sub good_karma {
	my $raw_bytes = shift;
	my @raw_bytes = unpack 'C*', $raw_bytes; # unsigned char / 8 bits

	my @temp_bytes;
	my @resultant_bytes;

	my $i = 7;
	for my $byte (@raw_bytes) {
		$i++;
		if ($i == 8) {

			# this is one of those 'fill-in' rows, so dump
			# out the temp_bytes and re-init them
			push @resultant_bytes, @temp_bytes[1...7];

			# my unpack is a little rusty - this should result
			# in 8 array elements - each 1 or 0 (with the first always 0)
			my @seven_bits = unpack 'bbbbbbbb', $byte;

			# shift the bit to the left. 8 <<'s might be faster
			$temp_bytes[$_] = $seven_bits[$_] * 128 for 1...7;

			# @temp_bytes is now (0, A0000000, B00000000, ...)

			# restart counter each time
			$i = 1;
		}

		# the 7 bit bytes are conveniently left 0 padded, so we
		# can just or the two parts together
		$temp_bytes[$i] |= $byte;
	}

	# handle final loop end-case
	push @resultant_bytes, @temp_bytes[1...$i];

	return join( '', @resultant_bytes );
}