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There are two types of lighting out there: the kind that both light and decorate, and the kind that’s sole goal is to make sure that people can both see and be seen at all times. The decorative lighting is typically for either home or office use. It’s the type of stuff where the fixtures look decorative and the light is meant to both light and give also give off a mood for the people in the room. The other type of lighting, known as HID fixtures, though, is the type you’d typically see in an industrial area. It is the kind that you use to light a large work area, a warehouse, or a garage. There is nothing necessarily fancy about these types of lights, they are just developed to make sure you can properly see in locations where lighting is necessary.
One of the more interesting places this type of lighting is used is at an industrial dock. Typically, no matter what time of day or night you visit an industrial dock they are either loading or unloading a barge. Because of this 24 hour a day work cycle, you need to make sure workers can see perfectly whether it’s two in the afternoon or two in the morning. For these areas, HID lighting fixtures are installed in strategic locations to make sure that all of the area is covered. And, because there are typically security concerns at any location where product is being handled, the lighting also serves as a deterrent to the criminal element.
On a smaller level, these HID fixtures can also be used outside homes and businesses for security purposes. If you think about it, nothing turns away potential criminals like nice, bright light. A criminal wants to be able to steal or vandalize in a place where he will not be recognized or, frankly, even seen at all. Thus, if you light the area surrounding your property, chances are most troublemakers will steer clear of it. It’s not completely full proof, but studies have shown that it works.
There are a variety of different HID fixtures on the market that are available for either bulk or individual purchase. These include canopy lights, compact florescent lights, garage lights and many more. These lights will allow people to both be and be seen, whether it’s over a long area at an airport, or in a small walkway behind your house.
Author Kim Green is fascinated by how HID fixtures improve your home.
There is an old joke that talks about how a casino never wants you to know what time it is outside and never wants you to find an exit. Because of this, they minimize natural light and make trying to find an exit very disorienting. This way while you’re trying to find an exit (there are exits, of course) you’ll slip a few more quarters into the machine to try and win your losses back. As for the natural lighting, well, more casinos are incorporating it into their design, but most of it is still controlled by the commercial lights inside. Because of this no matter if its 2 am or 2 pm, the lighting in the casino stays the same. This way you don’t stand up from the table and go “Oh my god, its light out, I’ve been gambling all night!” and run away.
The weird thing is that while casino lighting is typically used to “trick” gamblers into staying longer, it is typically some of the best and most impressive lighting you’ll see anywhere in the world. There is a reason why casinos spend millions of dollars on lighting: it needs to be perfect. You want your customers to feel comfortable, and to do this you need to expertly set up your lighting. Too bright your customers will feel like they are in an office building and begin to feel uncomfortable; too soft and they will get sleepy and retreat to their rooms. It’s like riding a thin line of getting people to spend their money.
One of the best examples of how lighting should be in a casino is at the Paris Las Vegas Casino and Hotel in, umm, Las Vegas. The architecture and lighting in the casino area is so calming that you’ll actually want to stay in it. The architects actually utilized much of the natural light and architecture of the small streets of Paris. Plus they are one of the few casinos to actually allow a little bit of natural light in, though it mixes so well with the dusk atmosphere of the room that you notice it, but it doesn’t draw you out.
Most of the newer hotels on the Las Vegas strip have adopted this cozy, dusk feel in its casinos. In addition, many hotels are designing their casinos in more wide open areas with shops and dining areas easily accessible. This gives the gambling halls a much less claustrophobic feel, which actually gives most “amateur” gamblers a more comfortable feeling. Those are the ones you want to spend their money.
Author Kim Green finds the commercial lights used in Vegas are amazingly beautiful.
With the economy costing more jobs every day, people have to make sacrifices. While for some sacrifices will until entail eating out a few times less per week or cutting down on movie rentals, other’s will have to make bigger sacrifices, such as moving from a house into an apartment. While it may sound extreme, with the loss of income some families are being forced into making these type of tough decisions every day.
One of the big advantages of having a house is that you get a yard, and one of the big pluses of having a yard is the fact that you get to have a nice garden. For those who are making the transition to apartment living, having a garden can seem like a dream whose time has passed. I mean, you can’t have a garden indoors, right? Well, good news: with grow lights and grow light accessories you can grow almost anything that you could in your gardens from inside your apartment. All you need is a pot, some soil, a few seeds, some tender love and care, and a grow light.
So how does a grow light allow you to have an indoor garden? The key is in the bulbs. Grow lights bulbs give off a special kind of light that plants crave. You see, technically a tomato plant doesn’t need an outdoor setting; all it needs is the nutrients that are given off by the sun. If you’re able to provide that same nourishing light indoors then, bang, you have fresh, plump tomatoes. And no, regular lights won’t work. It’s the wrong kind of light, that’s why you need the special type of bulbs that only grow lights can give you.
