Where is Volkswagen headed now?

As 2015 draws to an end, the largest corporate scandal of the year will drag well into 2016 as fines and class action court battles ramp up. Wolfsburg is the Volkswagen built town put on the map in 1938 by the Nazis in 1938 pursuing their dream of building the people’s car. Wolfsburg rode Volkswagen's post-war boom to financial prosperity and the two are intertwined.

Wolfsburg's population of 120,000 people draws commuters from the surrounding areas with some 70,000 working for Volkswagen - Wolfsburg is as dependent on the auto sector as Detroit was in its heyday.

Many arguments may be made that the requirements were too stringent and no engine is able to meet these standards. Regardless, the defeat device software was able to detect when the engine was being tested downgrading performance and emissions. Once out of test mode, the software ramps up performance with tailpipe emissions more than 40 times specified amounts.

When found out, Volkswagen owned up to the fact pretty quick, there wasn't a round of denials further tarnishing their reputation. It has been widely reported that the EPA has the ability to fine the company a maximum of $37,500 per vehicle that breached standards. With approximately 11 million vehicles worldwide not meeting standards, fines of up to $18 billion are being bandied around that is a simple equation of vehicle versus maximum fine. 

Regardless, shareholders are feeling pretty nervous as the financial hit to the company has the ability to be extraordinary. I am guessing inhabitants of Wolfsburg are also understandably concerned, they had no part in the decision making process yet are the ones to bear the brunt of these poorly conceived decisions.

The demise of journalism in Australia

The 24/7 news cycle forces competing news agencies to out scoop each other, all jousting for relevance in a cluttered marketplace. Tabloid style reporting, the rise of the celebrity culture and voyeurism are all contributing to the decline of investigative journalism in Australia.

This is a terrible shame, journalism using traditional mediums is in decline; newspapers, once the domain of media moguls still exert influence but are numbered due to the revenue loss through classified advertising affecting the financial viability.

Contracted journalists sitting in the Canberra press gallery reported political issues to the masses, this still happens to a certain degree. But instead of being employed directly by the media company, the journalist is now an independent contractor working freelance with blogs providing content for electronic distribution of media companies.

Traditional newsprint in the form of spreadsheet newspapers are my favoured news medium but is considered too static in the digital age. News radio, television and internet reporting are the preferred distribution in an interconnected world offering breaking news to the masses.

The News of the World scandal in the United Kingdom highlighted the depths to that journalism (for want of a better word) can sink. Tapping people's mobile phones surely is fueled by the public creating demand for such reporting.

The celebrity culture and news cycle generating such content can only be broken when consumer demand dries up - we the public created this problem.

Do we really need to teach the controlled emergency swimming ascent anymore?

During entry-level diver training, the controlled emergency swimming ascent (CESA) must be taught. Experienced instructors hate teaching this skill for a number of reasons, first and foremost, the skill is outdated with modern equipment.

Secondly, when teaching big classes on a daily basis, multiple fast ascents is bad for you and thirdly, if a new diver can't remember to check their cylinder pressure, what is their chances of remembering the CESA procedure?
 

Then you have the logistics, a full class, no certified assistant and time pressures of a charter boat. You have to take each diver down individually while the other divers remain in view in a vertical column of water holding onto the ascent line as you can't leave uncertified divers in the water.

However, you have to leave uncertified divers on the surface unattended as you take each diver down the line but that is allowed - I would hate to have to defend that action in court.

Submarine escape training required specialised facilities, not only are specialist stand-by divers present, medical staff and safety equipment, a recompression chamber is usually on site for any diving maladies. Submarine escape training is required for all submariners and can also double for military divers.

The skill is a throwback to the days of military diver training, the equipment requirements today require the use of submersible pressure gauges (SPG) measuring the contents of the cylinder. No longer is the J-valve used, as such, divers no longer need to switch to the reserve to ascent to the surface.

For those who are unfamiliar with the J-valve, there was no SPG available to measure cylinder pressure and hence cylinder volume and as the cylinder emptied, it became more difficult to breathe from the tank informing the diver the cylinder was close to empty, the valve was moved allowing unhindered breathing for the ascent.

The SPG measures the exact contents of the cylinder, during confined water training sessions, that is an exercise that must be taught so that newly certified divers take responsibility for their own gas usage. 

Correct training techniques include the diver monitoring their own cylinders and not the instructor checking the contents of their cylinder. With modern equipment and training techniques, there is no longer a requirement for teaching the CESA and the skill should now be relegated to diving folklore.

Christmas down under

We all know Australian quarantine and customs is ultra strict, they don't let much pass through them. Ok, that little twerp Johnny Depp managed to smuggle a couple over-sized rats disguised as small dogs named Pistol and Boo in to the country on his private jet; the threat of 10 years jail and/or $102,000 in fines might be a deterrent after all to him and his wife after creating a bio-security threat. 

So, what are their chances of letting a bunch of reindeer through border control after trampling around central and South-East Asia? Yeah, unlikely with concerns of foot and mouth, rabies or a whole bunch of other diseases foreign to Australia - forget it.

So at Darwin, the reindeer are unhitched and placed in quarantine and six white boomers; that is large male kangaroos, are hitched up to the sled for the great southern continent delivery run. Let's face it, reindeer don't much like the hot summer nights, they are much more suited to the snowy fjords of the northern hemisphere winter. 

This is summer, this is the southern hemisphere and all the Christmas stories of snow and a white Christmas are totally irrelevant to us southerners. We have our own traditions and identity; Christmas is summer, let's be under no misconceptions here. When the weather is starting to heat up, we know Christmas is coming.  

