Regular features from September 2003 93rd Issue

The Digital Doctor - Security Secrets

A lot of you will seldom use your computer, let the kids play games on it and generally treat it as a fancy toy. However the majority, like me, use the machine to store all manner of personal information from accounts details, address books, favourite websites and family photographs. How violated would you feel if a stranger came into your bedroom and rummaged through all your personal belongings? It's no different with your computer after all they're still called Personal Computers for a reason.
Unless protected, every time you connect to the internet you're opening up your machine to the prying eyes of the world (not to mention the giant corporations that created your software). You would be surprised at how much information can be gained about your system during a quick one minute scan. Anti-virus protection isn't enough in this case; it will only protect you against viruses sent via email, floppy disk or over the internet. It won't prevent hackers gaining access to your machine while you're online.
Your computer uses gateways or 'ports' to access the internet, there are several thousand of them and each one is allocated a resource (such as Internet Explorer, MSN, Real Player, Dreamweaver or any other program you use online). Many of them are spare or idle just 'listening' for an incoming or outgoing connection. Hackers will exploit these open ports to attack your machine and gain access. They use scanning software to scan a range of IP addresses (the number your machine is assigned when it connects to an ISP) for open ports, and when they find some they can gain access. Once they have access they can manipulate your files, copy stuff from your hard disk or drop a trojan. A trojan is a piece of software that allows someone to remotely manipulate your computer to their desire; some well known ones are Back Orifice and Sub Seven. This effectively gives the hacker control of your machine, it may behave like it has a virus and some Anti virus software will detect trojans but by then its usually too late and the hacker has the information they wanted such as account details, passwords, credit card numbers etc.
The prevention to this threat is a firewall. Firewall software when installed gives you full control over what is allowed in and out of your computer when you go online. When an attempted hack is made it will alert you so you can deny connection. Firewalls also stealth your ports so they show up invisible to scanning tools used by hackers. I have been using Kerio Personal Firewall for a while now and wouldn't connect without it, you will be surprised at how many attempted 'hacks' are made during a regular hour or so internet session. The software installs easily and quickly and can be configured to a security level that you're comfortable with. Kerio can be downloaded free from www.kerio.co.uk. Another very popular security system is Zone Alarm, which does the same as Kerio but with a few extra functions. Zone alarm can be downloaded from www.zonelabs.com. Norton has a security suite, which includes a firewall, but I have found it very resource hungry and therefore only recommended to those with higher spec computers.
Besides firewalls there are other security measures you can take to ensure only you or people you allow can access your personal secrets. Windows security has been a bit of an oxymoron up until recently. If you're using Windows 95, 98 or ME then forget it; a big padlock is the only thing that will protect your machine. These operating systems will allow passwords and profiles to be setup but they are easily by-passed by someone with a bit of computer savvy. Windows 2000 and XP are a great improvement. You can setup separate profiles for each user and restrict their access to certain functions such as installing new software or system administration. Open Control Panel > Users and Passwords to see and modify what profiles are installed. For the geeks there is gpedit (Group Policy Editor - gpedit.msc), which enables you to specify specific security settings for each user such as 'hide the control panel' or prevent them changing the desktop settings etc. However I wouldn't recommend messing with this function unless you really know what you're doing.
Another great little security feature for your computer is a BIOS password. The BIOS stores the initial configuration settings that your computer checks before it even starts Windows. Setting up a password here will prevent any unauthorized user getting further than the black screen with your hardware checks. Caution: again don't mess with the BIOS if you're unsure what you're doing, you could render your machine unable to boot. Upon startup hit the 'del' button to enter your BIOS (F10 on Compaqs - they just have to be different!) you will then see the blue screen with menus, one of which being set user password. DON'T FORGET IT as there's no way to gain access to the computer otherwise without calling help or doing more technical stuff. You may also need to tell it whether to ask for the password on entering the BIOS (setup) or every time you boot the machine (always).
If you have any computer issues or questions don't hesitate to call the Doc on 01-1911742 or email mjy@digitalmetrix.net. Back issues of the Digital Doctor can be found on my website: www.digitalmetrix.net

