HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

The Doctor's Consultation 

Agony Column

Camera Class by Snapshot

Dr Byte's Computer Conundrums

Beer and More  

Mrs. DoLittle’s Corner

The Doctor's Consultation: Feet, ankles and RSI

by Dr. Iain Corness

One of the readers wrote in with the following heart-rending plea, “Could you write an article about ‘feet and ankles’? My lovely Thai wife has asked me many times to squat down on my feet and ankles. She has attempted to show me how easy it is to do. She slowly descends and gracefully squats on her feet and ankles and it looks so easy. She tries to get me to do it and when I try to explain to her that my ankles are not like her ankles, she refuses to accept it. She insists that I try to squat. So, I have tried to squat. I fall on my butt and roll around on the ground, which she loves because she laughs and laughs. Maybe, I should have surgery?”

Well, first off that surgery does not fix this problem. If it is a consolation, you have lots of friends. Caucasians cannot do this. I also find that when I attend the local Wat with my Thai wife, I cannot happily sit with my legs tucked under me, feet respectfully facing away with palms together in front of me. The best I can do is to half kneel while leaning against a wall. Even then it is agony after 30 seconds!

I first came across the essential musculo-skeletal differences between the Asians and the Caucasians almost 30 years ago. Australia was in the grip of an ‘epidemic’ of Repetition Strain Injury, known as RSI. Repetitive movements of the hand particularly, would result in inflammation of the tendons which would swell so much the afflicted person could no longer work.

On one visit to Thailand, the Occupational Health Unit at Chulalongkorn University made it possible for me to go round a fish canning factory in Bangkok to look for evidence of RSI here. I noted that the female workers were doing repetitive work involving the hand and wrist, but none of them were getting RSI. This either meant that Australia was in the grip of mass hysteria (which it wasn’t), or that the Asian tendons were more pliable, or supple, than those from the west.

Further private nocturnal studies in the chrome pole palaces showed that the Thai female was indeed much more agile than her western counterpart. Just look at a Thai dancer’s ability to hyper-extend the fingers while the thumb and index finger are touching each other. You can’t do that and neither can I. But I will wager our wives can!

There are other essential differences between the two races. The distribution of blood groups is quite different and even the cross-section of the hairs on our heads are different, with the Asians having a circular cross-section, whilst the westerners is oval.

Asian people have other metabolic differences. Westerners have enzymes to deal with alcohol, which Asians lack. This is why many Asian people go bright red if they drink wine. The Asian response to many medications is also different as far as absorption and response is concerned.

Now this is for those who have trouble learning Asian languages. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies have shown differences in the brain structures between those who can speak tonal languages (such as Thai) and native English speakers. So it is not laziness on my part (or yours). Our brains are different!

But getting back to the feet and ankles, there are also ethnic differences here, and that’s why westerners have tall sit-up toilets and Asians can use ‘squat’ toilets! But as the French say, “Vive la difference!”

Agony Column

Camera Class: Three legs are better than two

by Harry Flashman

One of the hallmarks of a serious photographer is a good sturdy tripod. This three legged device will open up completely new avenues in photography and let you produce new and different images that are otherwise way beyond your reach.

You need a tripod for night shots.

Having said all that, one of the hallmarks of the rankest amateur photographer can also be a tripod. One of those light flimsy devices that are designed to fall over with the first mild breeze. I am all for tripods, but get a decent one.

So what can you do with a tripod that you can’t do without? The first and most obvious is time exposure shots. The whole secret of time exposure is to keep the camera still, and you won’t do that by holding your breath, leaning against a tree and gripping the camera tightly, let me assure you.

Twilight photography and night photography opens up a whole new range of pictures and effects. Just the simple expedient of being able to keep the camera steady while you shoot 30 second or longer exposures will result in some great photographs. Try taking a shot just after sunset, for example. Set the camera on f11 and give it 30 seconds. You will be very pleased with the results.

Did you know that the very best landscapes during daylight hours are also best taken on a tripod? To get the huge range of depth of field necessary for these shots, you will end up with slow shutter speeds. The tripod ensures there’s no blurring. Those flowing milky, misty waterfalls are also best taken with a tripod, as again a slow shutter speed is required to capture that effect.

Even nature shots are done best with this piece of equipment. You can set up the camera and then leave it, so that the birds etc can get used to its presence, and then with a cable or remote shutter release you can get the nature photos of a lifetime.

Another type of shot that needs a tripod is the panorama. A compilation of images which when placed together form a wide angle view of any scene. This can only be done with the use of a tripod.

Even when shooting still life images, the use of a tripod makes these shots a breeze. You can set up the shot and then make minute adjustments while looking through the viewfinder. Again you can use a slow shutter speed to be able to use very small apertures (around f22) to get the very fine detail into the shot.