The social media landscape

Social media is exploding, it is difficult to a) choose the platform that best suits you and b) the platform your friends are using. There is little point in building a fantastic profile on a particular platform only to be shunned by all your friends socialising on another social media service.

Of course, the overuse of social media tends to limit social interactions, a certain irony exists in such a domain. The advantage for me is, I have made many friends overseas from travelling, this is a great opportunity for me to keep in touch and communicate with my overseas friends.

Social media is evolving, new platforms are popping up weekly, the take-up of new media is driven by the young upwardly mobile crowd. I am wondering what will evole next, the hardware to run such applications, the social media platforms or limitations of the telecommunications networks?

Marketing management

Well, I am progressing through the coursework and marketing management is all done, I am now waiting on results. I did learn a fair bit, while I already knew marketing was more than just advertising, I was surprised to learn what marketing really entailed. Marketing is the study of markets with an emphasis on the mechanics of exchange.

The course started with an overview of marketing and ethics before moving onto strategic planning for a competitive advantage, consumer marketing, market segmentation and targeting markets, marketing research, product concepts, distribution channels and supply chains, retailing, pricing and the future of marketing.

Our final assignment was a group marketing plan, that isn't bad and my fellow team members were pretty good to work with, I have engaged in remote tam assignments before and it was a little more than frustrating. that being said, the new method of work is remote cross functional teams so it prepares us for future employment situations - that's pretty good. 

The unit is pretty broad, we didn't get into as much detail as I expected in regards to supply chains and marketing channels nor did we really spend a great deal of time getting into pricing models. This is a pretty broad course and the emphasis is on self-learning and I am guessing this is an introduction to the concepts with further engagement necessary to really master the material - a broad overview mostly. 

It would be good to be able to move on from a broad degree to more specialised areas with majors in management, human resource management, finance, marketing, operations, economics, entrepreneurial & start-ups, international business or strategic management after all the basic units are covered. 

What I do know is the MBA degree has grown from a broad based education to somewhat of a specialised area now and I wouldn't feel confident moving straight into accounting, finance or marketing straight after completing the course. I need a little time to really embed the learned concepts into a sustainable knowledge base without constantly reaching for my textbook.

Yutz Place - an expensive Bali steakhouse

I was talked into going to Yutz Place, this is a Balinese steakhouse in Legian that I must admit that I wasn't much interested in. I was forced to head in because of online recommendations and my protests went unanswered.

There are many good quality restaurants in Bali that are very reasonably priced, why go to an expensive over-rated restaurant? From now on, maybe I should be insisting the person pushing to go to such an establishment should be picking up the bill.

You have to very careful what you order, the bill will escalate very quickly. Whatever you do, don't get caught out on happy hour, it only applies to beer despite what they actually tell you - they will charge you extra for the mixer too, it is not inclusive. 

The next round of drinks you order, when you inquire, they then tell you happy hour is over for spirits, beer only. Not a lot of goodwill either when you question the bill, no discussion at all - not a great strategy to build customer goodwill.

The steak is great, I asked for rare and that is what I got. Naturally, you pay for it, be ready for a dent in the plastic. The service was only so so; despite obvious failings, even if you have communication issues, a compromise goes a long way in the eyes of the consumer. There are no issues with the food or the quality of presentation.

The advantage of blogs is you are able to air your grievance in public, no longer do you just have to just take it and silently vow to never return. The onus is on the vendor, within reason to keep the customer happy; after all, the customer does pay the bill. 

If the plan is churn and burn as opposed to generating repeat customers, then the strategy worked. When your query is for less than 10% of the bill total, it at least warrants a discussion instead of being left feeling that you have just been done over.

Hay Shed Hill - 2013 cabernet sauvignon

I have been a long time drinker of Hay Shed Hill so you can imagine my disappointment with the 2013 cabernet sauvignon. Hay Shed Hill has always been a softer style and I have always liked their product, my first bottle of 2013 left me less than impressed.

This vintage was awarded 95 points by James Halliday, so I'm guessing it is just my tastes that didn't appreciate their work. The blend of 86/10/4 percent of cabernet sauvignon would usually be to my tastes. The blend of malbec and cabernet franc was laid down in French oak for 13 months to improve complexity, yet for me - this wine was left wanting. Maybe I will try another bottle sooner rather than later to see if it was just a bad day for me.

A national innovation strategy

One of my colleges at work is more politically left of centre than me; he is a union member and supports the left side of politics. Conversely, my political views are more right of centre; I more of a capitalist than a socialist but I believe in regulation as a balance of power is required.

I also believe in social safety nets such as government welfare to assist those less fortunate within reason; naturally this assistance is short term only to help people get back on their feet.

One area we did agree on was when the Abbott government came to power, he slashed budgets across all departments; this was required after the budget disaster he was bequeathed but the scientific budget needed to be expanded.

But the science and innovation portfolio was largely ignored in order to derive budget savings; to my way of thinking, this is short-term thinking that has long-term ramifications.

Some of their leading innovations and scientific discovery from the CSIRO include WiFi, plastic banknotes, the Hendra virus vaccine, extended wear contact lenses, Aerogard insect repellent, the total wellbeing diet, RAFT polymerisation, BARLEYmax, self twisting yarn and softly washing liquid.

The Abbott government pretty much slashed the CSIRO budget, that is the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation that employs scientists, engineers and research technicians - the whole reason why we need to better utilise PhDs.

