Wednesday, September 6, 2017

The FAQ on intercalary vs non-intercalary Qi Men Ju determination

I cannot avoid this question after users realised my Qi Men applications support both 置闰 or 拆补.  Perhaps my proto-capitalist thinking should sink in, start removing features and start charging a fees for plugins.

Which is better?  Good question.  I post the following passage in a forum in Dec 2015, let me reproduce it with edits for reading clarity.

Some of us may have chanced upon bits of the truth, so allow me help to help you re-arrange them so that you end up confused further. 

There are 3 basic variants of Qi Men Dun Jia from the Zhi Run直润 intercalation/imperial faction.  That gives me 3 charts.  Now if I switch to Chai Bu, then I get another 3 charts.  So in total, I must read six charts.  I may read the other five for fun, I usual pick one to verify a few points or claims.

Since Qi Men Dun Jia is about warfare, by the time I complete reading the six charts, my enemies would have given me a good knock on the head, hmmh, not very efficient.

Now for the answer in an indirect form.

Zhi Run faction: We are the Imperial and Traditionalist in determining the Ju.


Chai Bu faction: Well, we do not understand intercalary, so it must be too complex, so it must be wrong, Chai Bu must be correct, why because late Master Zhang Zhichun said so in one of his books.

Flying Palace faction: Well, they are both wrong if they do not use our method of plotting the chart.


Rotating Palace faction: Ah, there must be a reason why so many guys use rotating method....
This is no different from Bazi or Zi Wei.  There are many factions with many ideas, each stepping on one another to attract attention to themselves, leaving the readers confused.

The Three Kingdoms era's famed politician and military strategist Zhuge Liang is often linked with this art form.

Caveats
Well, then you must learn Si Ma Qi Men Dun Jia, because Sima Yi, outlasted his opponent and became the ultimate victor at the end of the Three Kingdoms era.

An imaginary conversation between a metaphysics student and the late Sima Yi.
Student: Sir, how did you defeat your greatest foe from Western Shu?

Sima Yi: This victory implies Sima Qi Men is more powerful than Kong Ming's Qi Men, do not listen to proto-capitalist zwdsflying, all the talk about Bazi, Zi Wei, luck phases is totally wrong.  Learn Si Ma Qi Men not to smoothen your path, but to change it totally!  The theory about the state of Wei exceeding the economic strength of Shu is nonsense.

Student: Destiny can be warped, like space time?

Sima Yi: Of course, we are merely a small clan, more renowned for academic affairs, hey but I am a great usurper huh, meaning I exceeded my Bazi/Zi Wei limits using Sima Qi Men!

Student:
Esteemed Sir, let me learn from you.

On a serious note, please learn Bazi and Zi Wei and buy more apps.  It will give you a firm foundation and nudge you to accept what you cannot change easily.  Or stop supplying the ropes to trip yourself.

Then after a while, you can learn Qi Men Dun Jia.  It may help you to attain what you inherently should attain efficiently

The idea is, you cannot choose your parents, but you can select your friends and field of study and adopt Google's 'Do Less Evil'.  Do not use Bazi, Zi Wei, Qi Men or Date Selection for criminal purposes.

If you jump into Qi Men Dun Jia, you probably spend more time grabbing empty air or be utterly confused by 6 charts.  Worse you will tricked into thinking you can buy 4D using Qi Men without giving a hoot to your Zi Wei or Bazi chart.

Lucky Guy: I am rich, lotteries with Qi Men Dun Jia!  Here I come!!
Lucky Guy's ancestors: Gosh, somebody ought to tell him 5 Arts teach people about life to help them understand life or smoothen their path and he is simply drawing on his merits like an overdraft.
Late Master Liu Bowen: I should be born in this era, then I will be a Singapore Turf Club VIP instead of running away from despot Zhu Yuanzhang!

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Clarifications on the update email

Recently I took an unprecedented step and sent out an email encouraging all my active software users to update their Windows operating system and NET to 4.7

So today, this entry, will be about Windows update and .NET 4.7.


Now Windows 2000 and XP are ancient operating systems and I trying to ensure my apps run on many versions of Windows since 2013.

However, it is impeding progress as some of the latest improvements are available in Windows 10 Creator Edition as the default .NET 4.7 is installed.  

These improvements are for very high definition monitors.  Generally most laptops or desktops are using 120 dpi (dots per inch), the very high end laptops sport 200-300 dpi screens.

For example, .NET Framework 4.7 is supported on the following Windows versions:

  • Windows 10 Creators Update (included in-box)
  • Windows 10 Anniversary Update
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 7 SP1
Therefore if you are on any of the Windows operating system listed above, you will just need to get the latest .NET 4.7!

In addition, miscreants or opportunists are targeting users who do not patch their Windows operating systems to introduce malware or ransomware.  To avoid falling prey to these low life forms, please patch your Windows operating system using WiFI links and stay alert.

FAQ
Do I need to upgrade to Windows 10 to run the apps?
No.  You are fine with Windows 7, 8.x or 10.

How do I patch or update my Windows operating system?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/311047/how-to-keep-your-windows-computer-up-to-date

How do I update my .NET frameworks?
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2017/05/02/announcing-the-net-framework-4-7-general-availability/

What is so great about .NET 4.7 frameworks on Windows 10 Creator Edition?
There are some improvements for ultra high definition monitors e.g 3200x2048 at 300 dpi as many user interface elements will be drawn correctly.

