The absurdity of policing targets
EVEN as the Police Federation of England and Wales was appealing against the “culture of targets” which encourages handling of petty offences instead of more serious crimes in order to meet objectives set by the government, I witnessed an event that would have been a perfect example to support their case.
Following a father-daughter squabble next door, four police officers were dispatched to arrest the father. He spent a few hours at the police station and was released the same day, and his 18-year old daughter was allowed back in the house the next day, her un-daughterly stunt forgiven and forgotten apparently.
As we found out later, what had mobilised such an important contingent of law enforcers were the father merely grabbing the daughter’s arm to prevent her from stealing his money and her, in a hissy fit, calling the police on him for bodily harm. She then dropped the charge, pleading that “she did not know that her father would be put in prison”.
The following evening, the whole family enjoyed a well-deserved BBQ together, probably as a “welcome home” party for the father and the daughter. It was all cheers and laughs again, and no longer was anyone thinking what a “cow” the daughter was. At least, until her next burst of tantrum.
During that time, the four police officers were still dealing with the paperwork for the arrest presumably while their colleagues on the streets were stretched thin. And somewhere else in the county, another youth was getting knifed.
Sidenote: To be fair to the rest of the family, the other child, the son, is a Police Community Support Officer and does eight-hour night shifts as a volunteer almost everyday. But, sadly, he has yet to decide whether he wants to become a full-time police officer because he “dislikes the bureaucracy that comes with the job”.
Eddy.
Popularity: 9% [?]
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The whole nine yards
Emtel goes the whole nine yards
FOREGOING all recommendations, I subscribed to Emtel when I needed a mobile phone in Mauritius last November. Many criticised my choice, citing Emtel’s poor customer service and inadequate coverage in some areas when compared to CellPlus’s. First, on principle, I wanted to favour the “little guy”. And second, I believed Emtel was more innovative than the competition.
In Mauritius again in February, I was reassured of my earlier decision whenever Emtel’s affordable mobile Internet service made it possible for me to continue working remotely when the expensive and unreliable ADSL connection from Telecom Plus became unusable. Had there not been the flexible tariffs that Emtel offered, tele-work would have been impossible.
Today’s news about Emtel’s plans to deploy a fibre optic cable network across Mauritius and to have their own international connection through an undersea cable, which would make them independent of Mauritius Telecom-controlled SAFE, confirms their drive for innovation. Not only are they aiming to lower Internet prices for Mauritians, but they also have the bigger ambition of matching the prices of ISPs in Europe.
« Notre objectif est de pouvoir offrir la même vitesse de bande passante et au même prix qu’à l’étranger », Shyam Roy, directeur général d’Emtel [...]
« Ce n’est pas possible qu’un pays qui se dit être une cyber-île ne peut offrir une connexion à 8 mégabits à ses internautes. »
While Orange (ex-Telecom Plus) are trying to cut corners with such gimmicks as Fair Use Policy and monthly download caps, Emtel is bent on serving their customers as best as possible. To achieve this, they are not making any concession.
Eddy.
Popularity: 13% [?]
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Speaking the language
Making yourself understood
PRIS and I want to send some A4-size photo prints to Mauritius and have bought hard-back envelopes for this purpose. But, based on what we have seen before, we are not convinced that the postmen in Mauritius will be obliged by the “PLEASE DO NOT BEND” labels on them.
Inspired by this graffiti, I am thinking of adding my own touch to the envelopes, something along the line of “PA PLIYE SA, TA KOSON” (hover to translate), but Pris thinks it would be a bad idea :-)
Eddy.
Popularity: 12% [?]
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What went wrong with Nomad
And did Emtel learn from Nomad’s failure?
NOMAD was a very good idea and marketable product. At least, on paper. But, in practice, there was a BIG snag…
In Mauritius, most houses are built with 6-inch thick concrete blocks with flat reinforced concrete roofs supported by reinforced concrete columns and beams. Windows and doors are fitted with anti-theft steel bars. That’s a lot of metal for radio signals to get past, especially the kind used in WiMax.
And so, the teeny-weeny antenna on the Nomad WiMax modem was not up to the task, which resulted in poor Internet connection for the users. From Nomad Support page:
If your Rabbit Modem’s connection light is blinking red, this means that the signal is not strong enough to connect to the Nomad Wireless Network. To improve the reception of your Rabbit Modem you should try the following:
a. Try changing the orientation of the Rabbit Modem. Changing the angle at which the Rabbit Modem is sitting in can be just as effective as moving the modem to a new position.
b. Move your Rabbit Modem as close as possible to a window and place the modem on an elevated shelf. The further your Rabbit Modem is indoors and away from windows, the weaker the signal may become. Signals may become too weak if they have to penetrate through concrete or metal walls, as well as steel roofs. Note: Glazed windows may contain high levels of metal, which may obstruct signal.
c. If (a) does not work, test your Rabbit Modem in different rooms of your home or building. If the signal becomes a constant red, orange or green color (as opposed to flashinng red), then you are receiving signal in that particular location. In this case, we recommend that you place your Rabbit Modem in that location and extend CAT 5 fibre cable to your computer’s location. Alternatively, we recommend that you re-locate your computer as close as possible to the position where the Rabbit Modem receives a constant signal.
Emtel watched and learned as Nomad tried to cope with the avalanche of abuse from unhappy customers, then launched a better WiMax service to complement their already excellent 3G/HSDPA service.
How does it work?
Emtel Wimax offers a fixed wireless connection for subscribers. The service is offered through an external antenna which is connected to an indoor unit through an Ethernet cable. The external antenna is wirelessly connected to an Emtel Wimax base station.
From the indoor unit, the customer has the possibility to make his own network using a router. A wired or wireless network can be created depending on the type of router used.
Theirs includes an outdoor antenna and an indoor unit to which users connect their computers. Same technology, better implementation and happier customers.
Nomad, watch and learn.
Eddy.
Popularity: 13% [?]
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