We ran the real risk of losing top notch talent to overseas organisations where our leading scientific minds defected to international organisations - our country loses the benefits of their knowledge and work.

Since the Prime Ministerial coup, the first real change of policy is to inject $100 million back into the CSIRO with over twenty individual measures running across eleven ministerial portfolios.

The funding forms the ­national innovation and science agenda focusing on four key outcomes of commercialising research, raising capital and ­effective risk management, providing government leadership as model of innovative practices and boosting talent and skills across the economy - great stuff.

Notwithstanding, such research requires funding to attain commercial success and that requires venture capitalists investing scarce resources to projects that hold commercial capabilities.

The top international universities of the world such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Chicago Booth and Wharton University all generate significant interest and funding opportunities through venture capitalists.

The strategy supports science, mathematics and technology at schools across the country to provide the foundations of the program. Now we have the tools and government support to compete at the highest level to attract the best talent worldwide. While Abbott stated Australia is once again open for business, Turnbull is creating the environment to attract science and innovation back to Australia.

Furthermore, tax advantages will now drive investment in ventures that may have not received venture capital funding in the past, one hopes scarce capital is attracted to entrepreneurial business enterprises leading to jobs and investment. Naturally, some business ventures will fail with such risk allowing tax deductions of capital lost.

We have discussed at length the advantages and disadvantages of a Prime Minister with his real world commercial experience. Malcolm Turnbull is a business success, he has extensive merchant banking experience where he made his fortune in technology innovation. He is now reversing the regressive policy of his predecessor - I think we will both agree that this is a positive outcome.

The value of Ronald McDonald House

Say what you want about McDonald's fast food outlets, their work with Ronald McDonald House is exemplary - this is a fantastic community service.

As the old Princess Margaret Hospital is closed down, the new children's hospital at the redeveloped Sir Charles Gardner Hospital site means the residential facility had to be moved as well as it is imperative that the facilities are close to the medical facilities.

When families have to travel to Perth for their child's hospital treatment, they have the opportunity to stay at this outstanding residential facility. The new building has the capability to house 180 people each night with Lotterywest contributing $8 million.

BHP kicked in $5 million and Fortescue Metals Group also contributing $2 million to the construction. West Australians donated $22 million and was raised in just 9 months.

The state government providing the land adjacent to the hospital - an outstanding contribution all round. The facility is staffed by volunteers who work to provide services for families stressed with sick children.

The original Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia came about after football player Fred Hill organised a housing facility when he was forced to sleep in corridors after his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.

The local McDonald's franchise owners organised special milkshakes with the funds collected used to renovate the house. McDonald's Australia pays all management and administration costs so all donations benefits the families.

The relationship began in 1981 with 15 Ronald McDonald Houses operating throughout Australia - a noble cause.

John Mellencamp back at Sandalford winery

Back in 2008, I was lucky enough to head out to Sandalford winery in the Swan Valley to attend an outdoor concert on the grounds. This was my first time to see John Mellencamp in concert and it was a fantastic evening - I loved it.

Now 8 years later, John Mellencamp will be back for a concert under the stars and I immediately snapped up tickets. I will have to wait until February 2016, this will be a hot summer's night in an ideal setting sipping the excellent fine wines of Sandalford - really looking forward to reliving this concert.

Islamophobia - real or imagined?

On one hand, we have Islamic apologists trying to shout down everyone asking questions regarding Islamic extremists views calling people who oppose their views as racists, bigots or Islamophobic.

Then on the other hand, we have a bunch of people calling for every Muslim person to be deported and flung from the country; the answer seems to be somewhere in between.

Islamic extremists are generally drawn from the ranks of mainstream Muslim followers; for anyone to argue IS, ISIS, ISIL or Daesh is not about Islam deluding themselves.

Quite possibly, the name of the organisation Islamic State may offer some clues to their intentions. However, for people to blame every Muslim for the deeds of Islamic State Iraq Syria is also misguided and wrong.

Yet, the recruiting of young followers and jihadists from mosques is real; the issue requires leadership from within the Muslim community - so far, this is sadly lacking.

So where are we at? People are concerned about the Muslim community, it is a fair call, there are serious integration issues.

For the Islamic community to integrate, the leadership needs to address the wider community in both conversation and deeds. The Christian community provides essential public services.

If the Islamic community wants to be taken seriously then community services such as feeding and housing homeless people, meals on wheels, aged care and disadvantaged people and groups would enhance their image.

The Muslim community has an image problem, one of only taking - not giving; hands out for as much money as they can milk it for without providing any community service.

Until the Muslim leadership can address these issues - they will continue to suffer from their own abilities to effectively integrate in the country they now live.

Where is Yahoo! headed?

Is Yahoo! Inc a business with a future? Founded by David Filo and Jerry Yang in 1994 when the internet was really kicking off; the question is, are they going to survive?

Current CEO Marissa Mayer is considering selling out of the internet business to concentrate on its investment in Chinese technology giant Alibaba. The two major assets of Yahoo! are the Alibaba stake and Yahoo Japan with the 15% in Alibaba valued around $32 billion USD and 35% stake in Yahoo Japan valued around $8.5 billion USD.

Following a line of short-term CEOs, Mayer is feeling the pressure to stem the bleeding and arrest the flow of top executives leaving the corporation. Despite the Asian assets performing well, the rest of the business seems to be sinking after being a leading internet business.