Choices

The unfortunate man or woman with a big time drinking problem, who is seeking help to quit, has as many similar choices as a punter looking for financial advice. Some of these choices can be fraught with peril and unfulfilled expectations for both parties.
The drinker can try going it alone and with total determination to stay stopped usually lasts a few weeks but at best until the next family funeral, wedding or golf club outing.
He can try a psychiatrist with master degrees in behavioral psychology working from a 30th floor plush city office. He will certainly get good advice from someone who read about alcoholism from books but his sobriety if any will come at a big price.
Or he can try AA which apparently has a good track record of success and it's also free. A member of AA once told me that at a meeting of say 10 alcoholics with an average sobriety of 10 years a newcomer was privy to 100 years of experience in fighting the booze.
For an individual, not familiar with finance, looking to plan his financial future, the myriad choices can make him feel as lost as the alcoholic. Who can he trust and where can he get the best results?
Individual investors are really up against it when it comes to stock picking. They account for less than 20% of investment activity. This is hardly surprising. Many of the people who participate in making investment decisions -including some of the most powerful- are not very experienced with investing and its often counterintuitive nature. Corporate executives have lived in the real world where smart people control outcomes and make things happen. For them the world of investing can be very frustrating and confusing because none of them can control the course of the market. And less lofty individuals who plan their future are so busy they don't usually have time to study and understand what they're getting into. .
If a potential client goes to a gleaming steel international bank in the center of Bangkok looking for financial advice he will be well treated and most likely the bank will sell him the product that best suits his needs. He will go away feeling well satisfied with his purchase. While regulated banks always try to treat their clients well, the problem is that some of them are serving from a very restricted menu. Most big banks have inexperienced investment professionals and because of this restrict their sales staff to selling a small predetermined set of investment products to cover most eventualities.
The third choice here is to use a broker. I have a strong bias to the broker who came up the hard way. Knocking doors and selling insurance for a living before graduating to investment products and later studying investment theory and client financial planning.
These people can usually sell any tradable asset quoted on any world stock market.
Their most important asset is that they are trained by experience to put the client's financial needs first. After all there's little use selling a client a savings plan for their children if they have no life insurance. Who will pay the monthly savings plan premiums if the client is dead? The child will still need the education.
Like the boozer the most important variable in the whole financial process is how well we understand ourselves. Investing involves making decisions whose outcomes we cannot predict. All of us perform in our own way to uncertainty some calmly some foolishly.
The philosopher George Santayana in summing up his life's leanings said:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" Investment professionals in any field have a wonderful opportunity to study and learn from history.
Like an AA meeting the best and cheapest lessons are those we can learn from someone else's mistakes. Most professional brokers have one lofty ideal which is to learn how to learn from history so we do not need to learn the same lesson again and again at our client's expense. And so we can share our learning with our clients.

For further information on this article or any area of personal finance
Contact Jerry McMenamin at swissinvestcenter.net

Flying High

by Alain de Rocker
AIR NEWS
A NEW carrier, Thai Pacific Airlines (TPA) is planning to inaugurate a Bangkok–Sydney service on October 1 using a Boeing 747-200 aircraft.
Thai Pacific’s managing director, Ms Sawanit Singtoroj, said the aircraft will be delivered into Thailand by mid-September and is configured with 32 business-class, 24 superior and 322 economy-class seats.
Fares will be pitched about 15 per cent lower than those of the main competitors on the route. For example, the roundtrip 60-day excursion fare will be 17,500 baht (US$417) on the carrier compared with Thai Airway International’s current price of about 20,150 baht and Qantas’s 20,500 baht.
Distribution of seats will initially be confined to Thailand, but that could change in 2004 if plans for services to Seoul, Osaka and Honolulu materialise. “We are talking with several other airlines about interline arrangements, and next year we would hope to appoint GSAs in key Asian markets,” Ms Sawanit said.
She added she was saddened by the events in Jakarta last month and noted that Australian government travel warnings could affect flight bookings from Sydney. “But I believe the story will be off the front pages by October and anyway, we all have to keep moving forward.”

THAILAND is looking into setting up a no-frills, air-shuttle service linking Phuket and Langkawi in order to boost tourist traffic. Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, told reporters recently the service should be operated by the private sector and the fare should be no more than 500 baht (US$12).
But a spokesman for deputy prime minister, Mr Somkid Jatusripitak, told TTG Asia it was too early to say when the project would materialise. “Dr Somkid is forming a team to study the feasibility of the project. We would hope to have some recommendations in about three months.” Malaysia moved ahead of Japan to become Thailand’s biggest single source of visitors in 2002, with nearly 1.3 million crossing the border. Average daily spending is less than US$100 and length of stay is only 3.69 days on average.
Meanwhile, hopes that Bangkok’s new airport, Suvarnabhumi, will get a high-speed rail link were given a boost last month when the country’s transport minister said a US$626 million scheme had been formulated. “We’re looking at a 25 km electric railway system which would get travellers from the centre of Bangkok to the new airport in about 15 minutes,” Mr Suriya Jungrungreangkit said.
Mr Suriya added the high-speed link would be an elevated system operating above the existing surface track which would be improved and still serve commuters at normal speeds.
A ministry spokesman told TTG Asia the Suvarnabhumi Airport Development Committee yesterday had approved a budget of US$500,000 to produce a more detailed plan. “The plan should take about 12 months to complete, and the terminal and the link would probably take three years to build. We’re looking at an opening date sometime in 2007,” the spokesman said.

