Swine Flue the Baics (Auckland, New Zealand, Mexico) Facts

Symptoms usually similar to seasonal flu - but deaths recorded in Mexico

It is a new version of the H1N1 strain which caused the 1918 flu pandemic

Too early to say whether it will lead to a pandemic

Current treatments do work, but there is no vaccine

Good personal hygiene, such as washing hands, covering nose when sneezing advised

FLU PANDEMICS

1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times. Caused by a form of the H1N1 strain of flu, it is estimated that up to 40% of the world's population were infected, and more than 50 million people died, with young adults particularly badly affected

1957: Asian flu killed two million people. Caused by a human form of the virus, H2N2, combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks. The impact of the pandemic was minimised by rapid action by health authorities, who identified the virus, and made vaccine available speedily. The elderly were particularly vulnerable

Nokia 1100 gets highly sought after for its potential criminal use.

One of the most popular handsets in the world - Nokia 1100 has found itself in the middle of a banking fraud scandal, according to a Dutch investigator. Allegedly, criminals are paying an arm and a leg for working second hand units of the once-50-euro handset that are manufactured in Nokia plant in Bochum, Germany.

Investigators are observing huge amounts of money being offered for the outdated handset recently. The largest recorded sum up to now is 25,000 euro (about 32,000 US dollars), which is about 11 times its weight in gold. According to the investigators the criminals are looking to acquire only units that are manufactured in the Bochum plant of the company.

The supposed reason behind this peculiar requirement is that those handset most probably come with flawed software or hardware, which allows them to be hacked and used to make a working copy of someone else's phone line.

When set up this way, the Nokia 1100 receives the same calls and most importantly text messages that the original recipient gets, without them ever suspecting anything.

The loophole that the criminals are allegedly using is that many European banks now send temporary transaction authentication numbers or mTANs as SMS to the account holders as a security feature for authorizing online money transfers.

This is where the supposedly counterfeit-capable Nokia 1100 handsets step in. As they receive the SMS intended for the authorized account holder, criminals can acquire a working mTAN and initiate a transfer after they have stolen the needed online ID credentials in some other way.

At this stage Nokia have refuted those accusations claiming that they have not identified any flaw or wormhole in their phone software that would allow the alleged use cases.

However, the investigations still continue.

2008 Corruption Perceptions Index

Where do you live on this earth? Are you proud of the country you are living in now? See below, the top ten countries percepted as least corruptible in the world!

Facts and figures do not tell lies ;-)

Source: Transparency International

Country Rank	Country	2008 CPI Score	Survey Used	Confidence Range
1	Denmark	9,3	6	9.1 - 9.4
1	New Zealand	9,3	6	9.2 - 9.5
1	Sweden	9,3	6	9.2 - 9.4
4	Singapore	9,2	9	9.0 - 9.3
5	Finland	9,0	6	8.4 - 9.4
5	Switzerland	9,0	6	8.7 - 9.2
7	Iceland	8,9	5	8.1 - 9.4
7	Netherlands	8,9	6	8.5 - 9.1
9	Australia	8,7	8	8.2 - 9.1
9	Canada	8,7	6	8.4 - 9.1
39	Taiwan	5,7	9	5.4 - 6.0
40	South Korea	5,6	9	5.1 - 6.3
45	Bhutan	5,2	5	4.5 - 5.9
45	Czech Republic	5,2	8	4.8 - 5.9
47	Malaysia	5,1	9	4.5 - 5.7
80	Thailand	3,5	9	3.0 - 3.9
141	Philippines	2,3	9	2.1 - 2.5
178	Iraq	1,3	4	1.1 - 1.6
178	Myanmar	1,3	4	1.0 - 1.5
180	Somalia	1,0	4	0.5 - 1.4

David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand.

Strange facts you might not know! David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand

Cats do not taste sweetness.

Whales still have hip bones.

The glue used on Israeli postage stamps is kosher.

The city of Austin,TX was originally named “Waterloo”.

The 50 tallest mountains on Earth are all located in Asia.

Winston Churchill’s mother was an American born in New York.

Bagpipes weren’t invented in Scotland, but in ancient Persia.

Michelangelo died in 1564, the same year Shakespeare was born.

The human bone most often broken is the clavicle (collar bone).

Marie Osmond goes by her middle name. Her actual first name is Olive.

Contrary to the widely held belief, there are no wild tigers in Africa.

Only one U.S. state has a state flag with a green background: Washington.

Geologists believe that about half the unmined gold in the world is in South Africa.

The toilet featured in Hitchcock’s “Psycho” was the first flushing toilet to appear on-screen.

Elephants are the only animal physically unable to jump. This is because of their enormous weight.

If the tracks on a typical compact disc ran in a straight line, they would travel for about three miles.

Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only U.S. president with a “Gettysburg Address.” Dwight Eisenhower owned a farm in the Pennsylvania town.

The Latin phrase “libra pondo” was used in ancient Rome to indicate weight, which is why today the abbreviation for “pound” is “lb.”

Leatherback sea turtles have fleshy backward-pointing spines in their throats so that jellyfish, their favorite food, can be swallowed more easily.

Plastic bags take up less landfill space than paper bags. According to one study, two plastic bags take up 72 percent less landfill space than one paper bag.

Not only are all automobile taillights in the U.S. red, they’re a specific shade of red (with a specific color wavelength and intensity) mandated by the federal government.

Bridgestone Corporation, maker of the Bridgestone tires, is a Japanese company. The title is derived from founder Shojiro Ishibashi’s last name, which translates literally to “stone bridge”.

The number “five” is important to the Pentagon in many ways. Sure, it has five sides, but the building also has five stories, and the courtyard in the center encompasses an area of five ac

The fortune cookie was invented in the early 20th century by Makato Hagiwara, who designed the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. He intended the cookie to be a snack for people walking through the garden.

Despite its 6.5 million square feet of floor space, the Pentagon in Washington was constructed in such a way that no point in the building is more than seven minutes’ walk from any other point in the building.

Built in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was lambasted by Parisians for its industrial ugliness. The only thing that saved it from being demolished in 1909 was its potential use as a radio tower during World War I. Luckily, by the end of the War, it had won over enough hearts to stay.