http://www.kevinguill.com/ en kevinguill@comcast.net Copyright 2008 2008-10-05T20:44:55-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/antivirusxp2008-takes-over-friends-computer/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/antivirusxp2008-takes-over-friends-computer/#When:20:44:55Z My friend called me last night and asked if I knew any good viral removal tools because he got a virus on his computer and his McAfee was not catching it.  He described the virus as taking over the computer, changing his background, the computer windows clock was displaying “virus alert” among other strange behaviors.  We determined through research we were dealing with AntiVirusXP2008. Here is what Norton says about AntiVirus2008 Type: Misleading Application Name: AntiVirusXP2008 Risk Impact: Medium Systems Affected: Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows XP Behavior The program must be manually downloaded and installed. Here is a screen shot of AntiVirusXP2008 This info below was on http://hubpages.com/hub/XP-Antivirus regarding more specific behaviors. XP antivirus 2008 behaves differently on different computers depending on at what stage of installation it’s been caught, but generally the appearance of XP antivirus pop-ups can end in: - desktop icons and folders messed up or disappeared; - Start button and taskbar disappeared; - user’s settings corrupted; - desktop background wallpaper changed; - annoying screensaver you’ve never seen; - disabled Task Manager; - Windows Clock appearance changed; - Windows unable to boot; - Internet Explorer not working. XP Antivirus may degrade the desktop color scheme to 8 bit instead of 32 bit pattern. This malware also displays fake Blue Screen Of Death (commonly known as BSOD) using Sysinternals software. Additionally, the desktop may look as if Windows were restarting. The Solution: After trying the following with no success: http://hubpages.com/hub/XP-Antivirus http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-10041667-12.html http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080622134522AArOdlz http://www.superantispyware.com/ This is what successfully removed the AntiVirusXP2008:  Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1. Download the software to your desktop.  Note: We did not purchase it. 2. After you downloaded the software, close all windows on your computer. 3.  It is advised to disable system restore. 4.  To disable system restore right click on my computer > Properties > System Restore Tab > Check Turn Off System Restore Check Box > click OK 5.  Double click on the newly created icon on your desktop to start the install of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. 6.  Follow the prompts in order to complete the install. 7.  After install is complete Click on the Update tab and run an update. 8.  When update is complete, click on the Scanner tab and check the Perform Full Scan radio button. Then Click Scan. 9. The Scan will take approx 40 minutes depending on the size of your hard drive. 10.  When the scan is complete click OK to show results of the scan. 11.  Make sure all items are selected and Click Remove Selected. 12.  When the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software is finished removed, a notepad doc will pop up. you can review, print, and save this doc if you wish. 13. You can then close the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software. 14.  Restart your machine. 15.  AntiVirusXP2008 should now be removed from your system. 16.  You can now either purchase the pro version of this software or remove it by using Add/Remove Programs in your control panel. 17.  You may also turn back on the system restore feature. Just blogging 2008-10-05T20:44:55-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/train-ees-ee-workshop-final-review/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/train-ees-ee-workshop-final-review/#When:01:35:45Z Check out this fine group of ExpressionEngine geeks, and in the front row is our mentor and instructor, Mike Boyink of Train-ee.com.  This class was truly wonderful.  The amount of material that was covered was impressive.  Here was the agenda.  With that massive amount of material, I was worried that we weren’t going to get through it all. But we did without feeling rushed, and also had time for lots of side topics.  For his first time instructing a class, he sure was on his game.  That guy is like an ExpressionEngine Encyclopedia.  It is pretty impressive.  I’m sure it will take me weeks to review the material and go through everything that was presented, but I feel I have a very solid understanding of EE now.  I can’t really say what my favorite aspect of the training was because it is hasn’t all sunk it yet and there was alot. I can’t wait to get back home and implement what we learned into client websites.  I feel so much more confident about what I’m doing with ExpressionEngine.  I know it will take some time for Mike and Collective Idea to put together some other courses on ExpressionEngine, but I definitely will be attending other events put on by these guys.  The other thing I learned, and truly think is amazing is how welcoming and tight niched the EE community is.  It’s was very cool to meet some of the EE powers users that are in the forums constantly helping out us rookies.  For them to come out and meet with us, eat dinner, and share their experiences with EE and other CMS tools, is invaluable.  I also have to give much thanks to Daniel Morrison and Collective Idea for such a highly organized event, and for the great hospitality.  He took the group to different places in Holland, including the beach and multiple restaurants.  Everything was really enjoyable. Much Thanks to Train-ee and Collective Idea! you can see more photos of the training here ExpressionEngine 2008-09-13T01:35:45-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/ee-workshop-day-2/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/ee-workshop-day-2/#When:01:43:13Z After day 2 of the ExpressionEngine class In Holland, I’m more excited than ever.  