Asians Digest : The Blog Is Public Again

How to setup your home computer security free of charge but as strong as paid security solution

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:44:00 +0800

Hi everyone! It's been long since my last update so now i've got the time i want to share on how to setup home security free of charge, yes you heard me FOC! by all means free but that doesn't mean the solution is not going to be as solid as paid one's.

Follow these instructions and be malware free. I suggest these software since desktops these
days is fast.

1st, the antivirus

With all free antivirus running around and some opted to be feature full but nah.. we'll go for the
one with basic and highest detection rate. Avira antivir personal edition and Avast! Free
is a killer in the free antivirus field. Just Install the standard shield only for avast.

Avira antivir personal download http://www.free-av.com/
Avast! Free Antivirus Download http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

2nd, The web browser

This is the part where u would wonder why don't we need web shield in an antivirus? Well.. the
answer is easy and only comes in two words that is the Google Chrome. WT#? Google Chrome?

How can it protect me? Well actually the Chrome browser have a feature called the
"sandbox" sandboxing in software are used in quite sometimes now but the downside of it is
high memoryusage which Google dealt with already. In short sandboxing creates a vitrual
space for data to be written and non will be written to the disk space and will be deleted
immediately afterusage (also mean no virus or dangerous script ill be written too).

Google Chrome Download http://www.google.com/chrome

3rd, The Firewall

If you don't have confidential information in your desktop just use the preinstalled Windows Firewall. otherwise use the best free, yes it's Free! Comodo Firewall but I recommend u to install Comodo. Only unblock application that you trust and considered safe.

Comodo Firewall free download http://www.comodo.com/home/download/download.phpprod=firewall

4th, HIPS

HIPS stands for Host Intrusion Prevention System, HIPS function like a firewall but is smarter
(do note that if u have Kaspersky Antivirus installed using a HIPS some system would result in
system resource hogging as Kaspersky has Proactive Detection which work almost the same
way)

Use HIPS when: you are using software which you do not trust for example game cheats
(many game cheats is claimed to be false positive while actually sends data over using secure
way which anti-malware can't detect but HIPS do) You can also get free HIPS on the net that is
PC Tools's Threatfire.

Threatfire download http://www.threatfire.com/download/

5th, the Antispyware

No antispyware is perfect until now and many (me too) suggest to use two or more antispyware
software, since you need to be using two my suggestion to you is Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware and one other antispyware software of your choice. Make sure u disable the real time protection if system slow down occur (running 2 shields is a not a good idea especially for gamers because
your antivirus already running one).

Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware download http://www.malwarebytes.org/

6th, Use anti-kelogger program http://myplanetsoft.com/free/antikeylog.php

7th, Do not download suspicious file or program from untrusted sites

8th, Scan Downloaded files with all the scanner you have once finished

9th, Make sure to update/upgrade all the software version mentioned above

10th, Scan your desktop with the antimalware programs you have for at least once per three
monthand do not run more than one scanner per time as it will damage your hard disk.

Ingrown nail

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:13:00 +0800

Ingrown nail or known as Onychocryptosis or Unguis incarnatus is the condition where nail grows towards and cuts the side of the nail bed.

Facts:

It can occur both on hands and feet but most common on toenails

Causes:

- Nails cut too short, rounded at the tips or edge are peeled
- Tight footwear ( causes the growing nail too dig/or penetrate the skin/nail bed)
- Trauma (injury on flesh will cause irregularity of nail growth)

Symptoms:

- Pain along margin of the nail

Prevention:

It's better to go see a doctor IMO

Treatment:

Depends on how severe the condition is, I had a toenail removal! (pain3x!)

Not to do:

- Wear tight shoes
- round off the tips of the nails (cut it straight - google it!)
- Cut of the sharp digging tip of the ingrown nail (go see a doctor!)

Rickroll: Your friends is not rolled enough? Try this

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:50:00 +0800

What is Rickroll?

I feel lazy to type it myself so go here then go here to know more

First you must check this website first before you prank you friends (they might be angry/offended so check it first before posting it) http://www.thekickback.com/rickroll/rickroll.php

Now you can use messages like this to roll your friends: wow haven't seen you for a long time, gift for you http://www.thekickback.com/rickroll/rickroll.php

My last word is lol for the people who go to the above link

Save Energy, Save The Future: The Black Google

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Wed, 9 Dec 2009 17:12:00 +0800

You must be wondering why a Black colored Google webpage can save energy, well the answer is, actually thousands of people uses Google search engine everyday and hour or so. Users idle, search through again and again and the majority of the screen area will display white color. To display white color a panel need more brightness and backlight to produce the white. Therefore by using a black colored Google search together we can save significant amount of energy without even noticing it.

