Largely because of what he's not: he is not corrupt, prone to nepotism, administratively incompetent or an obsessive nationalist.

He has enormous personal integrity and has done a remarkable job in balancing Indonesia's many conflicting interests in this the world's largest Islamic country, but also one of its most ethnically diverse. A retired general, he is Indonesia's sixth president but the first to have been elected directly by voters. He is an English speaker, in contrast with his immediate predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri, a Jakarta housewife whose only political attribute was that her father had been president. Unlike other senior politicians' children, Yudhoyono's two sons are not in business. Each of ex-president Soeharto's six children started one or more conglomerates, all dependent on government favours and concessions.

Yudhoyono earned a reputation as one of the army's pro-reform officers in the last days of Soeharto's regime. In the aftermath of Soeharto's fall in 1998, Yudhoyono talked publicly about his ideas for reforming the role of the military and Indonesia more generally. His popularity rose, and he was made co-ordinating minister for politics and security. One of his first tasks was to remove the army from political life. Yudhoyono's time as president has been plagued by natural disasters, including the 2004 tsunami. Nonetheless, he has negotiated a peace settlement with rebels in the province of Aceh, and cut fuel subsidies twice in 2005.

12. RATAN TATA, INDIA

Ratan Tata is India's most progressive businessman on several counts: he has expanded a family business into a well-run international conglomerate and has done so largely on behalf of charity - the principal owners of the Tata Group are a series of charities. The family's activities (it has given millions to research, environment projects and schools), like those of the rest of India's small Parsee community of which Tata is a member, have made it well-liked and admired, despite its wealth and ethnic minority status. The Parsees provide a valuable lesson to other rich business minorities on how to avoid persecution from an envious majority.

Tata joined the family business after graduating in architecture and structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962. In 1991, he took over as group chairman, ushering in a period of management rationalisation and greater investment in core activities that have allowed the group to expand to its current size - Tata Group has the largest capitalisation on the Mumbai stock exchange. The group bought Tetley Tea in 2000 for $421 million, the truck division of South Korea's Daewoo for $102 million in 2004 and, in January, Europe's Corus steel-making group for a massive $11.3 billion. Under Tata, the group has been at the forefront of India's push to become the world's biggest exporter of IT services.

Tata is on the board of India's central bank and is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. Among his other public and charitable roles, he also serves on the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative. Tata has shown India that its companies can be world class, and he is arguably the country's most important philanthropist.

13. WARREN LICHTENSTEIN, JAPAN/KOREA

A US citizen, Warren Lichtenstein is an activist investor and founder of Steel Partners, a New York-based hedge fund. The fund has stakes in more than 100 companies in the US, Japan and Korea. Lichtenstein is a demanding minority investor, who exercises shareholder rights to enforce disclosure and accountability from the companies in which he invests. Accordingly, he has been something of a shock to corporate Japan and Korea, in which minority shareholders are expected to know their place.

In Japan, many listed companies hold their AGMs on the same day to limit the number of meetings that investors in multiple companies can attend. Many companies have little interest in shareholder value and build up huge cash piles with no intention of returning funds to shareholders. This, and other sluggish practices, damages the reputation of the stock market and hinders the flow of new capital.

Lichtenstein targets cash-rich firms with market capitalisations well below net asset values, builds up a stake in them and then threatens a takeover unless they return their cash to shareholders. His targeting of several Japanese companies in 2003 impelled the boards of dozens of unrelated Japanese companies to pre-emptively increase their dividend payouts. In Korea, Lichtenstein teamed up with fellow fund manager Carl Icahn to launch a hostile takeover bid for South Korea's biggest tobacco company, KT&G. Hostile takeovers are almost unheard of in Korea and the move created an uproar, but KT&G agreed to return $2.9 billion to shareholders. Lichtenstein's method of doing business has made him immensely wealthy, but he has also dramatically changed the behaviour of Japanese and Korean companies.

14. MAHESH, AJAY AND SHARAD AMALEAN, SRI LANKA

A Sri Lankan-based intimate apparel maker, the three Amalean brothers founded MAS Holdings in 1986. It is the largest supplier to Victoria's Secret and other customers include Gap, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Reebok. In March 2007, MAS announced plans to launch its own brand this August.

The company has 17 plants in eight countries and 35,000 employees. But what's remarkable about it is its home-grown corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme. Women comprise more than 90% of MAS' employees and so the company established the Women Go Beyond programme to educate and empower its employees. A beauty, health and hygiene certificate is offered, and there are classes on reproductive health, domestic violence and traditional crafts. Nearby schools and hospitals are funded and scholarships are awarded.

MAS set up its plants in rural locations near villages so that women would not have to leave their families to find work, and all employees must be aged at least 18 (in contrast, Chinese factories can take on employees as young as 14). The company also invests in developing clear career paths: its Ready to Unleash programme aims to guide graduates into the company and on to management levels.

MAS has faced intense competition from China. The international Multi-Fibre Agreement, which ended in 2005, ensured that at least some of the West's clothing and textiles were sourced from smaller developing countries. Since then, the Amaleans have shown that it is possible to compete with sweatshops in China by emphasising their CSR programme, which has made MAS a more attractive source for retailers with ethical buying policies.

15. JARUVAN MAINTAKA, THAILAND

Born in 1947, Jaruvan Maintak is Thailand's auditor general and an iconic figure. A Catholic convert, she graduated from Thailand's Chulalongkorn University and later completed an MBA at Michigan State University. She joined the office of the auditor general and in 2001 was appointed by the Thai Senate to be the auditor general. The manner of the appointment was controversial, however, and she did not appear to be then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's first choice for the position.