Whilst remaining a big deal, the search engine is losing ground to rival Google although the email and news functions still drive people to the site allowing advertising to remain a cash cow for the business. Is this the end of Yahoo! as we know it?

If plan A fails

Interestingly, contradicting Susanna Kass at Stanford's Graduate School of Business is Elizabeth Holmes CEO of Theranos, the privately held health technology and medical laboratory company suggesting "The minute you have a back-up plan, you'e admitted you're not going to succeed."  

Both of them can't be incorrect, so the question is - "Is contingency planning an admission of impending failure or prudent risk management?" I tend to support Susanna's views believing strategic planning is fluid and responsive insofar as correct methodology and processes are undertaken to achieve desired results.

As a sailor, you need to steer to the course and keep the endgame in mind, but the best tactical decisions are based on current conditions and strategy. The old adage of defending your position when you are in the lead and engaging in offensive tactics when you are challenging for the lead holds true - you can't just sail your own race. You need to account for the other competitors and respond accordingly. 

American Express - don't leave home without it

When you think of American Express, people immediately identify the company as a financial services business, namely the distribution of charge and credit cards - the company reach extends far beyond the traditional credit business.

I began with some basic research and found the company was founded as an express mail business in 1850 by Henry Wells and William Fargo, the founders of Wells Fargo bank that was incorporated in 1854. As a non-American, I was aware of the Wells Fargo brand but didn't really know much about the bank apart from the fact that it was a pretty big deal. I think of DHL Express and TNT Express as logistics business and Amex as purely a financial business.

Interestingly, the financial services arm began in 1882 with the introduction of the travelers cheque after dissatisfaction with the traditional letter of credit created difficulty in obtaining local currency for international travelers. American Express entered the charge card business in 1958 following the success of Diners Club and then entered the credit card business in 1987.

What I am tending to find is Amex isn't the first company to enter a business, but when it does, the business becomes a serious competitor. Amex still hasn't conquered the Visa and Mastercard market share yet, but I'm guessing they will build market share at the expense of these two credit card providers.

A business like Diner's Club suffers an identity crisis based on its history as a restaurant charge card, patrons wrongly associate the card with purely a restaurant charge card competing against Visa and Mastercard credit cards and the Amex charge card.

As a competing charge card, American Express displays better advertising, a name now associated with finance and a strong branding. American Express does not suffer from such an identity crisis despite its logistics history and name.

In Australia, the American Express isn't as readily accepted as one might think due to the excessive fees for vendors charged by the company. Plenty of times I have been told I will be charged an extra fee for Amex, around the 2% mark but if I use Visa or Mastercard - the transaction interchange fee is lower and usually won't be passed on to consumers.

American Express charges an annual fee to issue the card, this can be very high as opposed to competing cards, then comes the merchant fees - the benefits to consumers better be pretty good to justify such costs to the consumer.

If Amex was to lower fees to build both market share among consumers and gain stronger acceptance with vendors, I am guessing they will soon displace Mastercard and seriously challenge Visa as the dominant credit card.

Is this the end of Chrome?

I read on The Wall Street Journal that Google was intending to merge Chrome into Android and I was more than a little concerned, I'm very disappointed. I had become accustomed to Chrome; I don't really use my tab much except when on holiday and I don't own a smartphone, so I would prefer if they didn't mess with an excellent operating system. 

According to The Wall Street Journal article, Google will now merge its Chrome operating system built for personal computers into the Android mobile operating platform. Furthermore, the article hinted there would be a significant change to Chromebooks - that can't be good. I got stuck with that dog of an operating system Windows 8 that was built for mobile devices on my notebook computer - I don't want to see a repeat of that episode.

Shopping for my World Vision sponsor child

I hate shopping, all men hate shopping so when I needed to go out and purchase a gift for a 17 year old youth, I was suitably perplexed - what do I get him?

As Michael is my World Vision sponsored child, I wanted to make sure my gift is educational in line with the values and philosophies of World Vision. After some searching, I decided on a tablet, this way he can use the tablet for school work and social activities.

Sure, I know he is going to use it for playing games, chatting and generally messing around. In a days time it was going to be his so he was free to add apps as he wished. My only apprehension was that he spent all his time playing games and generally jerking around instead of furthering his education - I guess I will find out.

At the store, they didn't want to load the Facebook and Skype apps, I said why not, it is his now - he can do as he likes. He tells me he wants to go onto vocational school to study refrigeration and air-conditioning so I hope he is able to utilise the tablet in his studies to build himself a job and career - I am pretty excited for him.

Not a hot August night but a hot November night

It has been a long time since Neil Diamond released Hot August Night in 1972; this hasn't concerned me, no matter his age, we knew we were off to see a very good show. So, a much older Neil Diamond was to play at Sandalford Winery in Perth's Swan Valley after the temps hit over 37C on a Saturday - this was going to be a hot November night.

We got there late, it wasn't without dramas and fights, we were there now and it was time to go. The picnic basket was cracked open and a warm bottle of Sandalford's chardonnay was sipped - they knew the volumes to be catered, there is no absolutely excuse for that.

Just before the show started, a dark cloud floated over as the sun was setting, the lightening show lit up the sky right on dusk. We guessed we were going to get wet, so that was the price of entry - it never eventuated though. The downpour came after the show finished and we were on our way home, we were walking down a line of traffic and a window opened and two ponchos were offered and gratefully accepted.

