Hi all,
    I’m sure that all of us must have, at some time or the other, wanted to download a YouTube video. We were reduced to stupid ad-filled add ons in Firefox which were rather slow, and usually ended up messing downloads. But it was just a matter of time ladies and gentlemen. Now we have a brand new service called KissYouTube which features the easiest and most versatile way to download YouTube videos.

    KissYouTube is different since it has the most userfriendly, easy and stable method of downloading YouTube files. And how exactly do you do it?

• Browse to the clip you want to download in YouTube (eg: The India Pakistan World Twenty20 Bowl Out clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa4m5J6mgm8)
• Append the url with a “kiss” in front of you tube. (in the above example, http://www.kissyoutube.com/watch?v=Wa4m5J6mgm8)
• Click Download Now and save as a .flv file.

                      OR

• Get the URL of the clip you want to download (eg : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa4m5J6mgm8)
• Go to www.kissyoutube.com and paste the URL into the YouTube URL box and click Go
• Repeat Step 3 in the 1st method

    As simple as that and you have your YouTube video all downloaded and ready Have fun!

Technorati Tags: youtube, video, download, kissyoutube, video download, free youtube video download

Hi all,
The w32.USBworm, or commonly known as the Orkut Mozilla Hater Virus, has been spreading its malicious fingers all over India. The worm, quite a tricky one, is most commonly seen when it displays messages like, “I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE…”, “ORKUT IS BANNED, Orkut is banned you fool“, “The administrators didn’t write this program guess who did??“, “youtube IS BANNED,youtube is banned you fool” and “The administrators didn’t write this program guess who did??`r`r MUHAHAHA!!,30“.

This worm has been around for around 4 months now, with scattered responses, and many bloggers posting different methods of removing it. Here, I’ve compiled the instructions from a few of those blogs, and added my own few failsafes into them.

What it does

• Runs in the background, invisible to antiviruses
• When Mozilla Firefox is opened, it displays a message (I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE…) and shuts down Firefox
• When the site Orkut is accessed, via any browser, it shows yet another message out of a few listed above, and shuts down the browser.
• Same when YouTube is accessed.
• Copies itself automatically onto USBs, iPods (yes!), Digicams etc. when connected to the PC
• Copies a copy of the virus from the USBs, iPods etc. to any other PC its inserted in.
• Disables the “Show Hidden Folders” option

How it functions

• It runs an executable file named svchost.exe in the background
• All virus files located in a folder in the C:\ drive
• The folder is hidden, and disables the option to view hidden folders
• Comfortably carries out its malicious activities and also makes the computer dead slow

Why its dangerous

• It makes the computer slow.
• No antivirus to date has been able to remove or detect this virus. A few antiviruses, like AVG, NOD32 and Avast, were able to prevent its entry.

Removal

The removal of this virus requires a manual procedure. It may take anywhere around 5-10 minutes. It has 4 main steps -
1) Removing the virus from the task manager
2) Deleting the virus files
3) Deleting registry entries
4) Editing the registry to restore the “View Hidden Files” option

I - Removing the virus from the task manager

1. Hit Alt+Ctrl+Del to bring up the Task Manager
2. Click on the Processes tab
3. Click on Image Name to arrange the processes according to their names
4. Scroll down a bit until you reach a number of SVCHOST.exe processes listed
5. All, but one, of these SVCHOST.exe processes will be listed under the usernames of SYSTEM or NETWORK SERVICE
6. Find the SVCHOST.exe which is listed under YOUR username. i.e. If your username is anoop, find the SVCHOST.exe listed under with username anoop. Select that process and click End Process.
7. Click Yes to successfully end the process.

(Picture credit : Sujith)

II - Deleting the virus files

1. Browse to your C:\ drive, or whichever drive you’ve installed Windows.
2. In the address bar, type in heap41a after the C:\ and press Enter. i.e. In the address bar, type C:\heap41a  and press Enter.
3. Mercilessly delete every file in that folder. Muhahahahhahahahaha! You’ve now deleted the virus!

