Alternative fuels including wind, solar, geo-thermal, ethanol, coal seam gas and natural gas.

Why You Should Hire an Architect

Posted: September 8th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments »

An architect is a well trained expert who has experience in planning, designing and the construction of buildings and the management of construction projects.

Also, one is not considered an architect until he or she has properly passed all the necessary courses and accredited programs to procure a license in order to practice architecture. When practicing architecture, the architect can have freedom to design the building or group of buildings, as well as the space around it that still counts as part of the project. These ideas form the planning stage of the project and can take months to finalise.

The reason why architects are so important to the success of any building plan is simple: they can put your ideas into a feasible and plausible reality. If you have great ambitions for your home or business, then an architect can ensure that those plans will come true.

But aside from the actual design of the building, there are so many other complex factors (beyond the scope of inexperienced people) that need to be taken into account, and these are also covered in the responsibilities of the architect.

For example, there are some architectural firms that not only design the building for you, but they also prepare the tender documents for the pricing of the entire project, and are the ones that most commonly talk to the contractors, stakeholders and any third parties involved in the assignment.

When you hire an architect, you will not have to be confused by by all the small technical details. All you have to be concerned about is if whether or not the building is coming along according to the plans originally established with the help of the architect.

The architect is also very helpful before the actual construction. If you do not have an actual plan but do have an idea on what you want your structure to look like, then that is where the professional can help you on the endeavor.

All you have to do is to present them with some ideas and they can be the ones to take care of site analysis, the assistance you may need in zoning and planning, any environmental impact studies you may need, tendering and contract negotiation with the contractor and his men, and so much more.

The architect that you hire will be involved in all of the aspects of your project. Essentially, you are hiring an architect because you require a trained professional to take carriage of planning and designing the building or dwelling as well as provide the necessary feedback and support throughout the entire project.

Hiring an architect is like taking on a business partner for your project, one who is knowledgeable, knows the risk areas around the project and knows how to minimize those risks, has the necessary people skills to work with contractors in order to hire additional resources within budget.

A good architect will treat the project as though it is his or her own and will devise creative ideas and plans to the manager, and discuss in great detail the advantages, disadvantages, any hindrances of a particular strategy.

These are just some of the many important benefits and key reasons why you should engage an architect. There are so many more reasons that really prove that any project worth going through with has to be under the supervision of a highly qualified architect. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that you have a dream construction project, and your architect is the person to make all these dreams become reality.

Looking for Brisbane architects? For renovation architects Brisbane, contact Dion Seminara Architecture. They are leading home improvement architects. Brisbane office is located in Morningside.


Tents and Marquees

Posted: September 2nd, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

marquees-pavillion-3Event Tents, such as wedding tents are for when you want to make a splendid outdoor scene. They are generally structures installed at a location for a period of time.

Why A Tent?
Commercial Tents are used as protection from the sun, rain or a gathering place. They can make a stunning and creative atmosphere for any event.

Tent Rentals
Tents can be rented or leased for a day, a weekend, weeks, months, etc. For one or two day events, the Tents are usually installed a few days before the event, depending on scheduling and weather, and remain until a few days after the event. Many rentals are quoted for the entire week, allowing for time to set up and design the interior and exterior. Some Tents are built for exceedingly long-term events and have been installed and remain installed for years.

What Kind of Tent Should I Rent?
Tent rental companies come in all sizes – from small-sized companies with just a few Tents to exceedingly large-sized companies – carrying dozens of several sizes and styles of Tents. Some general rental companies rent from tent rental companies to accommodate their client’s needs.

You may know you want to use a standard Tent for your event, or your event planner may already have in mind to use a Tent. You have options! There are lots of other spectacular
structures and Tent styles out there. Some are unique and make a statement of their own. Ask the rental company you’re working with for a list of the type styles they have on hand.

Usually, the different types of Tents available in most companies are (the names vary depending of the company):

Folding Tents Easy and fast to use and always in demand. Very popular, because usually is the less expensive tent. Fast, flexible, cost effective and long lasting.

They are used by:

  • Corporate brands across most industries
  • Government & Council buyers
  • SME business marketers
  • Franchisees
  • Agricultural exhibitors
  • Emergency services & community groups
  • Folding Tents create brand exposure opportunities.
  • You can reach your audience at the right time, in the right place with the right message.

Inflatable Tents An exciting and lively alternative Tent. Easy & fast to set up. Be sure they have removable printed roof because in that way you can share the investment with other licences.