Jaruvan embarked on a series of investigations that embarrassed the government and a legal challenge was made to her appointment, which was upheld. Many interpreted this move as an attempt to silence her rather than concerns about due process. She refused to step down, saying she would do so only if the king assented. The king withheld his assent, thus embarrassing Thaksin and his government.

The military coup in September 2006, which had the implicit backing of the king, abrogated the 1997 constitution and most of the state organisations it established. The auditor general's office was spared, however, and the new military government confirmed Jaruvan in her position.The government made Jaruvan a member of its newly established Assets Examination Committee (AEC), tasked with investigating corruption involving projects approved by Thaksin's government.

Jaruvan threatened to resign if its scope was not expanded to include all cases of alleged irregularity, including the personal wealth of former cabinet ministers. The AEC has since commenced several high-profile investigations and Jaruvan has shown no fear. Her dogged determination has attracted many enemies, but she has set new standards of accountability in Thailand.

16. LEE KIN MUN (ALIAS MR BROWN), SINGAPORE

Singapore has some of the world's tightest media restrictions. Little genuine public debate is permitted and investigative journalism is largely non-existent. The role of the media is to report government announcements rather than to hold the government to account. And so Singaporeans are fed a bland diet of lifestyle articles, world news often slanted to show Singapore in a good light by way of comparison, and news about government policy. Not surprisingly, Singapore has one of the world's most active blogging communities. Genuine debate, opinion pieces and news appear on many Singapore-related websites.

Lee Kin Mun has become one of Singapore's most widely read and influential bloggers through his social and political commentary website, www.mrbrown.com. Lee also produces a satirical podcast called the Mr Brown Show, which averages 20,000 downloads a day. It is sophisticated and hugely funny - and a stark contrast to what is available on local government-controlled television.

Such is the popularity of Lee's blog that he was given a column in the government-controlled Today newspaper in a measure designed to demonstrate that the government could tolerate a measure of public debate. However, the experiment ended abruptly after Li wrote a column on rising living costs. A government official complained that Lee had distorted the truth and Singapore's prime minister claimed that Lee had made wild accusations. Lee continues to publish and broadcast his satires and commentaries, providing Singaporeans with a vibrant and diversified media otherwise denied them.

17. ZETI AKHTAR AZIZ, MALAYSIA

The assertive and competent Zeti Akhtar Aziz was appointed governor of Malaysia's central bank in 2000. Her appointment demonstrated to the world that being a Muslim woman in an Islamic country was not incompatible with either holding a position of real power or with south-east Asian traditions. She had held previous positions with the bank, including deputy governor, chief economist and head of the economics department.

Zeti was instrumental in advising the government to unpeg the Malaysian ringgit from the US dollar, as she had been in advising the government about implementing the peg in the first place. Many might have disagreed with the government's decision to peg the ringgit in 1998 during Asia's economic crisis, but few could argue with the competency with which it was carried out - Malaysia's central bank is one of Asia's most technically able and least corrupt.

Zeti has been prominent in the development of Islamic finance in Malaysia and internationally, such that the country is emerging as an important centre for Islamic finance, both in its practice and in developing the regulatory framework to support it. She studied economics at the University of Malaya, obtained her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, and is published in the areas of monetary and financial economics, capital flows and macroeconomic management.

18. TARISA WATANAGASE, THAILAND

Tarisa Watanagase, the first female governor of the Bank of Thailand, the country's central bank, was appointed to the post in October 2006; she also sits on the seven-member monetary policy board that sets interest rates in Thailand. She has been with the bank for 31 years (with a break at the IMF from 1988 to 1990) and is widely respected in the finance community not only for her technical skills, but also for her reputation as a fighter for central bank independence.

The attempts of previous prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to undermine the independence of most key state institutions was one of the contributing factors in the military moving against him in September 2006. The interim military-backed government's appointment of Tarisa to head the central bank was a signal that it intended to adopt a hands-off approach. Similarly, it opted to reinstate the auditor general, who Thaksin had sought to remove, for similar reasons (see Jaruvan Maintaka).

Born in 1949, Tarisa gained a PhD in economics from Washington University. She joined the bank in 1975 and has had experience in each key division. Before her appointment to governor, she had been one of the bank's three deputy governors and another woman, Atchana Waiquamdee, was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Tarisa's appointment. The pair provide clear evidence of the prominent role that women are able to play in Asia.

19. DAVID WEBB, HONG KONG

David Webb runs one of the best websites devoted to corporate governance among listed companies anywhere - see www.webb-site.com. His commentaries on the misdeeds of many of Hong Kong's listed companies are exceptionally well written, and are devastating in their forensic and careful analysis. Unfair related-party transactions between listed and privately held companies are a particular target of his; a recent post, for example, looks at Chinese oil company CNOOC's attempt to force minority shareholders to approve more loans to a finance company set up by its state-owned parent.

Still relatively young, Webb is a former investment banker who moved to Hong Kong from London in 1991. He was corporate finance director of Barclays subsidiary BZW Asia, conducting equity issues and advisory mandates throughout Asia, until 1994, when he became in-house adviser to Wheelock, a local listed conglomerate, before retiring in 1998.

He made a small fortune from savvy stock investing and has devoted much of his time since to non-profit corporate governance advocacy work, most notably through his website, which has attracted a following among the investment community. He has become widely quoted on corporate governance issues in the Hong Kong and regional media. He holds small stakes in many companies in order to attend AGMs and hold directors accountable.

He was elected a non-executive director of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, which runs Hong Kong's stock exchange, in 2003. Some were concerned that this would compromise his independence, but his withering and typically humiliating website commentaries have continued.

