I've had coughs and colds for more than two weeks now. Really, am I that unhealthy? Though this acquired virus only caused me a total of 1 day in bed, around 10 days sitting-working, and 3 days out and about. Not bad, but it's tough when you're coughing all the time and all you want to do is work and finish everything lined up in your agenda. This virus has caused me some opportunities lost.

But the worst kind of virus I encountered the past days is the monster SSCVIIHOST.exe and all its sister applications. Seriously, this worm/trojan/malware is serious. It disabled my task manager, registry and folder options. Without those three, what's a computer all about? The PC also started running slow and prevented us from CD-burning with success. Dad also had to delay his Autocad bliss that actually puts food on the table because of the slow performance. It sucks right through.

Ergo, I gave in. One near-sleepless night and I tried to kill SSCVIIHOST.exe. Man, that name would hunt me all my life. If I didn't do it, we would have to reformat. Dad has to buy a laptop immediately to get on with his job to feed his family. I also wouldn't be able to transfer the 30-second TV advertisement I made and pass it on time for the competition. Told ya, it sucks right through.

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to MajorGeeks.com for helping me through these tough times. It gave me another chance to regain my oh-so-beautiful life. However, the process wasn't just any foolproof job, it required time, patience, faith, hope and at least some brains. Imagine what I had to do:
1) Download four kinds of computer and registry cleaners, not counting the virus and malware scanners.
2) Deal with registry files and configurations. One bad, small step meant death. Luckily, I'm still alive.
3) Create registry patches I copy-pasted from smarter people's sites and forums.
4) Give up usual amount of sleep. Trust me, the first three numbers might sound complicated but this one's most difficult.

And I was successful. Thank you, thank you. I learned it takes a lot of guts and awful lot of dedication to turn around committed mistakes.
But I'm still praying. My job isn't done yet. There are a couple more malware stuff in our system. They're not big threats compared to SSCVIIHOST and its sister applications but of course I have to remove them nonetheless.

Again, thanks MajorGeeks. Through your generosity, I learned how important a virtue it is.

Wong Kar Wai's photograpy is just so beautiful. I remember my fascination while we were watching Chungking Express in my first film class in '06. It's like an impressionist painter's high-contrast masterpiece set in motion. Wong Kar Wai's films are among the visually best for me. Every shot is well-composed, traditional but well-composed. What makes it visually stunning is the combination of colors, lighting, texture and the camera movement (Like hello Godard for A bout de Souffle). All these plus an unconventional, capturing storytelling would make a non-Hollywood magnum opus. Take a look at this still from Chungking, for example:


Dominant yellows and oranges and reds throughout the film. Means perky, romantic, odd and mysterious. Thanks, I learned all that color-analyzing from Patti Bellantoni's book "If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die."

Wong's upcoming flick, My Blueberry Nights, stars my Natalie Portman, the ubiqitous Mr. Law and first-time actor Norah Jones. First time Wong takes on American stars and unarmed with his cinematographer Chris Doyle, but hey, look at the brightest side: Amazing Promotional Stills!


And finally, the auteur himself..

1. It has all the sites I'd like to visit when I open the web browser.
2. It has colorful themes, though they can work on creating more.
3. I can subscribe to my favorite sites for updates. Now I'm an RSS glutton.
4. It's fast.
5. It has the best sources for movie reviews, box office and DVD rankings.
6. It's for geeks and aficionados. I might be both.
7. There's a glimpse of the article when the pointer hovers over a link.
8. It lists modules and sites' updates on my favorite things: films, journalism photos, art, books, interesting articles from credible news sources, and tidbits from the worlds of travel, science, politics and sports.
9. It has a "To Do List," which is not absolutely useful in real life, but works if I have to remind myself of things I have and plan to do in the web.
10. Coolest sites in my life are in a nutshell: Art News Blog, Drawn, Arts and Letters Daily, Zenit, Barnes and Noble, Filmspotting, Earthbound Light Photography and a few official websites.
11. Lists sections from my favorite reads online and off: Time magazine, The Economist, National Geographic, The New Yorker online, New York Times online and Forbes online.
12. As a site, My Yahoo lasts as a tab on my browser. If I spend some time visiting other sites, it's an inevitability I'd return to it to before exiting.
13. It has a preview of my e-mail inbox. It is indeed a one-stop page.
14. the best benefit I get from it: IT SAVES TIME!

My beautiful, beloved My Yahoo! page...

Mwah.