Stop ASKing

I’m becoming a bit annoyed at those third party junkware things, that hitch hike on other useful stuff and sneak onto your system. I was looking at some the neat animations on the space weather site, suggested in the previous post, and got warned to update my version of java. Ok that's easy enough! Then horror of horrors, ask.com has weaselled it way onto my standard toolbar and a more prominent toolbars of its own beneath that. The problem is under chrome I can not unclick the enable box in the chrome extensions for this unwanted toolbar, unlike most after apps I have.  This toolbar can only be uninstalled via the control panel, ie Windows Start Menu > Control Panel > Programs (Add/Remove Programs for older versions) > Programs and Features > Select both ask toolbar and Ask updater and click "Uninstall".

Damn you third party sneaks!

Spring Cleaning

Its the first day with a really clear sky I seen in a while and a perfect time to check on the cleanliness of the sensor on my sensor. I wrote some time ago about DSLR’s dirty little secret and how to use a photo of the clear sky to detect the presence od dust on the sensor. My current Pentax D20 is a well engineered unit and includes a dust reduction, a dust detection and a dust cleaning system (it shakes the sensor, with the mirror lifted). However small dust particles always seem to be get into most cameras. So I regularly check using my blue method. Now I additionally slide the highlight and shadow bars across while zoomed in to help detect dust. Ok often its barely visible (And not seen by the Built-in dust check) but I now know it there. Generally just one or two runs of the dust removal procedure followed by another blue sky photo is enough to convince me my camera is clean.
On my Pentax dust removal involves taking the lens off holding the camera facing down and selecting the dust removal from the setup menu, the whole camera appears to shake for a couple of seconds, that's all it takes. Older SLRs, which don’t shake themselves, can be cleaned by selecting the mirror up and using clean air blasts (you can buy specialty air-pressure pack from a camera store or use an old fashion bulb blaster, just take off the brush) across the sensor area. It is important not to touch the sensor or mirror directly with anything.
WARNING some camera manufacturer/models, notably many Nikons, claim such air blast cleaning voids the warranty and you need to get a certified dealer to clean the sensor (check your camera manual)