So what should you look for and what should you spend? There are several items in the specifications that you should ensure is on any tripod you buy. The first is that it is heavy with strong legs when extended fully. The “locks” on the legs must also be secure. Another item is that the actual swivel head incorporates a spirit level, so that you can ensure the top swivels in a true horizontal arc. The tripod head should also have calibrations, so you can swing it a definite number of degrees. A removable “shoe” is also a good item, as you can then position the camera on the tripod, but also remove the camera to take other shots but then replace it in exactly the same position. The legs should be able to be spread out widely so that you can get the camera very close to the ground, and finally if you can get one, see if the tripod shaft can be removed and turned upside down, as this can get your camera completely at ground level and immediately above an object placed on the ground.

How much will this cost? Expect to spend a minimum of 6000 baht. My own Manfrotto cost a lot more than that, let me assure you, but with now almost 20 years of faithful service, it has been a bargain!

Dr Byte's Computer Conundrums

by Dr Byte, Citec Asia

I wonder how many passwords you have to remember. E-mail account(s), Online Banking, ATM Cards and the host of other things that need a password.

In Sweden, access to an online bank account is as simple as opening a Web browser, typing in your Swedish national ID number along with a four-digit password. For additional security, the bank has provided a scratchie card with 50 scratch-off codes. The bank automatically sends a new card as the old one runs out. As more Web sites demand passwords, scammers are getting more clever about stealing them. Hence the need for such “passwords-plus” systems. Interesting, but I have to admit I don’t want to end up with a pocket full of scratchie cards to cover every situation where I need to log on electronically.

The human mind-set is not used to dealing with so many different passwords and so many different PINs.

When a static password alone is required, security experts recommend that users combine letters and numbers and avoid easy-to-guess passwords like “1234” or a nickname or even a birth date. Jill follows those rules but commits a different faux pas: she uses the same password everywhere, including access to multiple e-mail accounts, Amazon.com, The Bangkok Post’ Web site and so on. In such cases, if the hacker or scammers compromise one account, they potentially have one’s entire online life.

It is difficult to remember dozens of strong passwords - so many sites now require them. Alternatives include writing them down on a sticky note attached to a monitor or in an electronic spreadsheet - practices security experts say are unsafe.

Software such as Symantec Corp’s Norton Password Manager and Apple Computer Inc’s Keychain help store passwords in secure, encrypted form. But if you compromise the master password, you’re out of luck. Your entire collection is gone. Also many sites will e-mail passwords insecurely - without encryption - if you forget. A site called BugMeNot.com even encourages users to share passwords for non-financial sites like newspapers.

What is your experience? Do you use a password manager to store your passwords, or do you use your car registration number or family birthdays? Write in and share your system? (No not the password, just the system and why you think its a good one.)

Reader Khun Suphot from Mae Rim asks:

I recently bought a notebook with a DVD/CD combo drive, but it does not have a floppy drive. I’d like to install a piece of software that is not available on DVD/CD but only on floppy. I tried to connect a desktop computer and my notebook, using the Ethernet ports, but without success. Can you explain how to do it?

A: Using a network computer should work. You need to share the floppy drive on the desktop and then assign a drive letter to the shared floppy, for example F: for floppy, and install software from that network drive. To share a drive on the network computer, use Windows Explorer and right-click on the floppy and select Sharing, then click on Share As and take the default of A:. Then, on the notebook, open Windows Explorer and click on Tools, Map Network Drive and select Browse. Locate the share name A: on the desktop computer, assign F: and now you have a new drive F: from which you can install the programs.

Khun Bob from Suthep asks:

Whenever I’m surfing the web pages in eBay I get the following error message each time I open a new page or refresh: “A Runtime Error has occurred. Do you wish to Debug?” What does this mean?

A: It’s an Internet Explorer message meant for the web page programmer and the option to receive such warnings is usually switched off by default, as it is of little use to anyone else. To stop seeing these messages, open Internet Explorer and go to the Tools menu, then click on Internet Options and look for the Advanced tab. Scroll down and tick the box marked “Disable script debugging”. Next, untick the box “Display a notification about every script error”. While you are here, move down the list to “Enable third-party browser extensions” and untick that box as well. Errors like these can be a symptom of a browser hijacker, spyware or other malicious program attempting to function on your system. So now is a good time to check for spyware and make sure your firewall and antivirus are up-to-date. These messages can also indicate a problem with a DLL file, covered in Microsoft support article 306831.

Next time, we will be exploring the world of sharing files on the internet (peer to peer) in more detail and watch out for some killer applications to help you. Dr Byte appears in Chiangmai Mail every 2 weeks and if you have any questions or suggestions you would like to make, you can contact me at Dr Byte, Chiangmai Mail.

Beer and More: Enjoy your beer – drink moderately Part 2

The last part of the saga

by Karl Eichhorn, Chiangmai Malting product manager

Of all alcoholic beverages, beer is - according to its low alcohol content – the least dangerous one. Of course, we speak of a moderate drinking habit. It is however somehow difficult to define “moderate”.

As already mentioned, we consider the amount of 20-40 gm alcohol per day as moderate. This represents 0.5 – 1.0 liters of beer a day.

