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 qualified expert who has experience in planning, designing and the construction of buildings and the oversight of construction jobs.

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 crucial 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 place of business, then an architect can make sure that those dreams 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 considered, 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 costing of 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 but important technical details. All you have to be concerned about is if whether or not the building is coming along according to your 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 project.

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 assignment.

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 hire 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 spectacular 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 stunning
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 varying 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 fun 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 dataabout 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 low. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a decent warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a range of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to promote 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 essential 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 extravaganza.

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 allow an unprofessional 24 hour carpet cleaner come to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the worries you have to be careful of:

Overcharging. An inexperienced water restoration cleaner may fill the job up with extra extras. E.g. using dehumidification on the damaged carpets isn’t always needed.

Correct equipment. They may borrow equipment from hire places to dry the carpet. This is ok to do, but an established water damage cleaner will have all their equipment so they provide a speedy response and hopefully a better value job.

The right moisture metre. If they don’t have the correct moisture meter, they cannot see if the carpet is repaired. This increases the potential of future mould. Removal of this would then be required in the future.

Specialised. There are a whole lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage restoration jobs on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t those who do this type of repair every day. Be aware of them. Restoring water damage to carpets is an art. Reinstalling carpets on the gripper strips should be done by a professional, otherwise they can be damaged irrepairably.

You might be wondering, how do I decide on a credible Flood Restoration techinician? Below I have selected some things to look for when you are calling around for a carpet flood damage business:

How big is their Yellow Pages ad: This can indicate how much repair work they do already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad slot can cost about $50 000. If they have got a larger ad, you get some expectation that they are established.

Where do they show in Google? The higher they are in Google, the more webpage clicks there are for the business.

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

Do Insurance companies hire them for carpet water damage jobs? This is a top indicator. If insurance companies use them, the business is likely to be excellent at their job. Insurance companies will use the companies that give them the better value for their money.

What Equipment do they have? They should own a minimum of 100 Air movers. If they have this many, this probably means that they have been going for some time. Our business took 8 years to acquire that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What level of commitment can you get from them on the phone? Try to pin them down to a set fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they don’t give you a package for this at the least, you know they are not interested in serving you, so move on.

Response Time – Our Water Damage business based in Brisbane commits to a 59 minute response time to a water damage emergency. The business needs to be done ASAP. Mould can appear inside a 24 hour period.

If you focus on these tips you are sure to get a Flood Damage Restoration technician who can get the job done 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 patients if podiatry would be a good career for a school leaver to enter. There are many things to recommend a career in podiatry including:

  • You can be self employed: This is a option that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even Family Doctors. 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 get sued . 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 dentist or doctor , the salary is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the most fulfilling 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 rewarding when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will afford you a great deal of opportunity to help eliminate the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry gives a clinician 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 requirement to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Feel the need to travel? There are many places across 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 be registered in any Commonwealth country and are especially 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, an excruciating corn, a sporting injury, some lower back pain and at least a couple of painful arches . The key to being a good podiatrist is to be an effective problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique complaint requiring a well considered solution.

How do you become a qualified as a podiatrist ?

To qualify as a podiatrist provided by six 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 conceived by a developer and understand the process it will save you money and attain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Understanding your business and how you are currently established in your market.
In order to formulate 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 examine 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 armed with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can accomplish an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will build a good profile and analyze not only what type of site to actualize for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for fast development. The more interaction and information you accord them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by becoming 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 formulate the inner page template. It is this template that will be repeated for most of your pages for your site.
Provide 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; provide a decent amount of content but formulate it in a way that a reader may acquire a summary of what you are trying to get 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 operate on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. You need to know that you can use 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 operate 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, chances 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 make your site live make sure you have finished the above testing step until you are content 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 building a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face conveys the tone of your business, gestures the service and displays the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the formation 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 formulated the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is redundant and may cause complications when trying to replecate the logo exactly as done 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 good example of this is the well-known and executed Fedex logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an crucial 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 assigning your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

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

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Make sure 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 regulate. 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
Insure 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
readable

Tip 7
Assure that you collect 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 get 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 dispatched business cards to print and picked up yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been enthusiastic to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then caught that the crucial tag line is nowhere to be found or your logo has been ruined.

