Find The Right Spot

They call it Chinese earth magic, where finding the right spot or placement of objects enhances the energy flow for the environment. Adding to my list of feng shui articles I thought that this would also be of interest to you. The study of feng shui alone does not confine itself only to certain shapes, terrain, homes or even large buildings for that matter. The intricate art of feng shui goes beyond these and can even some cases touch on islands and whole countries for instance.

This art on such a large scale is not often heard of because many of the geomancers out there are either not knowledgeable enough or they find the task just too big for them. So, they often leave it to someone else or until they feel they have reached a higher level of knowledge or have gained enough experience to handle such areas.

It would only take the very best and elite feng shui master with many years of toil and experience in-hand to deal with this sort of subject due to its delicate nature of job - finding the right spot on the land where the power of yang or life chi lies. Once the geomancer has done this by identifying these sites where the good chi lies, his work becomes very much easier. He is then immediately able to scale down his projections before going into the finer details of things.

You should compare this sort of work with the hi-tech super spy satellites which are in orbit. They are suspended in the dark, with silent void of space, they would serve as an invisible eye for the wealthy nations that are able to afford them. When these satellites are in the right position, over the country or site to be observed, its mechanical eye will take into consideration all the details of what is happening at that spot. If a smaller or a more tighter focus is required, computers can do the job to enhance the satellite's findings.

In this same manner, Feng shui is similar in the sense that it is able to focus on a specific area before the intricate job of analysing is performed by the geomancer.

Let's take an example of when a geomancer makes a general comment saying that a particular shopping complex has good feng shui without elaborating further, you will find many people out there scrambling to own a lot. And when a particular lot becomes vacant, the stakes to secure that place becomes increasingly higher in price value.

It is therefore not unusual, however, to find that 30 to 35 per cent of the businesses operating in a place with good feng shui may actually be on the edge of financial difficulties, despite the crowds that flock to the complex and had been mentioned to be 'highly recommended'. The reason for this is that when a geomancer normally says a place has good feng shui, he is only passing a general comment on the entire building itself. But when shop-lots face 'down' escalators or are located near toilets or facing the long passageways (like the notorious T-junction), things tend to be different.

In general, all buildings said to have good feng shui would also have certain areas that have weak spots in them that should be avoided. If someone came up to you saying that a building has 100 per cent good feng shui, he's the best joker in town!

Buying Plasma or LCD ?

Watching Television is one of my greatest hobby (if you could call it a hobby??) After a hard day at work, most of us would head home to unwind and enjoy activities such as watching some television with the family. We would naturally watch our favourite programs, the news or the latest movies on cable; maybe even catch a live football or golf tournament with our friends.

Therefore when the opportunity arises, consider to treat yourself to a new television set, (if you don't already own one??); especially since the prices have dropped drastically over the last couple of years. However, with many wide, varied style and technology available in the market, the search can be some-what quite daunting. Brands can be very personal to certain people and many diehards who had good or bad experience with a particular brand would have already made up their minds on this. Nonetheless, within any particular brand, you have decided or are open to compare; you still have the choice of technologies like LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or Plasma to choose from!

1. Is one better than the other?
2. What is the difference in their performances?
3. Cost difference?

They are two competing technologies, yet both have some similar features or designs and serve the same function of enabling you to watch High Definition Television (HDTV). In spite of this, Plasma and LCD TVs are very much different in terms of how they deliver the image or picture to the viewers.

What is HDTV?
High Definition Television is a set of digital television (DTV) standards in a television broadcasting system or TV Programmes that offer the highest resolution, sharpest film-like picture quality and finer detail. It provides an almost cinematic experience broad-casted with full 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. In the future, HDTV will allow the connectivity of computers, indeed, impressive!


Overview on LCD TVs
It has normally two sheets of polarized transparent material. In the spaces in between the two are liquid crystals. On each of this crystal, electric current passes through in response to the signal received and thereby helps create the right amount of light in order to emit in creating the image. LCD pixels are normally comprised of three sub-pixels in the elementary colour. And these crystals do not produce light, but fluorescent tubes/bulb that are used in illuminating the image inside. In this process, you find that less power is consumed for it to operate.

Overview on Plasma TVs
Plasma has a flat but characteristic lightweight surface that is covered with millions of tiny glass cells like little bubbles. Inside each of these glass cell, there is a gas-like substance, known as Plasma and is added with a phosphor coating. These are chemical compounds that emit light when energized. Each bubble is called a pixel (picture element) and pixels comprises three smaller bubbles in each of them, and they come in three colours green, red and blue inside them. And when a digitally controlled flow of electric voltage runs in the flat screen, the plasma gives off ultraviolet rays. It then emits a light to cause the coated phosphor to glow and thus form the image you see on the screen.


The key importance to a good buying decision, know the limitations and advantages of each technology and apply it to your specific needs. Quality-wise, in it's final function as a TV, there is not much difference between them in a normal family usage. Remember the price is not to be the end of all of your buying decisions. Whatever you choose, make sure you have picked out the most suitable type and of the right size which you could enjoy at home with your love ones.

Flooring Materials

If you like the flooring already provided for in your new home you had purchased, you are indeed a fortunate person. If you do not like them nor want what has been provided and consider a change, then let me share with you the various choices and options you might be able to take.

Firstly, an important point to consider is your immediate family members. If you have young children and/or elderly parents around the home, then perhaps a smooth marble floor may not be ideal unless you are very meticulous person who keeps them dry all the time. If you are that sort of person that entertains frequently with those barbeque get-together's in your garden or yard etc, then having carpets may not be a suitable flooring finish in your living room.

If you have the air-conditioner switched on regularly in the night, then perhaps a timber floor will be kinder to the feet of an elderly in the morning compared to marble. Should there be some history of breathing difficulties or sensitive nose in the family circle, then certain types of carpets would not be recommended. If you fancy mopping to vacuuming, then your choice also points to certain directions.

Secondly, is your choice of decor and the colours. If you are that sort that prefers dark natural wood furniture like mahogany or an avid collector of antique furniture with ornate carvings, then a dark coloured timber floor will not bring out the best of those furniture. Similarly if you lean towards a minimalist or zen look, then floorings with intricate design or patterns on them will not be so suitable unless it is well incorporated as part of the overall look of your home.

Lastly but not the least, is the time constraints to consider when deciding to do this. It will take more time naturally and not forgetting adding your cost and inconvenience to hack and remove the existing materials. Some, but not all flooring materials can be laid over the existing floors thereby avoiding all this mess. If it's possible, go through with your contractor thoroughly to make sure that when they overlay, the installation method which they are using is something that is recommended by the flooring materials manufacturer. Another important fact to note is that when you overlay one material over another, you can have an in-built potential of a debonding problem in the near future. In addition, you definitely lose some headroom as the floor levels are naturally raised and some of your doors have to be modified to correct this.

Eventually when you finally decide on this, you would most likely be given a sample piece of the flooring material, maybe from a size of 30cm X 30cm (12" X 12"), therefore unless you are very good in visualizing the whole floor in your mind (and that is not something so easy to do, trust me..), it would be better off to ask for more pieces. Then what you do is piece them together on the floor and take a step back to try and get a better idea, and if that is not helpful then try this, visit the showrooms of some tile supplier in the market. Another alternative would be to see some pictures of completed floors; be it from a brochure, catalogue or a plain photograph. The ideal scenario would be, if your contractor could bring you to another house where he has done a same or similar floor, you would by then be able to grasp a better idea of the intended end result.