1. Remove the sticky tape from the tank (this Daren’s way of knowing if the tank is full or partly used). Make sure the O-ring is securely in place.
2. Under the strap on the Buoyancy Control Device (BCD), place it over the tank, and secure the tank in place, making sure the top of the tank is at about the same height as the top of the BCD.
3. Remove the dust cap from the first-stage regulator, and attach the regulator to the tank, only doing it up finger-tight.
4. Connect the low-pressure inflater (LPI) to the inflater hose on the BCD.
5. With the Submersible Pressure Gauge (SPG) facing away from you (in case it’s faulty and smashes in your face), slowly open the tank valve.
6. Use the LPI to inflate and deflate the BCD a couple of times, to check for leaks.
7. Check the second-stage regulator and alternate air source are working, either with the purge button (put your finger over the mouthpiece to stop freeflow from occurring), or by taking a few breaths.
8. Place the alternate air source into the holder, and tuck any other loose bits away as well.
9. Ready to go!

Once we’ve done the pool dives, then it’s a small test on the theory of it all, then off to Tioman resort on the east coast of Malaysia (one of the best dives spots in Malaysia) for the open water (sea) practicals. Once we’ve done that, then we *may* get to glimpse a sea anenome like above!

In the meantime, here’s a photo from my 18th birthday (10 years ago). Katie, me, Catherine and Matt went out to the local Hilton hotel for a posh dinner. And yes, that dress really was that see-through in real life.

Hope you like it as well, KT xxx

Due to the obvious conflict of interest, unfortunately I will have to stop any further development of the tools that I have created. I may do the odd bug-fix to keep them working the way they were originally intended, but I won’t be updating any formulae and here’s why: if I’ve seen a formula in the Battrick code and I know the version in my spreadsheet is wrong, then a) I can’t update the spreadsheet because that would give the formulae away, and b) I can’t release new versions of the spreadsheet knowing that the formulae are incorrect, as I would feel that is also wrong.

I hope that the tools and spreadsheets that have been created are stable enough not to need any critical fixes, and I will continue to host them on this site until such time that they are no longer being downloaded.

In terms of my role at Battrick, my focus will be on the quality of the front-end code, which means most of the stuff I do, you shouldn’t really notice, unless it’s a new feature. I aim to improve the accessibility and usability of the site, and generally make it a nicer experience. The easier it is to use the site, the less it gets in the way of playing the game. I won’t have much, if any, role of developing the “game”, only the “site” which serves the game.

In terms of game development ideas, reporting of bugs etc, I ask that you use the existing features within Battrick to do so, rather than posting them here.

I hacked the plugin code, and managed this, and out of courtesy, sent the code to Andy Staines, the author of the plugin, via his contact form. This was his reply (emphasis mine):

Ah… um… thanks!

The shocking truth is that I don’t read regexp’s! I read that chapter three times and quickly concluded that I would prefer to gently flay myself with an old dressing gown while standing naked in the snow than try to follow the rules.

My son helps me out here who is known as a RegExp king. So can you confirm what your random sequence of numbers and letters below actually does in detail as it always looks to me like it was typed by a monkey swaying gently under the influence of Prozac…

It doesn’t help that I have had only about four hours sleep only to be rudely awoken by a barking dog. So I am not thinking clearly yet. So - you pass in the data row of the download? And get back the start date?

Andy

After a few intermediate versions, and updates, we released the first official version of Talent-Finder yesterday.

It was soon apparent though that due to the macro code in Excel being different to that supported by Open Office (a free open-source version of office software), some people wouldn’t be able to use it. Today then, was about rewriting the back-end code from one language that I’m not particularly good with anyway, into another language which I’ve never used before!. In short, it’s now complete, so all Battrick managers have a chance to use the fantastic resource we’ve created, and it’s added to all the other Battrick Resources.

OK, so some queries have only had one hit, but I think it’s pretty conclusive what people are coming to my site for! I’ve yet to add the content to WordPress, and when I do I’ll be changing some of it around a bit, and hopefully make it even better. It currently ranks 11th in Google, just for the word Battrick, which isn’t bad at all!

It seems that the scripts that generate the fixtures list for First Class (FC) games in Battrick, “see” the leagues differently to how they are generated at the start of the season. In short - what we see at the front-end is different to what the back-end thinks it is.

There is only one FC fixtures pattern, and it is based on league position — however, the reset leagues do not show the correct positions!

Here’s how to work out what number you need to enter in the FC Position box on the Timetable-Helper.

Go to Club->Pavillion->FC League->Fixtures. Here’s a screenshot of my FC league fixtures:

Now, map the teams on to this pattern:

1 vs 2
3 vs 4
5 vs 6
7 vs 8

So, my team, Jargon Busters is actually starting off 7th in the league, rather than 3rd as it shows on the league table. Consequently I would put “7″ into the FC Position box, to get the correct Home/Away data in the spreadsheet.

Nineone ACC would put “1″, JG’s superstars would put “2″, Ólafur Pái would put “3″, London Pride would put “4″, dirts allstars would put “5″, Bluemooners would put “6″ and Alalminore CCC would put “8″.

This should then give the correct Home/Away data for the FC games:

The One Day (OD) leagues were generated correctly, so you can simply enter the league position as you see it into the OD Position box. Mine is position 5, as per the screenshot earlier.

Update: It seems that there was indeed a bug! The fixtures list for the FC games were generated against the OD standings (in the separate leagues of course) of the teams in your league, rather than the FC standings! This should be corrected for the start of next season, so there should be far less confusion!

To clarify: The teams in my league are starting from the following OD positions this season: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 5, 5, 8. As I was one of those’s 5th places, then my FC fixtures this year follow that of the 7th place team. I’m not quite sure what happens if there’s a tie between OD rankings.