A look at current events through the eyes of Transformational Thinking.
By Bill Gould

In the last two articles, we spoke about leadership and the response has been both lively and positive. Thanks to all who have written and shared their perceptions. We are in the process of setting up an area on our web site where people can share their views and conduct real time discussions. It should be up and running by the time this issue goes to press. The web address, again, is transformationalthinking.com. Your input is welcomed.
This month, we are turning our attention to a concept we presented in a recent workshop on leadership we did for TIBFA (The Thai Institute of Banking & Finance Association) up in Bangkok last month, that was a great hit. It was Free Thinking Zones. We have been using Free Thinking Zones in our company for quite some time and have found them to be very beneficial, particularly when discussing highly emotional issues or topics about which one holds strong opinions. In the TIBFA workshop, I decided to introduce the concept and conduct the entire workshop in a Free Thinking Zone mode. I was overwhelmed at how rapidly people opened their minds and, though the workshop lasted the entire day, and many controversial and bold ideas were discussed, there was not one instance of argument, even though many perceptions and "conflicting" points of view were floating around the room.
The really cool thing about Free Thinking Zones is that people can discuss what would normally appear to be conflicting perceptions without fear of attack or judgment by others. It establishes an environment that is conducive to exploring and playing with ideas before committing to any one course of action. By following a few guidelines we presented in an earlier article and will repeat here, this approach is a thousand times more effective than any brainstorming session in which I have ever been involved.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Thinkers
1. Temporarily suspend judgment and emotion.
2. Invite diversity of ideas and perceptions.
3. Go for speed.
4. Go for quantity, not quality.
5. Practice pro-active listening skills.
6. Do not censor your own ideas or those of others.
7. Have fun!
(If you missed the article in which we went into detail on the above, please e-mail us at info@transformationalthinking.com and we will send you the original, complete article.) Let's take a look at how we can apply this approach personally, with others in a relationship and in a professional setting, as well as the benefits of doing so.
Many of us attach possession to our ideas, perceptions or points of view. We "own" them and that's why we are willing to fight for them. We view them as our creations or as "the Absolute Truth" as they represent or come from our belief system. Most of us are more than willing to "discuss" ideas until we draw close to core beliefs. Then we dig in our heels and go to battle under the standard of truth. But is It? As we have discussed in previous articles, The Truth is not always what it seems to be and, like anything else in our reality, even truth changes over time as people evolve. One example that clearly illustrates this is the reporting of witness to the same accident. Each will have his or her version of the event and each believes theirs to be the "correct" one, the Truth. We know this happens and the same thing happens in discussions between people, particularly those holding views different from our own. Free Thinking Zones eliminate the conflict that normally ensues.
When I have something to think about, I go to an internal Free Thinking Zone. Believe it or not, even when "talking" with one's self, there are often conflicting points of view that we need to deal with. Following the Seven Habits brings me so many benefits in such circumstances. I do not have to cling to any single concept or point of view. The point is not to prove my belief but to examine, challenge, define and expand it. The purpose is not to resolve anything but simply to play with ideas or concepts. This is great mental exercise, just as important for our growth as daily physical exercise is for our bodies. If I follow the Seven Habits, I do not get myself into trouble and, in fact, it amazes me how much further and deeper I can attain understanding of the issue or concept with which I am dealing at the time by doing so. This is why I decided to introduce it into our training programs.
I simply go to a quiet place and clear my mind. For me, that place involves an external, real natural setting like out in the mountains, on the beach or watching a sunrise or it can be one I create in my mind, one in which I am comfortable and "safe". I often take myself back to places I have discovered in my life that hold such memories. I often do so right in my office sitting at my computer. I will picture myself laying on my back on a grassy hill watching the clouds, remembering the scent of newly mown grass or other such experiences I have had that evoke inspiration. The point is that a Free Thinking Zone is a state of mind although it can be enhanced by one's surroundings if one so desires. I find nature to be very inspiring and prefer thinking out in the wild to four walls, but that's just me. The effects I achieve are much better than if I just "think" about something. There is something about going through the conscious process of establishing the Free Thinking Zone and reviewing the Seven Habits that brings better results. cont. next month

Back-Up Design couple Am and Boy celebrated 5 years of married bliss at the Sailom

Many happy returns to Paul, who enjoys a Sang Som or two while listening to Anthony’s singing

Observer girl Tantawan had a very happy birthday at the Hilton

Happy Birthday to Tom pictured here flanked by the two Richards at Beachcomber

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