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 highly qualified professional who has experience in planning, designing and the construction of buildings and the oversight of construction projects.

Also, one is not considered an architect until he or she has properly passed all the necessary education and accredited programs to procure a license in order to practice architecture. When practicing architecture, the architect can have free reign to design the building or group of buildings, as well as the space around it that still counts as part of the property. 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 concrete reality. If you have great ambitions for your home or 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 thought out, 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 bogged down 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 construction begins. 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 charge 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 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 used when you want to make a fabulous 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 splendid
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 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 rudimentry
and your budget may be tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a good warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a selection 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 key need for these buyers is a prominent and premium reproduction of their logo. Sign written or printed Tents can be as boring as a website address or they can be a design masterpiece.

Remember, if it is for commercial purposes, the aim is to build recognition 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 formulating 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 amateur 24 hour carpet cleaner show up to repair your water damaged carpets. These are the signs you must be careful of:

Overcharging. An amateur water restoration restorer may pack the job up with extra extras. E.g. using dehumidification to dry the damaged carpets when it is not needed.

Using the correct equipment. They can borrow equipment from hire places to dry the carpet. This is acceptable, but an established water damage cleaner will possess all their equipment so they provide a quicker response and hopefully a better value job.

The right moisture metre. If they don’t have the choice moisture meter, they cannot tell if the carpet is fixed. This furthers the danger of future mould. Mould removal may be required in the future.

Specialised. There are a whole lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage repair jobs on the “side.” i.e. they do not complete this type of repair everyday. Be wary of it. Repairing water damage to carpets is an art. Reinstalling carpets on the gripper strips needs to be taken on by a professional, otherwise carpets can be permanently damaged.

You might be pondering, how do I find a proper Flood Restoration professional? Below I have selected some signifiers to look for when you call around for a carpet flood damage business:

How large is their Yellow Pages advertisement: This can indicate how much work they have already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad slot can cost upwards of $50 000. So if they have paid for a larger ad, you get some assurance that they are professionals.

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

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

Do Insurance companies hire them for their own water damage jobs? This is a very good indicator. If insurance companies source them, the business is bound to be superb at their skill. Insurance companies often use the companies that provide them the top value for the money.

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

What sort of commitment can you get for them with a phone call? Ask if you can pin them down to a rate for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they can’t give you a price for this only, you know they are not willing to assist you, so go elsewhere.

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

If you follow these tips you are sure to choose a Flood Damage Restoration business who knows what they are doing.

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 frequently asked by parents 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 face malpractice suits. The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your clients the bad news that their condition will be terminal.
  • Working Hours: Emergency call outs are very unlikely. This is welcome news 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 doctor or dentist , the pay is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the most fulfilling aspects of working as podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will experience 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 provide you a great deal of opportunity to help eliminate the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry affords 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 works under the direction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can work as a podiatrist are those with a podiatry degree . 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 across the world that do not train 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 especially in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a large range of complaints. There may be an ingrown toenail or two, a debilitating corn, a sporting injury, some lower back pain and at least a couple of painful arches . The primary skill required in being a good podiatrist is to be an effective problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique condition requiring a well considered solution.

How do you become 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 know the process it will save you money and get you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Knowing your business and how you are currently positioned in your market.
In order to create a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full understanding of your business including your products, and/or services and more importantly their market position. You then have to acknowledge 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 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 effective development. The more interaction and information you confer 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 take the general layout of this concept and then formulate the inner page template. It is this template that will be replicated 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 preserved when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is inferred 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 getting the point across to the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; present a decent amount of content but formulate it in a way that a reader may acquire a summary of what you are trying to present 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 comprehend 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 made 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, 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 avialable on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to bring your site onlive make sure you have finished the above testing step until you are happy 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, indicates the service and demonstrates 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 created the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it redone. This is redundant and may cause difficulties when trying to replecate the logo exactly as created 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 suggested that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will assist in portraying 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 Nike logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an extremely important decision as it not only could affect the output costs but can also limit your output use. Think about the end result and what you will be putting 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 confirm that it includes all the files needed for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Ensure 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 difficult 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
legible.

Tip 7
Make sure that you acquire 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 sent business cards to print and collected yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been thrilled to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then recognized that the crucial tag line is gone or your logo has been wrecked.

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 aid you steer the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you extend 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 utilize 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 specify to the business and team.

Step 4 : Make certain you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding lies on all the different pieces of collateral that may be reproduced.

