PADI loves to self promote, they are the masters of self-promotion and never miss an opportunity to do so. Likewise, should good practices get in the way of self-promotion, they will always err on self-promotion. PADI originally published a set of dive tables based on the US navy tables with shortened no-decompression limits. The US navy settled on an 18 metres per minute (mpm) ascent rate on their tables for all dives based on a compromise as combat divers wanted a 30 mpm ascent rate as they naturally don’t want to hang around whilst the hardhat divers requested a 6 mpm ascent rate since they are winched to the surface.

The 18 mpm compromise rate was decided for the 1955 USN dive tables based on dual use and stayed that way until 1992 when a revision was undertaken by Workman et al. with the new 9 mpm ascent rate and revised no-decompression limits. Without the technology of dive computers and ascent rate indicators available at the time; an ascent rate of 1 foot per second (60 fpm/18 mpm) was reasonably easy to execute. This was broadly in line with dive computer research and development, PADI developed their revised dive tables in the early 1980s with time pretty much standing still down at PADI headquarters. Regardless, PADI maintained their stance on the 18 mpm ascent rate even though the majority of computer manufacturers and US navy had long undergone revisions based on extensive research and testing.

Not only did PADI maintain the 18 mpm ascent rate on their recreational dive planner, the successor to the PADI dive tables, they defended their position based on the premise that it was proven in the field. PADI will refute this claim as their own testing was conducted with the 18 mpm ascent rate in the chamber and later actual test dives.

PADI are in the business of selling dive courses and certification of divers, that is instructional design technology and supporting dive training materials – a standardised system of dive training. Consequently PADI sell their recreational dive planner to support dive training, they profit from every certification, every training material sold and instructor membership fees.

PADI makes no money from dive equipment sales; hence, the requirement to purchase outdated dive tables complete with ascent rates that are twice the rate of current recommendations makes no sense. Outdated ascent rates and no-decompression limits are not a great teaching tool, new divers need the latest technology and procedures.

After becoming accustomed to continuous inter-connectivity in the internet age, being left disconnected whilst on holiday in Bali, Indonesia takes a little getting used to. But you ask, don’t they have a pretty good service in Bali? Usually the WiFi works for the best part, but it goes down pretty easily too, now I am beginning to rely on remaining connected.

I handle all my booking online, likewise for banking; after all, you have to pay for all of this. When you find your self disconnected, you are unable to communicate, book, bank or even browse – it is an unusual feeling for a person accustomed to continual connectivity. I had an assignment due, I am glad I completed and submitted early, likewise, a job application with a hard deadline. It was well worth the extra stress and effort to complete the tasks early.

I have become a fan of Google+ a while back, I like the platform for the best part. According to Business Insider, the G+ network is growing faster than Twitter, now the number 2 social network behind Facebook – I am more than a little surprised.

The recent G+ growth may be attributed to building interconnected services including the search engine, YouTube, maps, drive, gmail and other apps; you log into one – you log into the full spectrum of services. I like G+ as I can chat to my friends, I follow a number of photography and travel pages and my account doesn’t get bombed with advertising like Facebook does. The downside is most of my friends are on Facebook, I have a limited circle of friends on G+ but I find the communities as the best place to share common interests while hangouts is good for chat.

Getting involved in a start-up is risky business, you need to carefully choose your industry, business structure, organisational design, secure suppliers and canvass clients; but most importantly, if getting involved in a partnership – choose your business partner carefully.

Mine is a particularly interesting scenario because my business partner lived outside of the country for more than half the year. You can see where this is going right, business gets difficult, partner is uncontactable, doesn’t return and you, living in the country the business is operating are required to clean up the mess. Ok, no gold stars for that one.

First, you have to question my motivation for getting into such a business, that would be fair. My partner wanted to move to Australia and set up a life, as he didn’t want to work a standard job despite having qualifications in demand, a small business is the next step. So purchasing or setting up a business is the next option, we chose the later. My motivation was to allow him to realise such a dream, instead what I got was left with paying the bills, legal action brought about by his actions alone and the extra tax burden. Even during the court, appearances, the plaintiff wanted to face his chief tormentor.