The people who made this beer excursion possible were, from left to right: Karl Eichhorn, Saroj Ratanavadi, Chiangmai Malting, Dr. Rudi and secretary Adchara.

In this connection it is very important to take the body weight of the drinker into consideration, to say nothing of his well-being.

It is obvious that as far as the quantity is concerned, one can drink more beer than wine or any of the many hard drinks. From the medical aspect, a person intoxicated by 2.5 mg percent is categorized as uncontrollably drunk. To reach this amount, a person weighing 70 kg would have to drink twelve 0.3 liter glasses of beer, a quantity quite challenging.

It has also to be noted, the kind of alcohol in beer is superior to the one found in wine, champagne and spirits with regard to its restoration and degradation. Due to its large amount of water, the high content of extracts and the buffering capacity of beer, the absorption of alcohol is delayed and its passage from the stomach to the intestines and finally into the blood stream is diminished. The result is the effect of the alcohol on the body functions is considerably weakened and the crisis point is lowered. It is therefore wrong to generally malign alcohol. It is its misuse which has to be challenged.

The warning to avoid excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is as old as the beverages themselves. It is found in Egyptian hieroglyphics of 1500 B.C. with the advice: “Don’t make yourself helpless by too much drinking in the tavern, so that your speech is not full of repetitions and the words spring from your mouth, but you are not aware of what you are uttering. You collapse, you break your bones and none of your bed fellows gives you a hand and helps you, but may say: Out with the drunkard!”

Ovid, the Roman poet (43 B.C. – A.D.17) had this to say, “For your drinking I will give you a measure - your feet as well as your conscience should never stop to serve you.”

Much work is still to be done by researchers to prove beyond doubt, that beer is by no means the initial stimulus for alcoholism. In this respect also the media have to face their responsibility. It is useless, as a German Professor said, to give young people a finger, since any strictly pronounced dogma on drinking leads directly to its misuse.

It has to be emphasized that in certain situations in life and during work even moderate drinking is out of question. Here we think about pregnant and nursing women and people who are under a certain medication, all children and youngsters, persons addicted to alcohol and those, of course, at the steering wheel of a car.

At the end of our excursion into the history of beer and the scientific background of how beer can help us keep healthy, I have a wish - Let all those, who love beer and do not hide to say so, spread the message to the notorious drinkers of water who, apparently, do not know any better.

Convinced lovers of beer enjoy every glass. To join friends and to drink a good beer with them is like manna for the soul. There is hardly any other beverage in the world of which so much is talked about, especially if it is a free one offered and paid by others.

(Editor’s Note: It is also well known that the best beer in the world – is the next one!)

Mrs. DoLittle’s Corner: Teaching Sambee to quit

Don’t you start either!

Now there was one human habit that Mrs. DoLittle did not have to teach Sambee - and that was smoking. She had already learnt that from her former keeper. What I had to teach her was to give it up!

Whenever she saw someone smoking, she’d ask for a cigarette. Because people were amused, they’d give it to her. Of course, when Mrs. DoLittle arrived on the scene, smoking by the staff was banned around her.

But it was not possible to control the visitors. Since I could not spend all day with her, I’d often find a situation were someone had already given her a cigarette. As soon as she saw me, she’d look at me defiantly, take one last drag, inhaling, and then slowly blowing the smoke out. Then to everyone’s surprise, she’d throw the cigarette on the ground and beat it out with a stick. She’d then give me a big grin. Heh! This became a big joke and more people would give her smokes just to see her do it. Of course when Mrs. DoLittle wasn’t around, she’d smoke the whole cigarette, but only one. She wasn’t a chain smoker!

Sambee smoking and worse, she is inhaling…

One day, I thought I’d better teach her, and the people, a lesson. After all, smoking isn’t funny. It’s deadly! She needed to stop smoking, once and for all. One day when we were surrounded by visitors, someone lit a cigarette. I asked if they wanted to see what an orangutan thought about smoking. To Sambee’s surprise I got the cigarette and gave it to her. Huh! She hesitantly took the first drag, waiting for me to protest. When I said nothing, she looked at me oddly and kept smoking. Nearly finished I gave her another one. She dropped the butt and took the second one. Before she was finished I gave her another one. She reluctantly took one drag, then threw it on the ground. I gave her another one. She threw it straight on the ground. Then she got a stick and beat all the cigarettes. Someone offered her another one. She looked at it, then at the ground. The guy threw it on the ground. She beat it to pieces. Heh! Everyone laughed and applauded. Heh heh! Big grin! This is more fun than smoking!

The caretaker told me after I left many more people gave her cigarettes and she beat them all to pulp (the cigarettes, that is!). A few days later I tried to give her a smoke and she spat on it. If only humans could learn that quickly!

One day she crept up behind a smoking man, and snatched the cigarette out of his hand. To his astonishment, she beat it out and applauded. The bewildered man said we should use her in an anti-smoking campaign.

So there you have it folks! You can learn something from a hairy ape. Smoking is a yucky human habit. Give it up!

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