There is only one way to prevent this from happening and that is to set up a style guide. Not only will a style guide assist you control 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 : Outline 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 want 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 needcopy 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 : Make sure 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 reprinted.

Step 5 : Confirm to insert any contributing logos or logos of business that are correlated with you. It’s also important that you mail a copy of the layout to these companies to ensure they approve 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 : Make sure 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.

Get your Style Guide completed 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 common question asked when purchasing a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: will I take an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, an acronym for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, an acronym for ‘digital light processing’ are the two top projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and models available, it can be confusing for clients to make a choice between both technologies. The simple fact of the matter is that LCD projectors provide better image quality and colour accuracy. The article below will explain why DLP projectors struggle with reproducing a similar grade of image quality.

Visualise a set of blinds in your house covering your bedroom window. By pulling a rod you can have the shutters open or closed, according to whether you want to let light in or not. And such is exactly how an LCD projector functions. Each pixel operates like a unique shutter on a set of blinds to either send light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is made up of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as experts like to call them. Each pixel element works 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 vitally significant with regard to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors process white light from the lamp by splitting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which send the coloured light to 3 separate LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels form the elements of the image by shining each pixel on and off. The pixels are then projected in a glass prism to form the projector image. Something to understad about LCD projectors is that all three colours are projected onto your screen at the same time. The way a DLP projector functions is very different and even the produced image looks is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is sent through a spinning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This method of forming an image requires a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as described above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to form the image elements. The elements of the image are sent in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eye will then put together each coloured element of the image into a complete image. In LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to create the top level of brightness and spectacular colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at any given time, causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP manufacturers have put a white segment into the colour wheel to improve all over brightness, but this also degrades colour accuracy.

I read in forums all the time that DLP offers a higher contrast ratio and thus must be superior quality. For those unsure, 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 capable of producing. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications as compared to most LCD projectors. Initially, this must be a plus, however, in real life, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room in which the projector is being utilised. Do not be duped by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you plan to project requires moving images, DLP projection technology can also have image errors, or ‘artifacts’. The most common artifact that a DLP projector displays 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 pulled up. LCD projectors do not have this downside because the colours are processed at once. DLP designers have formed 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to fix the colour break up issue, but the price tag of these projectors make them not practical for many businesses and consumers.

Another variance between LCD and DLP is how they compensate for the refractive qualities of light. Think back to high school science, and remember how different colours of light refract different amounts when passing through the same lens. The downfall with DLP projectors is that they have the one same panel with the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously different and refract light in different ways. Generally with a DLP projector, a spill of yellow colour will appear above and a superfluous blue will come through below an image of something as simple as a straight black line. In manufacturing LCD projectors can be adjusted to remove these effects on the projected image, because each colour is projected on isolated LCD panels.

The one true advantage (excluding price) with buying a DLP projector is its smaller size and weight. However, this is only relevant to transporting the device and needs to be traded off against the image benefits of LCD projectors. If resulting picture quality is vital to you, then the decision is simple. Choose an LCD projector! LCD projectors will constantly show bright, colourful images with fewer image imperfections. If you wish to ask more about LCD technology in more detail, check out this fabulous 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 top online shop for projectors. Brisbane-based, Projector Central has been servicing 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 came to dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the initial yacht was a pleasure craft used mostly by royalty and secondly by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Yacht racing was incidental, arising as private matches. English yachting originated with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English royalty in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he then named Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, sovereign 1685–88), ordered for more yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and returning, on a £100 bet. Yachting was found to be fashionable for the wealthy and royalty, but after that period the fashion did not last.

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

Yacht racing began in some ordered fashion on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to the throne in 1820, it was then called the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded with a racing fight, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht group had been started 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 yachting. The society at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the ascension of George IV. Each member was required to possess boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for high bids were held, and the society life was lovely. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats were raised in size to over 350 tons.

