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Food for Thought
Compiled by Shane Drew October, 2010 - Vol 20, Issue 10 |
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| Greetings! | |
Welcome to the October addition of Food for Thought.
After having two weeks off this month to enjoy a break from the every day, I'd love to tell you we had a relaxing time. In truth, it was anything BUT a relaxing holiday.
It was an adventure, but it was no holiday.
We literally came back home for a rest. Not that we went overboard on the things we did, it was mainly because of the experiences we had when we got there.
When I told people our family was departing our australian shores for a holiday in New Zealand, a few days after the 'shaky Isles' had experienced a 7.2 earthquake, the reactions were mixed.
 Some were excited, others thought we were brave. Some, like my parents, thought we were nuts.
Anyway, depart we did for our annual holidays.
The first of many changes in our plans came by way of an email from our airline advising us.... read more |
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| Hacker Alert.... |
 It has been reported in the computer press that several Trojan horses with the appearance of being a legitimate program, are spreading around the Internet spamming your entire address book with bogus messages and attempting to delete your computer's security software.
It gets worse. The Kenzero Trojan out of Japan goes further than pretending to be a legitimate program.
Hackers behind the program not only post your browser history, favorites, illegally-downloaded porn, and clipboard content to a public Website, they demand payment to remove it.
Kenzero is a Trojan of the "ransomware" variety, where a malicious program masquerading as a game registration window takes your personal details then attempts to extort money out of you.
Once the payment is made online, the scammers sell your credit card information to the highest bidder.
Kenzero is spread via the Winny file-sharing network, which has approximately 200 million users.
It gets worse still. There are now trojan viruses for smartphones.
Kaspersky Labs announced detection of what appeared to be the first of several SMS Trojans on Google's Android operating system on August 9th.
The application released in Russian is disguised as a media player.
Once installed, the code would send 3 premium SMS messages, effectively transferring the US equivalent of ~$18 from the user to the recipient company.
Kaspersky Labs expert Denis Maslennikov has since revealed a new Trojan very similar to the first. Again targeting Russian users, this app is disguised as a pornographic media player.
It is not the premium SMS dialing but the method in which installing the app is brought to users attention that is interesting.
The authors of this particular trojan use a tactic known as search engine poisoning to spread the malware.
That is, they crafted Websites specifically to appear near the top of search results for certain search queries. By placing malicious websites at the top of search results, mobile users who are by nature looking for fast easy results are more likely to click through without due diligence of ensuring the top hits are safe.
This has been a common theme of PC-based malware and is now a lucrative trend in the mobile domain for an increasingly popular platform.
When the trojan is installed, it will ask you to access Android's messaging system. If you deny it, the malicious portion of the code will not be allowed to function.
The lesson: know and trust your application sources, and pay attention to mandatory security prompts.
Remember that once you have given permission to an application, it rarely if ever will need to request permission again. The simple media browser in this case can wantonly send SMS messages whenever it is active, and you will be none the wiser, till you see the bill.
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| Alan Logan 1941 - 2010... |
 Alan Logan, a pioneer in the Australian vehicle and caravan graphic fields and innovator of airbrushed vinyl designs for vehicles, passed away on Friday October 1, at 2.30pm in The Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Alan was well known throughout the sign and graphic industries in Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand through his family owned and operated graphics distribution company, SAL Auto Design. The company was sold so the family could concentrate on his health. He died after a long battle with cancer.
We were competitors in the ' no-holds-barred' sign and graphic wholesale market.
In business, he was focussed and determined, doing his utmost to deliver value to his dedicated customer base, in what is a highly competative and volatile market. He was respected in all levels of the industry. He was also my uncle.
Alan was best known amongst his friends and family for his empathy, generosity and kindness. He donated his time to many causes, and was only ever a phone call away if you needed help. He was a mentor, a hearing ear and counselor to many over the years.
Alan measured his wealth, not in money, but in the value of family, friends and his faith.
I can relate so many memories, but the one that sticks clearly in my mind is when my father was critically ill in 2001. Alan was on a selling trip around New Zealand. Getting the call regarding my father, Alan was on the first plane home. Family always came first. As my own family struggled to come to terms with the idea that my father may not 'pull through', Alan was always there, always supportive, always ready to assist in whatever capacity he could. Truly the mark of not only a valued friend, but also the mark of a wonderful human being and a generous soul.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Barbara, their three children and two grandchildren.