What Size Tent Will I Need?

The size of Tent depends on a few factors:

1. The number of guests you expect
2. Layout or seating arrangements or the style of event:

* Reception with what type of tables?
* Speaker engagement with what type of seating?
* Will you need a dance floor?
* Will you need display areas for your products?

If you are interested in a Tent, you can expect to need about 2,000 – 2,500 square feet for 200-seated guests. That could mean a 40 x 60 size Tent (Always ask the Tent rental vendor directly and they’ll give you the best informationabout the size of Tent you’ll need).

Therefore, the key rule is; know what you are going to use your tent for. The choice of tents is incredible, almost on par with the choice of cars that you can buy.

So if you need a tent for the family BBQ, for example, your needs are fairly basic
and your budget may be tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a solid warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a diverse range of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to advertise yourself, you can have your names printed for around $150-$300. Printing logos usually be a little more expensive.

In the last 5 years, portable Tents have become important to businesses for their marketing. The key need for these buyers is a prominent and premium reproduction of their logo. Sign written or printed Tents can be as dull as a website address or they can be a design masterpiece.

Remember, if it is for commercial purposes, the aim is to build awareness of your company with your printed Tent. Printed corporate Tents range in price from $1500- $4000. Good ones will really catch your eye.

Once you have decided on what sort of buyer you are and how you are going to use your Tents, a good Tents company will offer you a choice of frames, a warranty of between 3-5 years and help with designing the printing-if you need it.

For more information about tents, contact Extreme Marquees. We have a range of cheap tents, for all sorts of home and business applications.


Repairing Flooded Carpet: A cheap job is a good job right? Wrong….

Posted: August 18th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Don’t let a novice 24 hour carpet cleaner attempt to repair your water damaged carpets. These are the worries you must be aware of:

Overcharging. An unprofessional water restoration technician may fill the job up with unnecessary steps. E.g. using dehumidification for drying the damaged carpets is not needed.

Not using the correct equipment. They sometimes use equipment from hire businesses for the carpet. This is permissible, but an experienced water damage cleaner will have all their equipment to enable a quicker response and hopefully a better value job.

Moisture metre. If they don’t have the right moisture meter, they can’t see when the carpet is dry enough. This increases the problem of mould in future. Removal of this in future may be required.

Specialised. There are a whole lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage repair jobs on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t those who deal with this sort of repair often. Be careful of this. Repairing carpets is an art. Taking carpet off the gripper strips then reinstalling them is best to be taken on by a professional, otherwise it can be damaged irrepairably.

You might be asking, how do I pick a professional Flood Restoration Business? Below I have listed some things to check for when you call around for a carpet flood damage business:

The size of their Yellow Pages advertisement: This can indicate how much repair work they have already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad can cost around $50 000. So if they have invested in a large ad, you can at least have some assurance that they are established.

Where do they show in Google? The higher the rate in Google, the more “online votes” there are for their business.

What Qualifications do they have? The minimum qualification required is a IICRC qualification in Applied Structural Drying and Water Damage Restoration.

Do Insurance companies hire them for water damage jobs? This is a great indicator. If insurance companies hire them, the business is very likely to be efficient at their job. Insurance companies tend to use the companies that grant them the better value for the money.

How much Equipment do they have? They should own about 100 Air movers. If they own this many, this probably means that they have been established for a while. Our business took 8 years to acquire that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What kind of commitment can you get for them with a phone call? Try to pin them down to a price for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they won’t give you a fee for this in the least, you know they are not going to serve you, so go with someone else.

Response Time – Our Water Damage business in Brisbane is premised to a 59 minute response time for water damage emergency. The job needs to be done ASAP. Mould can come in a 24 hour period.

If you focus on these tips you are sure to get a Flood Damage Restoration business who can do the job right.

If you have carpet water damage Brisbane, call us for flooded wet carpet drying. Brisbane storm season is approaching and you may need storm damage carpet cleaning. Brisbane and surrounding areas serviced.


