Tents and Marquees

2010 September 2
by squadron

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

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

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

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

You may know you want to use a standard Tent for your event, or your event planner may already have in mind to use a Tent. You have options! There are lots of other 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 lively alternative Tent. Easy & fast to set up. Be sure they have removable printed roof because in that way you can share the investment with other licences.

What Size Tent Will I Need?

The size of Tent depends on a few factors:

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

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

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

So if you need a tent for the family BBQ, for example, your needs are fairly basic
and your budget may be low. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a 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 advertise yourself, you can have your names printed for around $150-$300. Printing logos usually cost a little more.

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 identical reproduction of their logo. Sign written or printed Tents can be as boring as a website address or they can be a design extravaganza.

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 designing the printing-if you need it.

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

New Zealand’s Top Holiday Cities

2010 August 23

New Zealand has a stunning array of astounding landscapes. Like enormous mountain ranges, majestic coastlines, lush rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These panoramic wonders have all made New Zealand an inspired 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 prominent 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 modern 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 beautiful Victoria Square, across the transfixing Avon River or towards the epochal 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. 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 wonderful, 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 fantastic 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 allow an inexperienced 24 hour carpet cleaner come to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the things you have to be watchful of:

Overcharging. An inexperienced water restoration restorer may build the job up with extra steps. E.g. using dehumidification for drying the damaged carpets may not be needed.

Not using the correct equipment. They can hire equipment from hire companies for drying the carpet. This is all right, but a professional water damage professional will possess all their equipment to enable a quicker response and hopefully a better value job.

Moisture metre. If they don’t have the choice moisture meter, they will not be able to see whether the carpet is dry enough. This furthers the potential of future mould growth. Mould removal would then be required.

Specialisation. There are a lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage repair jobs on the “side.” i.e. they don’t deal with this type of job every day. Be careful of it. Restoring a carpet is an art. Taking carpet off the gripper strips then reinstalling them is best to be done by a professional, otherwise the carpet can be damaged incontrovertibly.

You could be wondering, how do I find a credible Flood Restoration professional? Below I have selected some signifiers to look out for when you are calling around for a carpet flood damage business:

How large is their Yellow Pages ad: This can be an indication as to how much business they have already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad slot can cost about $50 000. When they have invested in a bigger ad, you have some promise that they will deliver the goods.

Where do they show up in Google? The higher they rate in Google, the more “online votes” there have been for this business.

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

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

How much Equipment do they have? They should own at minimum 100 Air movers. If they own this many, this could indicate they have been going for some time. It took our business 8 years to build up that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What sort of commitment can you get with them by calling? Ask if you can pin them down to a set fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they don’t give you a package for this only, you know they are not interested in serving you, so go with someone else.

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

If you follow these tips you are sure to choose a Flood Damage Restoration professional who can do the job right.

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

Podiatry as a Career in Australia

2010 August 13

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

  • You can be self employed: This is a choice 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 customers 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 dentist or medical practitioner, the pay is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the best aspects of being a 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 give you an abundance of opportunity to help resolve the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry affords 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 acts under the instruction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can hold themselves out to be a podiatrist are those with a podiatry qualification. The clear roles that this defines relieves the requirement to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Like to travel? There are many places around the world that do not produce 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 particularly in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a big range of complaints. There might be an ingrown toenail or two, a painful corn, a sporting injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful plantar fascias. The essence of being a good podiatrist is to be a great problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique problem 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 comprehend the process it will save you money and gain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Knowing your business and how you are currently established in your market.
In order to formulate a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full comprehension of your business including your products, and/or services and more importantly their market position. You then have to 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 furnished with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can attain 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 identify not only what type of site to actualize for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for fast development. The more interaction and information you bestow them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by getting 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 construct the inner page template. It is this template that will be repeated for most of your pages for your site.
Present your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t get too creative with the document fonts etc. as these will not be preserved when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is preferred that you do use bolding, underlining, headings and sub heading though ,as these highlights are transferred into the site and are very important later on in not only interacting with the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; formulate a decent amount of content but provide it in a way that a reader may get a summary of what you are trying to infer across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

5. Development Programming and CMS
If your website contains Content Managed Areas (CMS) or has any other dynamic sections the developers will wrap your design around a content management program such as Joomla or Drupal or they may have a custom built system. Make sure that you get to see how the CMS system works on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. it is essential that you know that you can use 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 operate 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 make 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 considered 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 forming a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face expresses the tone of your business, indicates the service and demonstrates 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 require to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that formulated the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is redundant and may cause complications when trying to replecate the logo exactly as completed 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 desired that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will assist in getting a clear message across to your target audience.