He was genuinely disappointed he failed to show – so was I. He even went as far to explain under oath that he had no problem with me; he actually stated I did the best I could under the circumstances, paying him from my own bank account. What happened to my dream of financial independence? Straight down the toilet. Had I not resigned my director’s position in the company, I would not be able to manage my retirement fund.

I am no fan of heroin smuggling, yet I oppose the death penalty too. So I view 20 years in an Indonesian prison as a pretty good penalty for smuggling the despised addictive drug. Many state these guys knew the repercussions of smuggling heroin from Indonesia carried the death penalty, yet they attempted it anyway, so it is pretty fair to say, this isn’t a great deterrent – well maybe.

Many claim these guys traffic death and deserve the very same outcome – I disagree. I do not believe in the death penalty yet I feel strong penalties are needed for people who deal in drugs. Bringing heroin into Australia destroys many lives, it is well known that heroin is a highly addictive drug – many people are upset the overly soft Australian penalties.

Yet, like Sukumaran and Chan; people have the choice to consume heroin, people make an informed choice to consume heroin. Unlike the stories I heard as a teenager, people don’t walk down the isles at the movies randomly injecting people to get them hooked.

You don’t catch drug addiction from sitting on a public toilet seat and you are not affected from passive heroin use like innocent people are affected by passive smoking. You could argue they don’t create demand, they actually supply a product to a market willing to pay a premium price for a rare commodity.

The situation we have now where the Australian government is seeking clemency for Australian citizens and the Indonesian government is also seeking clemency for its citizens facing the death penalty overseas is becoming farcical. The Indonesian government will not entertain the position of negotiation despite Indonesian nationals incarcerated in Australian prisons smuggling seven times the amount of Sukumaran and Chan.

The Indonesian government knows full well they won’t be executed – this weakens their position internationally. Let’s be under no illusions here, Indonesia has freed convicted Indonesian terrorists in the past – drug smugglers from overseas carry much higher political capital and executions are therefore necessary. The overt use of military force complete with four fighter jets to transport the convicted drug smugglers to the execution island was overkill, you are left in no doubt this is a political decision to prop up an already faltering presidency; trading lives for political mileage – disgraceful.

It’s been so long since I dived Menjangan Island on Bali’s north west shore, I had actually forgotten the dive sites. I do remember parts of it, ripping currents, the washing machine effect where two currents met and a dive guide not up to the job. You start by chartering a boat from Pemuteran, the skipper takes you to the site of your choice, after that, they leave the rest to you.

Hopefully this time will be different I thought, I was looking forward to a few dives in one of Bali\’s premium sites, needless to say, I wasn\’t likely to be disappointed.

With good friends, we charted a boat and headed off to the east side of the island. Due to equipment issues and needed to share regulators; we dived in two shifts, as we were diving second we had some time to relax and enjoy the views. Throwing my scuba unit in the water, it was to easy gear up below the surface with no current and then dropping over the wall. For me, no need for a wetsuit, the water is wonderful even at depth, the others preferred neoprene though.

We dived a vastly different location from my last outing, not between Bali and Menjangan as faintly I recall from before. Why did the divemaster make sure a basic mistake last time even after we pointed out to him the severity of the conditions? This time, we were on a wall that dropped off nicely into depth from a very shallow top, I\’m guessing our previous divemaster had little experience here just diving Tulumben on a daily basis. Our choice of location may have had something to do with having the author of the latest edition of the Bali diving and snorkeling guide.

The Western world fought the totalitarian threat of communism for 45 years and was ultimately victorious; now the totalitarian threat of Islam once again threatens the freedom of Western values. These callous cowards seek to silence dissenting voices by waging a war of terror against anyone who dares question their twisted, totalitarian world view. Western values are built on tolerance, it is exactly this tolerance that is allowing intolerance to fester, this is exactly what they believe, this twisted mentality drives their murderous regime.

