Again, this is the result of the research YouTube surfing. *grinz*
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-s-Bc0DpWo
I don’t really understand the concept behind this, but it’s tried and tested.I tried this on a baby cousin and it worked! Somehow the bubbly sound got her attention and she stopped wailing immediately.
Anyone who understands Japanese could perhaps help to translate the explanation.
People these days drive hard bargain for everything they buy. Well, there’s nothing wrong with this. Value for money is the important thing here. But for Feng Shui, how do you measure value for money? Frankly. I’m not sure if there’s any benchmark here. There’s probably none, for something seemingly abstract.
Anyway, what sparked this thought, was a friend’s Feng Shui engagement experience.
This husband and wife got a new house and thought they wanted to have a Feng Shui audit. They came to me and my wife because we had our house looked then when we bought the house. They were turned off by the price. I paid $1488 for my audit. They thought it was expensive and decided not to engage the same person. They shopped around and found one for about 500 bucks. This was the best deal in their opinion.
So they had their Feng Shui audit. The practitioner made a few recommendations and got a date for the renovations to start. This is the interesting part. Lunar 7th month was near, so the practitioner thinks that work cannot be done in that month. While there’s not such concept in Feng Shui, I think we can let it pass. Some people are superstitious. We can’t drop the psychological effect. Anyway, the practitioner chose a date, the last day of the Lunar 6th month. Convenient but I’m not sure if it’s the right day. He recommended that they place some stuff around the house. I wasn’t given the details. I’m not sure what other recommendation he made but the audit was concluded with 1 visit.
Anyway, some unpleasant events happened after the 开工, but I couldn’t tell if it’s related to Feng Shui or it’s some other reasons because I have not seen the house myself.
Now, there are some issues here that I couldn’t agree with on the recommendations, but I’m not going to discuss that. The main thing that I couldn’t agree was the single visit.
While I trust that there are alot of experts out there, I doubt there’s 1 shot 1 kill kind, unless it’s the Feng Shui practitioner who implements everything himself personally. Decent practitioners would be back for at least 1 more visit to make sure everything is right. It’s a matter of responsibility.
I’m not saying here that expensive is good, or the one whole did my Feng Shui was the best. (In fact he’s not. I discovered the mistakes after I learnt this art). The point here is that Feng Shui is not a fixed commodity. It’s a service, just like any other service industry out there. I’m being blunt here, but the cheap ones, have their reasons for being cheap.
Do yourself a favour, if you do engage such a service, don’t take price as the top criteria. Get more opinions and feedback from people who has engaged Feng Shui services and see if things work for them. That should be one of the consideration before looking at price.
My wife found this video while surfing around and watching videos on YouTube. This was her new found hobby of searching baby related videos ever since she got pregnant.
She showed me this video last night, telling a story of a woman delivering her child prematurely so that the child’s dying father could have a moment with the new born before he passed away.
This is thought provoking.
A little too soon for the father to leave this world. He would not have the chance to accompany this child as he or she grows up.
A little too late for the baby to arrive. The child would not have a loving father side by side in the growing up process.
Just in time for the father to hold his child before he leaves.
When’s the right time? Too soon? Too late? Or just in time?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7YJrhhA8CI
I came across this article in while surfing randomly. I thought the tips are pretty useful, especially for those of us who are stuck to our office chairs the whole day. This is a long one. Take your time to read.
1. When You’re Stressed…
Eat This:
1 Cup of Low-Fat Yogurt or 2 Tbsp of Mixed Nuts
Scientists in Slovakia gave people 3 grams each of two amino acids — lysine and arginine — or a placebo and asked them to deliver a speech. Blood measurements of stress hormones revealed that the amino acid–fortified public speakers were half as anxious during and after the speech as those who took the placebo. Yogurt is one of the best food sources of lysine; nuts pack tons of arginine.
Not That!
A Can of Soda
A study from the American Journal of Public Health found that people who drink 20 ounces of soda daily are three times more likely to be depressed and anxious, compared with those who drink less.
2. When You Want to Increase Your Metabolism…
Drink This:
Green Tea
Catechins, the powerful antioxidants found in green tea, are known to stoke your metabolism, making it burn hotter and torch more calories. A study by Japanese researchers found that participants who consumed 690 milligrams of catechins from green tea daily had significantly lower body-mass indexes and smaller waist measurements than tea-totalers (i.e., they avoid the stuff).
Not That!
Nothing
Skipping meals lets your body’s calorie-burning furnace go cold. Spread out snacks throughout the day. Try a cup of yogurt with fresh fruit or almonds between breakfast and lunch, and a hard-boiled egg or hummus with vegetables in the afternoon.
3. When You’re Low on Energy…
Eat This:
A Handful of Trail Mix
Raisins provide potassium, which your body uses to convert sugar into energy. Nuts stock your body with magnesium, which boosts metabolism and improves nerve and muscle function. (When magnesium levels are low, your body produces more lactic acid — the same fatigue-byproduct that makes your muscles ache at the end of a workout.)
Not That!
Espresso-Based Drinks
Sure, the caffeine will perk you up, but the spike in blood sugar that follows — with anywhere from 16 grams (latte) to 59 grams (white chocolate mocha) of sugar coursing through your veins — will ultimately launch your own personal energy crisis. Stick to brewed coffee with one packet of sugar, max.
4. When You Need a Brain Boost…
Eat This:
Blueberries
Antioxidants in blueberries help protect the brain from free-radical damage, which could decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and improve cognitive processing. Wild blueberries, if you can find them (or grow them!), have even more brain-boosting antioxidants than the cultivated variety.
