Tents and Marquees

2010 September 2
by squadron

marquees-pavillion-3Event Tents, such as wedding tents are used when you want to make a daring 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 different types of Tents available in most companies are (the names vary depending of the company):

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

They are used by:

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

Inflatable Tents An exciting and entertaining 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 low. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a solid warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a diverse range of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to 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 quality 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 stunning array of astounding landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, sweeping coastlines, bountiful rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These picturesque wonders have all made New Zealand an appealing destination for all kinds of holidays.

Amazing 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 outstanding 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 picturesque locations on the globe. Throughout the year adventurous and exciting 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 luxurious facilities, gyms, spas and fantastic views are available at various holiday retreats across the city. Larger 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 mesmerizing Avon River or towards the historic Anglican Cathedral. Situated on New Zealand’s South Island, this cosmopolitan city is always abuzz with colourful festivals, shopping spots, theaters and art galleries. Hotels overlooking Victoria Square provide visitors with an insight in to the city’s English history.

Individuals staying 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. Huge 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 flexibility of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the sweet life in the casino, surfing at endless beaches or tasting the exotic wines at local vineyards. Hotels come in stylish and comfortable studios, and spacious 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 magnificent, 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 wonderful holidaying experience. Visitors to Auckland love visiting the Antarctic Encounter, which showcases the only penguins present in the sub-Antarctic region. More encounters 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 permit an unprofessional 24 hour carpet cleaner come to repair your carpets with water damage. These are the cautions you should be aware of:

Overcharging. An unprofessional water restoration technician may pack the job up with superfluous inclusions. E.g. using dehumidification for drying the water damaged carpets may not be needed.

Not using the correct equipment. They might borrow equipment from hire places for the carpet. This is permissible, but an established water damage technician will have all their equipment so they offer a faster response and hopefully a better value job.

The right moisture metre. If they don’t have the choice moisture meter, they can’t see when the carpet is fixed. This increases the risk of future mould growth. Removal of the mould in future may be required.

Specialised. There are many “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage repair work on the “side.” i.e. they don’t do this kind of repair everyday. Be wary of it. Restoring water damage to carpets is an art. Removing and repairing and reinstalling the carpet should be done by a professional, otherwise it can be permanently damaged.

You may be asking, how do I decide on a good Flood Restoration professional? Below I have selected some things to check for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

The size of their Yellow Pages advertisement: This can indicate how much repair work they are getting already. A full-size Yellow Pages advertisement can cost about $50 000. So if they have got a bigger ad, you get some expectation that they will deliver the goods.

Where do they come up in Google? The higher the rate in Google, the more webpage views there are for their business.

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

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

What Equipment do they have? They should own about 100 Air movers. If they own this many, this could show they have been going for some time. Our business took 8 years to build up that many wet carpet drying air movers.

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

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

If you focus on these tips you are sure to come up with a Flood Damage Restoration technician 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

2010 August 13

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

  • You can be self employed: This is a opportunity that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even 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 medical practitioner or dentist , the remuneration is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the best things about a career as a podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will 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 more pleasant 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: Podiatry gives a professional 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 instruction 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 defines 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 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, a painful corn, a sports injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful plantar fascias. The essence of being a good podiatrist is to be a great problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique condition requiring a well considered solution.

How do you train as a podiatrist ?

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

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

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

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

Eight Steps to Great Web Design

2010 August 7
by squadron

Take control of getting your site produced by a developer and know 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 author a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full knowledge 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 loaded with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can achieve an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will construct a good profile and analyze not only what type of site to build 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 confer 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 made, the developers will more than likely acquire the general layout of this concept and then construct the inner page template. It is this template that will be duplicated for most of your pages for your site.
Submit your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t become 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 suggested that you do use bolding, underlining, headings and sub heading though ,as these highlights are transferred into the site and are essential later on in not only getting the point across to the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; formulate a decent amount of content but provide it in a way that a reader may accomplish a summary of what you are trying to infer across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

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

6. Testing and training
We work closely with the developers to test your site especially if there are any CMS or special programs that have been created for you. You can guarantee if it is has just been written for you then it will not work 100% first time round. This is a where things can get ugly in the process you must understand the way the program 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 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 certain 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 decisive 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 reveals the professionalism or lack there of.

