R U Positive?

South Africa tries a novel method to promote HIV testing.

By Jesse Ellison

South Africans are no strangers to AIDS-awareness campaigns. Billboards urging testing and posters promoting condoms and abstinence line the roadsides. They're there for good reason: the country has the highest incidence of HIV-positive citizens of anywhere in the world. In some areas, 40 percent of people are infected. But despite those numbers, and despite the campaigns, only about 2 percent of South Africans have ever even been tested. "There are a lot of campaigns out there, and a lot of different messages. But the messages are so generic," says digital media consultant Gustav Praekelt. "It's like, 'You must get tested.' Well, then what?" Praekelt's organization, the Praekelt Foundation, a South Africa-based nonprofit that uses mobile technology to combat the impacts of poverty, is now trying an unlikely medium to make the message stand out: text messaging.

Beginning last month, the Praekelt Foundation, as part of a larger program called Project Masiluleke, has been sending short messages embedded in the "Please Call Me" SMS messages sent regularly throughout South Africa. For now, the messages are general, asking people to call the national AIDS hotline if they want information about testing or have questions about virus transmission. But in this first trial period, calls almost immediately quadrupled to 4,000 per day. The results suggest something pretty simple: direct messages received on a personal mobile device are proving more effective than countless giant billboards. "Our maximum response time is 8pm," Praekelt says. "We'll send the messages throughout the day, but at 8 in the evening is when people call back. People are basically sitting with these messages all day, and then deciding to do something about it."


The biggest hurdle so far has been in the capacity of the hotlines to handle the volume of phone calls. Project Masiluleke's organizers are hoping to supplement staff at the local call centers, but they also plan to implement "virtual call centers," which will be staffed off-site by trained counselors who are themselves HIV positive. According to organizers, these call centers could not only create jobs and increase the capacity of the health response, but also pave the way for the final, most important phase of the project: free at-home testing kits supplemented with a widespread, easy-to-reach network of counselors who can talk people through their results.

For now, though, organizers are focused on phase one. The project's long-term efficacy remains to be seen, and South Africa has certainly seen its share of educational efforts try and fail. Still, according to project organizers, if just 1 percent of those reached by the 365 million messages that will be sent out in the next year actually get tested, that number will exceed the number of South Africans tested in the whole of the country's history. That's a pretty big impact for such a short message.

Everything must go ... now

This holiday season is shaping up to be the battle of the better deal — and it's a bloody battle indeed.

For months, retailers have been throwing themselves at consumers with promotions, yet October results show such efforts aren't yielding much, with same-store sales coming out negative across retail sectors. Less than three weeks away from Black Friday — the biggest U.S. shopping day of the year — retailers are bracing themselves for what promises to be the weakest holiday season in decades.

It's a fear that's turning what once were high-end department stores into outlet-style versions of themselves and mass-market retailers into dollar stores. At Saks Fifth Avenue, where same-store sales plummeted 16.6 percent last month, a $1,030 pair of Christian Louboutin boots can be purchased for $618. At Old Navy, where sales at stores open more than a year were down 20 percent last month, winter gloves and scarves were $1 apiece last weekend.

"I have never seen any environment like this," says retail analyst Jennifer Black, who has followed the industry for nearly 30 years. "The fight is on ... They are all scared."

Department stores were hardest hit last month, with an average 12.8 percent decline in same-store sales. As a result, retailers like J.C. Penney and Nordstrom are doing anything they can to one-up their competitors for consumers' attention. And they have no shame.

At Penney's, where same-store sales fell 13 percent, "The Biggest Sale of Them All" has items marked as much as 60 percent off. At Neiman Marcus, where same-store sales plunged nearly 27 percent last month, a promotion called "First Call Sale" has new items that typically don't go on sale right away marked down as much as 40 percent the moment they hit shelves.

Nordstrom, where same-store sales were down 15.7 percent this October, is using its price-matching strategy to compete with others vying for shoppers — following suit on sales at Saks and Neiman by honoring their discounted prices. And while Nordstrom typically offers double-rewards points for five-day periods during sales, this year the double-points perk that gets customers a $20 coupon for spending $500 is lasting 69 days, until yearend. The hope is that customers will amass points and return for more.

Daniel Craig to be a rea-life James Bond

Royal Marines will honour the 007 star

Sunday, 8 June 2008

Daniel Craig is set to receive an honorary Green Beret from the British Royal Marines.

The actor will have to complete a gruelling endurance test at the military unit's training headquarters.

But with all the stunts he's doing for forthcoming James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, he's in good shape.

‘I’m just doing very, very hard, strenuous rehearsal. I’m loving it,’ he tells the Sunday Express.

Ian Fleming's fictional hero's full title is Commander James Bond - he served in the Royal Navy before joining MI6.

Daniel, 40, was escorted by Marines in a speed boat ride up the River Thames to announce his appointment as 007 in 2005.

He will be the first Bond star to receive the tribute.