He puts on a pretty good show, the price of entry was extravagant but the cost was negligible at the end of the day considering the quality of the show. His dance moves were a little lame, but what do you expect at age 74? There was nothing wrong with either the lyrics, singing or the melody. My major complaint is the tickets stated the concert was from 7.30 - 10.00 with times subject to change without notice, so you could imagine my nonchalance when he started at 8.00 and finished at 9.30 - all in all, a pretty expensive one and a half hours.

Ross Taylor puts on a batting masterclass

Following on with the run-fest on the flat WACA pitch, New Zealand's Ross Taylor brings up a double century late on day 3 chasing down Australia's 9/559, still around 100 behind Australia's first innings total with 5 wickets in hand. By stumps on Day 3, New Zealand trailed by 49 runs at 6/510 with Taylor not out on 235 and poised to run down Warner's 253 early on day 4.

Taylor had a wide array of shots against an Australian bowling group lacking penetration. In all fairness, Mitchell Starc had a couple of catches put down as he cracked the 160 kph club. Taylor's driving was excellent going straight down the ground on multiple occasions, his cut shot was pretty good too. He becomes just the first Kiwi to crack a double century against Australia. He put on a batting masterclass, that's for sure.

David Warner scores big time at the WACA

We had to laugh late on day one of the second test against New Zealand at the WACA, that is the Western Australian Cricket Association ground in East Perth. 

After the new ball was taken after the mandatory 80 overs, both David Warner and Usman Khawaja were set and seeing the ball well with a century and a double century already on the scoreboard. Trent Bould is handed the new ball with Khawaja taking a single giving the strike to Warner, showing no respect for the new ball drives the ball to the boundary, takes two runs on the third ball and smashes the ball straight back past the bowler and into the fence. 

New Zealand demand a new ball after just four deliveries as they feel the ball has lost shape, we are falling over laughing and even the umpires have a smile on their face. Regardless, they succumb to New Zealand's demands and the ball is changes to everyone's amusement. Delivery 5, Warner drives the next new ball down the ground, yep, it is clearly the ball with the last ball of the over going for a single - that's 16 runs off the new ball over. 

The next over, New Zealand ask for another ball change, the umpires are openly laughing and just tell them to get on with it. Australian are in a dominant position at 1/381 and a run rate of 4.64, closing in on a 400 run day - this is just a great day against the hapless New Zealand cricket team. A breakthrough late in the day, Khawaja is caught by Latham off Bracewell's bowling for 121, Steve Smith is exposed for a couple of overs late in the day and Warner finishes the day not out on 244 with the Australian total at 2/416.

We stand united with France

The latest terrorist attacks in Paris have underscored the danger posed by the porous borders of the European Union. A leading European economic powerhouse, France has been so accommodating to people following the Islamic religion.

For all their tolerance, their freedom and the humanity that the French people offered - the French nation is targeted by religious Islamic zealots intent on destroying democracy. While the immediate aftermath no terror group had come forward, this cowardly attack showed all the hallmarks of Islamic terrorism.

Apologists calling Islam the religion of peace are repeating pathetic and hollow words. The deeds of Islamic extremists living not in the middle east but in the safety of the cities, towns and villages of tolerant western nations threaten the safety of all inhabitants of these nations.

Anybody questioning the virtues of Islamic immigration are immediately dubbed Islamphobia despite all evidence to the contrary. Described as "an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share" by US president Barack Obama, this is indeed an attack on freedom and humanity. We are all French today, we support France and we stand united with the French people.

Woolworths - Everyday Rewards

So Woolworths, the supermarket giant with 872 stores and a workforce exceeding 110,000 people across Australia is rebranding. Founded in 1924, Woolworths is the largest retailing business operating in Australia with grocery, fuel, liquor, fuel, hotels & entertainment, home improvement and general merchandise - this is a serious retailing business. Woolworths Ltd, despite sharing a name with the British Woolworths Group, FW Woolworth Company of the United States or Woolworth Holdings of South Africa, no affiliations is undertaken with international retail stores.  

The Everyday Rewards program was the reason many of us shopped at Woolworths; now with the revamp of the program, the Everyday Rewards program will be taking on a new set of rewards. Woolworths feels confident retailing rival Coles will not run take on the program after their tie in to the Eithad Airlines program was announced.

Qantas, an iconic brand was linked to the Woolworths Everyday Rewards program; by shopping at Woolworths you could generate frequent flyer points under the Qantas frequent flyer program. For many of us, the links to Qantas was the only reason we shopped at Woolworths. What they fail to account for is many of the nation's supermarkets have both Coles and Woolworths supermarkets. Without the tie in to the Qantas frequent flyer program anymore - there is no longer a need for me to shop at Woolworths or Big W stores. 

Diving & Snorkeling Guide to Bali

The Indonesian islands have much to offer the travelling diver; as the best known island in the archipelago. Bali has solid infrastructure, a choice from luxury 5-star hotels all the way through to backpacker accommodation, a vibrant restaurant scene and a choice of well-equipped dive operations all over the island. Needless to say, as a major international destination; the island is well served with international flights from South-East Asia and further afield.

The Diving & Snorkeling Guide to Bali by Tim Rock and Simon Pridmore informs the reader of Bali's aquatic realm from world renowned sites to less well-known sites; this guide is an essential reference to get the most from a Bali dive trip.

Knights & Dames abolished once again

The worst decision of the Abbott government has now been repealed, the new Turnbull government has ditched knights and dames from the honours list in a modern Australian society - yay.

