Current Issue:

"Helping Your Business Fly"
Issue 30

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. FLIGHT LINES: Master Money with Respect
2. WING TIPS: Windows XP Software Installation Tip
3. FEATURE ARTICLE: "Does Your Security System Work As Expected?"
4. ALTER EAGLE: The Motley Fool Website
5. EAGLE'S TALON: Free eBook - Magic Letters
6. EYE OF THE EAGLE: What is open when closed...
7. CONTACT THE FLYER: Send questions, comments and articles

1) ======= Flight Lines =======
[Observations on business and life]

"If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him."
-- Sir Francis Bacon

"Money is to be respected; one of the worst things you can do is handle another person's money without respect for how hard it was to earn." -- T. Boone Pickens, Jr.

Money is a tool. Use it wisely to provide the leverage you need for your business and personal life. Remember what you "spent" to get it in the first place.

2) ======= Wing Tips =======
[A variety of business helps and tips]

[Note: Before attempting this, or any other Windows "tips", be sure that you have a current backup of your registry files as well as all of your other important files.]

Windows XP Software Installation Tip

If you have problem installing software, and receive an error message that says you are not running Windows 2000, there is a registry tweak that might help. Go to Start / Run and type regedit.exe and click OK. Now navigate to the value at

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT \CurrentVersion\ProductName and change the value to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP.

Exit the registry editor, saving your new settings, and reboot the system. Your problem software SHOULD now install.

3) ======= Feature Article =======

["Practical Security for Small Business" series - article #2]

"Does Your Security System Work As Expected?"
By Ralph Moore

If you are like most professionals, you already have some form of security for your business.

The questions that you need to ask (and answer) for yourself are; "Does my security system work as it is supposed to?", and "Are my security expectations (what I hope to achieve) the right ones for my type of business, and the assets that I need to protect?"

If you think that the answer to the first question is a "no-brainer", think again.

There is an old tale about the great escape artist, Harry Houdini. While the story may be of questionable origin, I'll risk re-telling it here to illustrate a point.

"The jail cell hasn't been built that can hold me!", said Harry Houdini, greatest escape artist of all time. In order to further his promotion efforts and career, Houdini had made the claim that he could escape from any jail in two hours or less.

Many jailers had taken him up on the challenge, and in every case, Harry had managed his departure with time to spare. In this latest exhibition, Houdini was confident that he would likewise soon be free.

The jailer led Harry down the dimly lit corridor to the waiting cell of the old jail. With a resounding clang and a click, the shiny new door was shut, and once again the famous captive was left to do what only he knew so well.

Now alone, Harry retrieved the pick which he had managed to hide from his hosts, and began to work the lock on the heavy jail cell door. A half hour passed, and surprisingly, Harry had made no progress.

An hour flew by as Houdini focused all of his attention on the lock, hoping to hear the tell-tale dropping of the tumblers, the sound that would set him free.

An hour-and-a-half passed, with still no change in his progress. Houdini now realized that he had met the most formidable challenge of his career.

Finally, drenched in sweat from the sheer magnitude of his efforts, Harry Houdini finally realized that for once, he had been bested, as his self-imposed two-hour time limit had expired.

Admitting defeat, Harry watched in disbelief as the smiling jailer firmly gripped the door and swung it open.

The sound of the click that Houdini had heard when the door was closed, was nothing more than a simple latch, not the secure kind of lock that he had imagined belonged to the new looking door.

The Great Houdini had been trying to unlock a door that had only been locked in his mind, all along. Because of his past successes in similar circumstances, he assumed the obvious, and failed to test the limits of his captivity.

Just like Houdini, you will never know if your security system works as it is supposed to work, unless you test it on a regular basis.

When you leave for that much-needed vacation, don't you take a few minutes to check that your home security system works as it should? Doesn't it make sense to do the same for your business?

Now what about your expectations? What exactly do you hope to achieve in terms of security for your business?

