Bomb blast at Puduraya

KUALA LUMPUR: There was a loud bang and then sounds of a little girl screaming with her hair on fi re.

That was the scene that greeted a witness to a bomb explosion that injured a Johor-bound 11-year-old girl and her aunt at Puduraya bus station on Friday.

In the 9.10pm incident, Atykah Nadiah Zamzar, her uncle and aunt were waiting at Platform 7 for a trip to Kota Tinggi. It is learnt that they were sitting there when the girl touched the bomb under the seat before it exploded.

The home-made explosive device comprised a tin of gum and a small motorcycle battery kept in a large snack food plastic package tied to a halffull bottle of mineral water.

Atykah suffered burns on her right hand and head, while her aunt, in her 30s, had light injuries on the forehead. They were rushed by ambulance to Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

A witness, Zainon Othman, said she was serving customers at her food kiosk in the terminal when the blast occurred.

“I heard a loud explosion.

I thought a bus tyre had exploded. When I saw a fi re and smoke, I knew it wasn’t.

Then everyone started running away from the blast area while a man was carrying a screaming girl with her head on fi re to the terminal police booth.” A badly shaken Zainon said a police team arrived 10 minutes later.

“I can still hear the girl’s scream,” she said.

Acting city police chief SAC I Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin, who was at the scene, said the bomb was believed to be home-made.

“We will take a copy of the CCTV camera footage at the bus station to help in investigations while the remains of the device were taken by the forensics unit.” He said the incident is being investigated under Section 7 of the Explosive Act 1957 for attempt to cause an explosion with intent to endanger life or property.

Spotlight: Hackers cast their Net wide

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon:

It’s the end of the working day. Staff lock their desks before they go home. After the last person leaves, the office is locked up and security guards start their patrols.

The next day, the staff comes in to find that the office has been robbed, not of its money or equipment, but of something possibly more valuable: Its data.

Cyber crime has cost companies billions worldwide, and Malaysia is no exception.

Heitech Padu Bhd, one of the country’s largest information and communications technology (ICT) service providers, said most organisations only believed they were prepared for problems like cyber-squatting and online piracy.

But low awareness of information security in the country has been a gold mine to cyber criminals, known as social engineers to industry experts and hackers to others.

Heitech president Safiee Mohammad said companies faced two threats.

"The first is the outside threat. Virus writers, spammers and hackers have joined forces to co-ordinate viruses, spamming, phishing and spyware attacks that have significant impact on businesses," said Safiee.

The inside threat, he said, was employees of organisations themselves. "Your own workers are known to be the weakest link, through whom cyber criminals gain access to a system."

Personal records, biodata and other private information can be used to get hold of ATM passwords, said Safiee, adding that while many think their email accounts were protected by passwords, hackers could mark and read email as the owner was logged on.

Social engineers con people into revealing sensitive data on a computer system, often on the Internet. One of the most recent incidents that affected banks was the rise in phishing scams in Internet banking.

In 2004, 92 phishing cases were reported to the Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT). Victims were deceived into giving out sensitive information on fake websites designed to look like the official site.

The actual amount of the losses was not revealed, but the Finance Ministry was reported as saying that about 26 Internet banking frauds cost the victims about RM200,000.

ICT companies and banks then began pushing for measures such as the introduction of dual-factor authentication systems like retinal scans and thumbprint scans for users.

But being aware of the risks does not solve the problem. Heitech chief security officer Khairuddin Abdullah said: "Computers left on 24 hours a day are an open invitation to hackers to cyber-squat and rob the system of its resources.

"Someone who can hack into the system administration can control your computer and distribute anything, like pornography."

He added that simple security features like username and password verification hardly helped, and many organisations didn’t even realise they had been hacked. "When they do find out, it’s too late and many do not wish to discuss it," he said.

Viva La Vespa! Still The Besta!