Whilst not a pressing issue, the knighthoods originally removed from the honours list by the Whitlam government in 1975 only to be reinstated by the Fraser government just a year later. The newly elected Hawke government axed the honours in 1983 only to see Abbott without cabinet consultation reintroduce knighthoods once again. I hope this was the last reincarnation of an outdated status that has no place in a modern progressive society.

Diving with hire equipment

Most of us learn to dive with hire equipment, we don't want to make such a large and expensive purchase as we are learning - that is entirely reasonable. As an instructor, I used to leave my personal equipment at home at times and use the store hire equipment so I had a taste of what the learners are experiencing. This was usually a lousy experience for me; a poorly fitting wetsuit, leaky mask, ill-fitting BCD, cheap fins and a poorly breathing regulator reminded me of the stress new divers experience.

I do not subscribe to the notion that it is easier to sell equipment to divers if they are faced with the prospect of lousy equipment for their entry level diver course. This is poor marketing, a variation of the good cop/bad cop routine that the average person sees straight through.

So what are the options for a slick dive operation? Not only does selling off hire equipment at the end of the season make good financial sense, it makes good marketing sense. The benefits include learner divers having the opportunity to purchase good quality second hand equipment, the dive centre rotates hire equipment annually maintaining the latest range of equipment they actually retail and equipment failure opportunities significantly reduce.

After the third season, hire equipment has no resale value so you are left with old equipment with no monetary value, increased maintenance costs, increased failure rates and a marketing disaster. Why learn to dive from a facility that pays such scant regard to dive equipment? What does this say about their dive operation? How can you charge premium prices for services, how do you justify your fees? If the equipment looks like this, is the instruction of similar value.

Now I understand a new dive centre does not have the capital for big investments, the alternatives are much worse however; old equipment and a poor reputation. The risk management protocols for rotating hire equipment; namely the regulator and buoyancy jacket carry a high degree of risk and need to be in exemplary condition. Likewise, people do not like to wear old, faded or ripped wetsuits and a number of dive operations I have worked at offer exactly that.

Bombay Sapphire - summer is coming

Summer is coming, the days are warming up, already even now in October, the weather for a gin and tonic in the afternoon is close. My choice of G&T is Bombay Sapphire, this unique London Dry Gin is definitely my favourite gin.

During the cold winter months, a trip from Perth to South East Asia is a relatively easy proposition and my choice of locations is the Philippines. After a day of diving, a G&T on the beach whilst completing my assignments or readings is an afternoon well spent knowing full well the weather back in Perth is cold and miserable - cheers.

Technical malfunction or an act of terrorism?

The Metrojet aviation disaster left 224 Russians dead; this is indeed a tragedy of epic proportions that is not just limited to the Russian nation - this a tragic loss of human life that transcends political and national boundaries. 

There is the Islamic State's insistence that the commercial airliner was shot down by their surface to air missile. As the airliner reported mechanical problems prior to the loss of the aircraft - this claim seems unlikely. However, the gloating of Islamic State of actually holding the technology and capability to shoot down a commercial airliner is unthinkable. Whilst the Islamic State is a master of propaganda, their proficiency in the manipulation of social media is disturbing. 

What we do know is Russian president Vladimir Putin must act decisively, will he order a transparent investigation similar to the one that he obstructed in the case of MH17? Or will indecisiveness allow the Islamic State to build a pseudo case of capability adding to the conspiracy theories perpetuated by the Islamic State?  

Google Chrome

I have really taken to the Google Chrome browser, not only have I downloaded to every device at home and work, I notice my friends and colleagues also utilise the browser too. As I share computers in a teaching and learning environment, I download the program onto every computer in every classroom I utilise.

Once upon a time, Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominated web searches and came loaded on every MS Windows driven computer, now Microsoft's dominance is definitely waning. This is great news, the Chrome browser is simple and efficient, the advantage is once you are signed into one service, you have access to all of Google's products. I show a short educational Youtube clip, I quickly search my favourites for future classes, preparation time is significantly reduced.

I only wish the IT department was so service driven, my workplace programs require multiple log in procedures and countless password changes. This is actually less secure as there is no way to remember every combination as your passwords change monthly and you are unable to use previous versions.

The solution? Keep written versions close at hand so you can enter the password quickly with most colleagues utilising post it notes stuck to their screen - how secure is that? To even print a page, you need to log into the multi-function printer to print a page, you can imagine a cluster of post it notes are pasted to the wall alongside the printer.

The browser is compatible with every page I download, it hardly freezes up, not like all the issues I had with MS Internet Explorer. When I log in, all my links, favourites and history immediately appears, my browser is customised for my use - this is so efficient. The browser is fast, I am able to search my history for previous searches and downloads, I also keep documents and pdf downloads on Google Drive for reference material.

Instead of keeping hard copy versions of reference books at work, just log in and open a pdf version of a reference book, I no longer need to carry USB drives everywhere loaded with all my information. My only issue is to remember to log out when I am finished - even an old school hack like me can remember that.

Lycra clad wa..ers on the footpath

I was running around Lake Monger in the morning on a dual use walkway/cycleway and needed to move from the path to my route across the grass. I didn't need to look behind me as I was moving faster the walkers on the path.

No need to look back as I was moving faster than the walkers, I was nearly run down from behind as a lycra clad shaved legged wanker hurtles past me way too fast.

I copped a torrent of abuse from this fool and returned fire by telling him in no uncertain terms that he is required to ring his bell. It is not only cars having trouble with the lycra clad wanker brigade, it is pedestrians and runners too.