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

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

Tip 1
First things first – you need to decide if you would like your logo to have an accompanying icon. It is advised that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will help 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 good example of this is the well-known and executed Fedex logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an essential decision as it not only could affect the output costs but can also margin 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 assure that it includes all the files required 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 arrange. For example it is hard to 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
Confirm sure the font is legible. Some logos need to be reproduced on small pieces of collateral ie: post stamps. It is important that in this case the text is
legible.

Tip 7
Make certain that you accept 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 Bydaughters today for a free two hour consultation.

How to Create a Style Guide

2010 July 31
by squadron

How many times have you mailed business cards to print and obtained yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been delighted to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then recognized that the crucial tag line is gone or your logo has been ruined.

There is only one way to avoid this from happening and that is to create a style guide. Not only will a style guide aid you oversee 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 : Define 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 wantcopy 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 : Ensure you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding sits on all the different pieces of collateral that may be repeated.

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

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

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

Have your Style Guide finished and as secure as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advocate 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)

2010 July 19

The most typical question that is asked when purchasing a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: will I take an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, short for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, which stands for ‘digital light processing’ are the two commonplace projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and models available, it can be difficult for clients to decide between those technologies. It comes down to the fact that LCD projectors give far better image quality and colour accuracy. The next paragraph will tell you why DLP projectors struggle with projecting a similar standard of image quality.

Think of a set of blinds in your home for your bedroom window. 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 functions. Each pixel works like a unique shutter on a set of blinds to either send light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is formed of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as professionals like to call them. Each pixel element operates to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point when the projector is turned on to when the image reaches your screen is absolutely important to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors direct white light from the lamp by dividing it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which send the coloured light to 3 individual LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels create the elements of the image by switching each pixel on and off. The pixels are then simultaneously processed in a glass prism to create the projector image. A significant point to remember about LCD projectors is that all three colours are projected onto your screen simultaneously. The way a DLP projector functions is totally different and even how an image comes out is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is processed through a spinning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This approach to projecting an image creates a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as mentioned above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to create the image elements. The elements of the image are displayed in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eyes 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 form the best brightness and fantastic colour accuracy. In DLP, only one colour is available at any given time, and so resulting in lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some designers have included a white segment in the colour wheel to improve brightness generally, but this also detracts from colour accuracy.

I hear in forums all the time that DLP has a higher contrast ratio and as such 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 system is capable of producing. DLP projectors do provide high contrast specifications when compared to a majority of LCD projectors. Initially, this seems to be a plus, however, in the real world, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room in which the projector is being used. Do not be tricked by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you want to see has moving images, DLP projection technology also creates image marks, or ‘artifacts’. The most common artifact that a DLP projector creates with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is unavoidable in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are projected. LCD projectors do not have this downside because all the colours are projected at the same time. DLP designers have come up with 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to answer the colour break up problem, but the cost of these projectors make them hardly practical for the large part of businesses and consumers.

Another difference between LCD and DLP is how they match the balance for the refractive qualities of light. Jump back to high school science, and remember how different colours of light refract differing amounts when shone through the same lens. The downside with DLP projectors is that they utilise the one same panel and the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously different and refract light in a different way. Often with a DLP projector, some yellow colour will be projected above and a spill of blue will come through below an image containing something as simple as a single black line. During manufacturing LCD projectors can be set to take away these effects on the projected image, as each colour is projected on a separate LCD panels.

The only actual buy point (excluding price) with buying a DLP projector is its overall smaller size and weight. However, this is only relevant in regard to transporting the device and has to be traded off against the image advantages of LCD projectors. If resulting picture quality is crucial to you, then the choice is no-brainer. Take an LCD projector! LCD projectors will consistently create bright, colourful images with fewer image mistakes. If you need to learn more about LCD technology in more detail, see this fantastic resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any other questions, go to Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager of Projector Central, Australia’s leading online retailer 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

2010 July 16

As the Dutch came to dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht became a leisure craft used mostly by royalty and later by the burghers for the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Yacht racing was incidental, borne from private matches. English yachting started with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his restoration to the English royalty 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 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 returning, on a £100 bet. Yachting was found to be classy with the affluent and aristocracy, but after that point the fashion did not last.

