Sarawak Chief Minister's wife, Laila Taib, dies of cancer

Puan Sri Laila Taib, the wife of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud passed away at 3.45 pm today from illness (terminal-stage breast cancer) at their residence, Demak Jaya in Kuching, confirmed by his press secretary Amin Sahmat. She was 68. She is survived by four children; Jamilah Hamidah, Mahmud Abu Bekir, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman and Hanifah. She also left and several grandchildren. Condolence to her family.

Sources: www.nadai.name

Datuk Amar Puan Sri Hajjah Laila Taib is of Polish-Russian descent. Her real name was Laila Chalecki and she married Abdul Taib Mahmud at the Adelaide Mosque by Iman Ahmad Skaka Al-Haj on Jan 13, 1959.

KUCHING, April 29 (Bernama) -- Puan Sri Laila Taib, wife of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, succumbed to cancer at their residence in Demak Jaya here today.

She died at 3.45pm.

Laila, 68, is survived by her husband, four children, including Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman, and 15 grandchildren.

Taib's press secretary Amin Sahmat said the burial would be held at the Demak Muslim cemetery tomorrow morning.

Among the first dignitaries to pay their last respects at Demak Jaya this evening was Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is currently on a two-day official visit to Sarawak, and wife, Puan Sri Norainee Abdul Rahman.

The Polish-born Laila and Taib, then pursuing his law degree, were married in Adelaide, Australia on Jan 13, 1959. Three years later, she arrived in Sarawak.

Her maiden name was Lejla Chaleck.

In paying tribute to Laila during their 50th wedding anniversary celebration here last January 13, Taib had said she was his pillar of strength and source of inspiration.

"I must acknowledge that it is not easy for any woman to be a politician's wife. Laila has played a major part in making my life very bearable," he said.

A local writer, Christina Mamora, who was commissioned to write Laila's yet-to-be published biography, 'A Story of Love and Compassion', described her as "kind and caring towards others."

"Having spent many long hours interviewing her (Laila) over the past year or so, I was very sad to think how nice and supportive she has been to me, especially in documenting stories about women, when I heard that she was sick," she told Bernama here.

In recognition of her active involvement in social work, including as Sarawak Badan Amal Dan Tenaga (SABATI) president, she was awarded the Darjah Utama Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Kenyalang, which carries the title 'Datuk Amar' in 1988.

She was also the Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam Malaysia (Perkim) vice-president (women's committee chairman) while the setting up of the Laila Taib Cancer Charitable Trust was one of the many testimonials of her keen interest to help needy patients and see that research activities could be carried out for the people's benefit.

-- BERNAMA

Are you smart enough to LINUX

Linux may never gain widespread success, that we, the Linux fans want it to, because it's just too complex for the average computer user. Sure, we now have KDE, GNOME, XFCE, and other fancy graphical user interfaces that attempt to mimic Windows and the Mac OS but underneath the shimmering polish, it's Unix and that scares people. I'm not so sure that this is a bad thing.

When I first compared PCs and Macs around 1988, I decided that Mac users would be more efficient at Microsoft Word or drawing pictures than a PC user but the PC user would know far more about computers. This was because the Mac OS protected its user from the underlying workings of the computer whereas the PC did not.

Nowadays, the PC is becoming the "dumbed-down" operating system of the masses and the Mac OS is more for tinkerers. The Mac OS, since the introduction of version 10 (X), is now a blend of FreeBSD (A free, open source operating system like Linux) and Mach64 (NeXT) architecture. Basically the Mac OS is more like Linux than its former self.

I assumed, in those thrilling days of yesteryear, that Mac users weren't as smart as PC users. Basically, if you're dumb (and have a lot of money), you use a Mac. These days I think that PC (Windows) users are the less skilled of the three user types. Each new version of Windows that emerges is smarter than the previous one, the new applications are released without some of the more sophisticated features they once brandished, and our gadgets (with the exception of cell phones) are built with a minimalist design.

This is all to our own detriment.

Think about it. If software companies continue to make smarter operating systems, we'll in turn, get dumber because there will less for us to do and tinker with, fix, and enhance. In essence, our skills will atrophy from lack of use. Then, the software companies, one in particular, will have us where they want us: At their mercy.

I don't want to be in that position. I want my technical skills to remain sharp by working with an operating system that's close to the hardware. I like to configure, enhance, tinker, tweak, and build something that's better than what's handed to me.

The question doesn't mean, "Do you have the required intelligence to use Linux" but rather "Are you smart enough to make the decision to use Linux and keep that technical edge?"

Conficker

Is Conficker Finally History?

Ian Paul

Apr 4, 2009 12:14 am

Graphic: Diego Aguirre

Is it time to put Conficker in the history books? Is Conficker really a dud? The truth is, nobody knows. Conficker gained so much attention in part because of the sheer number of computers it was able to infect. But nobody knows for sure what Conficker can accomplish. However, at the time of this writing no Conficker-related catastrophes have surfaced and some think the threat never will. So as attention shifts away from Conficker, it's important to know where we stand against the world's most famous piece of malware.

How big is the Conficker threat?

The general consensus seems to be that approximately 3 million computers are infected on any given day. The number 15 million gets thrown around a lot as well, but that number includes computers that were infected and then scrubbed clean of the malware. Keep in mind that the actual number of infected computers is also very hard to ascertain since security experts can only count infected Internet protocol (IP) addresses and not individual computers, according to Roel Schouwenberg, a security expert with Kaspersky labs. Since an entire company could be behind one IP, the number of infected devices remains a bit of a mystery.

The Vietnamese security company Bkis (which offers the pie chart below, of infections by country) says approximately 2.2 million computers are currently infected with Conficker A and B, and about 1.2 million computers carry Conficker C, the latest version of the worm, according to reports. The Conficker C number is the most worrisome since that is the version that can most effectively update itself through p2p networking with no need to phone home for an update.

The world's biggest problem areas for Conficker infections are in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America, although there seems to be some disagreement on which countries are the hardest hit.

How important is Microsoft's Conficker Patch and who can get it?

Does Microsoft have the power to stop Conficker dead in its tracks? Common sense seems to say yes, because if everybody had Microsoft's Conficker patch the problem would be solved, right? Not so, says Schouwenberg. Even though Conficker-infected regions contain a high amount of computers with pirated Windows software, the blame should not be placed at Microsoft's feet.

Microsoft allows both pirate and genuine Windows users to download critical security updates. However, most pirate users have Windows' automatic updates turned off to avoid Microsoft's piracy detection tool. Pirate users could get the software from Microsoft's download center, but it's unknown how many users are actually doing that.

Another problem, Schouwenberg says, is that Internet service providers in problem regions are not as security conscious as they are in the United States. If the ISPs are not actively monitoring security on their networks and blocking the necessary ports that Conficker can sneak onto, then unpatched computers remain at risk.

But the Conficker patch and port blocking are not cure-alls. According to Schouwenburg, the security patch is most effective against Conficker A, but since Conficker has three main flavors (A, B and C), patches are not the only answer. As always, the best defense is to make sure your antivirus programs are up to date and to do a full security scan regularly. If you're worried that you might be infected, the Conficker Working Group has a simple test that can help.

If you are a pirate Windows user, you have amnesty for critical downloads so get the Conficker patch as soon as possible. Remember, we may be forgetting about the worm, but Conficker's authors still have the capability to inflict harm. Whether that will happen is anybody's guess, but making sure your computer is secure is always the best policy.