Tents and Marquees

2010 September 2
by squadron

marquees-pavillion-3Event Tents, such as wedding tents are for when you want to make a fantastic 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 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 fundamental
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 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 exact 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 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.

New Zealand’s Top Holiday Cities

2010 August 23

New Zealand has a magnificent array of astounding landscapes. Like enormous mountain ranges, majestic coastlines, bountiful rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These panoramic wonders have all made New Zealand an appealing destination for all kinds of holidays.

Awesome travel packages and holiday specials are available on quality accommodation in modern city hotels and luxurious wilderness lodges at reduced prices. Among the top holiday cities in New Zealand, Queenstown, Christchurch and Auckland would definitely be there. Travel Online is a distinguished online specialist travel operator and provides wonderful tourist services for New Zealand. Travel Online provides an instant quote and booking service for accommodation in cities right across the country.

Queenstown
The international resort town of Queenstown is situated on the shoreline of Wakatipu Lake. This beautiful region is among the most scenic locations on the globe. Throughout the year adventurous and thrilling sports like jet boating, bungy jumping, and white water rafting take place. This town is the epicentre of the entire world’s bungy jumping activities too. With the advent of winter, the town gets transformed to an alpine wonderland with snowboarders and skiers from all corners of the world assembling at the annual Winter Festival.

There is constant request for Queenstown Accommodation all round the year and Travel Online offers a select group of hotels best suited for New Zealand holidays. 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedroom apartments, with cutting-edge facilities, gyms, spas and fantastic views are available at various holiday retreats across the city. Bigger apartments with more bedrooms, tennis courts, private jetties and fitness centres are also available at a higher price. Luxury complexes with studio rooms in the vicinity of cafes, bars, and restaurants are also found in Travel Online’ Queenstown Accommodation selection.

Christchurch
When choosing a place to stay in Christchurch look for hotels that give views over the attractive Victoria Square, across the transfixing Avon River or towards the historic Anglican Cathedral. Situated on New Zealand’s South Island, this cosmopolitan city is always abuzz with fantastic festivals, shopping spots, theaters and art galleries. Hotels overlooking Victoria Square provide visitors with an insight in to the city’s English history.

Individuals accommodated in the vicinity of the Christchurch Cathedral will find hotel rooms with a Manhattan-style feel. Tradition and elegance are everywhere in these hotels along with a keen eye on service excellence. Spacious bedrooms with full-fledged kitchen facilities are common, along with hi-tech conference facilities, resort-like leisure features like spas, saunas, gyms, and swimming pools. Many of these hotels provided by Travel Online are located in the vicinity of the Technology Park, the International Antarctic Centre, and the airport. Travelers who want to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the cosmopolitan life will find suitable accommodation in the splendidcountryside surrounding the city.

Auckland
Auckland, also known as the City of Sails, is situated in between 2 harbors and has more boats per person than anywhere on the planet. Within minutes a person has the choice of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the high life in the casino, surfing at lots of beaches or tasting the exotic wines at local vineyards. Hotels come in stylish and comfortable studios, and luxurious executive / marina suites. Travel Online caters to the tastes of corporate and business tourists and can beat any price seen on Auckland accommodation advertised. Auckland harbor is radiant, and is seen perfectly from atop Sky City and the surrounding accommodation.

Affordable and comfortable apartments are available for casual tourists, equipped with kitchens, laundries, and balconies to provide a memorable holidaying experience. Visitors to Auckland love visiting the Antarctic Encounter, which showcases the only penguins present in the sub-Antarctic region. More adventures include cage-bereft shark dives, scuba expeditions and snorkel safaris. New Zealand is waiting.

Travel Online has a wide range of Queenstown accommodation close to all the snow action and cosmopolitan Christchurch accommodation surrounded by all that theatre and art. For holidays in and around the water, Auckland accommodation is as good as anywhere in the world.

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

2010 August 18
by squadron

Don’t let an amateur 24 hour carpet cleaner attempt to repair your carpets with water damage. These are the worries you must be watchful of:

Overcharging. An inexperienced water restoration technician may build the job up with superfluous extras. E.g. using dehumidification for the water damaged carpets isn’t always needed.

Using the correct equipment. They can borrow equipment from hire businesses for drying the carpet. This is permissible, but a professional water damage professional will possess all their equipment so they can offer a quicker response and hopefully a better value job.

Moisture metre. If they don’t have the choice moisture meter, they can’t see whether the carpet is repaired. This furthers the problem of mould in future. Removal of the mould would then be required.

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

You might be pondering, how do I pick a credible Flood Restoration Business? Below I have selected some signifiers to look out for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

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

Where do they show in Google? The higher they rate in Google, the more click-ins there have been for their business.

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

Do Insurance companies source them for their own water damage jobs? This is a better indicator. If insurance companies hire them, the business is probably going to be good at their work. Insurance companies will use the businesses that grant them the top value for the fee.

What Equipment do they have? They should own at minimum 100 Air movers. If they have this many, this could show they have been up and running for a good time. We took 8 years to accumulate that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What kind of commitment can you get for them by calling? Try to pin them down to a set fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they wouldn’t give you a rate for just this, you know they are not willing to serve you, so move on.

