How To Stop And Kill Computer Viruses

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First of all you can get GREAT antivirus software on

If you need to consult this section, that means the virus is pretty advanced and the creator is smart enough to put it under the aegis of a critical Windows process. But there is always someone smarter, and in this case, me. Here's how I would handle it (In fact, I handled it this way and successfully killed a computer virus for a relative of mine). I use one ampersand-separated command line to do the following things:

* kill the relevant processes
* delete the virus files

You need to do this because the process you want to stop is a critical process, and upon stopping your computer will stop functioning normally. It might even attempt to reboot automatically in a short period of time Your best bet is to delete the virus files then. Since the relevant processes have been stopped, deleting the virus files will be allowed. Here is a sample command (assuming 1212 and 2323 are the IDs of the relevant processes and I am on Windows 2003 Server):

taskkill /f /pid 1212 & taskkill /f /pid 2323 & del /f c:\windows\system32\bad.exe & del /f c:\windows\system32\bad.dll

Of course you can execute each command at a time, but I'd rather execute them all at once. Once it's done, reboot and the virus should be gone.

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How To Protect Your Computer From Virus

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Identify Virus Process
Stop Virus Process
Delete Virus Files
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Protect Your Computer
FAQ

First of all you can get GREAT antivirus software on

Obviously you want to protect your computer from getting infected with other viruses in the future. To do that you have at least the following options:

* Subscribe to a Firewall service: Personally I recommend this option. I have been using Sygate, a software firewall, for the past several years and my computer has never been infected with any virus of any kind. You can use other firewall software or even hardware, and it should help protect your computer. In fact, you can use Windows firewall that's already installed on your computer. I never used it before and cannot vouch for its reliability.

* Subscribe to an antivirus software: You can find many decent antivirus software by searching on the Internet, such as Norton, McAfee, avast!, some free and some are not. You can get GREAT antivirus software on Amazon!

Also, you can clean your system's folder periodically. Go to C:\windows\system32\ and C:\windows\system\ and sort by Date Created (FAQ). As I mentioned earlier, you should not see new DLLs added here unless you've installed some software. Date Created column gives you an idea of when the file is created, and you can use your judgment whether you want to delete or keep a DLL. For example, if I knew I didn't any software since 9/1/2007, then I would delete everything created after 9/1/2007. If after you reboot your computer is not running correctly, you can simply restore those files in Recycle Bin and reboot again. If you happen to delete some DLL that some software on your computer needs, simply reinstall that software. There is always turning back

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FAQ Regarding Removing Computer Viruses

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FAQ

First of all you can get GREAT antivirus software on

Q: What is an executable?
An executable, or more formally an executable program, is the file that you double click to run whatever program you have installed on your computer. Whenever you install some program, you almost always see a file that ends with .exe, and you double click it to run it. It can be self-contained, meaning that it alone can do everything it's supposed to (you can move it to another computer and run it without any problem), or more commonly, it contains only the core logic of the program, and delegates to other files for other tasks. An example is a DLL. An executable can, for example, calls a DLL to print a document.

Q: What is a dll?
DLL stands for dynamic linked library. A DLL is a collection of programs which can be called by an executable. In general, it contains code for doing something general so that it can be shared by many programs.

Q: How do you view process list?
Download Process Explorer (find it on Google). You can also hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete and click Task Manager. Click Processes tab. You see a list of processes running here. You can sort them by any of the column by clicking the column head. However it doesn't tell you the process IDs.

Q: How do you kill a process?
First find the process ID (pid) in Process Explorer.
windows 2003 server: taskkill /f /pid [pid]
windows XP: kill -f [pid]

Q: How do you delete a file in command line?
windows server: "del /f [path_to_file]"
windows XP: "del [path_to_file]"

Q: How do you view the executables that are using a given DLL?
Windows server: tasklist [path_to_dll]
Windows XP: if you don't already have "tasklist", then download it at http://www.computerhope.com/download/winxp.htm, then the command is: tasklist /m [path_to_dll]

Q: How come I don't see the column inside a folder you are talking about?
In the window, go to View -> Details and you should see the files organized in details. You should see columns like Name, Size, etc. You can manage what you see here by right clicking on any column and checking whatever you want to see and unchecking whatever you don't want to see.