The first yacht association in the British Isles, the Water Club, was started around about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard association, with great naval panoply and formality. The closest thing to racing boats was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club endured, mostly as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after conglomerating with other clubs, it became known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was seen in some organized method on the Thames about the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland funded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to the throne in 1820, it was called 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 initiated 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 perpetual site of British yacht racing. The association at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, also at the accession of George IV. Every member was required to own boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for great stakes were held, and the social life was wonderful. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and continued when the English gained power. Sailing was largely for fun and found its epitome in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which cruised on the Mediterranean Sea and set a standard of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in the area from the late 19th century. The first continuing American yacht club, the Detroit Boat Club, was formed 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 took the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the later half of the 19th century. The style of large yachts was first heavily impacted by the success of America, which was created by George Steers for a club led 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 just a model being used. Not until the later half of the 19th century did what was called naval architecture come about. Not until the 1920s did the use of the science of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what such study had done earlier for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats were individually manufactured, there was a requirement for handicapping boats as this was before the one-design class boats were built. Hence, a rating rule was created, which resulted in the International Rule, adopted in 1906 and amended in 1919. In the present day, one of the most rapidly blossoming areas in the field of 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 elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing for such boats can be had on an even par with no handicapping necessary. A prime example is the generic International America’s Cup Class adopted for racers in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

For the time that yachting belonged largely for the aristocracy and the affluent, expense was no object, and the size of boats increased, in both length and weight. The ascendancy and desire of smaller yachts occurred in the latter 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) led single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray made plain the value of small yachts. Following this in the 20th century, notably after World War II, smaller racing and recreational boats became commonplace, 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
Post the decade 1840–50, at which point steam started to replace sail power in market boats, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly favoured in leisure boats. Large power yachts were furthered to a high degree, and long-distance travel turned into a favourite occupation of the well off. The earliest power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; those then gave way to yachts powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller kind of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant yachts, auxiliaries with both sail and power were the yacht fashion for several years. By the later half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the large part were solely power yachts with gasoline or diesel engines.

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

As more sizeable and more reliable internal-combustion engines were produced, many large craft were using them for power. The establishment of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, was furthered from World War I. During the decade following that, bigger power-yacht building blossomed, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. From that point the largest auxiliary yacht built was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The building of big power boats lessened from 1932, and the trend after that was for smaller, less expensive yachts. From World War II, a lot of small naval boats were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. By the late 20th century, yachting is a internationally loved activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen personally owning and maintaining their own small recreational yachts. The popularity of craft and sailors has increased steadily, not only in the traditional places on the seacoasts but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes can be distinguished by the impact they have on the distribution of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind of tax that impinges the same relative burden on all taxpayers—i.e., when tax liability and income move in the same proportion. A progressive tax is recognised by a greater than proportional increase in the tax liability relative to the growth in income, and a regressive tax is characterizable by a less than proportional increase in the related burden. Therefore, progressive taxes are seen as fighting the lack of equality in income distribution, while regressive taxes are seen to have the result of increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are normally thought to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are declarably progressive, however, can become less so for the upper-income class—especially if a taxpayer is permitted to reduce his tax base by claiming deductions or by excluding particular income elements from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates that are applied to lower-income classes would also be more progressive if such exemptions of a personal nature are declared.

Income measured over the course of a given period does not definitely provide the most accurate measure of taxpaying status. For example, transitory rises in income might be saved, and during temporary declines in income a taxpayer might elect to provide for consumption by taking from savings. Therefore, if taxation is regarded alongside “permanent income,” it can be less regressive (or more progressive) than when compared with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except those on luxuries) are mostly regressive, because the portion of personal income consumed or spent on specific goods declines as the amount of personal income increases. Poll taxes (also called head taxes), nominated as a fixed amount per capita, obviously are regressive.

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

In regarding the economic effects of taxation, it is important to differentiate between several ideas of tax rates. The statutory rates will include those specified in legislature; generally speaking these are marginal rates, but for some cases they are mean rates. Marginal income tax rates signify the fraction of incremental income demanded by taxation when income increases by one dollar. Therefore, if tax onus rises by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax regulations often contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income rises. Structured 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) decreases by 20 cents for each one-dollar rise in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than specified within the statutory rates. Since marginal rates indicate how after-tax income increases or decreases in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the important ones for considering incentive effects of taxation. It is even more difficult to realise the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, because it may be reliant on such factors as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem holds that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is zero under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates indicate 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 rises with income. Average income tax rates usually grow 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 for the most part by high-income households may swamp these effects, allowing regressivity, as indicated by average tax rates that fall as income rises.

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