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

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

Tip 2
Colour can be an essential decision as it not only could change the output costs but can also limit your output use. Consider 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
Ensure you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and make sure that it includes all the files needed for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Make certain 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 manage. 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
Make certain 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
Make certain 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 Bydaughters today for a free two hour consultation.

How to Create a Style Guide

2010 July 31
by squadron

How many times have you sent business cards to print and procured yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been thrilled to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then spotted that the crucial tag line is not present or your logo has been squashed.

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 aid you oversee the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you reinforce your brand recognition – which many argue is one of the strongest selling tools.

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

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

Step 2 : 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 specify to the business and team.

Step 4 : Assure 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 reprinted.

Step 5 : Confirm to take into account 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 accept the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

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

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

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 advise a training session – whereby your design studio comes in and trains your staff on how to use 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 common question asked when acquiring a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: do I purchase an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, which stands for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, standing for ‘digital light processing’ are the two most common projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and different models available, it can be confusing for consumers to choose between these technologies. The simple fact of the matter is that LCD projectors provide far superior image quality and colour accuracy. The article below will explain why DLP projectors struggle with projecting the same grade of image quality.

Think of a set of blinds in your house for your bedroom window. By a twist of a rod you can have the shutters open or closed, depending on whether you want to let light in or not. And such is exactly how an LCD projector works. Each pixel functions like its own shutter on a set of blinds to either shine light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is created of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as the pros like to call them. Each pixel element works to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the time the projector is turned on to when the picture reaches your screen is vitally important with regard to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors project white light from the lamp by separating it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which transfer the coloured light to 3 different LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels make the elements of the image by switching each pixel on and off. The pixels are then combined in a glass prism to form the projector image. A point to realise about LCD projectors is that all three colours are directed onto your screen simultaneously. The way a DLP projector functions is widely different and even the produced image shows up 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 creating an image forms a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as mentioned above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to construct the image elements. The elements of the image are cast in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eye will then draw each coloured element of the image into a single full image. With 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, causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP developers have added a white segment into the colour wheel to improve all over brightness, but this also damages colour accuracy.

I find in forums all the time that DLP gives a higher contrast ratio and therefore must be superior. For those who don’t 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 able to produce. DLP projectors do have high contrast specifications compared to most LCD projectors. At one glance, this must be an advantage, however, in truth, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room when the projector is used. Do not be tricked by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you plan to see includes moving images, DLP projection technology can also have image errors, or ‘artifacts’. The most typical artifact that a DLP projector displays 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 shone. LCD projectors do not have this problem because all colours are delivered with the others. DLP designers have formed 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to resolve the colour break up error, but the cost of these projectors make them almost impossible for most businesses and consumers.

Another point of difference between LCD and DLP is how they balance for the refractive qualities of light. Think back to high school science, and recall when they taught you how the different colours of light refract various amounts when passing through the same lens. The disadvantage 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 different and refract light differently. Often with a DLP projector, a spill of yellow colour will come up above and some blue will be projected below an image containing something as simple as a single black line. During manufacturing LCD projectors can be adjusted to reduce these effects on the projected image, as each colour is processed on separate LCD panels.

The one actual buy point (excluding price) with buying a DLP projector is its smaller overall size and weight. However, this is only relevant in regard to mobility and cannot be traded off against the image superiority of LCD projectors. If overall picture quality is crucial to you, then the answer is easy. Go for an LCD projector! LCD projectors will definitely make bright, colourful images with fewer image blips. If you want to find out more about LCD technology in more detail, have a look 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 for Projector Central, Australia’s top online provider for projectors. Brisbane-based, Projector Central has serviced 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 dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht had been a pleasure craft used mostly by royalty and then by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, coming out of private matches. English yachting began with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his reaffirmation 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, sovereign 1685–88), made other yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 punt. Yachting rose as classy for the affluent and royalty, but after that point the fashion did not last.