20. PUSHPA KAMAL DAHAL (ALIAS PRACHANDA), NEPAL

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, is the leader of the Maoist Communist party of Nepal. Born into a Brahmin family in 1954, he studied agricultural science at a Nepalese university and was inspired by China's Cultural Revolution in the 1970s to become active in the communist movement in Nepal. He became leader of the Communist party in 1986 and after it splintered he emerged as the leader of the Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) in 1994. The party gave the government a list of 40 demands and threatened to declare war if the demands were not met. Between 1996 and 2006, the Maoists waged a bloody civil war, causing enormous damage to Nepal's rudimentary infrastructure and costing about 12,000 lives. Both sides were culpable and engaged in appalling human rights abuses.

In February 2005, Nepal's king sacked the elected government and took direct control of day-to-day affairs of state. In November 2005, Prachanda and an alliance of seven parties that had been elected to Nepal's parliament in 1999 released a 12-point plan for co-operation. Key to the plan was a commitment by all sides to a multi-party democracy, press freedom and human rights. A ceasefire was agreed and, at Prachanda's urging, the government of prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala stripped almost all powers and many assets from the king, a process that has occurred with surprising speed.

Prachanda's talks with the prime minister have resulted in an agreement that the Maoists will enter a multi-party interim government, a new constitution will be drafted and both sides will disarm under international supervision. Nepal now has its first chance of peace in more than a decade and the possibility of real political reform.

Article Directory of Fashion Designing

Dressmaking and Design

If you have a desire to enter the world of fashion then the Dressmaking and Design Diploma is the best way for you to get your start. Graduates with this diploma can enter the fashion field as dressmaker or fashion designer. Coursework required for this diploma includes sewing, fashion design, dress design, pattern making, clothing manufacturing and graphic design. More information is available if you want to read the rest of this article.

Fashion Design

To enter the fashion world and design clothing for sale across the world takes extensive knowledge and training which is what this Diploma conveys. Once a student has completed the coursework and graduated with the Diploma that student is prepared to enter the world of fashion as a designer. Classes include designing fashions, fashion writing, business and fashion, drawing for fashion and textiles. If this interests you then read more of the article.

Fashion Marketing and Merchandising

Careers in fashion are extensive and varied. They extend beyond designing clothes and into the marketing arena. Students who get a Diploma in Fashion Marketing and Merchandising can enter the field of fashion marketing, visual merchandising, fashion buying and retail management. Coursework for this Diploma includes principles of marketing, visual merchandising, accounting, marketing for the masses, managing for retail and home furnishings. If any of this sounds interesting then please read on.

Fashion Merchandising

A Fashion Merchandising Diploma trains a student how to set up displays and market fashion. Once a student graduates with this diploma he or she can enter the fashion world as a visual merchandiser or fashion marketing rep. The classes a student is likely to take while pursuing this diploma are: visual merchandising, marketing, fashion marketing, fashion history, retail buying and accounting. More information is available in the following article.

Photographer

A Diploma in Photography teaches students how to properly take a photo for artistic or journalistic purposes and how to process film. The careers a student can enter are the following: photojournalist, photographer, digital photographer and advertising photographer. Some of the classes a student will need to take to earn this diploma are: photography, digital photography, film processing, digital imaging and journalism. More information is available if you keep reading.

Fashion Designing

What is fashion designing?

Fashion designing is associated with creating designs for menswear, womenwear, teen fashion wear and extends to accessories like sunglasses, jewelry , luggage and footwear. Creativity is crucial for fashion designing. A fashion designer must have a strong aesthetic sense along with an eye for color and detail. A fashion designer can create highly stylized creations or work for a fashion design house that mass markets the fashion designer goods. Most fashion designing employers seek a fashion designer who is knowledgeable in the area of textiles, fabrics, ornamentation as well the current fashion trends. Many a high fashion designer is self-employed and designs for exclusive clients. Other fashion-designing professionals cater to fashion design stores.

Fashion Magazine

A fashion magazine gives information on fashion show reports, fashion model agencies as well as various fashion job opportunities. You can always pick up a good fashion tip from the articles and discussions in a fashion magazine. Reputed fashion magazines like Elle, Vogue, Lumiere and Harper's Bazaar allow you a sneak glance into the fashion show itinerary for the coming season. A fashion magazine is also talent-scouting ground as it contains photo features with fresh male fashion model aspirants. Women interested in fashion modeling can take a fashion tip or two from the fashion magazine features.

Fashion Institute Of Technology

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design accredits about 200 fashion institute of technology courses in art and design. A Fashion institute of technology generally offers a degree in art or textile and fashion designing. Applicants to the Fashion institute of technology are required to submit their sketches as examples of their artistic ability. The aspirants to a Fashion institute of technology need to be well read and open to new ideas and influences. Some faculty from a fashion institute of technology also operates small fashion design studios to complement their classroom activities

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Fashion Photography/Fashion Photographer

If you have the talent for it, fashion photography is the fashion job opportunity of a lifetime. An aspiring fashion photographer would find it useful to keep a portfolio of the fashion job shoots already done. The next step for a fashion photographer aspirant is to meet the picture editor of a popular fashion magazine. Fashion photography has become an extremely complex art form today. With its huge audience, high paychecks and glamorous lifestyle, fashion photography is a very sought-after fashion job. A fashion photographer would do well to choose the right photo agency to work with.

Fashion TV

Fashion TV is the first TV channel dedicated to the fashion designing industry since 1997. Fashion TV focuses on trends in the fashion designing industry as well as telecasts fashion show events across the globe. Fashion modeling finds a universal viewership with Fashion TV. Apart from women fashion model features, Fashion TV also focuses on male fashion model trends.

Fashion Design Software

Fashion design software tools greatly enhance the work of a professional fashion designer. Fashion design software tools provide sketch backgrounds, pattern repeating and texture mapping. A fashion designer can utilize the fashion design software to create designs faster and more accurately. There are built-in functions for drapery, repeats, weaves and coloring within the fashion design software.