His memorial is to be held on Saturday at 2pm, at the Bribie Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 470 Bestmann Road, Godwin Beach. |
| Top holiday complaints.. |
Top stupid holiday complaints as compiled by sunshine.co.uk 1. One lady's plane journey was a disappointment because the sky was too cloudy; obstructing both her and her children's view of the sea and ruining their plans for eye-spy 2. Having landed at the airport in Portugal from Cardiff, one complaint was made from a family who had not been told that it would be so sunny and therefore they were too 'hot and sweaty' in their travel clothes. 3. When collecting suitcases from the airport conveyor belt, a gentleman was annoyed that so many other people also had plain black suitcases and he could therefore not distinguish which case was his. 4. Most people are eager for the travelling to end and the holiday to begin, but for one couple the 20 minute transfer time was worthy of a complaint as they were unable to see the sites of the Island. 5. When arriving at the hotel and unloading their cases, one lady noticed that her shampoo had leaked over her clothing and then, to her disgust, the hotel provided complimentary shampoo and so the whole incident was very preventable. 6. During a day trip to a local theme park, one woman complained that the Log Flume ride made her feet wet and that the ice cream from a particular shop melted too quickly in the sun. 7. Another couple complained about the children's entertainment at their resort; it was too good and therefore the children did not want to spend any time with mum and dad. 8. Luckily, for some mum's and dad's this means peace and quiet and some sneaky cocktails beside the pool. However, one family claim that they were unaware how strong the cocktails were and ended up a little worse for wear in the early afternoon. |
| Top health tips for 2010... |
JOSEPH ZUCKERMAN, MD - Professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center
1. The best habit to adopt is daily exercise. But don't perform the same exercise every day. Have three or four different regimens, and rotate through them.
2. The simple act of taking a daily "baby" aspirin (81 mg) can decrease the chance of heart attack, stroke and other serious health problems in higher-risk patients. But always check with your doctor.
3. The key is to achieve balance between work and your personal life, because when all is said and done, your legacy is your family and the people you love.
4. Get a physical in 2010! And those who have had regular checkups should not stop!
PASCAL GOLDSCHMIDT, MD - Dean of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
5. Happiness is the least known health tip. It's not that unhappy people will always live shorter lives. But when an individual has a happy life that is well balanced with family, love, a great career and interesting hobbies, they will live longer.
6. My best advice: Restrict your calories. You can make up all the stories you want about different diets, but the only thing that truly counts is how many calories you eat a day.
JAMES BECKERMAN, MD - Cardiologist and WebMD resident cardiology expert
7. Wellness is a verb. Think of health not as a target, but as a journey that has no end.
8. Avoid smoking. That's something we all know about and give lip service to, but it's just truly devastating what smoking can do to people, and yet amazing what quitting smoking can do to people.
PAMELA PEEKE, MD - Author, spokesperson, professor, and nutrition and fitness correspondent for Discovery Health Channel
9. Laugh a lot-why? It will put you in the right mood to not take life so seriously. We spent years studying cortisol, and when you laugh stress hormones plummet.
10. Have a rich social life.
11. Take a mini-chill. Hubert Benson, founder of Harvard's Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, taught me to incorporate mini meditations throughout the day. It allows the mind and body to have a moment to just turn it off.
12. Avoid toxic stress-meaning any stress with feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and defeat.
13. Use your head. The secret to living a healthy life starts with a healthy mind that must be maintained throughout your life. It's gotta be worked.
(source: sobefitmagazine.com) |
| A quote to remember |
A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely. - Pam Brown |
| Finally... |
Before I go for this month, I'd like to tell you that I've started a blog. Countless people have been requesting an avenue to read all my posts and articles in one place, so I've decided to give a blog a go.
Over time, I'll be adding articles that I've written, or when I write new ones, I'll include them there also.
So, if you get the chance, keep in touch via my blog site at http://shanedrew.wordpress.com/ . You can submit comments (keep them clean as the site is moderated) or post it to your facebook wall.
Until next time, take care
Shane Drew
3M Accredited Applicator - Silver Level, Certificate Number AUS1028 |
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Shane Drew
Drews Sign It Pty Ltd
4 William Street
Waterford West Q 4133
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