If you've ever used Fireworks to manipulate photos, you should know about the Auto Level filter. It's easy. It automatically corrects the lighting levels in a picture of choice. For normal photos, with people and stuff, it does well. The pictures usually become brighter and better without the colors drastically changing. For items, it's not always the same. Maybe cameras that add filters to certain types of content are partly to blame. When they make a forest seem greener than it really is, for example. I'm just theorizing though, I have no clue, I'm just going to throw in a couple of examples.

Here's a picture of when it works well.

Here's a picture of when it doesn't! I'm thinking of the lush green fantasy filter my camera has here. Could it be? Or not? Conclusions? Eh... none.

So last week I took a walk with buddy Bear. According to his usefully portable tracking device we walked 26,37km, but it wasn't on all the way so it's probably more like 27-28km. It might just be the longest distance I've walked in a day, though we did stop for lunch by the road. Overall it was a refreshing haul, walking from dawn to nightfall with no rest or stress at all. Here's the route.

Also, a measurement for anyone who wants to go the distance. :P

I had a problem with my left knee the day after the walk, pain every time I bent the leg, especially when I put pressure on it. Walking down stairs was hellish for, but whatever it was it's gone now. Maybe I twisted it or something? IDK. Didn't notice anything while I was walking.

This week I'm writing reviews though. An average 100/reviews per day is the goal, so that should be interesting. :) Not much time for blogging then...

I dreamt that I was working. I sat in front of my computer writing review after review, and it felt so real that when I actually woke up I thought I deserved to rest a little; to stay in my bed happily snoozing after all the scribbles I had achieved. Then I realized that I was still in bed, that I hadn't been working, and that I had to get started now or I wouldn't be as efficient as I dreamed that I was. Wish I really could write stuff in my sleep though...

Duck Duck Go just put together another one of their nifty guides to help people protect their privacy. Check it out. This one provides you with:

• A quick selection of guides for all major browsers (the one you are currently using is displayed by defailt).
• A list of reccomended plugins to keep sites from tracking you.
• A note on basic browser settings that impact privacy.
• Information on different tracking methods.
• More plugins.

It looks good! I think I'll actually take the time to learn something this time around, but plugins? Nah... they just slow your browser down. Mostly. But don't take my word for it, try them out if you don't believe me! Also. Here's that link again just in case you were going to just go read something else and completely forget about such important life-impacting matters. ;)

This is just... wow... I didn't think they still made sites like this nowadays! If you think this is an acceptable color theme to use on a website, then... maybe you should be a doctor or something. Not a designer. O_o

So I got a virus. Again. Well it's not like I had one recently, but I wasn't expecting to get one either. It just popped up suddenly, without warning, through a memory object conflict blue screen. My anti-virus had been switched off. I couldn't restart it. I couldn't end any processes. I pulled the plug and shut down my Internet connection. And then?

First step, safe-mode. Ran a quick scan with MSE. It found a bunch of stuff, which I removed. While this was going on I tried uninstalling programs, but the Windows Installer could not be found. Not sure if this is a safe-mode limitation or if it had to do with the virus, but uninstalling programs wasn't working so I manually deleted a bunch of leftover directories and Java (which was probably the reason I got this virus in the first place, though I've had the FF plugin disabled for a long time). I also cleaned up my browser cache and cookies and did a sweep with CCleaner at the same time, fixing a bunch of other issues while I was at it. That didn't take long...

Second step, reboot. I restarted the computer in regular mode to check if everything was OK. A diskcheck scan popped up, I let it run, and apparently it fixed a lot of errors because when it was done the 14 available GB on my HD had increased to 41 GB! Nope, I didn't see wrong the first time, I'm positive; it really did increase. I know CCleaner didn't get rid of that much excess material, and I didn't have that much in my Internet cache, and the Trojan files weren't that huge either, so it must have been some additional disc errors that were fixed in the process. Anyway, I checked running processes upon startup, kept it open; it looked like all was OK!

Third step, aftermath. I ran a full scan with MSE (after re-connecting to the net and updating the database). It took 5 hours and it didn't find shit. Shit (I mean, 5 hours! ARGH!). I also uninstalled a bunch of programs, or rather removed their registry entries since I had already removed the content.

Fourth step, paranoia. I ran smart scans with two malware removers, and they did find some. I then installed three additional anti-virus programs and scanned the drive with those as well. One actually found a startup item that MSE had missed! So, I guess I'm clean now. I hope so. I'll probably be a bit extra cautions for the following... 3-4 days. :P

I didn't mention it above btw, but during the first step I also disabled all startup items that I wasn't sure of. Viruses usually spread like crazy when they run, but if there is no way for them to start, they shouldn't be such a threat. Least that's how I reason. Thus, startup items is one of the more important place to check for potential trouble. While the full scan was in progress I wrote a song about the virus too but eh... no time to post that now. Moral of the story: run a scan some time; keep your software updated. Later.