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.

Playschool - now this is an education

You have to love children's television; across generations, Playschool has played on the ABC and has been educating young Australian children since 1966. It is estimated more than 80% of the population under six years of age tune into Playschool at least once a week.

I wonder what Big Ted, Little Ted and Jemima think about this; I wonder what window they will be looking out of today, the round window, the square window or the stoner's window. As a kid, I recall frequently watching Playschool on our black & white television as it is an educational television show; but I don't recall ever being taught how to make a bong - this is a skill set every aspiring stoner kid needs.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts

Maybe it is just me, because I do not see the attraction of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I understand they are very popular. On my travels to the Philippines, I saw a number of outlets, especially at the airport. The Manila residents heading out to the provinces would carry on as hand luggage boxes of this stuff - I thought they were mad. 

You could imagine my surprise when the first store opened in Perth and people lined up outside for hours - you have to be kidding. I have had Krispy Kreme doughnuts before and I don't think they are particularly good, their toppings are too sugary and they are over-priced. Yet, you have to respect their marketing abilities, they have taken a mediocre product at best and made it a sought after product. 

Gordon's London Dry Gin

Hailing from Perth where hot and dry summers are the norm, a refreshing gin and tonic on a hot day is wonderful. Likewise, when I am on holidays in South East Asia, a G & T is my choice of alcoholic drink. A slice of lime to compliment and finish the drink is excellent, this is a great complimentary taste for a summer drink.

A gin based martini is to be stirred and not shaken, I always thought a gin based martini beats the vodka based martini; better known as a vodkatini that is shaken and not stirred. A Gordon's based martini based on a 5:1 ratio with dry vermouth is my choice of high powered drink; it is a pure alcohol based cocktail with no mixer - so buyer beware.  

An executive MBA

I was hanging with one of my mates in Florida, we come from the same trade background and have worked together in the past, he has a pretty formidable resume. Yet he was lamenting the current declining job opportunities due to his lack of tertiary qualifications - that's what companies want now. I decided to apply for an MBA to also prevent this happening to me, not long after my return to Australia, he sends me a message informing me he has been accepted in an executive MBA program and his company is willing to pay for it - well played on his part. 

The Master of Business Administration has been around a long time, there are a number of reincarnations of the MBA course; the executive MBA has been developed specifically targeting corporate executives and managers allowing participants to earn an MBA degree within two years whilst maintaining working full-time employment. 

Participants are recruited into EMBA programs from a variety of organisations including profit, non-profit, military and government - naturally representing a multitude of industries. As a result of their current employment backgrounds; EMBA participants typically have a higher level of work experience than standard MBA students, usually 10+ years as opposed to 3 -5 years work experience of standard MBA programs. 

EMBA programs are a mix of classroom teaching, generally conducted on evenings and over weekends including online tutorials and some full-day sessions. In response to an increasing number of EMBA programs on offer; the Executive MBA Council was formed to advance executive education.

Naturally, career advancement and increased prospects are primary motivators for managers and executives to embark on the EMBA program. As EMBA participants work full-time during the duration of the program; they are able to apply the management techniques and best practices learned in the classroom to real-life situations as opposed to traditional MBAs who are full-time students.

A cabernet sauvignon worthy of a preliminary final - a 1995 Leeuwin Estate Art series

My team limped into a Friday night AFL preliminary final, I contacted my father to make sure a good red wine befitting a preliminary final was available. My old man made an excellent selection with a 1995 Leeuwin Estate Art series cabernet sauvignon that didn't disappoint.

According to the notes, the 95 Art series cabernet sauvignon holds chalky, mineral edge to the expressive nose - this has somewhat softened on this excellent aged wine. The 95 Art series held a perfect balance of lush berry fruit and chunky savouriness. The tannic structure has softened along with some minerality that has resided; the fruit is beginning to fade just a tad and is still drinking well in 2015. 

The 95 Art series described as somewhat more complex than the 1996 and a little more restrained - this was an excellent drop. Unfortunately, the game didn't pan out how I had hoped but it didn't stop both of us from enjoying this excellent example of Leeuwin Estate cabernet sauvignon.