Podiatry as a Career in Australia

Posted: August 13th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

As a practicing podiatrist in Brisbane, Australia, I am often asked by parents if podiatry would be a good career for a school leaver to contemplate . There are many things to recommend a career in podiatry including:

  • You can be self employed: This is a opportunity that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even General Practitioners . Big Business controls a lot of health practices. Consider how often you see an independent optometrist these days – can they compete on price with the multinational chains?
  • Legal Issues: In Australia (unlike the USA where things are very different), podiatrists very, very rarely face litigation . The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your patients the bad news that their condition will be terminal.
  • Working Hours: Emergency call outs are very unlikely. This is a desirable fact for those among us who like their sleep uninterrupted.
  • Financial Reward: Whilst it is true that podiatry doesn’t pay as well as being a medical practitioner or dentist , the remuneration is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the best things about a career as a podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will see a plethora of bite-sized jobs each day, many with a cure you can provide immediately. From someone that has worked with unanimously grumpy customers in a past career, believe me when I tell you, it makes the day much more pleasant when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will provide you a lot of opportunity to help eliminate the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry provides a practitioner the power to determine their own course of action for the benefit of their patients. This is unlike a career in nursing for example where one acts under the instruction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can work as a podiatrist are those with a podiatry qualification. The clear roles that this demarcates relieves the need to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Like to travel? There are many places around the world that do not make their own podiatrists including Tasmania, the Northern Territory, all of Asia and all of the Middle East. If you want to work your way around the world, Australian podiatrists can gain employment in any Commonwealth country and are particularly in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a huge range of complaints. There might be an ingrown toenail or two, a painful corn, a sporting injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful plantar fascias. The key to being a good podiatrist is to be an effective problem solver. Every patient is an individual with a unique complaint requiring a well considered solution.

How do you train as a podiatrist ?

To qualify as a podiatrist which can be studied at available fromsix Australian Universities:

  • Curtin University
  • La Trobe University
  • Charles Sturt University
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • University of South Australia
  • University of Western Sydney.

Last year, the entry score for the QUT was OP 8.

Stephanie Cosgrove graduated as a podiatrist from QUT in 1990 and with a Master’s degree in Applied Science (Podiatry) in 1996. Since 1991, she has worked in private practice as a Podiatrist Brisbane. She received three university prizes during her studies, including the award for excellence in design and manufacture of orthotics. Brisbane has been the site of her private practice since 1991 which has grown to four locations and eleven staff. If you want to Walk Without Pain consider a visit to Brisbane’s most innovative podiatry practice today. Call for an appointment now on 1300 A1 Feet.


Eight Steps to Great Web Design

Posted: August 7th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

Take control of getting your site actualized by a developer and understand the process it will save you money and attain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Knowing your business and how you are currently established in your market.
In order to create a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full comprehension of your business including your products, and/or services and more importantly their market position. You then have to consider how you want to explain your business and what it offers in 7 seconds or less. Sounds impossible? Well that is the average time that a user will consider the point “is this site I searched for?”.

2. Budget and estimation
Have a budget in mind and don’t be afraid to let the developers know what it is. In saying this: BE REALISTIC, $500 will never see a great web site created, nor will they be anything left in the bank to market it.

3. The creative process
Be loaded with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can acquire an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will construct a good profile and analyze not only what type of site to construct for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for efficient development. The more interaction and information you give them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by achieving what you want 1st time round. Check with the designers on how many rounds of changes come with the contract, most will allow for a total conceptual redesign only once and 2 rounds of changes after that.

4. Production and Content
After the home page design is created, the developers will more than likely acquire the general layout of this concept and then create the inner page template. It is this template that will be replicated for most of your pages for your site.
Present your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t get too creative with the document fonts etc. as these will not be kept when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is preferred that you do use bolding, underlining, headings and sub heading though ,as these highlights are transferred into the site and are very important later on in not only interacting with the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; present a decent amount of content but provide it in a way that a reader may get a summary of what you are trying to infer across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

5. Development Programming and CMS
If your website contains Content Managed Areas (CMS) or has any other dynamic sections the developers will wrap your design around a content management program such as Joomla or Drupal or they may have a custom built system. Make sure that you get to see how the CMS system works on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. it is essential that you know that you can utilize and understand the system when your site is complete.

6. Testing and training
We work closely with the developers to test your site especially if there are any CMS or special programs that have been created for you. You can guarantee if it is has just been written for you then it will not work 100% first time round. This is a where things can get ugly in the process you must understand the way the program operates and test it as if you were normal website user. If it doesn’t make sense to you, odds are it won’t make sense to your audience. Make sure you test your website on more than just your browser, try to test it on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. All of these browsers are on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to put your site onlive make sure you have finished the above testing step until you are pleased that this website is the best representation of your business / product it can be. Remember even though you can change things after going live it is still a poor reflection on your business if there are spelling mistakes or broken images when you launch.

