Hman, one seaweed study I found is below - it is a study on pears. I have also seen many studies that show neem as at least some effect, but the oomph factor is always on the low side. For the Effective Microorganisms, it is well-known that having other microbes on the leaf surface will give the bad guys more competition and lessen disease impact -- thats the simple idea behind EM and it makes total sense. What has not been studied much is whether spraying on more microbes will appreciably help tip the balance. I spent a lot of money and time dipping my fruit tree starts in mycorrhizal fungi, but proceeded to not notice much difference and subsequently learned that most of those microbes are already in the soil. So for that reason I am somewhat skeptical of the impact of EM sprays. I just did some Googling and there are more studies out there than I had found last time I looked - I think I used wrong keywords last time. Here is a study which shows that both foliar and root applications of EM helped persimmons. This study was done in Egypt; in general nearly all of the EM activity is outside of the US. Hey here is another positive study, on roses from Poland: study. This latter one looks to have somewhat better methodology than the Egyptian one. Another one from Laos: study -- there is only a brief summary and apparently some EM formulations helped and some hurt tropical fruit trees. Here is a negative study on Taiwan cherry seedlings (whatever that is). Here is a study from Austria which shows EM had significant positive effects on apple tree growth as well as decreasing scab incidence -- see Figure 1 for the scab data. Here is an interesting pro/con viewpoint. Overall I have to say the pro-EM case looks stronger to me after having read these studies, I may give it a try this year. It is far from conclusive but there is a glimmer of some pretty good stuff. Scott Here is a link that might be useful: pear seaweed study

I have about 55" Phillips smart tv. Model 55PFL3907/F7 SN: VM1A1213110389. I had a power outage and the tv and direct tv modem were working when the power went out. Not so much when it came back on. The TV has a pink/violet picture stuck on it which has yellow writing. Doesn't seem to be a Phillips logo just some random picture. Plus the Direct tv modem isn't working properly either. The Direct tv company is coming to check it out but I'm looking for some input in case it turns out that the problem is with the tv. Thanks for any help you can give.

With all due respect to whoever told you this, no, it does not sound correct. What is a "display board?" Almost sounds legit at first, but the entire set is a "display." Besides, consumer electronics are troubleshot to the component level - not just board replacement. You didn't mention the input source when you are having this problem in HD, but have you tried unplugging both the source and television from the AC power for about 5 minutes, and testing again? Sometimes Set Top Boxes and MPEG decoders can get into an erroneous mode and have to be reset - just like a computer. As far as 3 televisions in a year, that's over the top! What is your power source? Are you using a surge suppressor? Are you using a generator backup system?

Great thread. I resisted the tv over the fireplace for years. When we built I had a space next to the fireplace in a cabinet set up for the tv. We put a regular 36" tube tv in there. It was fine. Then a few years later we bought a 48" flat screen. It wouldn't fit in the cabinet so we created a media room downstairs. I added a small kitchenette and set it up for up to 6 people to watch tv. The too had the added bonus of not having the glare of the upstairs. Guess what, no one ever went down there unless we made a production of it. So finally we bought a 55" flat screen and mounted it over the fireplace. I love the fact that it is right there where everyone is and tends to hang out. When we have gatherings I put pandora on and that is good,too. My mother in law was an interior designer and I thought she'd have a kitten when she saw it but she agreed it worked for our lifestyle. In our next house we will have much less space so are planning for the tv over the fireplace again. Admitting that I am powerless over my need to binge watch Netflix made my life much easier :D. The builder we are working with has done some nice things to address this, in the really high ceiling rooms he did a double mantle. I'll see if I saved a pic and post it.