Q: How come you know so many useful software applications?
You can do a search on Google or Yahoo or your favorite search engine. When it comes to searching for software, however, I go to download.com. It allows you to search for any software with any filter you specify, and it is very easy to use


◀ Protect Your Computer

Cross Browser Compatibility Guide

I've had my share of testing and debugging browser compatibility issues, and I'd like to share my experiences with you. I'll also tell you how to test browser compatibilities efficiently.

What extent of cross browser compatibility testing is considered "enough"?

The technical answer is it is never enough not because there are too many browsers but because there are too many versions of each browser and too many possible addons and plugins that can be installed on them. Since we can never catch every fish in the ocean let's just focus on the big ones shall we According to NetMarketShare, roughly

60% use IE (Microsoft Internet Explorer)
25% use Firefox
7% use Google Chrome
5% use Safari

But this data is not enough - You need to know what VERSIONS of each browser you need to test. Again according to NetMarketShare, in the descending order of percentage, roughly

24.5% use IE 8.0
17.5% use IE 6.0
15.5% use Firefox 3.6
12.5% use IE 7.0
6% use Firefox 3.5
5.5% use Google Chrome 4.1
4% use Safari 4.0

Therefore I'd say the extent of testing these browsers is considered enough.


That's still a lot! Any way you can cut the list down?

I totally understand your position, and I can tell you what browsers I test my websites on. I test IE 6.0, IE 8.0, Firefox 3.6, and Chrome 4.1. That's it.

I don't test Firefox 3.5 because the main difference between 3.5 and 3.6 is speed, as Mozilla claims. Therefore there's no much look-and-feel or layout difference between the two. I picked FF 3.6 because it really is much FASTER than 3.5

On the other hand, the main differences between IE7 and IE8 are the new features that IE8 offers. They both comply with DOM Core, DOM HTML, etc. although IE8 complies better with CSS 2.1 selectors and declarations. If you don't use any crazy CSS selector such as :before and :after and :hover and :active then you should be fine. My websites are not that CSS crazy and I can get away with it. If your websites are CSS mad then you need to test both IE7 and IE8.

I don't test Safari because I am using Windows. Lame excuse I know but I used Safari for two years before and it is a very modern browser and supports all the basic W3C standards very well. So I trust it.

So there you go: just test IE 6.0, IE 8.0, Firefox 3.6, and Chrome 4.1 and you are good to go.


IE6 and IE8 at the same time? How do I install them at the same time?

Simply download the Multiple IE application from TredoSoft and it allows you to test IE3, IE4, IE5, IE6, in addition to your existing IE8 browser (if you have IE7 simply upgrade to IE8). Once you install go to Start -> All Programs -> MultipleIEs -> Internet Explorer 6.0.


IE 6.0 is so old school, can I skip it?

NO YOU CANNOT. I can't stress enough that you MUST test IE6 because it is still widely used, and it is VERY problematic. One of its most serious bugs is that you cannot use mouse to select text of some webpage. Anyway IE6 is still quite modern and supports basic standards decently. You can use Prototype, JQuery, etc. and it'll work in IE6 sometimes with tweaks. Once you make sure your website renders fine in IE6 you can almost rest assured that it renders fine in the remaining major browsers If somehow you cannot install Internet Explorer 6 on your Windows refer to How to install IE6 so you can test your website to solve this issue!


Any reference you recommend?

Yes I recommend QuirksMode.org as it lists all the browser quirks in nice graphs. You can find out which CSS and DOM aspect is supported by which browser and which version. It's EXTREMELY useful.

Testing Out Lucid Lynx

If you head over to http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ you can get the most recent build of Lucid Lynx. I went ahead and created a Virtual Box VM since I didn't have time to reformat my hard drive. Seems pretty stable to me, but go ahead and try it out for yourselves.

Japanese Embroidery - Bunka Shishu

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Materials
Stitch Techniques
A General Procedure
My Work
Conclusion

Get embroidery kits on . When I tell people I took a class in Japanese embroidery, they are generally surprised like They think that embroidery is a girls' thing, not a guys'. I agree this is a stereotype that has been in place since ancient times, but it behooves (I LOVEEEEEEEE using this word..) me to make a statement. Japanese embroidery is just like drawing, except you draw with embroidery threads. Is drawing a unisex thing? Yes. So why isn't Japanese embroidery also something guys and girls both can enjoy?

