Just when I thought that I was one of the most “web savvy” and “tech savvy” people on earth, who could never be tricked into downloading anything that would infect my computer…

BAM!

My laptop gets infected by what’s come to be known as the “Google Redirection Virus”.

The symptoms are very obvious…

You do a Google (Yahoo or Bing) search, and when you click on any of the results, then it redirects you to a totally unrelated page on a completely unrelated web site that has all kinds of ads on it. My Google toolbar for FireFox even blocked some of the sites as spam/malware sites, and did not allow me to actually visit them.

So I first consoled myself following this rude shock that in spite of having McAfee Virus Protection on my laptop, using only Firefox (no IE) and being extremely “download paranoid”, I had still ended up a victim of this stupid virus.

And then I started my Google search (every time I did a search to research this virus, guess where the first Google result took me? To a spam site, of course! The virus was still very much in action!

The first thing I found, was that the virus had changed the way my Firefox browser connects to the interwebs.

See how the setting had changed to “Manual proxy configuration” to point to “127.0.0.1″ on port “64646″.

First thing to do is to change the setting to “No Proxy” and hit “OK” (unless you’re actually using some other proxy server).

That seemed like it solved the redirection issue, but I had to be absolutely certain. So back to Google – without the redirection issue.

And that’s when I found more and more people talking about the Hitman Free Virus Scanner software.

The software itself has a cost associated, but they allow you to do a free scan and even remove any viruses it may find, for free, using their free 30-day trial version.

If you don’t wish to fully install the anti-virus software, just select the option to run a free “one time” scan of your computer.

Worked like a charm!

It picked up on many malware files on my laptop, as you can see below.

Here’s what it looks like after it cleaned up all the garbage (required a reboot to fully delete one file).

So here I am, after cleaning and rebooting – totally virus free (or so I hope!).

Now that I’ve destroyed whatever little confidence you may have had in “big name” anti-virus programs, go read more about the Hitman tool, and get rid of the trojans!

Happy Trojan Hunting!

- Ravi Jayagopal

PS:  Feel free to pass this link on to others. And as always, don’t forget to comment below. Cheers!

What’s the the most powerful feature of Twitter?

It’s definitely the ability to send an “@” reply to anyone on twitter – without their permission.

Now “great tools come with great responsibility” (yup, just made it up

Spam people on twitter, and you will get blocked, labeled a spammer, folks will hate on you, and word can spread very quickly. So obviously, you don’t want to spam folks and screw up your brand and reputation.

The “@” reply is so powerful that you can basically send a “tweet” to anyone who has an account on Twitter. Did you know that you can send a direct message to anyone from Bill Gates to Beyonce Knowles?

How cool is that?

Just remember, all “@ replies” can be seen publicly by everyone on Twitter.

But Twitter DMs (Direct Messages) are “private” tweets. They are seen only by the recipient. But before you can send someone a DM, they must be “following” you first.

Now there are Social Media experts who will tell you to simply “follow” everyone who follows you.

Now why would I want to do that? Just so that they can send me a DM?

Hey, if they must send me something in private, then it is probably important enough for them to go to my web site and send me an email. Or call me. Or @reply me and ask me for a way to contact me privately so we can take it offline. After all, if it’s that important, then I’m sure it deserves more than 140 characters.

And if I am following 17,541 people, then my twitter stream is going to be moving so dang fast, that it makes it practically worthless!

I only follow people, whose “tweets” I’m interested in.

I follow people because I want to know what they’re saying.

I want to know that they’re thinking.

I want to know what they’re reading, writing, selling, ranting about.

So to blindly follow everyone who follows you, makes no sense.

So here’s my take on this:

* Follow only those whose messages (and/or their timeliness) you’re interested in.
* Auto-DM’s and Auto-Follows are for spammers
* Feel free to use the @reply to butt-in to conversations in a relevant, non-spammy, non-commercial way
* Add meaning to a conversation, add value, and grow your network

Your impending “online rock star” status then can’t help but follow.

I was getting about 500+ spam-comments a day. I’m now down to about 20. Based on my personal experience with spam, I have created a list of “bad words”, which, when used as a blacklist, will make most of your spam go away.

If you’re using WordPress, copy the list below and paste it into the “Options > Discussion > Comment Blacklist” box.

Now WordPress warns:

“This is a list of words that you want completely blacklisted from your blog. Be very careful what you add here, because if a comment matches something here it will be completely nuked and there will be no notification. Remember that partial words can match, so if there is any chance something here might match it would be better to put it in the moderation box above.”

So, go through the list and weed out any words that you think might be acceptable for your blog. So here goes…

Note: This list will be updated as often as I find new words to blacklist. So bookmark this post (see “bookmark” and “subscribe” links in the menu to your right) and check back occasionally.

4free
4u
accutane
actos
acyclovir
adderall
adipex
allegra
Alprazolam
altace
ambien
Amoxicillin
amoxil
amphetamine
anal
anime
antibiotic
arousal
atfreeforum.com
ativan
attorney
augmentin
Azithromycin
babe
baccarat
bdsm
benadryl
biaxin
bitch
blackjack
blowjob
bondage
boob
booty
bowflex
bulabital
bupropion
butalbital
camry
car
carisoprodol
cartier
casino
celebrex
celexa
chick
cialis
cipro
citalopram
claritin
clonazepam
cock
codeine
codine
Crestor
crotch
cruise
cruises
cum
cunt
cyclen
cyclobenzaprine
cymbalta
dada
diazepam
dick
didrex
diovan
directbookmarks.info
dodge
doxycycline
drugstores
edvttj
Effexor
elavil
ephedra
ephedrine
erotica
escort
estate
facial
famvir
finland
Fioricet
forex
freewebs
fuck
gambling
gay
glucophage
gucci
helsinki
hentai
holdem
honda
hoodia
horny
hummer
hydrochlorothiazide
hydrocodone
incest
indianapolis
jaguar
jewelry
Lamictal
lasix
lesbian
lesbians
levaquin
levitra
Lexapro
lexus
lipitor
loan
lopressor
lorazepam
masterbating
mazda
medication
meridia
metalica
mevacor
Minolche
myfreedir.info
mysex
necklace
Nexium
Nicotine
nissan
norvasc
nude
orgasm
orgy
Oxycodone
Oxycontin
p0tassium
panties
panty
paxil
penis
percocet
pharmacy
phentermine
phpbb
plavix
poker
porn
Potassium
pravachol
prednisone
prevacid
prilosec
propecia
Protonix
prozac
pussy
rape
refinance
ringtones
ritalin
rolex
roulette
seroquel
sex
shemale
silveno
slot
soma
sphost
swinger
tadalafil
tadalis
tawnee
teen
testosterone
tetracycline
tissot
tit
toon
toyota
Tramadol
Trazodone
twinks
ultracet
ultram
valerian
Valium
viagra
Vicodin
vioxx
Wellbutrin
wholesale
Xanax
xenical
xxx
zanaflex
Zenegra
zithromax
zocor
Zoloft
zolus
zovirax
Zyprexa

Last updated on…:
2007: 3/30, 3/31, 4/2, 4/3, 4/20, 7/17