Original 1946 Vespa

Whenever I see one of those classic putt-putts of yesteryear zooming down a busy street, I cannot help but reminisce about the two beautiful years I spent in Perugia, Italy half a lifetime ago. Within the trail of their vapor lie a myriad of sweet dreams and misty memories. Somewhere in an old photo album, tucked away in the abyss that is my house, there is a photo of me astride a "Sprint" (the blue model) that belonged to an old boyfriend. He took the picture, which is why I am alone upon it, and also why I lost my balance and fell to the muddy ground just a few seconds afterwards. I still couldn't miss looking pretty classy though; falling off that tapered midsection and landing alongside the flared and rounded tail that inspired its name. Vespa is, after all, the Italian word for wasp, (the stinging kind, and not the human kind).

Italy is known for its unique art forms. Consider going for a family ride aboard a Vespa and crossing the street anywhere in Italy (with or without a Vespa). I have heard older Italians speak of the lean days after World War II when a family of four would pile on board a Vespa. The father was the driver; the mother sat behind him and the children hung on for dear life at both ends. Crossing the street requires just as much skill. There was once an old Italian movie whose entire plot involved a family crossing a busy thoroughfare, one at a time. One day I found myself in the middle of an enormous intersection where the traffic merged from three different directions and showed no signs of slowing down at the red light. I was eating a chocolate ice cream cone and licking on it more and more furiously with each passing second until a carbonieri (policeman) directed me to safety. I went to thank him and some of my ice cream splattered onto his white uniform. I wished I had been on a Vespa then to zoom away forever out of his sight and my embarrassment.

The Vespas and their arch rival scooter, the Lambretta, have been pounding cobblestone and macadam all over the world for more than half a century. The manufacturers of Vespa commemorated their fiftieth anniversary in 1996 with a gala on The Italian Riviera and the grand opening of a Vespa museum at their corporate headquarters, near Pisa. Their revival in the United States has been a slow but steady cultural phenomenon. These two-wheeled equivalents to the Volkswagen Beetle are seen as often in advertisements and television commercials as they are buzzing up and down the streets of New York City. According to the US representative to the International Federation of Vespa Clubs, Rolf Soltau, there are currently forty-eight Vespa clubs throughout the United States that boast a membership of more than two thousand.

The Vespa has a unique style that blends mobility with simplicity. It is as Italian as Spaghetti ala Carbonara and could be nothing else- ever! A masterpiece worthy of respect and rounded in shape, it is said, because the Piaggio plant wanted the scooter to resemble the chassis of a "good looking woman". Chauvinist? Well, as an American woman who lived among Italian men for more than two years I would have to say, "Yes, it is." There is also no doubt about the artistry and brilliance of the design.

The scooters were originally made by the Piaggio plant in 1946, which to this day still holds more than 40% of the small scooter market in Europe. The company was originally involved in the manufacture of aircraft before being nearly destroyed in World War II. Evidence of aircraft design can be found in the Vespa's rear wheel mounting and single sided front fork that were both typical of landing gear in the airplanes of the time. The Vespa's timeless engineering was the brainchild of Enrico Piaggio, president of the family run metal company and Corradino D'Ascanio, an industrial engineer who helped develop the helicopter. The scooters were cool then as a symbol of the reconstruction of war-torn Italy and they are cool now.

Crossing the threshold into permanent celebrity was certainly helped when the Vespa was used to transport Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the 1953 film, "Roman Holiday". The scooter was also featured in "La Dolce Vita" starring Anita Ekberg and alongside the likes of John Wayne and Sandra Dee in many old publicity shots. Cult status was finally achieved in the 1960s with the success of "Quadrophenia," the biggest scooter movie ever made.

The Vespas have become a way of life, representing just the right blend of urban efficiency, Italian elegance and unmistakable panache. They have even carved a niche in the dictionary, which is a true sign of cultural acceptance. One might remember Diane Arbus, the troubled photographer of the 60s and 70s and whose subjects were always quite disturbing and bizarre. The word "arbus" came to symbolize those two qualities to old Mr. Webster. Well, "vespiti" for Mr. Webster's Italian counterpart represents those who are a part of the Vespa lifestyle and "vespazzare" is a verb which has come to mean: "going somewhere on a vespa."