Japanese Embroidery: Materials

You need a frame, canvas, threads, needle, and miscellaneous little tools to manage your work. The following show several common tools:

Embroidery Thread on : If you buy a Japanese embroidery kit, it should include necessary threads. If not you need to buy embroidery thread from an embroidery company. Each company has its own set of numbers/symbols each of which indicates a particular color. Here is a bag of embroidery threads.



A wood frame on : You start by nailing down a piece of canvas on this frame SUPER, SUPER tightly. It has to be as TIGHT as possible.



An embroidery needle on : This is used to administer a shot. Everyone needs to take it before stitching. Well.. not really This is the main tool for Japanese embroidery. You use it to stitch on your canvas.



A fluffy brush on : It's used to do the world famous fluffy stitch. The effect of fluffy stitches is sooooooo COOL It makes threads FLUFFY. If you do a fluffy embroidery dog, you can stroke it and you will feel fluffy just like dog hair!



Japanese Embroidery: Stitch Techniques

There are many types of embroidery stitch techniques. They are techniques you use while stitching in different situations. What stitches you use mainly depend on what objects you are working on.

* Line blending
* Satin stitch
* Padding
* Double stitch
* Split stitch
* Maple leaf stitch
* M&M stitch
* Cord stitch
* Fluffy stitch
* ...

For a complete guide on embroidery stitching and other techniques get books on !

Japanese Embroidery: A General Procedure

Here is a general procedure to making a Japanese embroidery art work:

* Gather materials for what you want to do. If you are just getting started, you probably would want to buy an embroidery kit. The kit contains the canvas and threads for a particular project. It is very convenient because you don't need to prepare your own canvas, draw your own design, and buy the threads you need Once you get experienced and want to pursue your own design, that's when you need to gather all the materials on your own.

* Nail down canvas on the wood frame. Remember you have to do it SUPER tightly; otherwise you will have trouble stitching.

* Start stitching. Use different stitching techniques as the situation demands them.

* After you are done, you frame your work. You can have a professional framer help you, or you can do it yourself.

Japanese Embroidery: My Work

Here is my first Japanese Embroidery work - A Bird Perching on a Tree. Isn't it just BEAUTIFUL



Here is my next project - two fluffy birds. A student in our class made a fluffy cat, and it was so "fluffy" and soft and wonderful. It feels like real fur! That inspired me to pursue a fluffy embroidery project.



Japanese Embroidery: Conclusion

Again get started in the beautiful art of embroidery by getting embroidery kits on !

I like Japanese embroidery very much, but it is very easy to work with and it requires NO big equipment. I can do this anytime anywhere, as long as there is sufficient light and there's nobody laughing at me

About Apache .htaccess

What is .htaccess?

Simply put, .htaccess if a file you can create in your document root to do all types of handling on a per-directory basis when your server receives a request. Such handling includes what server features are made available, password authentication, URL rewriting, URL redirecting, etc. Suppose you are a book site and your directory structure looks like this:

/book-name/chapter1/section1/...

You can have .htaccess in /, in /book-name, in /chapter1, etc. each with its own set of configurations that will override the directories higher up in the tree. This allows directory specific configurations. The most common configuration is URL rewriting and URL redirecting.


How do I change Apache .htaccess WITHOUT restarting Apache server?

You do NOT need to restart Apache after you change your .htaccess in order for your change to be reflected. I am using Apache/2.0.52 (CentOS) Server and this is true in this server. If you misconfigure .htaccess you'll see 500 Internal Server Error after you reload the page. For a comprehensive tutorial visit Apache Tutorial: .htaccess files


How do I quickly 301 redirect a page to another with .htaccess?

Easy. You simply add the following code in .htaccess:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule old-page.html$ http://new-site.com/new-page.html [L,R=301]

Once you save it refresh old-page.html and it should 301 redirect to http://new-site.com/new-page.html. Before you can do that you need to make sure the mod_rewrite module has been installed and enabled on your Apache server. Most likely this is true. For a comprehensive tutorial on the module visit Apache module mod_rewrite


How come my .htaccess does NOT work?

If after you edit .htaccess you don't get the desired effect, then most likely AllowOverride is messing things up. You may have "AllowOverride None" somewhere up in the hierarchy that makes Apache ignore your .htaccess in question. One quick way to find out is put junk in .htaccess and fresh your page. If you get no error, that means Apache is ignoring it and you almost certainly have "AllowOverride None" in effect. If you get errors, that means Apache is accessing it and you'll need to fix the errors. In either case check error log or ask your administrator if you don't have such access.