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　　They may be just passing your office, computer bag slung(悬挂)over one shoulder．Or they may be sitting in a car outside it, causally tapping away at a laptop．They look like innocent passers-by．In fact, they are stealing your corporate secrets．

　　Drive-by hacking is the trendy term given to the practice of breaking into wireless computer networks from outside the buildings that house them．A recent study in the UK, sponsored by RSA Data Security, found that two-thirds of organizations with wireless networks were risking their data in this way．Security experts patrolled(巡逻)several streets in the City of London seeking evidence of wireless networks in operation．

　　Of 124 that they identified, 83 were sending data without encrypting(加密)them．Such data could readily be picked up by a passer-by armed only with a portable computer, a wireless modem and a few pieces of software that can be freely down-loaded from the Internet．

　　The data could include sensitive company documents containing valuable information．Or they could be e-mail identities and passwords that could be used by hackers to log into corporate networks as if they were legal users．

　　Most companies using wireless networking technology do not take even the simplest of precautions to protect their data．Nearly all wireless network technology comes with some basic security features that need only to be activated in order to give a minimum level of security, for example, by encrypting the data being passed over the network．

　　Raymon Kruck, business development manager at Check Point Software, a security technology specialist, believes this could be partly a psychological problem．People see the solid walls of their building as safeguards and forget that wireless networks can extend up to 200 meters beyond physical walls．

　　Companies without any security at all on their wireless networks make it ridiculously easy for hackers to break in．Switching on the security that comes with the network technology should be automatic．Then there are other basic steps a company can take, says Mr．Kruck, such as changing the passwords on the network from the default(默认)setting．

　　Companies can also install firewalls, which form a barrier between the internal network and the public Internet．They should also check their computer records regularly to spot any abnormal activity, which might betray the presence of a hacker．

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　　Many private institutions of higher education around the country are in danger．Not all will be saved, and perhaps not all deserve to be saved．There are low-quality schools just as there are low-quality businesses．We have no duty to save them simply because they exist．

　　But many promising institutions that deserve to continue are threatened．They are doing a fine job educationally, but they are caught in a financial squeeze, with no way to reduce rising cost or increase income significantly．Raising tuition doesn’t bring in more income, for each time tuition goes up, the enrollment goes down, or the amount that must be given away in student aid goes up．Schools are bad businesses, whether public or private, not usually because of mismanagement but because of the nature of the enterprise．They lose money on every customer, and they can go bankrupt either from too few students or too many students．Even a very good college is a very bad business．

　　It is such colleges, promising but threatened, that I worry about．Low enrollment is not their chief problem．Even with full enrollment, they may go under．Efforts to save them, and preferably to keep them private, are a national necessity．There is no basis for arguing that private schools are inherently(固有地)better than public schools．There are many examples to the contrary．Anyone can name state universities and colleges that rank as the finest in the nation and the world．It is now inevitable that public institutions will be dominant, and therefore diversity is a national necessity．Diversity in the way we support schools tends to give us a healthy diversity in the forms of education．In an imperfect society such as ours, uniformity of education throughout the nation could be dangerous, In an imperfect society, diversity is a positive good．Supporters of public higher education know the importance of sustaining private higher education．

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　　“Benjamin Franklin,” Walter Isaacson tells us at the beginning of his long(but never boring)new biography, “is the founding father who winks at us．” By that, Isaacson explains, he means Franklin is the most human－and most modern－of the men who shaped the American republic．We admire Washington, Jefferson and Adams, but they remain creatures of the 18th century．The man we encounter in “Benjamin Franklin”－funny, pragmatic and self-aware－seems like one of us, or at least someone we'd like to be．

　　Unlike Washington's cherry tree, Franklin's kite was real．His experiments with electricity made him one of the great scientists of his day．He was a middle-class businessman whose success as a printer and a journalist allowed him to retire at 42－and he devoted the rest of his life to his country．He was diplomat who persuaded the French to back the American Revolution and the author of the first great American autobiography．He was an excellent swimmer．There was almost nothing he couldn't do well, except write poetry．But what truly distinguished Franklin was his talent of being great and human at the same time．He owned slaves as a younger man, but in his last years became an abolitionist(废奴主义者)．When he fathered an illegitimate(私生的)son, he acknowledged his fatherhood and took the responsibility of raising the boy．

　　He seems strange today in the joy he took in compiling and creating all　those self- improvement maxims he published in Poor Richard's Almanac(年鉴)－“early to bed, early to rise” and so on．Generations of lazy boys could have been happier without that．But he was no hypocrite(伪君子)．Isaacson tells us Franklin practiced what he preached, and often laughed at himself while he did so．

　　By a happy accident, this is the second excellent biography of Franklin to appear in two years, after Edmund S．Morgan's inspiring “Benjamin Franklin．”

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　　A company planning to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2012 despite critics questioning the investment and the length of time for the multibillion-dollar project．

　　The Barcelona-based architects of the Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost ＄4.4 million for a three-night stay at the hotel．This price also includes an eight-week training course on an island．During their stay, guests would see the sunrise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes．