We need to acknowledge the unmistakable reality that radical Islam and Western values cannot coexist peacefully. These extremists despise our way of life — our freedom, openness and diversity is an affront to their despotic, backward attitudes. We must stop pretending these incidents have nothing to do with Islam. They quite clearly have everything to do with extremist Islam and the sooner we admit this truth the better we can work to protect our people and values from this scourge.

Twenty20 cricket is the new cash cow; the Indian Premier League is the clear leader, to use the term commercial success is an understatement. Estimates of slightly over $3 billion brand value are attributed to the IPL; international players are purchased via auction, who wouldn’t want to be part of the action?

Former test players Kevin Pieterson and Andrew Flintoff were paid $1.7 million in 2009, Sachin Tendulkar was paid $2 million in 2011, Shane Warne got $2 million in 2011, Brett Lee was paid $1 million in 2008 and Adam Gilchrist was paid $1 million in 2011. Apparently giving away international test cricket for lucrative IPL contracts lessens the pain when test careers end. Indian crowds are happy to see former international stars of the game in action and are willing to pay handsomely for it.

Despite playing his last test in 2009, Andrew Flintoff still gets a game in Australia’s Big Bash League, Kevin Pieterson gets a gig for the Melbourne Stars and some guest commentary appearances and Brett Lee is still bowling express pace at age 38; his last test match was against the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the MCG in 2008. The BBL attracts current international players too, Lasith Malinga has been bowling express pace in the BBL for a number of years.

The Caribbean Premier League was renamed after tournament sponsor Allen Stanford was arrested for fraud, originally a private competition, the West Indies Cricket Board now runs the show. While less international players flock to CPL, renowned spin wiz Muttiah Muralitharan among others play during the season, he also consults as a spin coach for the Australian Cricket Board.

The Sri Lankan Premier League is still having a number of organisational issues, naturally, Twenty20 instigators England have a strong league as do other test playing nations with countries such as Nepal, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Canada and Bermuda all sporting teams. Twenty20 cricket is fast building an international reputation with huge player salaries funded by broadcast rights and immense consumer interest.

The long black is prepared by pouring a double-shot of espresso or sometimes ristretto over hot water with the water heated by the espresso machine. Unlike the Americano that is prepared by adding hot water to the espresso shot, a long black retains the crema and is less voluminous and therefore more strongly flavoured.

The long black has been my choice of coffee in Australia, its strong and robust flavour provides a long lasting coffee. I struggle to find a long black when travelling in South East Asia; I can’t stand that watery Americano rubbish so a double espresso is usually the choice of beverage, its just unfortunate to drink an espresso when you aren’t in a rush and want to just take a seat and relax.

The recreational diving industry is a relatively low paid industry; yet a large number of professionals inhabit the industry and work with an immense amount of pride. As a former dive centre manager; I was constantly approached by divemasters, assistant instructors and scuba instructors offering their services for free diving. This action undermines the whole recreational dive industry, drives down wages, service and conditions – I refused to hire anyone who offered their services for free.

Generally these people offering their services are on holiday; usually they either have two weeks, three months or six months away from home. So, they take their holidays, work for free, in their mind they get free dives and then leave after eroding local conditions. The local divemasters and instructors; that is those who live in that area who are struggling to make a living, support families and pay bills – it is their pay and conditions that have been traded for free dives.

That being said, I wholeheartedly support internships for divemaster trainees; the greater exposure to actual diving operations, guiding certified divers, assisting entry-level diver programs, guiding divers on continuing education, retail sales and boat operations all build divemaster competency. But keep in mind, the divemaster trainee pays their course fee and are a customer of the dive shop, if they work out, they may be offered a job in the future. If your services are offered for free – that is generally what they are worth.