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

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

Step 7 : Confirm 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 affirmed as correct.

Have your Style Guide completed and as tight as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advocate a training session – whereby your design studio arrives and trains your staff on how to utilize 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 purchasing a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: would I take an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, short for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, an acronym for ‘digital light processing’ are the two top projector imaging technologies. With so many business brands and types available, it can be confusing for consumers to make a choice between those technologies. The fact is that LCD projectors give better image quality and colour accuracy. The following article explains why DLP projectors struggle with projecting a comparable rate of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your home covering your bedroom window. By twisting a rod you can make the shutters open or closed, depending on if you want to let light in or not. And this is exactly how an LCD projector operates. Each pixel works like a single shutter on a set of blinds to either shine light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is made up of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as the professionals like to call them. Each pixel element functions to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point at which the projector is switched on to when the picture reaches your screen is absolutely important with regard to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors direct white light from the lamp by cutting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which project the coloured light to 3 individual LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels cast the elements of the image by turning each pixel on and off. The pixels are then combined in a glass prism to send the projector image. Something to realise about LCD projectors is that all three colours are projected onto your wall simultaneously. The way a DLP projector works is very different and even how an image shows up is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is processed 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 casts a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors described above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to produce the image elements. The elements of the image are cast in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eyes will then put together each coloured element of the image into a single whole image. Using LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to form the highest brightness and fantastic colour accuracy. In DLP, only one colour is available at once, and so causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP manufacturers have included a white segment into the colour wheel to improve general brightness, but this further damages colour accuracy.

I see in forums all the time that DLP has a higher contrast ratio and thus must be better quality. For those who are 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 machine is able to produce. DLP projectors do possess high contrast specifications as compared to a majority of LCD projectors. At first glance, this seems to be a benefit, however, in reality, 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 see includes moving images, DLP projection technology also creates image marks, or ‘artifacts’. The most commonplace artifact that a DLP projector shows with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is incontrovertible in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are pulled up. LCD projectors do not have this downside because all colours are projected with the others. DLP designers have created 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to fix the colour break up issue, but the price tag of these projectors make them impractical for most businesses and consumers.

Another differentiation between LCD and DLP is how they match the balance for the refractive qualities of light. Think back to high school science, and remember when they taught you how various colours of light refract differing amounts when passing through the same lens. The disadvantage with DLP projectors is that they use the one same panel with the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are not the same and refract light in different ways. Usually with a DLP projector, a superfluous yellow colour will come up above and a superfluous blue will appear below an image of something as simple as a straight black line. While being built LCD projectors can be adapted to remove these effects on the projected image, as each colour is projected on a separate LCD panels.

The one veritable benefit (excluding price) with taking a DLP projector is its overall smaller size and weight. However, this is only relevant in regard to mobility and has to be traded off against the image plusses of LCD projectors. If the result of the picture quality is crucial to you, then the choice is no-brainer. Go for an LCD projector! LCD projectors will definitely show bright, colourful images with fewer image imperfections. If you want to find out more about LCD technology in more detail, have a gander at this spectacular resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any further questions, visit Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager with Projector Central, Australia’s leading online retailer for projectors. Based in Brisbane, Projector Central has served 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 became a leisure craft used mostly by royalty and later by the burghers in the canals as well as the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing yachts was incidental, coming out of private games. English yachting started 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 called Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, reigned 1685–88), built more yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 bet. Yachting rose as fashionable with the affluent and royalty, but after that time the fashion did not last.

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

Yacht racing began in some stipulated manner on the Thames in the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland funded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to monarchy in 1820, it came to be named the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded following a racing dispute, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht group had been formed at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal sponsorship made the Solent – the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight – the continuing setting of British yacht racing. The organisation at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the accession of George IV. All members were required to have boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for large bids were held, and the society life was superlative. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats grew in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting was first accomplished with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English held power. Sailing was mostly for fun and reached its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which sailed on the Mediterranean Sea and set a minimum of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in that 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 founded the New York Yacht Club aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts were within the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the later half of the 19th century. The design of large yachts was originally heavily impacted by the win 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.) was named after its success at Cowes in 1851. Early yachts were not designed and built in a contemporary sense, with just a model for an outline. Not until the second half of the 19th century did what was labeled naval architecture come into action. Not until the 1920s did the application of the research of aerodynamics do for the design of sails and rigging what science had done earlier for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats had been individually custom-built, there arose a desire for handicapping boats as this was previous to the one-design class boats were designed. Hence, a rating rule was created, which resulted in the International Rule, accepted in 1906 and amended in 1919. In modern times, one of the fastest flourishing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are built to single specifications in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing such boats can be done on an even keel with no handicapping necessary. A prime example is the uniform International America’s Cup Class adopted for yachts in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