From http://www.blackle.com/about/

Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen."

The most used Black Google search engine is at http://www.blackle.com/ , however it will only offer you the normal search engine without the image search and etc.

So as an alternative u can use Greasemonkey and javascript to change Google.com black .

1st, u must have the Greasemonkey addon, click here to know more about Greasemonkey.

2nd, once u have Greasemonkey go to this site and install the script.

And were done, you are ready to surf the web while knowing that you are conserving the earth!

Why is bubble gum pink in color

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Tue, 8 Dec 2009 19:31:00 +0800

Despite bubble gum is available in many different colors and flavors. The common flavor is known as "bubblegum" which is traditionally pink colored.

But why is it pink?

Bubble gum (originally created by Vincent Geoffrion Hughes - but it was unsuccessful and the gum is sticky and broke easily and it was abandoned) was invented by a man named Walter E. Diemer, when he successfully invented the bubble gum known as today (which is less sticky and stretch easily) the only food coloring in the factory is pink, which is why most gum today is pink.

Also, the reason bubble gum is traditionally pink is that it was the original color used by Frank H. Fleer ( the inventor of the bubble gum today, later the recipe of the bubble gum was refined by Walter; and Walter uses the color pink from his bubble gum factory!)

Deepest part of the world

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:39:00 +0800

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world, the lowest elevation of the surface of the earth's crust. Located at the Western Pacific Ocean, east of an island called Mariana. The trench estimated length is about 2,550 kilometres. Very strong pressure is exerted at the bottom of the trench, also, if mount Everest were set into the trench there will still be water in it!!!

Reduce your bad cholestrol: Red Yeast Rice

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:15:00 +0800

Remember: Always consult a dietitian or a doctor before consuming foods that u have no knowledge of it's level of nutrients. (in this case especially is statin)

Red Yeast Rice is a bright reddish purple fermented rice, which acquires its colour by cultivating rice with the mold named Monascus Purpureus but some of them are due to chemical dye due to the lower cost of production.

Red yeast rice when produced using the 'Went' strain of Monascus purpureus contains significant quantites of the HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitor lovastatin which is also known as mevinolin, a naturally-occurring statin. It is sold as dietary supplement for controlling blood cholestrol. There is strong scientific evidence for its effect in lowering blood levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL/bad cholesterol), and triglyceride levels. Because an approved drug is identical to the molecule it is therefore regulated as a drug by the Food and Drug Administration.

Camera sensors: choose the right one for you

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:30:00 +0800

Despite camera is divided into groups such as entry-level and prosumers-level, one of the most important feature in choosing a camera is it's sensor type. There are two main common types of camera sensor available in the market now, first is the CCD(charged-coupled device) and CMOS(complementary metal-oxide semiconductor). No matter what camera type you want to buy the sensor of the camera is the most important thing to look out for because it is the main component that controls the output of your camera besides the lens and the skills of a photographer. AND REMEMBER HIGHER RESOLUTION IS NOTHING WHEN COMPARED TO A GOOD SENSOR!!! The following are the significant/important features I deduced of the mentioned sensors.

CCD

Signal out of chip: voltage (analog)
Signal out of camera: Bits (digital)
Response: Normal
Dynamic range*: High
Speed: Normal to high
Clocking: higher voltage - more power consumed
Resulting noise: low

CMOS (may change due to rapid R&D)

Signal out of chip: Bits (digital)
Signal out of camera: Bits (digital)
Response: better than normal
Dynamic range*: normal
Speed: Higher than CCD
Clocking: low voltage - less power consumed
Resulting noise: normal

*Dynamic range is the ability of the sensor to differentiate the difference between the brightest and darkest light

Although these 2 sensors are used in different level of products (CCD for entry level, CMOS for prosumers) CMOS is continuingly improving, it quickly gain popularity and marketing as R&D enabling manufactures to reduce cost and improve the quality of CMOS when compared to CCD. Most DSLR cameras nowadays uses CMOS sensors but there are still DSLR cameras with CCD sensors such as the sony alpha line of DSLRs.

Mind your carbon footprint

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:19:00 +0800

Carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas emission by a party whether its from individual, organization or even a product(Through for exp: electric usage).

By calculating carbon footprint, awareness can be spread in a cause of conserving the world and it also enable you to calculate your daily cost/spending.

Calculate your carbon footprint now with this carbon footprint calculator

Laptops(Notebooks) versus Netbooks

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:04:00 +0800

Well with many choices of today well advanced gadget do you know what is best for you?

Netbooks is heard more and more but what is the fuss? they look the same...