Do you continue to support Windows XP or Windows 2000 platform?
Honestly I have not see any users on XP or Windows 2000 since 2015.  It will be on 'best effort' basis.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Investigating Planetary or Tian Xing Date Selection

Of Heaven, Earth and Human, take note time is missing.

The best representation of the Heavenly aspect, according to the astrology faction, is what you see in the celestial sphere.

Well, it appears to be a simple task to plot the celestial bodies, but a lot of Mathematics is involved, an irony for an occult subject.



After taking a crash course in astronomy and astrology, I discovered the sidereal and tropical schools are still battling for supremacy for many decades and it is still a unresolved war.   That reminds me of Si Hua vs San He, Chai Bu vs Zhi Lun.

I cleared out the 24 mountains and inserted Sun, Moon and planets, north and south nodes (Rahu and Ketu).  In the chart above, I found that Sun and Jupiter were in near opposition on 7 April 2017.  Not so great for lawsuits.  Very interesting.  Anyway I recorded a few cases and file them for future references for possible practical applications.

Back to serious plumbing .... had a hard time locating icons to replace Pure Ganzhi, San Sha, San Qi.  The tooltip will provide a handy explanation of the applets' button.

I replaced the buttons in the option menu with icons to reclaim some space and cleared a few rendering bugs on high resolution monitors.  

Please check your email for the updates notification.


An imaginary conversation with Ju Men Star

Ju Men Star: Brother Keong, where art thou?
BK: Busy avoiding bad luck.

Ju Men Star: Ha ha, Hua Ji boost my powers this year, all matters relating to the mouth and bad publicity will get double boost.
BK: Toa Payoh Bullying Case, you have a part in it?

Ju Men Star: I can invite Bing Fu to visit you.....
BK:  Sorry boss, slip of tongue.  The shrew, we can attribute it to a classic case of Ju Men Hua Ji and the publicity can be explained, but the shoving, how do that translate to Ju Men?

Ju Men Star: Please do not create a bogeyman and attribute all the evil, bad luck to me.  Remember in America, they have a good line, "guns don't kill, people kill".  Likewise, Ju Men Star Annual Hua Ji do not start fights or quarrels, shrews or gangsters do.
BK: How about the Central Mall Case?  

Ju Men Star: Ju Men Star is innocent.
BK: The tension in Korea, Syria?

Ju Men Star: Hey, go and blame the real stars, moon or planets, I am only imaginary!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

What is useful in BaziApp?

I often get queries and three of the following questions are the most common ones.

"Why will anyone will pay for Bazi software?!"

"Why is your software special when others are free"

"Others apps can determine the strength, so where is the beef"

I have been labelled as "proto-capitalist" as an insult, but I think it really sounds pleasing to the ears.  

As a proto-capitalist, let me list the interesting features of the Bazi application below.

1.  A good Bazi software should use numerical computation methods to determine the stems and branches.  You probably do not want to be suckered into paying for updates which on hindsight, is a good idea.

Well, I have extended the calendar beyond 2100, get this version before the model changes.....




2.  The natal interactions should be displayed clearly as indicated below.  This is an important feature because 97% of the Bazi software does not have this feature.  One of the best excuses given is "the programmer do not understand Bazi theory, hence he or she has kindly refrained from bias regarding the various different school of thought."




3.   If a Bazi application is able to determine the interactions correctly, it should be able to determine the chart strength with high accuracy rate.  98% of the known Bazi software are quiet on this feature.

4.   Now comes the tricky feature, it will be nice if a software can highlight the potential rewarding and challenging decades.  98% of the known Bazi software choke on this.  

For example, for a weak Jia day master chart, why does the computer thinks that Ding (output) pillar should be rated green?

Keen and sharper eyes should see another strange color interpretation which I will not highlight clearly below.


5.   Suppose you want to perform back-testing, with the chart be interpreted as "strong" , a competent Bazi app should have a feature to override the artificial intelligence.





6.   Suppose if the chart is interpreted as "strong", the tables will be turned upside down.  However, this is the first level computer AI, there are other considerations that need to be considered before reaching a final conclusion on the highly probable outcome.


7.  English shorthand for those who have problems understanding Mandarin script.  I refrained from using strange names like 'directional combinations'.




FAQ
Brother Keong, why don't you give us an example where the month is a earth element?
Good question, you are after the 土星诀 or you know there is such a thing literally translated as "Earth Star Formula".  Go buy the app and you should be able to figure that nugget by yourself.

How accurate is the AI?
Up to 80%

Any real examples of the weird cases that even grandmaster(s) or conventional theory fumble?
Yes.  When you have good luck, the really difficult cases will show up and give you a good beating.

How does Bazi compare with Zi Wei?
That will be another future blog entry.

Why are the decades starting age different for some apps?
A Bazi software developer may simply divide the Jie period by 3 without taking into account other considerations because his sponsors said that is the easiest approach, hence resulting in different starting ages for various packages.

Where is 化气格?
If you run into one, please charge them double if they can afford it.

What can we do with the chart strength if it match the life history?
Useful applications could involve Qi Men Dun Jia, Date Selection or Geomancy.

How do I buy the SGD $200 software?
Email zwdsflying@yahoo.com