8. Marketing
There is little point in having a website if nobody visits it, make sure as part of you contract you have discussed search engine optimisation and or search engine marketing as part of your website build. This is the absolute most important factor of the whole process. If you are the only one looking at your site then you are in trouble.

Remember Search Engine Optimisation is about 30% Onsite (getting your site correct for Search Engine to index correctly) and 70% Promotion. Any developer who tells you otherwise hasn’t been in the industry too long.

For more information about web design Brisbane, contact Web Site Blue. Our web designers understand marketing as well as design.


Tips to Creating a New Business Logo

Posted: August 6th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

A logo is a crucial step to creating a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face conveys the tone of your business, indicates the service and reveals the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the creation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they need to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that created the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is unnecessary and may cause difficulties when trying to recreate the logo exactly as determined originally.

We have created some basic tips you for to think about when creating a logo. Hopefully these will help you from experiencing any future obstacles.

Tip 1
First things first – you need to decide if you would like your logo to have an accompanying icon. It is hinted that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will help in getting a clear message across to your target audience.

An icon can add an extra element to your branding in that you could use the icon on its own on collateral where perhaps you are sighting for a more illustrative finish without losing recognition.

A perfect example of this is the well-known and executed Fedex logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an extremely important decision as it not only could alter the output costs but can also limit your output use. Think about the end result and what you will be bringing your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

Tip 3
Assure you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and assure that it includes all the files required for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Insure you have a copy of your logo as a PDF – with the text converted to curves.

Tip 4
Using images in your logo is not very easy to accomplish. For example it is troublesome to reverse into black and white. Images also have limitations when it comes to size – they can only be reproduced to a certain size before they start pixilation.

Tip 5
Using gradients in your logo is not recommended. This too can have limitations when it comes to output for ie: gradients are hard to reproduce when embroidering fabrics.

Tip 6
Assure sure the font is legible. Some logos need to be reproduced on small pieces of collateral ie: post stamps. It is important that in this case the text is
legible.

Tip 7
Make certain that you get a copy of your logo in CMYK high resolution 300 dpi (for printing use) and RGB 72 dpi(for web use).

Tip 8
It is important to have a style guide of your logo. It will clearly show you how to use your logo so it looks exactly the same every time it is reproduced. This allows you to keep your corporate image consistent.

Tip 9
Make sure that you get a letter from the design studio declaring that you own the copyright to your logo.

If you follow these tips then not only will you accept a well-designed logo but you will also own the artwork. And when it comes to reproducing your collateral you will be doing it the most cost effective way.

For logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact graphic design Brisbane today for a free two hour consultation.


How to Create a Style Guide

Posted: July 31st, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

How many times have you sent business cards to print and procured yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been fired up to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then noticed that the crucial tag line is nowhere to be found or your logo has been wrecked.

There is only one way to thwart this from happening and that is to create a style guide. Not only will a style guide help you direct the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you fortify your brand recognition – which many argue is one of the strongest selling tools.

We have placed the below steps together for you as a starting point.

Step 1 : Mark the audience for your Style Guide. Is this for staff to put to work in-house or is this for suppliers and contractors to refer to?

Step 2 : Outline what your output uses are. This is important because you will need different logos and file formats for example, black and white publication adverts in comparison to vehicle graphics.

Step 3 : Define the tone for the copy and content required. For example you may requirecopy rules for printed content and then copy rules for website content.

Content rules cover all punctuation rules and how to refer to the business and team.

Step 4 : Confirm you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding sits on all the different pieces of collateral that may be repeated.

Step 5 : Assure to include any contributing logos or logos of business that are affiliated with you. It’s also important that you issue a copy of the layout to these companies to guarantee they agree with the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

Step 6 : Insure that grammar, spelling and contact details are correct.

Step 7 : Ensure that when suppliers are using the Style Guide they understand~know~discern~apprehend} that a proof needs to be dispatched~sent~mailed~commissioned}to you to be confirmed as correct.

Make your Style Guide finished and as secure as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advise a training session – whereby your design studio comes in and trains your staff on how to put to work the Style Guide and most importantly your brand.

For graphic design Brisbane, logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today. We help your brand build business.


Projectors: LCD Verses DLP (The downfall of DLP technology)

Posted: July 19th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

The most typical question heard when acquiring a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: would I buy an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, an acronym for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, standing for ‘digital light processing’ are the two most popular projector imaging technologies. With so many different brands and models available, it can be difficult for clients to choose between both technologies. Ultimately LCD projectors give far better image quality and colour accuracy. The following article explains why DLP projectors struggle with projecting a similar standard of image quality.