Well, actually netbook is an alternative to high performance laptops these days. They are smaller in form, lighter and less pricey than laptops. They are targeted for specific for exp: users who uses computers for general computing and accessing web-based applications. Netbook is also a move from the electronic industry in conserving mother nature and a more greener technology.

Features:

Laptops(Notebook)

Low voltage processors (for exp: Intel core 2 duo processor)
larger form factor
Larger screen size
Internal optical drives
light weight
moderate power consumption
targeted for all round users

Netbooks

ultra-low voltage processors (for exp: Intel atom Processor)
small form factor
small screen size
mainly comes with no internal optical drives (option for external)
very light weight
very low power consumption
targeted for general computing and web(surfers) users

Take care of your relationship!

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:39:00 +0800

Boys and girls are just like phones, love to be held, talk to, but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected

Funny forum signature

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:28:00 +0800

1. You Are Reading My Signature.
2. Now You're Saying/Thinking That's A Stupid Fact.
4. You Didn't Notice That I Skipped 3.
5. You're Checking It Now.
6. You're Smiling.
7. You're Still Reading My Signature.
9. You Know All You Have Read Is True.
10. You Didn't Notice That I Skipped 9.
11. You're Checking It Now And Figuring Out I Didn't Skip 9...
12. You Didn't Notice That I Skipped 8 Instead.

What is ABS and ABD

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:05:00 +0800

ABS: Antilock Brake System - Sensors system in cars brakes that enables you to steer whilst keeping the brake pedal full on (let the tyres to spins despite in full brakes - maintaining tyre grip contact to the ground).

EBD: Electronic Brake-force Distributor - Sensor system in brakes that alters how much of the brake force goes individually on the 4 tyres. Cars always have more braking on front as if the rears lock before the front then the car will spin. How much braking you can do with the rears/sides depends on how much weight is in the vehicle so EBD dynamically adjusts this balance. Cars without EBD is set-up by the manufacturer by adjusting its balance so the rears doesn't lock when the vehicle is empty which is less braking than is possible when the vehicle is full.

Watch the videos below for more info.

Useful firefox add-on - Greasemonkey

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:39:00 +0800

Greasemonkey allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using JavaScript.

Hundreds of scripts, for thousands popular sites, are available at http://userscripts.org.

It acts more as a manager/updater/installer of javascript for firefox

with javascript, u can for example: auto play mafia wars, add facebook dislike button, auto download at free file hosting websites such as rapidshare and hotfiles, make google image load directly at the source of image and so much more.

Go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748 to download Greasemonkey

What is - Throttle speed vs Download speed

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:17:00 +0800

So many of you are confused of what happen to your connection, why do i register a 384kbps service but i only got 48kbps when downloading? I've checked with speedtest it shows almost 384kbps but why i still get 48 kbps?

So here are your answers

Throttle speed is the speed of you connecting to your ISP (internet service provider - the company you register to).

Download speed is the real speed of your internet connection.

So what is the problem?

Some ISP provide premium internet services (especially for business) and general services. So premium services will get download speed to the maximum (same as the throttle speed) while the general services shares in a ratio set by the ISP for example a 384kbps is shared to 8 users so (384 divide by 8) = your download speed is 48kbps!

Tweak your internet connection to be faster - simple method

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:02:00 +0800

You have two ways to make your internet connection faster.

1st is by tweaking your packets settings (which is not very effective and sometimes will make your connection slower, it is because the irregularity/consistency of the download speed, while also because of setting not suited to the connection - why? read more therefore its better to leave it to default setting.

Note that some will gain better connection in term of pings (connection strength between two parties - google for more info) and download speed. So for people who would like to try i suggest an auto detecting software like auslogics boostSpeed. and weird enough for adsl+ users like me the Lan (10/100 mbps) setting provide the best result - because probably you're main connection goes into modem and not the Lan

2ndly, it is by tweaking the half-open limit of your OS

To make your internet connection faster you need to tweak your half-open connection limit (sounds familiar? - yes especially for those who do much file sharing on torrents and p2p).

So what is half-open limit?

Windows XP SP2 and later versions have only limited 10 concurrent half-open outbound connections.
After 10, new connection attempts are put in a queue and forced to wait.
Thus, the speed of connection to other PCs is limited (for eg: on bittorrent you can only connect up to 10 people per sec, 1 min = only 60 people while if it is tweak to for eg: 100, you are able to connect to 600 people in 1 min).(Microsoft do this to slow the spread of virus and reduce DoS attack which is not useful if you got good security installed)

To simplify, it means when search for images , you can only load up to 10 images at once.
If there's 20 images, you need to wait another 10 images to finish then only it load.
For torrent download, you can only receive connection up to 10 seeds/leechs.
When playing games, for eg: DotaA/games which already connect to 9 players others connection with higher priority like antivirus update or download will interrupt, thus slows your connection.