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

Yacht racing was first seen in some stipulated fashion on the Thames about the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland instigated the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV rose to sovereignty in 1820, it was known as the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded after a racing dispute, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht organisation 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 setting of British yacht racing. The society at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, likewise at the rise of George IV. All members were required to have boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for high bids were held, and the social life was superlative. It came to be that the 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 continued when the English gained dominance. Sailing was for the most part for leisure and reached its high point in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and created a standard of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in the area from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht group, the Detroit Boat Club, was instigated in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens instigated the New York Yacht Club while on board his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
Early sailing yachts followed the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through the second half of the 19th century. The design of bigger yachts was initially largely impacted by the win of America, which was created by George Steers for a group started by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its win at Cowes in 1851. The first yachts were not designed and manufactured in a contemporary sense, with merely a model being used. Not until the second half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come into action. Not until the 1920s did the employment of the science of aerodynamics do for the design of sails and rigging what such science had previously done for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats had to be individually custom-built, there was a need for handicapping boats before the one-design class boats were built. Therefore, a rating rule was decreed, which ended up in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and amended in 1919. In modern times, one of the rapidly growing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are built to standard requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing for these boats can be had on an even keel with no handicapping necessary. A prime example is the generic International America’s Cup Class taken on board for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

For the time that yachting belonged primarily for the aristocracy and the affluent, money was no object, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The rise and popularity of smaller craft 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 trip around the world (1895–98) sailed single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray made plain the seaworthiness of small boats. Later in the 20th century, notably after World War II, smaller racing and pleasure yachts became more popular, down to the dinghy, a favourite training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, boats of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Following the decade 1840–50, in which steam was set to take the place of sail power in public craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly employed in pleasure vessels. Sizeable power yachts were developed to a high element, and long-distance sailing became a favourite pastime of the affluent. The earliest power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then gave way to those powered by the completely submerged screw or propeller kind of propulsion. Like naval and merchant vessels, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht fashion for several years. By the later half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the large part were only power yachts that had gasoline or diesel engines.

From the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the design of bigger steam yachts. Conspicuous of 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, bought by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and gave active service during World War II.

As larger and better quality internal-combustion engines were produced, many big craft began using them for power. The development of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, advanced during World War I. In the decade following that, bigger power-yacht creation grew, climaxing in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that time the largest auxiliary yacht manufactured was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The manufacture of large power boats lessened from 1932, and the style from then was in preference of smaller, less costly craft. Following World War II, lots of small naval vessels were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting had become a widespread loved sport enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen who are actually owning and maintaining their own small recreational yachts. The popularity of craft and owners has increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas by the seacoasts but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes are distinguished by the effect they have on the allocation of income and wealth. A proportional tax is one that places the same relative burden on all taxpayers—i.e., when tax liability and income increase in relative proportion. A progressive tax is characterizable by a greater than proportional increase in the tax onus in relation to the growth in income, and a regressive tax is recognised by a less than proportional increase in the comparative onus. Thus, progressive taxes are seen as taking away a lack of equality in income distribution, but regressive taxes may result in increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are normally thought to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are initially progressive, however, can become less so for the upper-income demographic—particularly if a taxpayer is able to reduce his tax base by claiming deductions or by leaving out certain income aspects from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates if applied to lower-income demographics can also be more progressive if such personal exemptions are made.

Income measured over the course of a given year might not necessarily offer the most appropriate measure of taxpaying ability. For example, transitory rises in income can be saved, and during temporary declines in income a taxpayer may select to finance consumption by reducing savings. Therefore, if taxation is made comparable along with “permanent income,” it would be less regressive (or more progressive) than when it is made comparable with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except those on luxuries) are generally regressive, because the dissemination of personal income consumed or spent for a specific good lessens as the level of personal income increases. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), calculated as a set amount per capita, clearly are regressive.

It is complicated to term corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, because of uncertainty about the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of nominating who bears the tax burden rests for the most part on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being considered.

In considering the economic effects of taxation, it is necessary to differentiate between varied points of tax rates. The statutory rates are specified in law; generally these are marginal rates, but for some cases they are mean rates. Marginal income tax rates indicate the fraction of incremental income taken by taxation when income rises by one dollar. Ergo, if tax burden increases by 45 cents when income increases by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax legislation often contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income grows. Structured analysis of marginal tax rates are required to take into account provisions other than the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) lessens by 20 cents for each one-dollar growth in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points more than nominated by the statutory rates. Since marginal rates signify how after-tax income is changed in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the relevant ones for considering incentive effects of taxation. It is even more complicated to realise the marginal effective tax rate applicable to income from business and capital, as it may rely on such considerations as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem shows that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nothing under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates determine the portion of total income that is paid in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is important 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 allowed for the taxpayer and dependents and also because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the other hand, preferential treatment of income received for the most part by high-income households could swamp these effects, forcing regressivity, as indicated by average tax rates that lower as income grows.

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