Here’s more good news: you can put these grow lights anywhere. It’s not like you have to set up these pots and lights in the middle of your living room, you can use a spare closet or corner. You don’t need a lot of room for the actual grow lights, actually most of the room will actually be used for the pot.
And if you manage to find yourself back in a house in a few years, remember, grow lights can be used indoors year round. This means that while your outdoor garden is snowed in, you can grow fruits and veggies in the comfort of your own home. Why would you limit yourself to only having fresh vegetables in the spring and summer when you could be enjoying them year round. Remember: vegetables that you grow yourself always taste better.
Kim Green is amazed how well her gardens have done with the help of grow lights.
There is something beautiful about a sports stadium. Ever since I went to my first one in Southern California as a child I’ve always had an affinity towards them. There is something about the way that certain parts of the structure blend with each other, how the stands and field mix with the commercial lighting, and how a building that seats 60,000 spectators can feel small and intimate in the right circumstances. I grew up in the age of the cookie cutter stadiums, where a multi-use football/ baseball stadium meant lots of seating with little personality. Even then, though, I found beauty in structures that most others didn’t.
It’s always fascinating to me to see stadiums in countries around the world. With nine South African cities currently hosting World Cup games, we are able to see nine separate stadiums which make up the personality of the country. From old school, European style architecture to state of the art, these African stadiums have it.
The center-piece stadium of the event is the Soccer City venue in Johannesburg. The 88,500 capacity stadium, which will host the championship match, was upgraded in 2009 to make it a massive, state of the art venue which is has an energy both in and outside of the venue. The stadium looks like a spaceship from the outside with light panels which can be seen from miles around.
Another new state of the art stadium built for the World Cup matches is Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. The venue, which holds 68,000 and was completed in 2009, is touted by officials as one of the most modern in the world complete with a retractable glass roof that would allow natural light onto the grass field when needed.
Not all stadiums were built specifically for the World Cup, though. Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg was originally built in 1928 with improvements made in 1982. This 62,500 seat stadium is traditionally a rugby stadium and was featured in the 2009 Clint Eastwood film “Invictus”. While it may be on the older side, it is known to have the type of personality that we would equate to Wrigley Field or Fenway Park in the States. Other parks such as Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg and Free State Stadium in Bloemfonetin, are also on the “older” side of the coin.
There is a campaign to get the 2018 or 2022 World Cup back here in the United States. With all the football and soccer specific stadiums that have been built since the 1994Cup was hosted here, we should make a great host country. But in the mean time, watch the Cup and take a look at the stadiums. They definitely have a lot of personality.
Author Kim Green enjoys all facets of world competition, including the commercial lighting.
In 2004 it was announced that South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. This was the first time that an African country would hold this prestigious international tournament, which occurs every four years. The African continent has always been looked at as being too unstable, and lacking of resources, to host a major international sporting event like the World Cup or the Olympic Games. But with the support of FIFA and an economy that has been on the rise since the end of Apartheid in 2004, South Africa has become the official, for lack of a better word, “guinea pig” to see how these events would work in Africa.
Six years later, on the eve of the tournament, this jury is still out. While stadiums have been built, cities have been “beautified” and commercial lights have been erected to help light stadiums and crowded promenades, there have been recent reports stating that, while the tournament will bring much needed eyes and tourists to the region, it might also be something amounting to an economic disaster. While organizers have said that their financial goal was more long term then short term, the tournament looks like it might not recoup most of the hundreds and millions of dollars spent on the event.
Most of the questions economic issues seem to surround the building of ultra-modern new stadiums in cities that may not have a big use for them after the World Cup. Of the ten official World Cup venues, five were build specifically for the tournament. Many of the new stadiums will only see three or four games, which begs the question of what many of these cash strapped cities will do with a 40,000 seat venue once the Cup is over? Sure, most stadiums will take up full time team residents, but can they attract enough spectators to keep profitable?
If you ask the organizers they will say that it’s all part of a plan to make South Africa into an international sports and tourist destination. While this might be true, once just has to flash back a few years to see what can go wrong. The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece saw the organizing committee spend hundreds of millions of dollars building new venues that admittedly wouldn’t be used much after the games. Because of this, and the already existing issues with the Greek economy, the Olympics lost the city millions of dollars and gave them multiple arenas and stadiums that still remain unused.
It will be interesting to see what happens to South Africa after the tournament concludes. While it should give them a much needed commercial shot in the arm, we will also see if building new stadiums in a country that is cash strapped is a good idea.
Author Kimberly Green wants to make sure that all the money spent on such things as commercial lights is recovered by the host country.
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