Think of a set of blinds in your home for your bedroom window. By pulling a rod you can make the shutters open or closed, according to whether you want to let light in or not. Such is exactly how an LCD projector functions. Each pixel functions like a unique shutter on a set of blinds to either pass light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is formed of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as the professionals like to call them. Each pixel element operates to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point when the projector is turned on to when the image reaches your screen is ultimately significant with regard to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors project white light from the lamp by cutting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which send the coloured light to 3 stand alone LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels make the elements of the image by processing each pixel on and off. The pixels are then meshed in a glass prism to create the projector image. Something important to understad about LCD projectors is that all three colours are directed onto your wall all at the same time. The way a DLP projector works is totally different and even how an image looks is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is projected through a turning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This approach to projecting an image creates a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors mentioned above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to form the image elements. The elements of the image are cast in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s vision will then draw each coloured element of the image into a whole image. With LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to form high brightness and superb colour accuracy. In DLP, only one colour is available at once, causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP manufacturers have placed a white segment for the colour wheel to improve brightness generally, but this further detracts from colour accuracy.

I read in forums all the time that DLP provides a higher contrast ratio and thus must be better. For those who are uncertain, the contrast ratio is a measure of a display system defined as the ratio of the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the technology is able to produce. DLP projectors do possess high contrast specifications compared to a majority of LCD projectors. At one glance, this must be a benefit, however, in the real world, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room when the projector is used. Do not be fooled by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you wish to bring to life needs moving images, DLP projection technology can also have image errors, or ‘artifacts’. The most common artifact that a DLP projector forms with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is unavoidable in DLP systems because moving images change between the time red, blue and green colours are projected. LCD projectors do not have this problem because every colour is processed at once. DLP manufacturers have developed 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to solve the colour break up problem, but the expense of these projectors make them not practical for the large part of businesses and consumers.

Another difference between LCD and DLP is how they make up for the refractive qualities of light. Take yourself back to high school science, and they taught you how various colours of light refract different amounts when shone through the same lens. The disadvantage with DLP projectors is that they utilise the one same panel for the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously not the same and refract light in different ways. Generally with a DLP projector, a superfluous yellow colour will appear above and an extra blue will appear below an image containing something as simple as a straight black line. During manufacturing LCD projectors can be set to take away these effects on the projected image, because each colour is refracted on a separate LCD panels.

The sole real buy point (excluding price) with taking a DLP projector is its overall smaller size and weight. However, this is only relevant for portability and cannot be traded off against the image superiority of LCD projectors. If resulting picture quality is crucial to you, then the choice is a no-brainer. Choose an LCD projector! LCD projectors will constantly create bright, colourful images with fewer image blips. If you wish to know more about LCD technology in more detail, see this spectacular resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any additional questions, go to Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager for Projector Central, Australia’s premier online shop for projectors. Brisbane-based, Projector Central has serviced Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in Brisbane and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.


Yachting and Yacht Clubs

Posted: July 16th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

As the Dutch found preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht became a leisure craft used initially by royalty and then by the burghers in the canals and then in the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, borne from private challenges. English yachting started with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his restoration to the English monarchy in 1660, the city of Amsterdam gave him a 20-metre (66-foot) leisure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he named Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, sovereign 1685–88), ordered for other yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 punt. Yachting rose as fashionable for the affluent and royalty, but after that period the trend did not last.