Response Time – Our Water Damage Brisbane-based business is premised to a 59 minute response time to a water damage emergency. The restoration needs to be attended to ASAP. Mould can grow during a 24 hour period.

If you stick to these tips you are sure to get a Flood Damage Restoration company who knows how to do the job.

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

2010 August 13

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 consider . There are many things to recommend a career in podiatry including:

  • You can be self employed: This is a choice 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 get sued . The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your customers 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 doctor or dentist , the salary is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the most rewarding aspects of working as podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will consult on 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 less stressful when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will allow you plenty of opportunity to help resolve the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatryallows 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 instance where one acts under the direction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can claim to be a podiatrist are those with a podiatry degree . The clear roles that this delineates relieves the need to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Do you like to travel? There are many places around the world that do not produce their own podiatrists including Tasmania, the Northern Territory, all of Asia and all of the Middle East. If you want to work around the 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 great range of complaints. There might be an ingrown toenail or two, a debilitating corn, a sports 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. Every patient is an individual with a unique condition requiring a well considered solution.

How do you qualify as a podiatrist ?

To qualify as a podiatrist necessitates) a four year Bachelor of Health Science degree course {available at 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

2010 August 7
by squadron

Take charge of getting your site created 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 positioned in your market.
In order to establish 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 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 get 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 realise 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 effective development. The more interaction and information you allow 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 collect 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 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; provide a decent amount of content but formulate it in a way that a reader may get 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 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 works 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 available to download on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to put your site live 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

2010 August 6

A logo is a very important step to building a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face represents the tone of your business, indicates the service and screams 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 formulated the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it redone. This is unnecessary and may cause complications when trying to recreate 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 difficulties.

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 conveying 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 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 bringing your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

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

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Confirm 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
readable

Tip 7
Confirm 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 receive 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

2010 July 31
by squadron

How many times have you dispatched business cards to print and received yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been delighted 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 stop this from happening and that is to set up a style guide. Not only will a style guide help you direct the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you strengthen 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 use in-house or is this for suppliers and contractors to refer to?

Step 2 : Mark what your output uses are. This is important because you will require 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 wantcopy 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 sure 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 take into account any contributing logos or logos of business that are associated with you. It’s also important that you send 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 : Make sure 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 affirmed as correct.

Have your Style Guide finished and as established 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)

2010 July 19

The common question that is asked when purchasing a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: do I purchase 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 common projector imaging technologies. With so many brands and types available, it can be difficult for clients to pick between these technologies. Ultimately LCD projectors give far better image quality and colour accuracy. The next paragraph will tell you why DLP projectors struggle with bringing up the same grade of image quality.

It’s like a set of blinds in your house covering your bedroom window. With the twist of a rod you can turn the shutters open or closed, according to if you want to let light in or not. Such is exactly how an LCD projector operates. Each pixel operates like an individual shutter on a set of blinds to either pass 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 operates to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point when the projector is switched on to when the content reaches your screen is ultimately significant for image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors direct white light from the lamp by splitting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which project the coloured light to 3 separate LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels cast the elements of the image by turning each pixel on and off. The pixels are then simultaneously processed in a glass prism to form the projector image. A point to know about LCD projectors is that all three colours are directed onto your projected surface all at the same time. The way a DLP projector works is widely different and even the final product of how an image comes out is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is projected through a rotating colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This way of projecting 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 produce the image elements. The elements of the image are projected in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eye will then pull together each coloured element of the image into a full image. In LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to create the highest brightness and superb colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at any given time, resulting in lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP developers have put a white segment in the colour wheel to improve brightness overall, but this then degrades colour accuracy.

I hear in forums all the time that DLP provides a higher contrast ratio and as such must be superior. For those who do not know, 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 capable of. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications compared to many LCD projectors. At one glance, this can seem to 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 utilised. Do not be fooled by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you wish to see includes moving images, DLP projection technology also creates image errors, or ‘artifacts’. The most commonplace 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 shone. LCD projectors do not have this disadvantage because all the colours are processed simultaneously. DLP developers have come up with 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to resolve the colour break up error, but the expense of these projectors make them not practical for many businesses and consumers.

Another differentiation 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 the different colours of light refract different amounts when directed through the same lens. The downfall with DLP projectors is that they utilise the one same panel with the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously not the same and refract light at different levels. Usually with a DLP projector, some extra yellow colour will be projected above and an extra blue will be projected below an image as simple as a lone black line. While being built LCD projectors can be adapted to take away these effects on the projected image, because each colour is projected on a separate LCD panels.

The sole real advantage (excluding price) with picking a DLP projector is its smaller total size and weight. However, this is only relevant for portability and has to be traded off against the image benefits of LCD projectors. If the result of the picture quality is important to you, then the answer is no-brainer. Choose an LCD projector! LCD projectors will consistently produce bright, colourful images with fewer image blips. If you desire to learn more about LCD technology in more detail, have a gander at this tremendous resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any persisting questions, get onto Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager for Projector Central, Australia’s premier online provider for projectors. Based in Brisbane, Projector Central has been serving Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in the Gold Coast and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.

