http://www.cga.edu/journal.aspx?id=13835

It's been said that the world's oceans are the earth's last frontier. It's easy to agree with that seeing as how humanity has never managed to get deeper than a few thousand meters. But the technology being developed by subsea services companies is advancing at such a great speed it may not be too much longer before mankind reaches the goal of diving to the absolute lowest recesses of the ocean floor.

Evidence of the continued technological push for underwater exploration was seen in the Bahamas just before Christmas. Off the coast of Nassau a new submarine capable of carrying three passengers down to 1,000m was launched by Triton Submarines. The Florida-based subsea services company is one of the world leaders in submarine design and building. Their 3300/3 model, which was the model launched back in December, is just a precursor of what lies ahead. It can dive to a depth of 3,300 feet (1000m) while a new model to be developed in the future will have the capability of descending to 36,000 feet.

It's All about the Pressure

The biggest hindrance to deep-sea diving is the tremendous pressure placed on any object as it descends through the water. Even divers wearing SCUBA gear can only descend so far without putting their lives in danger. To descend beyond 175 feet could mean serious injury or death due to the tremendous water pressure. And with pressurized dry suits getting beyond a couple of hundred feet is extremely risky.

To understand what's going on here imagine lying on the beach and having a friend pile sand on top of you. The more sand added to the pile, the heavier it becomes until it causes you pain. Even though water seems to be very innocuous when we're in the lake or a swimming pool, at several hundred feet it exerts incredible pressure on any objects within it. This includes both humans and the submersible equipment they might be riding in.

In order to overcome this pressure, subsea services companies like Triton Submarines must build vehicles with the structural integrity to handle the crushing amounts of pressure. Otherwise, a submarine might get to a certain depth and collapse under the weight of the water. Such a catastrophic failure would obviously lead to the deaths of any individuals inside. Regardless of the type of instrument being used for deep-sea exploration water pressure must always be considered during the design and build phase.

As technology advances subsea services companies will continue to provide equipment that allows us greater access to the world's oceans. It will be an amazing journey as we uncover all the wonders out in the great deep.

Ten Things You Need To Know About Iso 9001

OK, hands up, who else was thinking that ISO 9001 must be something that would be alongside R2D2 and C3PO in the next Star Wars blockbuster?   Good, not just me then!   So, it stands to reason that more of us than you’d think need to know a little more about ISO 9001!

  1.  ISO 9001 is a standard for the quality management of business.   Having the certification of ISO 9001 means that the company has met an internationally recognised standard.
  2.  Companies register to ISO 9001 through an accredited certification body (endorsed by UKAS if you are within the UK) and from there work towards full certification.  Even without the full certificate, this registration demonstrates to customers that the business is working towards improving their performance in the market place and their efficiency overall.
  3.  Having the ISO 9001 certificate demonstrates that the quality management system of the company has reached the standards required to satisfy an independent, external audit: its remit is much wider than a ‘within industry’ accreditation or certification.
  4.  Amazingly, because ISO 9001 is a standard that applies to the business and its service as a whole, it can be sought and applied to practically any product or service that a business can offer.
  5.  ISO 9001 includes criteria of standards relating to activities, to help ensure that the requirements and expectations of customers are consistently met by the business.
  6.  It makes sense then, that having full ISO 9001 certification can offer a real bonus to companies when marketing their products or services, which in turn can improve business performance and raise the company’s profile to all interested parties – investors and customers alike!
  7.  Deciding to undertake the ISO 9001 process within a company or business demands that the whole process and its objectives are communicated throughout the company as part of a rigorous quality policy, so that these objectives can be clearly understood and work can commence towards satisfying these policy requirements.
  8.  It is important that all internal and external representatives of the organisation work together to identify any boundaries of the management system and to produce workable, well documented procedures to fulfil stated objectives.
  9.  When everything is in place, internal audits are undertaken, prior to initiating the external audit process which is undertaken in conjunction with the accredited certification body.
  10.  Once successful in achieving ISO 9001 certification, a company is then required to submit to follow-up visits, which ensure that systems put in place for the original audit continue to be used.

Recruitment Agencies and How To Use Them

There are many different types of recruitment agencies out there that people use in order to find employment.  Some of them specialise in different sectors such as teaching recruitment agencies or administration recruitment agencies, while others work with many different business sectors.  

Waiting for That Call

Signing up with a recruitment agency should improve your chances of finding the perfect job right?  The reality is that this is not always the case.  A lot of people will contact a recruitment agency, sign on to their books, attend an interview and fill in many different forms in the hopes that they will soon hear about some fantastic employment opportunities.  However, what can often happen is that they will sit back and not hear from that recruitment agency again.  This is very frustrating.

Don't Give Up

Most recruitment agencies such as teaching recruitment agencies will give you the impression that you are going to be hearing from them regularly with some really great jobs but if you find that you don’t hear from the recruitment agency at all, then it is no surprise that you might feel as though it would b better for you to just look for the jobs yourself.  This is a real shame because a lot of employers are using recruitment agencies to fill their vacancies.

Make Them Work for You

If you want to make recruitment agencies work for you, then there are things that you should be doing.  A lot of people think that by registering with a number of these agencies and waiting for them to get in contact, they are going to have a better chance of finding the ideal job.  However, this is not the case.  It is far better to choose one or two agencies carefully and make a point of getting to know at least one recruitment consultant there.

By getting to know the consultants in the agency, they are going to think of you when a particular job comes up.  They will not have to sift through their books to find candidates because there will be certain people who are well known to them.  It is the people who put themselves forward with the consultants, who will be in their minds whenever a new position comes up.