III - Deleting the registry entries

1. Go to Start>Run (or Windows key + R)
   
2. Type in regedit and hit Enter
3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
   CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\Run and delete the winlogon key. This will prevent any remnants of the worm from starting at booting.

IV Editing the registry to restore the “View Hidden Files” option

1. In Regedit, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
   Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden
   
2. There, navigate to NOHIDDEN
3. In NOHIDDEN, change the CheckedValue to “0″ and DefaultValue to “1″.
4. Go one step back, and navigate to SHOWALL
5. In SHOWALL, change the CheckedValue to “1″.

Thats it

Prevention

1. Be careful when you insert any pen drive/iPod. Delete any file named autorun.inf and any .exe file inside a folder, carrying the same name as the folder name.
2. Update your antivirus. Switch to Avast!, NOD32, AVG or Norton.
3. TechSupport Forum has uploaded a disinfectant, which you can download and use.

Thats it ladies and gentlemen. Beware of the w32.USBWorm. If you find any computer displaying messages like “orkut is banned!” or “I DNT HATE MOZILLA”, remember these steps and blast that worm to where it came from!

I’ve compiled my instructions from Harish, Sujith and Mahesh. Thanks guys!

Cheers, and enjoy

Technorati Tags: orkut, mozilla, youtube, hater, virus, w32.USBworm, removal, cannot view hidden files, unhide option not working, fix

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,
    I approach my blog today, with good news. I’ve decided to start blogging again, since I got an internet connection at my new residence. In these 3 months, readership levels have fallen from 120-250 readers a day to around 30 a day. I hope that I can call back my old audience with interesting and witty posts.

    This is just another introductory post, as you call it . I wont be able to promise you regular blogging, but whenever I blog, I promise to keep up my standards with “hot news”

    Please inform your friends who used to visit Blogging India, that we are up and active once again!
    Cheers

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Good evening

Now here’s yet another tip for amateur photographers. There’s this little thing called  sepia which can give a whole new appearance to your photos. A sepia tint is a slightly brownish-red tint which gives your photo an old appearance.

Old photos tend to tint into the sepia shade because of oxidation. But these sepia tinted photos look really good - sometimes. Some people go overboard on the mode, and keep clicking sepia, even when not necessary.

Why use sepia?
Photographers use sepia to impart an ‘old’ feeling to the photograph. It improves the photo in many cases. It also gives a feeling of "timelessness". Wouldn’t you want your love to be eternal?

So when should you use sepia?
Technically, it should be a very well lit object that your photographing in sepia. Or use your flashbulb. Aesthetically, the subjects should be "classical" in appearance. Remember - our aim in using sepia is not to make photos look brownish, but to make them look old! Typically, shoot more than one person/object. Give it a slightly crowded, animated look. Also, don’t use sepia in candid shots. Most often, people posed in old photographs.

Use your brains before you use sepia - do you want the photo to have a timeless/old appearance? I use sepia during parties, weddings, picnics and so on.

 
(good sepia - well lit, classic appearance)

(bad sepia - not well lit, and only one subject)

And HOW can sepia be used???!!!!!
Oops, should have said this first… Sepia is a mode which is available in most of the digital cameras today. Look under Modes in your digital camera’s menu, and it will be there along with Black and White, Vivid and so on…
In case of a film camera, you can use a filter.

If you’ve already taken the photo, don’t worry, we can always apply the effect in good old Adobe Photoshop. Open up the picture in Photoshop. Hit Ctrl + U (Command + U in Mac) to bring up the Hue/Saturation panel. Tick the Colorize option box. Set the Lightness to somewhere around -15 to -7. Set the Saturation to 50. And set the Hue to somewhere around 35 to 43. Adjust the Lightness and Hue until you get a sepia effect to your liking.

Thats it guys! Enjoy sepia!

Technorati Tags: sepia, how to, photography, sepia tint, old photos