Fashion Merchandising

Fashion merchandising refers to the entire gamut of activities that involve translating inspiration into design, conceptualizing and developing fashion apparel designs and the preparing promotional material. An aspiring fashion merchandising student must become familiar with conceptualization, design and pre-production of products for fashion design apparel industries. To take up a fashion job in fashion merchandizing, a person must develop verbal, written and visual presentation skills. Possible fashion job opportunities could be as fashion directors, merchandize buyers and corporate fashion merchandizing planners.

Online International Medical Journals

Only a few journals in the developing world have a long history of survival. Many are struggling to remain afloat, plagued with a lack of funding, irregular publication schedules, weak peer-review mechanisms that lack credibility, and poor local and international visibility. The factors leading to this situation are well known and are influenced largely by the lack of importance placed on journals by decision makers in government and academia, and the lack of opportunities for career development and academic progression in developing countries. Most journals are driven by the academic community. Journals in developing countries, particularly in Africa, are often published by professional associations and academic institutions. Most of these non–privately owned journals face staffing problems, have volunteer editors, and suffer from limited distribution. Many of these journals are not in the major indexing services and have poor visibility on the Internet.The time has come to recognize local journals as a resource for health.

For researchers in the developing world, there is a strong pull toward publishing their research in well-established journals of developed countries. But the result is that this research becomes inaccessible to researchers, clinicians, and health policy makers in developing countries, given their limited access to the Internet and the high cost of subscriptions to the established journals of the developed world.

This problem is compounded by the fact that many policy makers are not aware of what is published in local journals, and so the findings of research published locally are not put to their full use. Research published in local journals is also not readily visible to the rest of the international scientific community. A recent report by the Academy of Science of South Africa, for example, showed that in the past 14 years, one-third of South African journals had not had a single paper quoted in their international counterparts [1].

In the face of these problems, it is legitimate to ask whether journals in the developing world meet the roles for which they were established. Journals are expected to provide a medium for scholarly discourse, sharing of information, and dissemination of knowledge and practices. The basis of these interactions is scientific research, the results of which must contribute to the generation of knowledge and the translation of knowledge into policy and practice. In this regard, research should be seen as a public health good. In the African developing world, very few journals can be said to provide these roles.

There have been efforts in recent times to improve the scientific quality of African medical journals and their international visibility through listings on databases such as Medline and through creating Web sites for these journals. The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, a joint program of the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, took the first steps in this direction by initiating the Forum for African Medical Editors [2].
Another initiative, the African Journals Partnership, sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Library of Medicine, and the Fogarty International Center and implemented by the Council of Science Editors, has established partnerships between four African medical journals and five established journals in the developed world. The partnership seeks to support the African journals and to promote their objectives [3]. Other organizations such as the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications are working with partners in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to strengthen local research publications. Through these initiatives some local journals have acquired technical, editorial, and infrastructural support (computers and Internet access) to move forward. Every effort should be made to assist many more developing-world journals.

Local African journals have a role to play in advancing health sciences and contributing to national development. The editors should have “author-friendly” policies while respecting the tenets of the peer-review process. By maintaining high editorial standards, local journals can help set national standards for publishing and research. Editors should be able to assist authors of poorly written manuscripts of good science and ensure a peer-review mechanism that can improve the quality of published research.The sustainability of many of these journals depends on good management policies. Governments, universities, and professional associations should value the importance of local journals and invest in their sustainability. Journals should also be assisted in creating open-access versions of their articles.

The time has come to recognize local journals as a resource for health and a means to information and knowledge sharing. Local journals should work closely with authors and the media to convert their scientific content into press releases and policy briefs that can be easily understood by policy makers and the general public. This way, journals can add value to their publications and address an important gap in the utilization of research findings.

Gerd Antes' Viewpoint: Relevant Research Is Now Rarely Seen in German Journals

German medical journals have lost the status that they had during the beginning of the last century. The main and most obvious reason is historical: Germany's almost complete withdrawal from the international science process during Nazi rule and the Second World War and some time thereafter. While Germany has recovered from that time as an economic power, its medical science, including its scientific medical journals, has not recovered to the same extent.

In addition, there are two other dominant factors that are hindering the development of German biomedical journals. The first is the growing influence of impact factors (IFs) as a financial incentive and a steering mechanism in research policy. The second is the decreasing role of non-English languages in the global science and communication process.

In many countries, including Germany, a substantially increasing proportion of financial support for biomedical research has been shifted from fixed budgets to performance-related budgets, a shift driven by science policy makers such as the German Science Council. Journal IFs, which are assigned by the company Thomson Scientific (formerly known as Thomson ISI), have been established as a dominant parameter in allocating resources to medical faculties and research institutions. In other words, research funding is increasingly dependent on publishing in journals with high IFs. But while there are several English-language specialist and general medical journals with high IFs (several above 10), the highest-ranked purely German-language science journal, as ranked by Thomson Scientific, has an IF of only 1.9, and almost all German biomedical journals have an IF far below 1.

The enormous economic pressure to publish in journals with high IFs has led to increased efforts by German-speaking researchers to publish in English. The result is that high-quality original research articles are rarely seen any more in Germany. While this trend for German-speaking researchers to publish in English-language journals is mostly seen as having a positive influence on the research enterprise because global scientific communication in English is accepted and fosters healthy scientific competition, nevertheless the trend also has some unfortunate consequences.

