After last week’s column criticised the organisation for not fully participating in the public debate on telecoms reform, the Computer Society of Bermuda (CSB) has come back with an explanation of its position.

While defending its decision the CSB adds: “We take your point about abstaining from the consultation.”

CSB then went on to say that its “homework” on the issue, included speaking to the Department of Telecommunications, sitting in on roundtable discussions with carriers, and polling IT and industry executives.

The CSB team also read all the required documentation, including the original five option “scenarios” for reform presented to industry by Government. The organisation claims Government had refused to release “scenario” information.

“We came back to the same conclusion — the process for this consultation is flawed, at best,” the organisation said in the e-mail, signed as from CBS Marketing.

The CSB also argues that the town hall meeting in February “was not an opportunity to vote or put forward an opinion for change”.

As they say the department arrived with a presentation of what was being done, “not asking what they should be doing to serve Bermuda’s needs now and into the future”. The CSB says it also did a follow up with the department’s director, William Francis, regarding comments from the consultation.

According to the CSB’s understanding, the Minister of the Environment, Telecommunications, & E-Commerce, Neletha Butterfield, will follow the path as indicated in the department’s Overview of Regulatory Reform document.

The Minister will then make a decision on how the industry should be finally structured, based on input from the paid consultants, according to the CSB.

The decision will not be disclosed to anyone before being handed to the Cabinet so it can be made into law, CSB alleges.

In response to the last allegation, Hiram Edwards, the assistant director at the telecoms department, told me that the final report on the reforms will first be submitted to the Minister.

It will be up to Minister Butterfield to decide on whether to make it public.

The CSB also queries why Brasil Telecom, owner of the high capacity cable that serves the Island, was not invited to participate in the consultation before December, 2006, which they say is 14 months after the reform process started.

Mr. Edwards said he would seek an answer to the question, but due to the short notice period, he was unable to provide it by press time. I’ve got my Ferrari Force Feedback Racing Wheel and my Formula One racing games. Now scientists are telling me that I’ve become a more dangerous driver on real roads.

Researchers at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians University and the Allianz Centre for Technology said that a study of 198 men and women found that those who play more virtual car-racing games, were more likely to report that they drive aggressively and get in accidents.

Less frequent virtual racing was associated with more cautious driving.

They describe the effects as “media priming”, in which players of popular video console and PC-based games on the road find that virtual racing seems to lead to aggressive driving and a propensity for risk taking.

The study extends prior findings on how macho virtual-shooter games increase aggression-related thoughts, feelings and behaviours,

For one part of the extensive study, the researchers assigned 83 men to play either typical racing or neutral games on a Sony Playstation.

“To win, participants had to massively violate traffic rules, such as by driving on the sidewalk, crashing into other cards, or driving at high speed.”

Correction: <$>Last week I mentioned the wrong name for the CSB scholarship, which is unavailable for the fall semester due to a short fall in funding. The name of the scholarship in question is the “Overseas Scholarship”.Contact Ahmed at elamin.ahmed[AT]gmail.com if you have comments.