New Releases by Brendan Boyle

From the same brains who brought you The Encyclopedia of Immaturity comes The Klutz Book of Inventions, a 200-page catalog of never-before-seen contraptions that are equal parts brilliant, useful, and ridiculous. None of them exist as actual products, but in a better world, a funnier world, they would all be household essentials.One of the most ambitous projects we''ve ever undertaken, this compendium was created over the course of hundreds of brainstorm hours by an all-star team from Klutz and IDEO, the world''s foremost product design firm. Each of the inventions was actually built in the legendary IDEO workshop before being photographed (usually in action) and described on its own page.

This is a collection of never-before-seen contraptions that are equal parts brilliant, useful, and ridiculous. None of them exist as actual products, but in a better world, a funnier world, they would all be household essentials.

For a system like the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) -- that seeks to foster better governance and include the population in diagnosing problems and proposing remedies -- the involvement of journalists and their publications and media houses is essential. Newspapers, radio and television channels are frequently tasked with popularising this novel but complex process to the people. And citizens can only meaningfully participate if they know enough about what the APRM is and what it is trying to achieve. This paper reflects on why the APRM failed to capture the imagination of the public and the press, and generate a national conversation. Is it a failure of the African Union and its subsidiary organisations, or of citizens who did not seize the opportunity? Or is it the fault of the media? The answer is: all of the above. The author argues that because the process was centralised in a South African government ministry, it was inevitable that the Country Self-Assessment Report (CSAR) would be overwhelmingly influenced by the government''s analysis and views. The APRM slid off the radar screens of most media. Only the Sunday Times took the process seriously -- but when the paper published drafts of the Eminent Persons Panel''s Final Report, which did not reflect the South African government''s rosy view of the situation, the minister in charge accused the paper of "scurrilous lies, untruths, myths and reactionary propaganda." The author argues that the APRM has the potential to become an important vehicle for broad-based policy review and development, but has not gained that status because of the government''s determination to dominate and drive the process (at least in South Africa). The author notes that governments are more likely to nurture a sustained interest in the process if it is more transparent and if they are less defensive. Merely denying the experience or perceptions of the public and civil society will not deliver a more comfortable reality. The author also offers tips to civil society looking to increase media coverage of their issues.