For example, the trend to publish in English-language journals has a serious impact on health care because most German physicians and other health-care professionals are still not able or willing to read English in their daily routine. And there is a growing division between, on the one hand, the career-driven pressure to publish in high IF—and therefore English-language—journals, and, on the other hand, the need for high-quality and timely information in German about new research results for health care.Most German health-care professionals are still not able or willing to read English.

All of the several hundred local journals are struggling with this challenge and have chosen different strategies to cope with it. Aside from the 253 local journals listed in Medline (about 100 of which are purely in German), and the 61 local journals that have been assigned an IF, a considerable number of local scientific journals—some of them the top medical specialty journals in Germany—are not listed in Medline, nor have they been assigned an IF. While being assigned an IF is not a major priority for these top journals, since papers in these journals are rarely formally cited by indexed journals, many of them would welcome yet are struggling for recognition by being listed in Medline.

Rejection, or a total lack of response, from the US National Library of Medicine, which is responsible for indexing journals in Medline, is a continuing source of anger for these local journals and is often interpreted as arrogance and cultural ignorance of the non-English-speaking part of the world. A few journals came to the conclusion that the only solution would be to switch completely to English. Examples of such journals are German Medical Science (http://www.egms.de) and Swiss Medical Weekly (http://www.smw.ch). The success of this move seems to be variable, with some potential benefits and obvious shortcomings. The switch to English may help to keep a high-level publication alive, although such publications will be in direct competition with established journals with higher IFs. The loss of large parts of the local readership seems to be inevitable

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Most local journals have chosen an alternative route, totally shifting from publishing new research results to secondary publications, reviews, and editorials, digesting new findings and presenting them to health-care professionals in the context of continuous medical education. This strategy keeps the journals locally relevant, but because they are neither indexed in Medline nor have an IF, and because they are written in German, these journals are essentially “invisible” to most of the world. The biggest challenge with this second strategy is to motivate authors from the research community who have almost no incentive to write review articles—indeed, many researchers consider writing review articles a waste of time in relation to their need to publish research papers in high-IF journals.

Another problem faced by local research journals is their economic viability. Local research journals are crucial for the dissemination of locally relevant research results, but their future remains uncertain in the face of restricted library budgets and decreasing readiness to pay for personal subscriptions.
Where we will be in a few years? It seems inevitable that there will be an ongoing polarization between a few local journals that try to survive in the global market by publishing in English, and the majority that publish in German with a key role in continuous medical education. The latter group is crucial and indispensable for improving the patchy health information available to German health-care professionals, although serious efforts are needed to improve their quality and to maintain their economic and editorial independence. Countries such as Germany must understand that they have the status of a developing country with respect to global communications and that major reforms are needed to remedy this situation. The real solution seems to be to wait for Germany to become a genuinely bilingual society, using English as the global language of science and German as the local language spoken and read by health professionals and patients. Unfortunately, that's at least one generation away. Supporting references for Gerd Antes' viewpoint are mostly in German, and are available from the author.

Prathap Tharyan's Viewpoint: Locally Relevant Research Is Still Crucial

There are more than 250 journals published in India devoted to medical sciences, diseases, health, treatments, and Indian systems of medicine. Most are published in English, though a proportion of those that cover Indian systems of medicine and a few that cover health are in local Indian languages [4]. The IndMED database includes prominent peer-reviewed Indian biomedical journals and provides access to more than 100 of these, but only 34 are indexed in Medline [5]. Of the indexed journals, most are available online and many of these belong to the family of open-access journals.

There are historic reasons why most of the health-related Indian journals are English language, largely linked to India's colonial past and the establishment of centers and systems of higher education that propagated the language of our British rulers. The British influence also set up systems of academic exchange that led to many of our courses being taught in English as well as many teachers being trained in the UK and other English-speaking countries. Consequently, higher professional education in India is still largely grounded in the English language, an asset for this country in this era of globalization and outsourcing, and a common linguistic platform when it comes to publishing medical journals.

Do we still need such local journals in this electronic age and in the era of open-access publishing and high-quality, international medical journals? While India is at the forefront of the software boom, the reach of the Internet, particularly to small towns where many clinicians practice, is slow, as are connection speeds in areas that do have Internet access; hence purely Internet-based journals still have a limited reach. There are indications, however, that with the growth of the Internet in the future, even in remote areas (see http://www.ispai.in/intetinindia.htm), online journals could have a greater audience in India.Locally relevant research is required to contextualize the evidence on which to base one's practice.

Many Indian journals are also official publications of associations of medical specialties, sub-specialties, and organizations. Some of these journals provide a mixture of commentary, viewpoints, and debate—discussions that are crucial to the health community in India in its work towards improving health care. Some content is devoted to distilling international guidelines or presenting secondary evidence to readers too busy to peruse the original articles; this is certainly a role that local journals should serve. Yet more content is devoted to local research, with local focus and appeal, which would not find a place in current international journals. Some examples of such local studies are standardizing health rating scales for use in local situations, long-term follow-up of recipients of BCG vaccine from a randomized controlled trial done in India, or a seroprevalence study of hepatitis C virus antibodies in local populations. All of these studies are important from a local point of view but may not interest global audiences.However, if local journals are to survive, some reform is in order. Firstly, there needs to be an Indian association of medical journal editors that sets binding standards for reporting and publication and that educates, supports, or gently pressures recalcitrant journal editors to conform. A model for such an association is the African Forum for Medical Editors [2,6].

Examples of where such consensus-based action from editors is needed include: requiring authors to submit manuscripts of randomized clinical trials in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines [7]; endorsing the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' call for prospective trial registration [8]; and supporting the World Health Organization's position on mandatory disclosure of the 20-item dataset at trial registration [9] as a prerequisite to publication.
More Indian journals need to be indexed and available online to provide more ready access to their content; accessibility could be enhanced if URLs of these journals could be linked in a master list or register of Indian journals, as the IndMED database currently attempts to do. Harnessing the benefits of electronic publishing to the fullest, in ways such as e-mailing table of contents to subscribers, would enable journals to increase their accessibility. More exposure via online, preferably open, access could also result in an improvement in standards of reporting and publishing as a consequence of feedback from readers.