In North America, yachting was first accomplished with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and went on when the English held power. Sailing was mostly for leisure and reached its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which cruised on the Mediterranean Sea and set a minimum of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in the area from the late 19th century. The first continuing American yacht group, the Detroit Boat Club, was instigated in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens instigated the New York Yacht Club while aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts followed the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through the second half of the 19th century. The style of bigger yachts was originally largely affected by the victory of America, which was created by George Steers for a group led by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its victory at Cowes in 1851. The first yachts were not designed and manufactured in the modern sense, with just a model for an outline. Not until the second half of the 19th century did what was called naval architecture come into action. Not until the 1920s did the application of the research of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what such study had done earlier for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats had to be individually built, there came a desire for handicapping boats previous to the one-design class boats were built. Therefore, a rating rule came into being, which resulted in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and amended in 1919. In the present day, one of the rapidly flourishing areas in the field of sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are built to single dimensions in length, beam, sail area, and other elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing those boats can be done on an even keel with no handicapping necessary. A perfect example is the generic International America’s Cup Class adopted for yachts in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

As long as yachting was done largely for the royal and the wealthy, cost was no object, and the size of boats increased, in both length and weight. The rise and preference of smaller craft occurred in the second 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 journey around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray proved the seaworthiness of small yachts. Thereafter in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and recreational craft became commonplace, down to the dinghy, a favoured training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, boats of less than 3 m were traveled in single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Post the decade 1840–50, during which steam started to take the place of sail power in public craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly used in pleasure craft. Bigger power yachts were developed to a high element, and long-distance cruising turned into a fond occupation of the wealthy. The early power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; those then gave rise to yachts powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant vessels, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht fashion for many years. By the latter half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were exclusively power yachts that had gasoline or diesel engines.

During the last decade of the 19th century there was a rise in the design of large steam yachts. Notably within 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 at least 150. The Mayflower, purchased by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and gave active service in World War II.

As more sizeable and more dependable internal-combustion engines were developed, many large boats started using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, was furthered for World War I. From the decade after, big power-yacht creation flourished, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that time the biggest auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of large power yachts lessened after 1932, and the fashion after that was toward smaller, less pricey boats. From World War II, a lot of small naval boats were traded by private owners for conversion to yachts. At the late 20th century, yachting has become a globally popular competition enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and keeping their own small leisure yachts. The amount of boats and yachtsmen has increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas by the seacoasts 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 can be differentiated by the impact they have on the placement of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind that imposes the same relative requirement on all the taxpayers—i.e., where tax liability and income grow in relative scale. A progressive tax is recognisable by a more than proportional growth in the tax burden relative to the increase in income, and a regressive tax is recognisable by a less than proportional increase in the relative onus. Therefore, progressive taxes are viewed as removing the lack of equality in income distribution, whereas regressive taxes may result in increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are generally regarded as progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, could become less so within the upper-income categories—particularly if a taxpayer is allowed to lessen his tax base by declaring deductions or by taking some income components from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates which are applied to lower-income demographics could also be more progressive if personal exemptions are claimed.

Income measured over the course of a given period does not necessarily provide the most appropriate measure of taxpaying requirement. For example, transitory rises in income might be saved, and in temporary declines in income a taxpayer might opt to pay for consumption by decreasing savings. Therefore, if taxation is compared along with “permanent income,” it would be less regressive (or more progressive) than if made comparable with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except luxuries) are usually regressive, because the portion of own income consumed or spent on specific goods lowers as the amount of personal income grows. Poll taxes (also called head taxes), calculated as a flat amount per capita, obviously are regressive.

It is difficult to dictate corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally because of uncertainty surrounding the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of determining who bears the tax burden lays crucially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being determined.

In assessing the economic effects of taxation, it is essential to differentiate between differing ideas of tax rates. The statutory rates are dictated in legislation; usually these are marginal rates, but sometimes they are mean rates. Marginal income tax rates note the fraction of incremental income demanded by taxation when income grows by one dollar. Thus, if tax liability rises by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax laws generally contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income increases. Careful analysis of marginal tax rates need to consider provisions other than the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) decreases by 20 cents for each one-dollar increase in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than nominated by the statutory rates. Since marginal rates specify how after-tax income is changed in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the appropriate ones for regarding incentive effects of taxation. It is even more complicated to know the marginal effective tax rate to apply to income from business and capital, because it may be dependant on such factors as 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 zero under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates indicate the percentage of total income that is demanded in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is relevant for assessing the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate increases with income. Average income tax rates usually rise with income, both because personal allowances are permitted for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the flip side, preferential treatment of income received mostly by high-income households could dampen these effects, allowing regressivity, as signified by average tax rates that lessen as income rises.

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