This has been a fabulous experience.  The hospitality that Mike Boyink and Collective Idea have extended to us has been above and beyond the norm. About the class so far; there is a wide range of EE users in the class.  Some have never used EE before, while others have quite a bit of experience building sites with EE and well as other content management systems.  Nobody seemed bored with the elementary stuff, and yet nobody appeared overwhelmed with the nuts and bolts of EE.  Mike has done a great job of keeping the class focused, on track, and everybody on the same page.  Today we started building the architecture of the site by building new template groups, and using EE tags and variables to build navigation and pull in weblog data dynamically.  I can’t wait for the next two days of the workshop and to interact with a great group of people. ExpressionEngine 2008-09-11T01:43:13-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/train-ees-expressionengine-training/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/train-ees-expressionengine-training/#When:13:14:38Z Mike Boyink from Train-ee is hosting the first ever classroom led instruction of ExpressionEngine (EE) in Holland, Michigan.  I stumbled across EE about two years ago, after thinking I was going to become a bad #!*$ developer overnight, and reading every book I could on web development.  After comparing content management systems, I chose EE.  What I found two years ago, was there were not many tutorials, or trainings on EE.  Yea there was the documentation and four start up videos, but it seemed like something was missing, I was still was very unsure of how to really develop an ExpressionEngine site. I put EE on the shelf and went in a different direction of building systems from scratch(or attempting anyway).  I still new that EE was the tool to be using, especially for clients websites, although may not be the most popular, I re-visited ExpressionEngine again.  This time while trying to find tutorials, I found Mike Boyink, and his books on ExpressionEngine.  This is exactly what I had been looking for.  After reading and watching the screencasts, I finally have a better understanding of EE, but like always I had some more questions. Continuing to research, I saw Mike Boyink was offering a workshop on ExpressionEngine in September. I knew I had to take advantage of this and I had to find a way to Holland, Michigan.  When I saw there were two scholarships available, I couldn’t believe it.  I think it is very rare that organizations these days, when the economy is down, and greed is high, that not one, but two scholarships would be offered, especially for such a small venue.  This is a community I definitely want to be a part of.  I applied but didn’t win, but I am still going to Holland, Michigan and that is all that matters. I finally have an opportunity to interact with a well known ExpressionEngine mentor, and other EE users that are in the same position as me.  I’m pumped to have any opportunity to learn EE, but more so that the experience will be a small classroom setting, rather than a large event type that are normally hosted.  Nice choice Mike!  I will be sure to share and report on the event while in Michigan. This is the agenda Mike has laid out: We’ll have four days in the classroom - and the scheduled training will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm (breakfast and lunch will be provided).  From 4-5pm you can ask questions, get feedback on your own EE project, or bail early to go catch up on email before heading out again. Specifically we’ll cover the following: * Installing ExpressionEngine * System Overview * Control Panel * Loading an existing design template into EE * Chunking the visual design into parent and embedded templates * Passing variables to embedded templates * Designing an ExpressionEngine architecture to power the visual design * Implementing EE weblogs, custom fields and categories to hold content * Building dynamic navigation menus * Building page titles and setting navigation states dynamically * Creating content relationships * Using EE conditionals * Using plug-ins * Implementing a Contact Form * Implementing the EE search engine * Implementing an different content types (TBD) * Setting up the site for client access ExpressionEngine, Web development 2008-08-31T13:14:38-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/css-using-the-universal-selector-for-browser-control/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/css-using-the-universal-selector-for-browser-control/#When:03:30:25Z “Browser Control” can be one of the toughest and most frustrating aspects of building a website with CSS.  The good news is it doesn’t have to be. Using the right tools and knowing what to avoid, your life can much easier building cross browser compatible websites. This will be the first of a two part series about “Browser Control” using CSS.  Can every aspect be covered in a two part series? No, but what I will cover in this series are some simple tips and tools that will dramatically reduce your intake of Advil for those brutal headaches that some browsers cause (I won’t name names). The first part will discuss the universal selector tool.  It is simple to use, takes about 10 seconds to implement in your style sheets and creates an even playing field when it comes to elements in your html document. Here it is: *{} The asterisk applies any declarations inside the curly brackets to every element.  This makes it very powerful, and with power comes responsibly.  I generally only use it one time, place it at the top of my master style sheet, and only use these two declarations. *{ margin:0; padding:0; } The effect is now every element no longer has default margins and padding, setting all elements to 0, keeping them on the same playing field, at least when it comes to margins and padding (Which I see give people the most trouble in whipping a browser into shape). Now you can apply margins and padding to only the elements that you specify.  