In the final analysis, local medical journals will survive in India as long as there is a realization that locally relevant research is required, alongside cutting-edge research published in major international journals, to fully contextualize the evidence on which to base one's practice

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Elizabeth Slade and Pritpal S. Tamber's Viewpoint: Major Medical Journals Are Simply Not International

It is easy to assume that increasing access to international journals via the Internet lessens the need for local journals. However, to make that assumption is to over-estimate just how “international” so-called international journals are and underestimate the broader role of local journals.
So-called “international” journals are rarely international in their content, readership, or editorial boards. Most articles published in these journals focus on issues that are of importance to primarily Western audiences [10]. Research from developing countries is under-represented in the main “international” medical journals [11]. There is economic logic to this—most journals need to cover their costs, so it makes sense that they prioritise articles that appeal to readers who are willing and able to pay.

Most international journals are currently failing to embrace the potential of the Internet. Online publication not only frees journals of (print) page constraints but also enables them to publish more articles (for instance, online-only) at a fraction of what it used to cost to publish in print. This enables “international” journals to choose a greater range of topics that would appeal to a broader base of readers (not just those who can afford to pay). However, in our experience, most international journals have, to date, failed to take advantage of the online medium, choosing to keep their articles and issues the same lengths as when print was the only medium.
Embracing an open-access business model could also help journals become more international. If a journal could be funded by submission and/or publication charges, publishers need not concern themselves with choosing content that would appeal to wealthy audiences. Instead, the journal could publish any and all worthy articles, even if they were on topics important only to those who could never afford a subscription fee.

Given that “international” journals are not so international after all, it seems local journals must step in to fill the gap. Local journals provide a home for articles on issues of importance to audiences outside of the West, create a platform for local expertise, and add context to research results generated in the West.

Unfortunately, local journals often face problems of lower standards than would be acceptable in an international journal. These problems include poor research quality, invalid reporting of research, and “inadequate language” [12]. Local journals probably experience these problems for two reasons. Firstly, research into issues of interest to “international”, or wealthy, audiences is likely to be better funded, better described, and hence more likely to be acceptable to “international” journals. Because of this, authors of higher-quality research still prefer publishing in “international” journals given the associated kudos.
Secondly, research into issues of more local interest is likely to be less well funded, preventing the development of a true research culture, which includes being able to describe one's findings effectively. These articles are less likely to be acceptable to “international” journals due to both their quality and topic. This is especially problematic if you accept that clinical skills are transferable and so practitioners in high-income countries can learn from their peers in low- and middle-income countries—research communication needs to be a dialogue, not a North-to-South monologue [13]. Therefore, an invaluable element in the role of local editors is to work with local authors and institutions to help to raise standards of research and reporting.

Making local journals visible to a global audience relies on indexing by services such as PubMed and Thomson Scientific. But journals from low- and lower-middle-income countries are under-represented in indexing services compared with journals from upper-middle- and high-income countries [14]. Accusations of a systematic bias are rife, and, if true, troublesome; however, editors of local journals must lobby indexing services to include their content.

So-called “international” journals are rarely international in their content, readership, or editorial boards.Visibility via indexing services could also be combined with getting local journals online (if they are not already) so that these journals can be accessed by readers beyond the traditional print subscription base. As with international journals, local journals would benefit from ensuring that as many people as possible could access their articles. With that in mind, subscription fees may limit local journals' reach. Although readers in high-income countries are likely to be able to pay for access, others in low- or middle-income countries are not—once again limiting the flow of information. If local journals were to embrace open-access business models, this could then open the doors for communication between communities with similar needs and economic circumstances. After all, why should communication between low-income countries have to go through high-income countries?

With so-called international journals failing to be international in any true sense, and also failing to explore the possibilities of the Internet, local journals not only remain essential, but also have more potential than ever to get the attention and respect of a broader, global audience.

Science and Engineering

People seek science, engineering and technology courses for many reasons. Some have specific goals: they wish to cure diseases or combat hunger or reduce pollution; or they dream of developing the next laser, transistor, or vehicle for space travel; or they imagine building companies that capitalize on new engineering capabilities. Some choose careers in science or engineering because they are curious about the natural world. Others are motivated by the excitement and beauty of the intellectual world.

Whatever your ambitions, we can help you choose the right combination of course and college in order to pursue your career goals.If you are thinking of studying abroad - in America or Europe perhaps, then you have come to the right place! Take a look at the tabs on the left – they will help you decide which country and course is best for you.

Postgraduate in Science or Engineering Courses

You do not necessarily need a postgraduate degree to persue a career in science or engineering. For example, engineers with a bachelor's degree can often move upward quickly in their profession and, with luck and hard work, can even break into top management. However, if your goal is towards direct research or to teach at college or university level, you will probably need a PhD. At undergraduate level, you learn what is already known; in a master's programme, you build your knowledge to a higher technical level; in a doctoral programme, you learn to add to the body of scientific and technical knowledge.

At all levels, postgraduate education is both rigorous and focused. It is not simply a bigger and more-advanced version of an undergraduate degree, where you meet a wide range of subjects and acquire general skills. As a postgraduate student, you pursue at much greater depth of knowledge that is concentrated in a single field. It requires a love of your subject and a new depth of commitment.