The first yacht association in the British Isles, the Water Club, was started around about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard association, and had much naval panoply and rigour. The closest thing to a race was the “chase,” in which the “fleet” pursued a fictional enemy. The club persisted, largely as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, when merging with other groups, it became the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen in some organized method on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland instigated the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to sovereignty in 1820, it was named the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded after a racing dispute, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht association had been initiated at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal patronage made the Solent – the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight – the continued setting of British racing. The association at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the rise of George IV. Each member was required to own boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for high stakes were held, and the society life was splendid. It came to be that the Royal Yachting Club boats were raised in size to over 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and went on when the English took power. Sailing was largely for leisure and found its epitome in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which cruised on the Mediterranean Sea and established a minimum of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in the area from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht association, the Detroit Boat Club, was started in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The first sailing yachts followed the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through the latter half of the 19th century. The craft of bigger yachts was initially largely affected by the victory of America, which was created by George Steers for a group headed by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) had its namesake after its success at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and built in today’s sense, with merely a model for an outline. Not until the latter half of the 19th century did what was called naval architecture come into being. Not until the 1920s did the employment of the research of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what such science had done earlier for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats had to be individually built, there came a desire for handicapping boats as this was before the one-design class boats were designed. Hence, a rating rule was created, which is found in the International Rule, adopted in 1906 and revised in 1919. In modern times, one of the most rapidly flourishing areas in the sailing industry is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to single dimensions in length, beam, sail area, and other aspects (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing for such boats can be had on an even playing field with no handicapping required. A prime example is the standard International America’s Cup Class taken on for yachts in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting belonged primarily for the nobility and the rich, cost was no problem, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The rise and preference of smaller yachts occurred in the later half of the 19th century out of the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A trip around the world (1895–98) led single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray made plain the hardiness of small boats. Following this in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and recreational craft became more popular, down to the dinghy, a favourite training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, craft of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Following the decade 1840–50, when steam was set to take the place of sail power in market vessels, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly favoured in pleasure craft. Large power yachts were progressed to a high degree, and long-distance travel was a favourite activity of the well off. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; they then gave rise to boats powered by the completely submerged screw or propeller kind of propulsion. Like naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht standard for a number of years. By the later half of the 20th century, many yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were solely power yachts containing gasoline or diesel engines.

During the last decade of the 19th century there was a boom in the design of large steam yachts. Conspicuous of these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, that had triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was manned by a crew of more than 150. The Mayflower, bought by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and saw active service for World War II.

As more sizeable and more dependable internal-combustion engines were produced, many big craft began using them for power. The development of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, advanced in World War I. From the decade after that, big power-yacht manufacture grew, climaxing in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that time the largest auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of bigger power yachts lessened from 1932, and the fashion after that was for smaller, less pricey boats. Following World War II, many small naval boats were sold to private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting is a widespread loved competition enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and upkeeping their own small pleasure craft. The amount of boats and sailors is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional areas on the sea but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

Posted: July 8th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

Taxes are distinguished by the impact they have on the distribution of income and wealth. A proportional tax is one that puts the same relative liability on all the taxpayers—i.e., in the case where tax liability and income grow in equal scale. A progressive tax is characterizable by a more than proportional growth in the tax liability in relation to the rise in income, and a regressive tax is characterized by a less than proportional increase in the comparative liability. So, progressive taxes are viewed as taking away inequalities in income distribution, but regressive taxes might have the effect of increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are usually thought to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, could become less so within the upper-income demographic—especially if a taxpayer is able to lower his tax base by claiming deductions or by removing some income components from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates if applied to lower-income categories will also be more progressive if such personal exemptions are claimed.

Income measured over the period of a given year may not necessarily give the most suitable measure of taxpaying requirement. For example, transitory rises in income might be saved, and during temporary declines in income a taxpayer may elect to finance consumption by taking from savings. Therefore, if taxation is made comparable alongside “permanent income,” it should be less regressive (or more progressive) than when it is compared with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except those on luxuries) are usually regressive, because the spread of own income consumed or spent for specific goods declines as the rate of personal income rises. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), nominated as a standard amount per capita, obviously are regressive.

It is hard to determine corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally due to the lack of certainty around the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of nominating who bears the tax burden is dependant for the most part on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being determined.

In considering the economic effects of taxation, it is essential to distinguish between several ideas of tax rates. The statutory rates will include those nominated in legislature; generally these are marginal rates, but occasionally they are median rates. Marginal income tax rates signify the fraction of incremental income that is taken by taxation when income grows by one dollar. Thus, if tax burden increases by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax laws often contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income increases. Structured analysis of marginal tax rates should consider provisions as well as the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) reduces by 20 cents for each one-dollar rise in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than specified by the statutory rates. Since marginal rates specify how after-tax income increases or decreases in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the relevant ones for assessing incentive effects of taxation. It is even more difficult to realise the marginal effective tax rate to apply to income from business and capital, since it may be reliant on factors including the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem grants that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nil under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates display the part of total income that is required in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is important for judging the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate grows with income. Average income tax rates commonly rise with income, both because personal allowances are provided for the taxpayer and dependents and also because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the other hand, preferential treatment of income received mostly by high-income households can dwarf these effects, forcing regressivity, as signified by average tax rates that lessen as income grows.

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