In addition to security to protect your buildings, supplies and equipment, you need to provide a means of securing and controlling access to your all-important data.

If your expectations include building a fool-proof 100% secure system to safeguard your data, you are expecting too much. Even "unsinkable" ships do, in fact, sink. Remember the Titanic?

A good data security system for ANY business, large or small, really consists of two parts; Limiting the risk of data loss, in the first place, and recovery of as much data as possible after loss.

Most data loss happens in one of four ways:

1. Someone from within your company betrays your trust. This includes current and former employees, and is a very common problem.

2. Someone attacks you from outside of your company. We have all heard stories of "hackers" and "crackers" who may attack a business for the "thrill of the hunt".

3. Normal or physical hardware or software failure. Hard drives, power supplies and sources, improper software installations and conflicts, and much more makes up this list.

4. Human error in creating, storing and managing data. This is, by far, the greatest source of data loss. Failing to properly save documents, poor filing and storage habits, overwriting files, improper backup procedures, lack of proper training, and more are included here.

Your expectations for securing your data will vary SPECIFICALLY with the type of business that you have.

For example, if your business includes high-volume, real-time online financial transactions, such as a bank or stock brokerage firm, you should expect a higher liklihood of attacks from without, via your network connections.

Furthermore, if you require part-time employees, or people who are unskilled in data entry, you might expect to have a higher rate of data loss due to human error, such as overwriting or not properly saving files.

Regardless of your business type, you should expect your means of security to offer you practical control, while being as cost effective as possible.

By paying attention to your business security needs, by testing your established procedures for compliance, and by taking a common-sense approach to data backups, your security system will work as you expect it to, and your business data will be as secure as possible.

Ralph Moore is the editor of the FREE Eagle Flyer Newsletter, which offers "How To Technology and Tips That Can Multiply Your Business Online". To subscribe to the Eagle Flyer and receive a FREE report, visit: Eagle Flyer Website

4) ======= Alter Eagle =======
[Products and services that we recommend]

The Motley Fool Website

If you are looking for better ways to invest all of your zillions of dollars of accumulated wealth [or even if it's just a few bucks] this site will help.

World-renowned for practical finance and investment advice, the Motley Fool seems to have something for everyone.

The site includes such helps as "60-Second Guides to..."

* Short-Term Savings * Get a Broker * Refinance Your Mortgage
* Maximize Your 401(k) * Open an IRA * Get Out of Debt

And major topic headings include:

My Fool, How to Invest, Retirement, Taxes, Mutual Funds, Financial Advice, Online Learning, Investing Strategies, Quotes & Data, and more.

5) ======= Eagle's Talon =======
[Tools to help you "get a grip" on things]

Free eBook - Magic Letters by Allen Says

Regardless of the type of business that you have, if you plan on using the Internet to further your marketing efforts, I highly recommend taking a look at this free eBook.

Allen Says is one of the top Internet marketers, and earns a very nice income from his Internet based business.

There is a lot of excellent marketing information, in the form of articles, contained within the book.

6) ======= Eye of the Eagle =======
[Ideas to help you think creatively]

What is open when closed and closed when open?

(Answer(s) in the next issue of the Flyer)

***

Answer to Last Month's Puzzler...

[If you have seven matches, and burn three of them, how many do you have left?]

As I mentioned in the last edition of the Flyer, there could be several "right" answers. Here are a few...

Four. After all, you burnt three of them. And if you really burnt them, three would be completely gone.

Seven matches left. Four "unburnt" and three "burnt" matches. This assumes that the burnt matches are still there, and thus you might still consider them "matches".

Two. "Matching pairs" of unburnt matches. The three burnt matches don't really "match" anything.

None. If you look closely enough, you'll see that every match in the world is like a snowflake... different in it's own special way. They're not really "matches" after all... etc.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole, or
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publisher.

Registered with the Library of Congress. ISSN: 1535-8429
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