Obtaining advanced science or engineering degrees, especially a PhD, entails sacrifice. It requires delaying your entry, by many years, into a "real" job. Starting a family might also be difficult, and postgraduate students will probably be unable to buy a house or perhaps even a car. You might at times envy colleagues who went straight from a bachelor's degree into the job market and are already well advanced in their careers. Your love for your subject might be your best guide in deciding whether to go on to a postgraduate education.

In general, if you are excited by studying, problem-solving, discovering new facts, and exploring new ideas, you are likely to find a postgraduate education a rewarding experience. Or you might have more practical goals: to enhance your job satisfaction, level of responsibility, earning power, and freedom to make your own decisions. If you feel at home in mathematics and science and want to dig deeper, postgraduate experience can provide a powerful introduction to a professional life in science or engineering.

BECKHAM's lecturer in US University

HE MAY have failed all his GCSEs and admitted to being baffled by his then six-year-old son’s homework, but David Beckham is poised to lecture at one of America’s oldest universities on the conundrums of global diplomacy.

When the 32-year-old footballer arrives at his new home in Los Angeles next month he will be bombarded with invitations. But the most unlikely and prestigious will come from the University of Southern California (USC). The 127-year-old university is keen to offer the city’s latest celebrity a platform from which to explain to its students how “soccer” can change the world. According to sources close to Beckham, he is keen to join the debate.

This weekend diplomats from the United Nations, the World Bank and several developing countries were travelling to the home ground of Beckham’s new team, LA Galaxy, to watch a game and speak to the star’s advisers about his potential impact.

The trip was arranged by Professor Nicholas Cull, director of USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy. Cull is organising a global seminar on the role of sport in diplomacy next year.“David Beckham is already part of the masters course taught here, as an example of the influence of athletes, so I am hoping that he will be able to address us at that seminar,” said the British-born professor last week.

“People who don’t follow football don’t appreciate what a globally significant figure Beckham is even now with his career in transition.” In the past Beckham has admitted he is more fluent on the field than in public speaking. He once joked: “I don’t do the talking thing very good sometimes.”But officials at the Los Angeles office of the David Beckham Academy, which aims to create opportunities for children in football, say such nervousness could be eased with a course in public speaking. Beckham is keen to “broaden his message” about the importance of football, one executive said: “I am sure David would be very keen to talk to students about this.”

Beckham’s interest in the diplomatic power of football was prompted in part by Pele, the Brazilian striker who also played in the US and became a goodwill ambassador for Unesco. A Brazilian ambassador to the UN once said that Pele “had spent 22 years playing soccer, and in that time he has done more for goodwill and friendship than all the ambassadors ever appointed”.

Cull said the US had failed to realise the significance of the sport as an instrument of “soft power”, influencing people through culture rather than conflict. “The United States government botched an opportunity in Iraq - they set up a TV channel and then failed to broadcast the World Cup, which would have won over a lot of people to western ways,” he said. German newspaper polls showed that fewer foreigners thought of Germany’s wartime past and more about the friendliness of its people after it hosted the World Cup.

Beckham has argued that football is much more than a mere sport: “It brings people together in hope, which is what I want to do with the academy,” he said. “It’s about physical excellence but it’s also about teamwork, working together to solve problems and celebrating together.” When Beckham completes his five-year contact in Los Angeles, which will reportedly earn him more than £100m from playing and endorsements, he is said to want to become a “goodwill ambassador” for a UN organisation.

What his wife, the pop singer Victoria Beckham, 33, wants remains less certain. Her television aspirations have taken a knock with the disclosure that NBC has reduced a proposed reality series about the Beckhams to a single 60-minute episode. An insider said: “We hoped for some real life, but all we got on film was shopping.”

When the Beckhams arrive in Los Angeles as a couple, they are expected to be taken under the wing of their neighbour Tom Cruise. The actor has promised to organise a big party for them. In return, according to local reports, the Beckhams have reserved his family “the best box in the house” at the Galaxy football stadium for the entire first season.

Best Schools for Entrepreneurs

Fortune Small Business magazine has named the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to its list of the top 25 schools for entrepreneurs. Citing its technology entrepreneurship and management programs, rich double-major offerings, and record of entrepreneurial achievements, Fortune Small Business counted the U of I among the top programs for undergraduates, double-majors, and executives seeking to get a leg up in the start-up world.
Computer Science students are no small part of the reason that the U of I tops the ranks. Alumni Jawed Karim and Steve Chen of YouTube renown and Max Levchin of PayPal and Slide.com are just a few examples of Illinois computer science alumni whose start-ups have influenced an entire industry.

Proclaims Fortune Small Business:

"In this college community, entrepreneurship is a town-and-gown affair. Illinois has innovative centers to aid both students and area entrepreneurs. The Hoeft Technology & Management Program at Urbana gives the top undergraduate students from the business and engineering schools the training to comfortably inhabit both worlds. The University Business Developers, a student-run group, provides "workout partners" for student entrepreneurs. Like the friend that keeps you going to the gym for a workout, the entrepreneur buddy helps students stick with a difficult regime. . . . It doubled the amount of cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship courses to more than 75, spanning 32 departments. To learn how to integrate business principles into other areas of studies, faculty members go through a year of training in entrepreneurship education. Last year, graduate and undergraduate students launched 28 ventures, including a record label and a tech start-up built around a communication tool for disabled people."
Entrepreneurship resources available to computer science students at the University of Illinois include:

Technology Entrepreneur Center : The Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) courses and co-curricular activities expose students to the complex concepts inherent in the simultaneous processes of technology innovation and market adoption. The TEC hosts outreach activities for students and alumni, such as the Illini-TEC forums, in several major cities. The TEC also hosts the annual Cozad business plan competition, as well as the Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize for Innovation. Although part of the College of Engineering, the center is interdisciplinary, having affiliated faculty members from several departments and colleges.

