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By wire services
Published January 15, 2006

JUST WHEN ANXIOUS Gulf Coast residents, climate experts and harried insurance executives might like to settle down for a winter rest, the first forecasts for the 2006 storm season are in - and they look mighty familiar, BusinessWeek says. Andrew Castaldi, head of catastrophe and perils at Swiss Re, puts it this way: "This year's theme: Get used to it." Meanwhile, new sources of information are helping to advance the frontiers of hurricane theory. Getting a bead on approaching storm seasons is critical to insurers, which can then adjust their rates, capital reserves and decisions about what to insure.

THE INTERNET has brought e-commerce, e-mail and information to almost 1-billion people. Some businesses, such as banking, rely on it more and more. But Technology Review says "the Internet is broken." Its fundamental flaws have resulted in diminished security and a decreased ability to accommodate new technology, the magazine says. Internet applications proliferated over the years, adding wireless devices and peer-to-peer file sharing thanks to "ingenious and expedient patches, plugs and workarounds." The result, the magazine says, is that "the originally simple communications technology has become a complex and convoluted affair (that is) also difficult to manage and more fragile with each passing day."

A HANDFUL OF COMPANIES offer sabbaticals to employees and say the extended time off is worth the cost. Not only do they refresh employees and reduce turnover, companies that offer them say it's almost impossible for competitors to poach anyone within a few years of his bonus vacation, BusinessWeek reports. The absence also gives managers a chance to see how well others perform while filling in for on-leave colleagues. Companies that offer sabbaticals include Charles Schwab, Intel and McDonald's.

WHAT DO SOTHEBY'S, Ferrari, Four Seasons, Cartier and Chateau Mouton Rothschild have in common? They're among the "modern luxury world's most exclusive brands," the Robb Report says in a special 30th anniversary edition. Attitudes about luxury have changed over the years, the magazine reports. "The high priests of culture have professed their disdain for luxury." Admittedly, we could get by without luxuries, the Robb Report says, "but we would not have as much fun."

THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER, and now come the bills. If you don't plan to pay all of them in full, take time to prioritize your expenses. Which bills carry the highest interest rates? Which bills have harsh penalties? Pay those first, making more than the minimum payment if possible, the Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Atlanta advises.

Compiled from Times wires and Web sites.

[Last modified January 12, 2006, 19:13:02]