Yachting and Yacht Clubs

2010 July 16

As the Dutch rose to preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht was a leisure craft used first by royalty and later by the burghers for the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Yacht racing 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 restoration to the English monarchy in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with 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), made more yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 wager. Yachting became classy with the affluent and nobility, but after that point the trend did not last.

The first yacht club in the British Isles, the Water Club, was instigated around about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard organization, with much naval panoply and rigour. The closest thing to racing was the “chase,” in which the “fleet” pursued a fictional enemy. The club persisted, mostly as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, when joining with other organisations, it was known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen in some ordered manner on the Thames about the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV came to monarchy in 1820, it came to be known as the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded following a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht society had been formed 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 perpetual site of British yacht racing. The society 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 matches for great bets were held, and the society life was wonderful. 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 persisted when the English had control. Sailing was for the most part for fun and rose to its high point in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which sailed on the Mediterranean Sea and established a minimum of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in those waters from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht society, the Detroit Boat Club, was started in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club while on board his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
Early sailing yachts were within the design of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through to the later half of the 19th century. The style of sizeable yachts was first largely affected by the victory of America, which was designed by George Steers for a syndicate started by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) had its namesake after its victory at Cowes in 1851. Early yachts were not designed and manufactured in today’s sense, with merely a model for an outline. Not until the later half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come into action. Not until the 1920s did the use of the research of aerodynamics do for the structure of sails and rigging what such science had already done for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats had to be individually manufactured, there came a requirement for handicapping boats previous to the one-design class boats were designed. Therefore, a rating rule was created, which resulted in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. Today, one of the most rapidly flourishing areas in the field of sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to the same requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other aspects (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing these boats can be held on an even par with no handicapping at all. A prime example is the standard International America’s Cup Class taken on board for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

As long as yachting belonged largely for the nobility and the wealthy, money was no object, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The rise and desire of smaller boats came in the latter half of the 19th century from 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) led single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray demonstrated the value of less sizeable boats. Thereafter in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and recreational boats became more popular, 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
After the decade 1840–50, during which steam was set to replace sail power in commercial craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly favoured in leisure vessels. Large power yachts were developed to a high standard, and long-distance cruising turned into a fond pastime of the affluent. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then made way to yachts powered by the wholly submerged screw or propeller kind of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant yachts, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht standard for many years. By the latter half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the large part were solely power yachts containing gasoline or diesel engines.

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

As more sizeable and better quality internal-combustion engines were created, many large craft began using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, advanced from World War I. From the decade after, large power-yacht building flourished, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that point the best auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The manufacture of large power yachts fell away after 1932, and the fashion from then was for smaller, less pricey boats. After World War II, many small naval vessels were sold to private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting had become a widespread popular competition enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen who are actually sailing and maintaining their own small pleasure boats. The popularity of craft and yachtsmen is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional places along the seacoasts but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes are differentiated by the impact they have on the allocation of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind that puts the same relative burden on each taxpayer—i.e., when tax liability and income grow in relative proportion. A progressive tax is characterizable by a more than proportional growth in the tax onus in regard to the growth in income, and a regressive tax is characterizable by a less than proportional increase in the comparative onus. So, progressive taxes are seen as fighting the lack of equality in income distribution, while regressive taxes may increase these inequalities.

The taxes that are normally considered progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are categorically progressive, however, may become less so for the upper-income class—especially if a taxpayer is permitted to lower his tax base by claiming deductions or by taking certain income elements from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates which are applied to lower-income categories can also be more progressive if such exemptions of a personal nature are declared.

Income measured over the course of a given year may not absolutely offer the best measure of taxpaying requirement. For example, transitory increases in income could be saved, and within temporary declines in income a taxpayer could elect to provide for consumption by taking from savings. Therefore, if taxation is held in comparison alongside “permanent income,” it will be less regressive (or more progressive) than if it is held in comparison with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (with the exception of luxuries) are usually regressive, because the spread of individual income consumed or spent for a specific good lowers as the amount of personal income increases. Poll taxes (also known as head taxes), nominated as a flat amount per capita, patently are regressive.

It is difficult to classify corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally because of the lack of certainty 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 crucially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being considered.

In regarding the economic effects of taxation, it is essential to distinguish between several points of tax rates. The statutory rates will be dictated in legislature; often these are marginal rates, but occasionally they are median rates. Marginal income tax rates signify the fraction of incremental income taken by taxation when income increases by one dollar. Therefore, if tax liability rises by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax regulations generally contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that rise as income rises. Careful analysis of marginal tax rates need to regard provisions apart from the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) decreases by 20 cents for each one-dollar growth in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than specified within the statutory rates. Since marginal rates specify how after-tax income moves in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the relevant ones for considering incentive effects of taxation. It is even more difficult to nominate the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, since it may depend on factors such 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 show the part of total income that is required in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is necessary for assessing the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate increases with income. Average income tax rates commonly increase with income, both because personal allowances are permitted for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; conversely, preferential treatment of income received predominantly by high-income households could dampen these effects, allowing regressivity, as displayed by average tax rates that lower as income grows.

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