To solve this, simply change the value to 256.(Recommended Value for all types of connections)

Download the half open connection limit patcher here

You can tweak the value to be higher but it depend on your download speed, not your throttle speed. Do note that Throttle and download speed is not the same.

5 things to know about your toothbrush

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:32:00 +0800

1)the way of brushing is more important than the type of toothbrush you're using, save your money: battery powered toothbrush only improve effectiveness of brushing by a mere margin.

2)Change/ place your toothbrush from others if you catch a cold or having a sore throat then clean it

3)Follow the recommended toothbrush lifespan that is 3-6 month/change your toothbrush every 3-6 month - change it as soon as something (mostly black fungus) grows on it

4)Clean and recycle your toothbrushes and use it to clean for eg: USB ports on your computer and more

5)Don't share your toothbrush, don't share germs!

Why my laptop/ netbook battery drains very quickly?

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:02:00 +0800

Why and suggestions:

1)for old laptops without li-ion batteries, do not charge your battery when it's capacity is more than 50%, this reduces your battery life (hardwares keeps memory of battery life and thought that your battery is fully charged). It is recommended for you to drain all the power until about 5% before recharging.

2)Remove your battery if you planning to run your netbook/laptop on power. Continuous charging reduces the battery life cycle (more specifically recharge times/shelf life and will result in a replacement of new battery (which is not cheap :) ).

3)Lower your display backlight and power settings, you can do it at the control panel-> power options/management. These not only will extend your battery life but also the panel/display life, select maximum battery plan for the best.

4)Took off additional RAMs/memory (2GB recommended - mind the data rate, 1GBDDR2 is like 2GB), for the non gamers a lap/nettops with memory of 2GB is sufficient enough for daily usage and extremely helpful in power conservation.

5)Turn off unnecessary/unused devices such as bluetooth, wifi, keyboard backlight and cooler fan (low cpu usage only eg: surfing and downloading only)

6)Turn off virtual memory at my computer->properties->advanced tab->settings->advanced tab (this is for XP google for other Systems) as it uses the hard drive regularly and consume power.

7) Putting your computer on standby is not recommended as it still moderately consume power and its better to hibernate or just turn it off.

8)Use a headphone instead of the built-in speaker(the speakers are bad for the ears anyways)

9)Send your netbook/laptops for cleaning once a year. A clean rigs uses less power as the fans inside it are not clogged with dusk and spins easier without using more power.

10)Do not watch movies or use your optical cd/dvd/bd drives when you're strictly on battery mode because they are power hogs which consumes more power than your hard disk

11)Uninstall unused/junk software and defrag your hard disk regularly to lower the spin numbers thus reducing power usage

12)Update your windows so that your operating system runs more smoothly reducing cpu usage and power.

13)Clean the contact of your battery to prevent dust and oxidised layer so that the battery can run in full potential

14)Choose the right processor/rig!!! for people who low in cpu demand eg: surf the webs and downloads only especially students netbook is highly recommended as it's processor is built specially for these situations.

For advanced users:(not recomended for heavy printer users as it have a bug - make printer offline after a period of time)

u can increase the USB polling so that your computer refreshes/checks your USB devices in a time interval(in ms) decreases. Click link below to learn how to do it.

Change your USB poll

What is vivid colors? - Photography color effect

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:21:00 +0800

Vivid colors means a color tone is dominant or it is easily distinguish between each color tone.(Not same as saturation, saturation increases all color by a level but vivid reduces a color range)

Using a channel mixer pic above (from the gimp, adobe photoshop or paint.net), set the red channel to red +110 %, green -5 %, blue -5 %; the green channel to red -5 %, green +110 %, blue -5 %; and finally the blue channel to red -5 %, green -5 %, blue +110 %. You can change the values according to your own personal taste.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
results

Before:

After: (look at the colors not shown before - lighter color appear as basic color eg: purple and no light puple, indigo to basic purple)

Protect your eyes, colour changing spectacles - photochromic lenses

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:58:00 +0800

Protect your eyes, photochromic lenses are lenses that darken on exposure to UV radiation. Once the UV is decreased (for eg: under a tree) , these lenses will gradually become clear again. The lenses also function to absorb ambient light

The alternative of modern medication, Homeopathy

noreply@blogger.com (f-Ly) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:43:00 +0800

Homeopathy is the alternative medicine, with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented. Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution, after each dilution under the assumption that will increase the effect of the treatment.

The lack of convincing scientific evidence supporting homeopathy's efficacy and its remedies lacking active ingredients have caused homeopathy to be described as pseudoscience (a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, lacks supporting evidence)