Business shuts down in December
I don't know where it myth came from, but it's certainly not true when it comes to training and IT consultancy in Australia. December has been insane, and continues to be so. Every couple of days we seem to have a new business appearing out of the ether to need work done urgently.

Recent jobs have included training for yet another bank, diaster recovery planning for a retail hardware store, changes to management software for caravan parks, and some requests for really big training packages (5-20 days) from big business and government, both in Australia and overseas. It's been a real mixed bag of work.

All of these combined with Jacinta going on leave soon, and a huge backlog of work that I'm still clearing after the conference, means that I'll probably be getting very little sleep until I also go on leave.

SCUBA::Table::NoDeco 0.02
SCUBA::Table::NoDeco version 0.02 has been released, and will be arriving at a CPAN mirror near you.

The new version has new functions for finding your maximum time and depth given current nitrogen loading, as well as the PADI no-deco tables. The PADI tables need more testing, as the risks of transcription errors do exist, so treat with caution.

The online dive calculator has also been updated with the new module.

Perl Tip of the Week
I'm sure that I'm there are heaps of 'tip of the week' lists out there, but that's no reason why there can't be another. Perl Training Australia is starting a Perl Tip Of The Week service.

The list will focus upon information that we feel will be most useful to our current and future clients, however it's free for anyone to join who may be interested, provided you don't mind getting a schedule of our upcoming courses with each tip. The subscription page is up and running, and the first tip will be sent out soon.

It's been one year since Mom unexpectedly passed away, and as such this has been a time of reflection and rememberance for me. It seems so very long ago, and yet it feels like just the other day when Mom was regularly calling with questions about her website, or dropping around with huge boxes of food in case my diet had dwindled to nothing more than espresso coffee and wasabi-coated roasted peas. Now Dad drops around with huge boxes of food instead. I have such wonderful parents.

I also have wonderful friends and family. Ever since Mom's passing I know that both myself and my father have been amazed and sometimes overwhelmed by the generosity and caring of others. I know that Dad's had some exhausting days where endless streams of visitors have dropped in to check on him, and bring him huge boxes of food lest his diet dwindle to nothing more than Irish breakfast tea and oranges. Maybe that's why I keep getting these boxes of food from Dad.

On the anniversary of Mom's passing Dad, Jacinta and myself visited the crematorium and Mom's grave. The plaque is still looking pretty good, but it's sobering to see how many friends and family members lie at rest there.

As for Mom's website, the content still remains in original condition at gcs.pjf.id.au.

SCUBA::Table::NoDeco
When planning to go on a number of dives I usually pull out my dive tables and calculate by-hand depth, times, and surface intervals, to make sure that those dives are actually safe to perform. Because this is done by hand it can be a real chore when faced with a number of potential dives throughout the day, and a desire to put those dives into a coherant dive plan.

As such, I've written SCUBA::Table::NoDeco, appearing soon at a CPAN mirror near you. Make sure you read the disclaimer before use and verify the final results by hand. I wouldn't trust my life to a 0.01 release module.

Once I had the module working, creating an on-line dive planner was easy. Currently only the SSI tables are loaded. I do have a number of other tables availale, but entering the tables is a time-consuming process, so patches are very welcome.