Not That!
Ice Cream
Sugary foods incite sudden surges of blood glucose that, in the long term, cause sugar highs and lows, and make you as distractable as a toddler in the Disney store. And foods high in saturated fat can clog blood vessels and slow the flow of nutrients and blood to the brain.
5. When You’re Under the Weather…
Drink This:
Ginseng Tea, Hot or Iced
In a Canadian study, people who took 400 milligrams of ginseng a day had 25 percent fewer colds than people who popped a placebo. Ginseng helps kill invading viruses by increasing the body’s production of key immune cells.
Not That!
Caffeinated Beverages and Energy Drinks
Excessive caffeine messes with your sleep schedule and sabotages key immune agents. And insufficient sleep opens the door to colds, upper respiratory infections, and other ills. What’s more, caffeine can dehydrate you, and hydration is vital during illness: Fluids not only transport nutrients to the problem zones, but also carry away toxins.
6. When You Need to Wake Up and Go…
Eat This:
Eggs and Whole-Wheat Toast
Eggs are a great source of protein, and having them for breakfast sets you up for a perfect day of eating. Saint Louis University researchers found that people who eat eggs for breakfast consume 264 fewer calories the rest of the day than those who eat bagels and cream cheese.
Not That!
Bagel and Cream Cheese
At 500 calories and 20 grams of fat, this deli disaster is one of the worst ways to start your day. Sixty grams of fast-burning carbohydrates will cause a dip in energy and a spike in hunger, long before lunchtime. The same goes for croissants, danish, donuts, and pancakes.
7. When You Want to Get ”In the Mood”…
Eat This:
Dark Chocolate
The cocoa in chocolate contains stimulants that increase your body’s sensitivity. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, a chemical that can give you a slight natural high. And Italian researchers found that women who often eat chocolate have a higher sex drive than those who don’t. Make sure your chocolate has at least 60 percent cacao.
Not That!
The Third Glass of Wine
The alcohol in wine affects your prefrontal cortex, which can decrease inhibition and up your sexual appetite. But only for the first glass or two. Beyond that, the toxic affects of alcohol in your system take over and are as likely to make you sleepy as they are to make you sexy. The more pouring, the more snoring.
The original blog entry is at http://www.foxtwo.org/loser/2008/07/things-you-probably-didnt-know.html
Watch this amazing dog at work. It’s pretty amazing how intelligent animals can get at times. I didn’t expect this from a dog, a cat maybe. Cats are after all better at climbing.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEaFK2v6PbM
A friend of mine started to DIY Feng Shui from reading off the shelf books. My take on off the shelf books is that they are less than 50% effective, or they offer solutions without analyzing other repercussions. Perhaps the authors do not want to share they knowledge, or perhaps they don’t know what’s going on. In short there’s no ‘one size fits all’ for Feng Shui.
Anyway what happened was that this friend of mine started to put in ‘recommended’ cures and enhancements especially those for wealth and indeed it happened for him. Got a small fortune immediately after the enhancements went in but at the same time, the whole family fell sick. Coincidence? Definitely not. My analysis later showed that he stepped on a ‘land mine’ while implementing the ‘enhancements’. Feng Shui if done correctly, can yield immediate results, good and bad, both at the same time.
The very lucky part of it, some of the recommended ‘cures’ in the books were wrong or else he would have triggered something else more drastic.
This is dedicated to my ex colleagues who started “walking on sunshine”. I hope they are feeling the warmth of the bright sunshine and not the heat. :P
I like this one in particular:
“Play Dumb and Busy to Keep Out of Toxic Conversations. Find ways to neutrally bow out of gossip conversations.
- Coworker: “Did you notice Mary-Sue has been sucking up to the Boss-man lately? It’s sickening!”
- You: “I haven’t really noticed – I’ve been so buried in my projects lately! In fact, (look at watch) I just realized I promised a client I would call him right now. Gotta run.”
This way you are not taking sides. You’re the positive hard working team member. And most people will respect you for that, and hopefully more than a few will follow your lead. Don’t worry about people who don’t. You’re focused on the stars while they’re down in the mud. Just keep moving forward. “
In our local terms, don’t be too kay poh and 三八!
Yes, leftovers. That’s what someone’s trying to auction, Taiwan president’s leftover bones from his meal. The auction was posted on Yahoo Taiwan. Although there are no bidders, the auction has attracted alot of media attention. It’s a fantastic publicity stunt for the restaurant that the president had his meal at.
Read the article here.
Compiled Google Gears for my own use when I discovered they didn’t have it ready. Needed Gears for all the fanciful stuff in Google Wave to show up.
Here’s the file that I compiled.
http://rapidshare.com/files/301448984/gears-linux-x86_64-opt-0.5.33.0.xpi
I provide no gurantee for the file provided. Use at your own risk. But I seriously doubt anything sinister will happen.
If you are adventurous enough and wants to try compiling on your own, the instructions are found on the website below. Be warned though, the source is more than 800Mb
http://blog.celogeek.com/linux/linux-tips-and-tricks/google-gears-compilation/
I’m not exactly a strict vegetarian or some animal rights activists. But it does get abit freaky in this video, where ‘useless’ male chicks are grounded and minced as they are forcefully ‘hatched’. This happens towards the end of the video. The male chicks are abandoned because of the lack of commercial value, as explained in the video.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ–faib7to
While do not object to the idea of farming and killing livestock for food, I think there’s a better way to do it.
Any thoughts on this? How do solve the problem of the ‘useless’ male chicks?