　　Galactic Suite Ltd's CEO Xavier Claramunt says the project will put his company in a leading position of a new industry with a huge future ahead of it, and forecasts space travel will become common in the future．“It's very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space” he told Reuters Television．

　　A promising space tourism industry is beginning to take shape with construction in progress in New Mexico of Spaceport America, the world's first facility built specifically for passengers．British industrialist Richard Branson's space tours firm, Virgin Galactic, will use the facility to send tourists to space at a cost of ＄200,000 a ride．

　　Galactic Suite Ltd, set up in 2007, hopes to start its project with a single pod(分离舱)in orbit 280 miles above the earth．“It will take a day and a half to reach the pod, and the passengers will join it for three days,” Claramunt said．More than 200 people have expressed an interest in traveling to the space hotel and at least 43 people have already reserved it．

　　The numbers are similar for Virgin Galactic with 300 people already paid or signed up for the trip, but unlike Branson, Galactic Suite says they will use Russian rockets to transport their guests into space from a spaceport to be built on an island in the Caribbean．But critics have questioned the project, saying the length of time that will be used is unreasonable and also where the money is coming from to support the project．

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　　Vacancies(空位)now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon．This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea．The food is simple but good．Children and pets are welcome．Reduced prices for low season．

　　The Snowdonia Centre for young mountain climbers has a mountain climbing lesson．The beginners’ costs are ￡57 for a week, including food and rooms．Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be hired at a low cost．

　　You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises．This could be the beginning of a lifetime of mountain climbing adventure．

　　Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before．Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking, waiting and travelling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another．

　　On board the ship, you will be well taken care of．Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home．

　　During the trip, you can rest on deck, enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play．

　　You will visit all the places most people only dream about--from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokyo and Hong Kong．

　　For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours．

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　　A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money．The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before．

　　University tuition fees(学费)are currently capped at ￡3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling．

　　In the research, the teenagers were presented with the terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest．The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average ￡ 31,000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just ￡ 17,815．The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than ￡ 10,000．Average debts for graduates are ￡ 12, 363．

　　Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said, “The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively．"

　　Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs．They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts．Nikki Fairweathcr, aged 15, from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money．

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　　General Electric has found robots far more productive in some work than human workers．In one case, a robot saved enough to pay for itself in ten months．At Ford Motor Company, about fifty small robots are deftly fitting light bulbs into dashboards and speakers into car radios．

　　The next phase of the computer revolution may well turn out to be the robot revolution．Robots have been fixtures in comedy and science fiction for a long time, but the first industrial robot wasn’t used in the United States until 1961．Industrial robots scarcely resemble the stereotyped humanoid with flashing eyes and a combinations chest．They’re basically just combinations of a computer with very deft and efficient producing machines．What’s really new, of course, is the extent to which these electronic wonders are transforming the way people work and the composition of the work force, especially in Japan．There are about 36,000 robots working in Japan and approximately 6,500 in the United States．In early 1982, Raymond Donovan, U．S．Secretary of Labor, predicted that by 1990 half the workers in U．S．factories would be specialists trained to service and repair robots．

　　It’s easy to see why these “steel-collar workers” can be preferable to their human counterparts．They cause fewer personnel problems：they're never absent, and they never ask for more holidays, take vacations, or file grievances．They also give more consistent attention to quality control, are more efficient and effective performers, and are definitely cheaper to keep．Robots, which cost about ＄30,000 to ＄150,000 each, usually work two shifts a gay．The displaced workers would draw salaries and benefits of about ＄790,000 a year．However, robots still cannot replace all facets of the human worker．The automated factory is feasible, but when it comes to reason and informed decisions, robots are still in the same league with machines, at least for now．

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　　Despite their name, the Want Family don’t want much．They want enough money for a nice house and a holiday every year．But they don’t want to be millionaires．They want to do well at their jobs．But they don’t want to be the big boss．They do want to spend time improving their garden, visiting their families and taking their two kids, Nicolas and Leuan, to McDonald’s for lunch．But they don’t want to be famous．

　　The Wants just want to be normal．That’s why they are famous．They have been selected as the most normal family in Britain．After a six-month search for the most ordinary family in Britain, the Wants were selected from hundreds of applicants．

　　John Want works in marketing for a food company．Claire has a part-time job renting out children’s play equipment．John doesn’t understand why they were chosen to represent ordinary English families．How are they normal?

　　That is not a bad question．Nearly everyone does some of the things that the Wants do．But very few people do all of them．There have been great changes in the social structure of British life．It is becoming more common for people to have children when they are older than the Wants, and to have one child instead of two．A household with two children may be headed by a single parent, usually the mother．Or perhaps dad and mum are still together, but not married．Or maybe dad and mum are married．Dad goes out to work and mum stays at home and looks after the kids．They have traditional values．Every weekend the whole family goes to church．

　　“What we have here is not an average family, but a traditional family,” says Cary Cooper, professor of philosophy at Lancaster University．“There is no such thing as a normal family anymore, in the way there was 20 or 30 years ago．Of course the Wants exist, but for what do we need to celebrate them?” Perhaps because we think normal families are an endangered species．Examples of them have to be preserved to show future generations．