It is about time we licensed bike riders for both the road and paths, they need to carry insurance like vehicles do and carry a minimum of safety equipment - namely bells and lights. Furthermore, they should should be fined for failing to adhere to the rules in the same manner that car drivers are fined.

What are these guys racing so fast on a dual use pathway for? If you want to go that fast then go to a velodrome, what do they think they are doing, a stage on the Tour de France?

Is the weight of the 45 gram bell going to slow terminal velocity down, create too much wind resistance or throw the balance of the handlebars out? Get real and show some respect for road users be it car drivers or walkers and joggers.

What is Russia doing here?

So Russia is siding with the Assad regime? This is very concerning. I fully understand a country protects its strategic interests, but it would appear Russia's actions are assisting Daesh fighters in the region - that can't be good for anybody.

The risk of United States or English fighter jets engaging each other seems to be high, we now learn British forces have permission to engage Russian fighter jets if they act in an offensive manner.

Russian fighter jets have strayed into Turkish territory on a number of occasions, a NATO country and while Turkish fighter jets have been scrambled, not Russian fighter jets have been fired upon or shot down.

The risk of escalation in this region is very high and could easily draw a number of strategically important nations into direct conflict with each other - this is really concerning.

The politics of envy - reignited

Tony Burke really made a goose of himself last week in parliamentary question time; in short, he got owned by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull when he questioned his wealth. But lets not forget, the wife (and by default husband) of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is also insanely rich. Tony Burke failed to mention that the Rudd family has a similar wealth as the Turnbull family - oh. Now it comes out the the Turnbull household donates half a million dollars to charity annually - that's a pretty significant tax deduction too.

Yes, Malcolm Turnbull does have investments in managed funds in the Cayman Islands; yes, even Tony Burke himself does not try to infer that Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull do not pay tax in Australia as that would be even more embarrassing for him. However, this is the same Tony Burke that was implicated in the parliamentary travel rorts affair where he flew his family around in business class on taxpayer funds - ouch. 

The Australian Labor Party is trying to tie Malcolm Turnbull with multinational tax avoidance schemes; these are the exact same multinational companies that were operating during the largely ineffective Rudd/Gillard/Rudd governments - they probably should have addressed the issue then. The real issue here is Australia now has a seriously rich Prime Minister who donates more the equivalent PMs salary to charity annually, they are trying to convince voters he is out of touch with the working family. 

This tactic worked with Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey who is also reasonably wealthy as compared to average Australians; but this divisive tactic designed to cover up the fact that the Australian Labor Party has a deeply unpopular leader can't be disguised. 

The dirty and unscrupulous tactics of the Australian Labor Party of constantly playing the man instead of government policy worked on former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, but new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is so much more articulate than Abbott, able to think quickly on his feet and reply with a counter punch so sharp - it leaves these one trick fools rudderless.    

But why the politics of envy? This was a concerted effort by Bill Shorten to deflect attention away from his testimony in the Royal Commission into Union Corruption; in short, Shorten is fried. Thanks to Rudd, the Labor Party is almost unable to elect a new leader until the next election and will be stuck with the sinking and unpopular Bill Shorten after a more than likely election loss. We have a successful Prime Minister who earned his wealth not by inheritance or a successful wife, we have a Prime Minister that was successful in business in his own right. 

Ironically, Australian Super, the industry superannuation fund that Bill Shorten was once a board member also invests some of its funds in Cayman Island domiciled investments. As Australia has a tax information sharing agreement, this isn't an issue with Australian Super and Malcolm Turnbull. Likewise, a zero tax jurisdiction doesn't mean you don't pay tax, well not anymore anyway, it means you are not taxed twice.

Now, if a future Prime Minister emerges who dedicated themselves to community service, science, medical research or similar endeavors and has not earned great wealth; this does not matter, the emphasis here is successful interaction with the community.  

Even more laughable was Bill Shorten's deflection of union corruption, yet he himself is so closely aligned to big business that he flew back from the United States to the Beaconsfield mine disaster in seriously wealthy businessman Richard Pratt's private plane; the site where he launched his political career on the plight of the trapped underground miners - whoa.

Royal Perth Yacht Club opening day

As a freshly minted member of Royal Perth Yacht Club, after years of sailing out of the club and utilising their facilities, I decided in 2014 to join the club in the newly designated crew member status.

Opening day wasn't great for us, we were guilty of a poor start, going the wrong way on the first work windward and then making more poor decisions. We can't even be viewed on the start line as we were sailed over by all the other boats. We then found a dead area whilst the rest of the fleet sailed away, we struggled to view them they were so far away.

You could imagine our surprise we we later learned we were second across the line because the other boats went in the other direction rounding the wrong buoys; because we were so far behind, we never followed and crossed in front of all but one boat - kind of like a Steven Bradbury moment. Fortunately, a week later at the Royal Freshwater Yacht Club opening day, we sailed a pretty good race and earned our second across the line place - a vastly improved performance.

Diving Rotto

The great thing about diving around Rottnest Island, or Rotto to the locals is that the island can be dived during not only spring, summer and autumn seasons but during winter as well. Naturally, it has to be select days as the charter boat may be cancelled due to inclement weather conditions - you take that risk.

Actually, winter days where obviously no storms are in the vicinity are some of my favourite dive trips. The water temperature drops from an average of 21 - 23 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius, not that great a decline. Early spring is a pretty good choice when the sea breeze hasn't set in making conditions somewhat difficult. During summer, the strong sea breeze really whips over the water creating largish swells, wave chop and generally poor surface conditions. So the sky is sometimes overcast in the off-season; who cares, the day out on the boat is better and the boat tends to be less crowded.