As long as yachting was an activity mostly for the aristocracy and the affluent, expense was no problem, and the size of boats increased, in both length and weight. The promotion and popularity of smaller boats came in the later half of the 19th century in the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A voyage around the world (1895–98) sailed single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray demonstrated the seaworthiness of small boats. Later in the 20th century, particularly after World War II, smaller racing and recreational craft became more common, down to the dinghy, a favourite training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, craft of less than 3 m were traveled in single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
After the decade 1840–50, during which steam began to take the place of sail power in commercial vessels, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were favoured increasingly in leisure vessels. Bigger power yachts were furthered to a high degree, and long-distance travel became a fond pastime of the affluent. The early power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then gave rise to boats powered by the completely submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As in the case of naval and merchant yachts, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht archetype for many years. By the latter half of the 20th century, many yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were exclusively power yachts with gasoline or diesel engines.

During the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the construction of large steam yachts. Notably of these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, with triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was operated by a crew of over 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 during World War II.

As more sizeable and better quality internal-combustion engines were created, many large boats were using them for power. The establishment of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, advanced in World War I. During the decade that followed, bigger power-yacht building flourished, reaching a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. From that period the largest auxiliary yacht manufactured was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The manufacture of big power craft declined in 1932, and the trend after that was in preference of smaller, less expensive boats. From World War II, many small naval craft were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting had become a internationally popular competition enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen personally owning and upkeeping their own small leisure boats. The popularity of craft and yachtsmen has increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas along the sea but also on inland waterways and lakes.

Looking for boat cleaning Sunshine Coast ? Talk to Elite Yacht Services. We do great work at competitive prices.


Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

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

Taxes can be categorized by the effect they have on the distribution of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind that imposes the same relative requirement on all taxpayers—i.e., in the case where tax liability and income grow in relative proportion. A progressive tax is recognised by a greater than proportional growth in the tax liability in relation to the growth in income, and a regressive tax is recognisable by a less than proportional increase in the related burden. Ergo, progressive taxes are thought of as removing inequity in income distribution, but regressive taxes are found to increase these inequalities.

The taxes that are usually believed to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are declarably progressive, however, may become less so in the upper-income categories—in particular if a taxpayer is allowed to reduce his tax base by nominating deductions or by leaving out some particular income elements from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates which are applied to lower-income groups would also be more progressive if personal exemptions are declared.

Income measured over a given year does not definitely give the most accurate measure of taxpaying requirements. For example, transitory rises in income could be saved, and within temporary declines in income a taxpayer might decide to pay for consumption by decreasing savings. So, if taxation is regarded with “permanent income,” it will be less regressive (or more progressive) than when held in comparison with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except luxuries) are usually regressive, because the dissemination of individual income consumed or spent for specific goods declines as the level of personal income rises. Poll taxes (also called head taxes), calculated as a set amount per capita, clearly are regressive.

It is not simple to term corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally because of uncertainty around the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of determining who bears the tax burden lays essentially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being debated.

In assessing the economic purpose of taxation, it is essential to differentiate between various concepts of tax rates. The statutory rates will include those specified in legislature; commonly these are marginal rates, but occasionally they are average rates. Marginal income tax rates note the fraction of incremental income that is demanded by taxation when income grows by one dollar. Therefore, if tax liability grows by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax legislation often contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that increase as income increases. Heavy analysis of marginal tax rates need to review provisions as well as the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) lessens by 20 cents for each one-dollar rise in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than nominated in the statutory rates. Since marginal rates signify how after-tax income changes in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the necessary ones for considering incentive effects of taxation. It is even more difficult to understand the marginal effective tax rate applicable to income from business and capital, since it may depend on such considerations as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem determines that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nil under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates display the portion of total income that is paid in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is in consideration for considering the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate increases with income. Average income tax rates generally increase with income, both because personal allowances are provided for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; conversely, preferential treatment of income received predominantly by high-income households may dwarf these effects, forcing regressivity, as indicated by average tax rates that decrease as income rises.

For MYOB Brisbane expert advice, contact Stone Consulting today. Stone Consulting also runs MYOB training in Brisbane.