University Business Developers : An ACM Special Interest Group (SIG), University Business Developers UBD is the student-run business development and entrepreneurial group at the U of I. UBD serves several groups of people, including startups, technical students, and student entrepreneurs.

Hoeft Technology and Management Center: The Technology & Management Program at the University of Illinois bridges the gap between traditional engineering and business education by offering a unique curriculum to a select group of highly qualified undergraduates drawn from the Colleges of Engineering and Business. Teams of business and engineering students work together to develop comprehensive solutions to real world problems. There is an emphasis on experiential learning and the inclusion of hands-on elements in each of the courses in the program.

Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership: The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership offers entrepreneurial programs, services, and resources to faculty, students, and community members on U of I campus. The Academy's mission is to encourage entrepreneurial awareness and initiatives across all disciplines of the University of Illinois. The Academy sponsors events for faculty, students, and staff throughout the year, including workshops, public discussions, business plan competitions, symposia, professional FastTrac courses, and lectures.

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Credit card

A credit card is a system of payment named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that it does not remove money from the user's account after every transaction. In the case of credit cards, the issuer lends money to the consumer (or the user). It is also different from a charge card (though this name is sometimes used by the public to describe credit cards), which requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, a credit card allows the consumer to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are the same shape and size, as specified by the ISO 7810 standard.

How credit cards work

A user is issued credit after an account has been approved by the credit provider, and is given a credit card, with which the user will be able to make purchases from merchants accepting that credit card up to a pre-established credit limit. Often a general bank issues the credit, but sometimes a captive bank created to issue a particular brand of credit card, such as Chase Credit Card, Wells Fargo or Bank of America issues the credit.

When a purchase is made, the credit card user agrees to pay the card issuer. The cardholder indicates their consent to pay, by signing a receipt with a record of the card details and indicating the amount to be paid or by entering a Personal identification number (PIN). Also, many merchants now accept verbal authorizations via telephone and electronic authorization using the Internet, known as a Card not present (CNP) transaction.

Electronic verification systems allow merchants to verify that the card is valid and the credit card customer has sufficient credit to cover the purchase in a few seconds, allowing the verification to happen at time of purchase. The verification is performed using a credit card payment terminal or Point of Sale (POS) system with a communications link to the merchant's acquiring bank. Data from the card is obtained from a magnetic stripe or chip on the card; the latter system is in the United Kingdom commonly known as Chip and PIN, but is more technically an EMV card.

Other variations of verification systems are used by eCommerce merchants to determine if the user's account is valid and able to accept the charge. These will typically involve the cardholder providing additional information, such as the security code printed on the back of the card, or the address of the cardholder.
Each month, the credit card user is sent a statement indicating the purchases undertaken with the card, any outstanding fees, and the total amount owed. After receiving the statement, the cardholder may dispute any charges that he or she thinks are incorrect (see Fair Credit Billing Act for details of the US regulations). Otherwise, the cardholder must pay a defined minimum proportion of the bill by a due date, or may choose to pay a higher amount up to the entire amount owed. The credit provider charges interest on the amount owed (typically at a much higher rate than most other forms of debt). Some financial institutions can arrange for automatic payments to be deducted from the user's bank accounts.

Credit card issuers usually waive interest charges if the balance is paid in full each month, but typically will charge full interest on the entire outstanding balance from the date of each purchase if the total balance is not paid.

For example, if a user had a $1,000 outstanding balance and pays it in full, there would be no interest charged. If, however, even $1.00 of the total balance remained unpaid, interest would be charged on the $1 from the date of purchase until the payment is received. The precise manner in which interest is charged is usually detailed in a cardholder agreement which may be summarized on the back of the monthly statement. The general calculation formula most financial institutions use to determine the amount of interest to be charged is APR/100 x ADB/365 x number of days revolved. Take the Annual percentage rate (APR) and divide by 100 then multiply to the amount of the average daily balance divided by 365 and then take this total and multiply by the total number of days the amount revolved before payment was made on the account. Financial institutions refer to interest charged back to the original time of the transaction and up to the time a payment was made, if not in full, as RRFC or residual retail finance charge.

Thus after an amount has revolved and a payment has been made that the user of the card will still receive interest charges on their statement after paying the next statement in full (in fact the statement may only have a charge for interest that collected up until the date the full balance was paid...i.e. when the balance stopped revolving).

The credit card may simply serve as a form of revolving credit, or it may become a complicated financial instrument with multiple balance segments each at a different interest rate, possibly with a single umbrella credit limit, or with separate credit limits applicable to the various balance segments. Usually this compartmentalization is the result of special incentive offers from the issuing bank, either to encourage balance transfers from cards of other issuers, or to encourage more spending on the part of the customer. In the event that several interest rates apply to various balance segments, payment allocation is generally at the discretion of the issuing bank, and payments will therefore usually be allocated towards the lowest rate balances until paid in full before any money is paid towards higher rate balances.

Interest rates can vary considerably from card to card, and the interest rate on a particular card may jump dramatically if the card user is late with a payment on that card or any other credit instrument, or even if the issuing bank decides to raise its revenue. As the rates and terms vary, services have been set up allowing users to calculate savings available by switching cards, which can be considerable if there is a large outstanding balance (see external links for some on-line services).

Because of intense competition in the credit card industry, credit providers often offer incentives such as frequent flier points, gift certificates, or cash back (typically up to 1 percent based on total purchases) to try to attract customers to their program.

Low interest credit cards or even 0% interest credit cards are available. The only downside to consumers is that the period of low interest credit cards is limited to a fixed term, usually between 6 and 12 months after which a higher rate is charged. However, services are available which alert credit card holders when their low interest period is due to expire. Most such services charge a monthly or annual fee.