Singapore Airlines service decline

I understand you can have a bad day at the office, so when Singapore Airlines cabin crew have a bad flight, plenty of people are affected. On a recent flight, the dinner service was delayed to the poor organisation by the cabin crew in my section - no problems I thought.

As I was in the centre aisle, I was easily able to judge the time lapse between service within the port/starboard aisles; I can live with that. On my connecting flight before, the cabin crew brought out the wrong meal, naturally I never said anything and thought nothing of it, but a trend was emerging.

The starboard aisle was served first, they had actually finished eating their meals when our meals in the port aisle arrived. So when my meal choice was temporarily unavailable, I thought nothing of it as it happens, they just quickly grab another meal from a cart in a different section, only takes a couple of minutes. 

However, when my meal request actually arrived, even the port aisle had finished eating and I had been sitting there patiently waiting - the only person eating in my whole section about to start my meal.

I had been working on my laptop computer prior to the meal service, I packed it up in preparation for the service and was sitting there waiting for them as I would be unable to move properly when the meal actually came to pack up and stow my computer - so it was pretty disruptive for me. The person in the seat next to me had finished her meal and started back working on her computer while I watched on still waiting.

When the cart was finally wheeled down the port aisle; I requested a drink and I was acknowledged only to be forgotten for the person in the next row, that is when I asked again, it was like I was ignored - still no food, I just wanted a drink while waiting. 

This sounds like a first world problem - it probably is; however, it is not what you expect from Singapore Airlines. So when my meal arrived, my glass of wine was empty, a request for another glass of wine is not unreasonable in the circumstances.

Regardless, if I make a reasonable and polite request, don't ignore me and certainly don't roll your eyes at my request. I never complained once, not when you forgot my meal, my drink, my bread which I never received at all, my coffee and finally the desert.

However, you have to remember that I have paid good money for this service that is attached to this ticket; this is not a budget airline and you expect them to honour their advertising. It these days of strong competition, you would expect a full-cost carrier like Singapore Airlines to provide higher levels of service to justify their ticket cost - they are certainly not doing that. 

They are behaving like a budget airline and not a full cost carrier, I am now seriously considering changing carriers when flying in Asia, this is happening all too often with Singapore Airlines. I don't complain to staff, I change carriers and support their opposition.

A grey nurse shark bite - who would have thought?

In what turned out to be a huge surprise, Eli Zawadzki who was bitten by a shark near Pyramids Beach at Dawesville, just south of Mandurah in Western Australia headed off for surgery to remove a tooth embedded in his foot.

The retrieved tooth identified the culprit as a grey nurse shark when most thought a bull shark was to blame. This is the first recorded case of a grey nurse shark biting anyone in Western Australia. Hunted mercilessly in the 1950s due to its fearsome appearance, the grey nurse shark is now firmly entrenched in the critically endangered list. The grey nurse shark is known as a pretty docile creature despite its top of the food chain predator appearance, I certainly held no fear diving with them.

Labor's Chinese free trade agreement objections

I have a lingering fear that opposition leader Bill Shorten is trying to sabotage the Chinese free trade agreement for political purposes. I fear Bill Shorten would be willing to plunge the country into recession (if it is not already) to achieve its goals of a political return to power after just one term in opposition. Bill Shorten, through the Labor/Greens alignment has already blocked the government's budget savings in their first budget through the senate in a move that was designed to destabalise the Abbott government for short-term political gain. 

Shorten expressed concerns that provisions in the free trade agreement related to the ability of companies to import Chinese trades that included skills testing provisions and labour market testing for major projects to be undertaken. Naturally, Bill Shorten's concerns have been driven by the union movement that he is unable to distance himself from.

However, the agreement indicated sufficient safeguards were actually in place to protect Australian workers and salary rates . Shorten has not put any workable amendments forward, instead failing to explain what exactly is the problem here we are going about to address these concerns, so far it has merely been a negative campaign with no solutions offered.

In fact, there had been no changes to the labour market testing regime that were enacted by the Gillard government that he was a member of under the 457 visa program. Skills assessments under the agreement are the same for 180 other countries covered by the agreement. Shorten needs to wake up and be willing to solve real problems instead of just attempting to run a union sponsored fear campaign and obstructing this important agreement for political gain.

Kapoli dive shop

There are plenty of dive shops scattered throughout south east Asia, what I noticed at the Kapoli dive shop is how well it is run as dive shops in this region tend to be a little casual in management - this is a well run dive shop.

You prepare your equipment that is stored in the tidy area, once you have set your equipment up, it states to the staff you are diving as your name is attached to your equipment and they will allocate you a speed boat.

The pre-dive briefing takes place in the shade, there are dive location maps but no actual underwater maps, this isn't an issue as all dives are guided and your guide is able to give a site briefing just before rolling into the water.

The rules of the dive shop are in Japanese and English, the rules are fairly self explanatory with no gloves, no solo dives, no surface interval less than one hour, no dive over one hour and naturally - no drinking and diving.

The speed boats are prepared by the shop staff, all you do is grab your mask and fins and hop on board and depart at the correct time. 

The speedboat moves slowly past the shore dive entry/exit platform, there is unlimited shore diving at Kapoli, I do think the dive site is a little ordinary and wouldn't spend too much effort on the local dives. After your first dive at Kapoli, you have pretty much seen this site although it does provide some good photo opportunities.