Cliches, testing antivirus software

Riches Communications Newsletter

Issue 8, July 2003

In this issue:

- Clichés (familiar expressions)
- Testing antivirus software
- Other web sites of interest

Clichés (familiar expressions)

Clichés may be commonly used in verbal communication, but when used in writing they are a sign of poor sentence construction and a lack of originality. The following expressions are a few commonly abused clichés:

'at the end of the day'
'the bottom line'
'window of opportunity'
'intense competition'
'grave concerns'
'to be honest'
'reading between the lines'
'on the other hand'

With the entire English language at your disposal there is no need to use these tired expressions! If you read it aloud and it sounds familiar or laboured, your writing may contain too many cliches. Eliminate clichés where you can and your writing will be fresh and original.

There are too many familiar expressions to list here; some cliché collections can be found at:

http://www.clichesite.com/
http://www.copydesk.org/cliches.htm
http://www.sportscliche.com/ (for sport fans)

Testing antivirus software

Most of us have an antivirus program installed on our computers. The software works away in the background but how you can be sure it will find a virus when it needs to? To test your system safely you need a test virus file.

The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) has a test virus file available to test installed antivirus software. This test virus is safe to use and distribute, as it has been created for testing purposes only and contains no viral code. It is a standard DOS file that is named 'eicar.com', and contains the following string:

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

You can create this test file yourself in Notepad or a similar text editor, by adding the line above to a new file and naming it 'eicar.com' (as soon as you do this your antivirus program may detect the file and alert you). You can also download the various versions of the file from the EICAR web site.

Your antivirus program may detect the test virus inside the Zip files available from this page if it is especially vigilant.

Your antivirus program should detect the file during a download or when creating it. If not, run your antivirus scanner and it should find the 'eicar.com' file. If it doesn't, then it might be time to think about a new antivirus program!

For more information on the procedure for antivirus testing, visit the EICAR web site.

Other web sites of interest

The Logo Company - logos designed online and at low prices

Pegaweb - Adobe Photoshop tutorials and webmaster resources

Strange Banana - web site design generator