Vespa sales rose steadily until the 1980s. This was due to their two stroke engines that did not meet emission standards. None have been imported since then which deems all remaining Vespas as "vintage." The 15-40-year old scooters in the United States are becoming more and more valuable and harder and harder to find. Most need some rejuvenation but, as an aging beautiful woman, they still retain the essence of what they once were. The Piaggi plant has introduced a new brand of Vespa for a new generation, but it remains as big a difference as that between a diamond and a zircon. The newer ones are called ET-4. (No, it is not another sweet little alien with a new number to phone home, but maybe it should be!)

The new Vespas are all segregated into service only or "vintage" shops. These stores are not allowed to sell the new Vespas and for that one must visit, I am afraid, what can only be termed a "Vespa Boutique". Even then, they are hard to find except on the black market. Although these ET-4's have received rave reviews, they are just not the same as their older counterparts. Cities such as New York where Vespa enthusiasts still congregate for frequent excursions will never be the same either. I wish them all a happy zooming a to wherever it is that fools rush in and wise men (and not so wise men) fear to tread. Long live the Vespa for it is still…the… besta!!

(Vintage Scooter Commercials)

Nissan Figaro Retro Car 1.0 Turbo

The Figaro is Nissan's exciting concept car. The Figaro has a 1960/70 retro bodystyle with matching interior, instruments and radio, but with a total of 90's specification including power steering, power windows, full air conditioning, CD player, auto box coupled to Nissan 1.0 litre engine, total Nissan Micra running gear. This car turns heads wherever it goes.

This car is already a sought after classic in Europe and Japan. Manufactured in very limited numbers (20,000 to be exact) in 1991, designed by Shoji Takahashi, the Figaro was sold by way of an allocation raffle in Japan due to overwhelming demand. Today, these cars have a cult following which will ensures that the depreciation is always minimal and may even appreciate in value in the not to distant future due to the small amount of cars made. We have seen the Figaro increase in price on the Japanese market over the last 6 months, its becoming the car all the fashionable ladies want to be seen in around Tokyo.

A distinctive, personalised coupe, A wonderful town car that even the Celebrities want to get there hands on Jonathan Ross has one or should I say his wife Jane Goodman has a Figaro, and so has Vanessa Feltz! Eric Clapton,Athina Roussel the Onassis heiress, Frank Skinner, Chris Rea, Michael Corkery, And many more all over the world. Join the ranks - with the Nissan Figaro.

Features and Accessories as standard

Convertable - retractable roof that packs down nicely into into the boot in a minute. Three speed automatic transmission. Soft colour coded and piped leather upholstery throughout, with matching carpets.998cc petrol performance engine with a turbo charger, economy & power. Full spec air conditioning, all electric windows, classic styled wheels, retro styled radio/cassette/CD and dashboard.

These cars come in four colours as standard (pastel - Grey (lapis grey) - Blue (baby blue) - Beige - Green) Here at Figaro UK we are able to offer you our special customisation paint colour of your choice click the service link on the left for more details.

When Nissan announced that it would only be building 20,000 of these cars they was immediately swamped with potential customers - indeed it was over-subscribed by no less the 16 times. Now quite a few Figaro's are arriving in the UK. They make an ideal city cars and a strong fashion statement.

So what's the appeal of a Figaro? Retro styling is accompanied by chrome literally everywhere, from the slim-line bumpers to the external boot hinges, and from the hub caps to the victorian cutlery-style toggle switches. Even the retro-look radio is chromed, until you discover that it's actually a CD player as well.

Engine (cc) Max Power (bhp/rpm) Max Speed (mph) 0-60mph (secs) Fuel economy (mpg) Transmission

987cc Turbo charger 4-cy 76/6000 100 n/a 38 3-speed automatic

(See More Nissan Figaro Retro Classic)