For example, paragraphs no longer have margins so we need to declare them.  I like to set my paragraph margins as follows: p{ margin:5px 0px 10px 0px; } Using this selector is very simple, yet extremely powerful tool can save you so much time troubleshooting and just building the site, however if you get carried away with it, plan on buying some Advil. The universal selector tool is by far one of my favorite tools in controlling how browsers render elements.  I was very fortunate to have picked up a CSS book early in my career that discussed it, and what a lifesaver it has been. The universal selector tool is by no means a cure all to “Browser Control”, but it is the first step I take in for making every site rock solid. In the next part of the “Browser Control” series, I will discuss how using left and right margins and padding play havoc with the box model(s), and why it is best to avoid using them for certain HTML elements. CSS, Web development 2008-08-13T03:30:25-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/a-list-aparts-2008-web-designer-survey/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/a-list-aparts-2008-web-designer-survey/#When:17:14:43Z Being fairly new to the web industry, I am always curious about how others, especially those who have been in it a while, feel about there careers, growth opportunities, and also the big questions; What are the salary potentials are in terms of web designers, developers, programmers?  What are the demographic trends? What jobs are saturated?  What are peoples skill level? Where do I fit in? This types of information can be extremely valuable in determining which direction you want to take as the web world is a big one. A List Apart has developed a survey asking those types of questions.  This types of surveys are great for us web designers, developers, and programmers to mobilize to make our industry the very best it can. You can read the findings of the 2007 results of the A List Apart survey here Web development 2008-08-08T17:14:43-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/jerry-west-brings-seo-revolution-to-denver/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/jerry-west-brings-seo-revolution-to-denver/#When:03:08:04Z The company I work for had the unique opportunity to have Jerry West, SEO expert and founder of SEO Revolution come to our office and provide training, recommend tools, and share his thoughts on the industry.  What an awesome opportunity we had.  It was Jerry’s knowledge, experience, our web team, two days and an agenda.  You can’t beat that.  It is rare in a person’s career to have the chance to meet and interact with industry mentors or leaders.  Sure, there are there are technology shows and workshops that you could attend, and maybe you are the lucky one from the audience that gets chosen to ask a question.  However at times, I have found myself (I know others have felt the same) leaving the event just as confused as when I entered the building.  Attending events are fun, a terrific place to network, you always learn something, and they keep you excited about you’re a career, but Jerry’s visit to our office was “priceless”.  We received in depth, basic and advanced training on many topics: Keyword research Pay per click campaigns Organic search Link building On page factoring and of course Testing In addition to the training, we had wonderful open table discussions that initiated creative thinking, different methodologies, and a whole new set of questions. Any and all people involved in the web should get with the SEO Revolution and check Jerry West out.  Thank you Jerry! Just blogging, SEO/SEM, Web development 2008-08-06T03:08:04-07:00 http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/content-management-systems-which-to-use/ http://www.kevinguill.com/blog/article/content-management-systems-which-to-use/#When:20:35:00Z With so many popular content management systems (cms) and blogging tools on the market, it is difficult to choose which one is right for you as a developer, but also right for your clients.  After much research (and some seriously late nights) on which cms or blogging tool I thought would meet my expectations, I chose ExpressionEngine (EE).  I first learned of ExpressionEngine in a book called Blog Design Solutions written by a group of highly respected individuals in the industry.  The book didn’t compare the products, but had a chapter on the each of the more popular tools; WordPress, Movable Type, TextPattern, ExpressionEngine, and of course the option to build your own.  The first thing I did was build my own.  I thought it was great but very time-consuming.  I wrote a few different basic content management systems featuring blogs with the help of the internet and many other books.  I thought it was great fun and still do.  However, I’m not sure if that is the best option for every website and especially if time is a factor. In choosing the tool that is right for you. It is going to come down to your current knowledge of web design and development, accessibility and usability expectations, features, patience, and time.  My choice remains ExpressionEngine. My opinion may change after further usage, and more research and development of the other options.  But for now, I’m excited to use kevinguill.com as a playground to learn more about ExpressionEngine. I had only minor issues in developing this site with EE and were all worked out to my satisfaction.  Hopefully, the release ExpressionEngine 2.0 (summer ‘08) will address (rumors say they will) the member profile area.  Visually it is just awful.  I dabbled at theming the member templetes to match the look of my site, but after reviewing how massive the library of file was, I decided to wait and see what EE 2.0 will bring. ExpressionEngine, Just blogging, Web development 2008-05-10T20:35:00-07:00