Stay in Touch

The best way to get yourself known to the recruitment consultant is to make a point of getting in contact regularly.  Make sure you phone the consultant every couple of weeks because that way they will remember you.  It is up to you to put yourself in their mind so that when new jobs come in, they will think of you and put you forward.  If you sit back and just wait for them to call, you may be left feeling rather disappointed.

Turning Pro Magazine a Real Help for the Amateur Photographer

This great magazine is packed with all the useful information that you would ever need to turn professional. Turning Pro Magazine reports the news that is currently happening in the photographic industry and has a section that reviews every new product and gadget that have just appeared on the scene so if you are looking for a review on something you were thinking of purchasing then you will probably find all you need to know about it in the Turning Pro magazine review section. It is crammed full of useful information that is written by true professionals who want to share their experiences with other photographers.

The tips and techniques section is crammed with stories of people who have successfully become professional photographers and they share their experiences of how they got where they there with the readers, they offer helpful advice on many subjects such as what equipment is the best to start out with or what type of lighting is available to buy or to rent and many more topics that will help you get off the ground as a professional photographer.

The online section of the magazine offers a forum so if there is anything you want to discuss with others about equipment, lighting or venues you can do this easily and get all the answers that you may need. This discussion group is a professional way of learning everything you may want to learn about equipment and talking with others who are in the same situation can really help solve any problems that you may have encountered.

There are competitions in every issue which offer a platform for you to get your work noticed whether you enter one of them or if you decide to publish some of your photos in the magazine’s Gallery section. The Directory is full of useful addresses, websites, telephone numbers of suppliers, photographic studios and much more that will always be handy to know about especially when thinking of turning professional.

Since Turning Pro first appeared on the newsstands last year it has certainly filled a niche and has now managed to get a loyal following of readers who appreciate all that it has to offer them. For the amateur photographer who is thinking about turning pro this magazine offers all the advice and help that they would need to get their business off to a good start.

The Turning Pro magazine is now available bi-monthly and if you would like to subscribe then you can do this by going online where you can fill in the form, pay your subscription and get a great discount for paying your subscription too. This magazine is definitely value for money with all that it has to offer its readers.

A Drilling Template Is a Useful Device for Getting It Right the First Time Round

Anyone who likes to dabble in DIY knows how difficult it is to measure up a drawer front or how hard it can be to ensure that shelving in a bookcase sits straight and level. By using a drilling template these tasks are made that much easier for the handy man to do the job quickly and effectively. It is easy to make one of these templates up yourself and is definitely worth the trouble doing this just to make life easier when it comes to doing these sometimes awkward and time consuming tasks.

To make up a simple template which will help you get the spaces and levels to fit handles to a drawer front is simple. All you need to have is a piece of ¼” hardboard with a couple of wood cleats attached to the back of the hardwood which are the guides to where you need to drill your mounting holes. You fit the cleats on top of the drawer front that you need to fix the handle on to and the template does all the measuring that is needed to get the holes exactly where you want them to sit. As long as you adapt the size of the template by the allowing for space that the cleats take up and measure everything from the centre line on the template, your template will work like a dream.

Of course if this sounds like too much trouble then you can buy templates from any good tool shop that will do the job for you just as well as the template that you have made up if not better and these templates are made of metal so they will last a long time no matter how often you use them.

There are drilling templates for just about every job that you will ever need to do. Drilling templates that help you hang a flat screen television of a wall, tile cutting templates, box cutter templates and specialised template kits. All major brands now have their various models of all these templates and they range from very affordable to really expensive. There are some very simple straight forward drilling templates that will come in handy for all those DIY jobs around the house to the very sophisticated models that will do heavier jobs in a flash. Whichever type of drilling template you need you can go online and find the perfect one for the jobs that need doing whether in the home or on a building site.

Using a Business Directory to Maximise Revenue in the Sports Business

Sport these days is big business, with some of the major football clubs like Manchester United posting annual turnover figures of £80 million. This is dwarfed by the turnover of one of the big European clubs like Real Madrid, who have annual receipts of £186 million. As with any big business, the company must be managed effectively to ensure success both on and off the pitch. An interest in sport alone is not enough to manage one of these big companies; the managing director also needs to be effective in strategy, purchasing and maximising profit for his shareholders.

 

One of the ways that maximising profit and reducing costs can be achieved is by minimising the time spent seeking out new suppliers or evaluating alternatives when looking to source new equipment. The easiest way of doing this is by using one of the business directories specifically targeted at the football market.

 

The largest UK based business directory in this sector is The Football Trade Directory, which is available both in an online and hard copy format. This business directory provides a one stop shop for both the small amateur football side and the major multinational enterprise. It lists every supplier and item of equipment that a football club could ever dream of purchasing, from boots and training gear to pies to sell to hungry fans at half time. Suppliers are listed with full contact details and the purchasing manager simply has to look at one page to have all the information required at their fingertips. The website also acts as a news page for keeping up to date with recent developments on the business side of the game such as stadium expansion plans and new sponsorship deals.

 

For a business operating in a market sector such as football boots, pies or electronic scoring equipment, it is essential that they are listed prominently in the relevant trade and business directory. This will ensure that all clubs throughout the UK are aware of whom they are and what they do, and will bring in business from areas where they have not had a presence before, or do not have sales rep coverage. Even a deal with a small, local amateur side will help get the company’s name known in the market place, and a good job well done will increase reputation and help trigger repeat sales. Links through to the company’s own website from the business directory give the scope for adding in testimonials from happy customers or case studies highlighting a particularly interesting project or customer that the company has worked with. Listing in a business directory is an essential for this sector, not a luxury.