Why You Should Hire an Architect

2010 September 8
by squadron

An architect is a well qualified professional who has experience in planning, designing and the construction of buildings and the management of construction jobs.

Also, one is not considered an architect until he or she has properly passed all the necessary education and accredited programs to procure a license in order to practice architecture. When practicing architecture, the architect can have freedom to design the building or group of buildings, as well as the space around it that still counts as part of the property. These ideas form the planning stage of the project and can take months to finalise.

The reason why architects are so crucial to the success of any building plan is simple: they can put your ideas into a feasible and concrete reality. If you have great ambitions for your home or business, then an architect can make sure that those plans will come true.

But aside from the actual design of the building, there are so many other complex factors (beyond the scope of inexperienced people) that need to be considered, and these are also covered in the responsibilities of the architect.

For example, there are some architectural firms that not only design the building for you, but they also prepare the bid documents for the costing of of the entire project, and are the ones that most commonly talk to the contractors, stakeholders and any third parties involved in the assignment.

When you hire an architect, you will not have to be confused by by all the small technical details. All you have to be concerned about is if whether or not the building is coming along according to the plans originally established with the help of the architect.

The architect is also very helpful before construction begins. If you do not have an actual plan but do have an idea on what you want your structure to look like, then that is where the professional can help you on the project.

All you have to do is to present them with some ideas and they can be the ones to take care of site analysis, the assistance you may need in zoning and planning, any environmental impact studies you may need, bidding and contract negotiation with the contractor and his men, and so much more.

The architect that you hire will be involved in all of the aspects of your project. Essentially, you are hiring an architect because you require a trained expert to take carriage of planning and designing the building or dwelling as well as provide the necessary feedback and support throughout the entire project.

Engaging an architect is like taking on a business partner for your project, one who is knowledgeable, knows the risk areas around the project and knows how to minimize those risks, has the necessary people skills to work with contractors in order to hire additional resources within budget.

A good architect will treat the project as though it is his or her own and will devise creative ideas and plans to the manager, and discuss in great detail the advantages, disadvantages, any hindrances of a particular strategy.

These are just some of the many important benefits and key reasons why you should hire an architect. There are so many more reasons that really prove that any project worth going through with has to be under the supervision of a highly qualified architect. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that you have a dream construction project, and your architect is the person to make all these dreams become reality.

Looking for Brisbane architects? For renovation architects Brisbane, contact Dion Seminara Architecture. They are leading home improvement architects. Brisbane office is located in Morningside.

Tents and Marquees

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 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 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 tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a good warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a 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 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 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 brilliant array of astounding landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, endless coastlines, bountiful rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These scenic 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 discounted prices. Among the top holiday cities in New Zealand, Queenstown, Christchurch and Auckland would definitely be there. Travel Online is a celebrated 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 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 demand 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 wonderful 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 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 magnificentcountryside surrounding the city.

Auckland
Auckland, also known as the City of Sails, is located in between 2 harbors and has more boats per person than anywhere on the planet. Within minutes a person has the chance 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 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 brilliant, 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 adore 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 have an amateur 24 hour carpet cleaner show up to repair your carpets with water damage. These are the signs you have to be watchful of:

Overcharging. An inexperienced water restoration technician may pack the job up with extra steps. E.g. using dehumidification to dry the water damaged carpets isn’t always needed.

Having the correct equipment. They might borrow equipment from hire places for drying the carpet. This is acceptable, but an experienced water damage technician will possess all their equipment so they offer a speedy response and hopefully a better value job.

Does not have a proper moisture metre. If they don’t have the proper moisture meter, they will not be able to see whether the carpet is repaired. This enhances the risk of future mould. Removal of the mould may be required in the future.

If they aren’t specialised. There are a whole lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage repair repairs on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t the ones who deal with this kind of job often. Be wary of them. Drying a carpet is an art. Removing and repairing and reinstalling the carpet must be done by a professional, otherwise it can be damaged incontrovertibly.

You might be pondering, how do I find a credible Flood Restoration professional? Below I have set out some pointers to look out for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

How big is their Yellow Pages ad slot: This can signify how much repair work they are doing already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad can cost more than $50 000. If they have paid for a larger ad, you can at least have some indication that they are established.

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

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

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

How much Equipment do they have? They should own about 100 Air movers. If they possess this many, this could show they have been in the game for a good while. It took our business 8 years to build up that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What sort of commitment can you get out of them with a phone call? Try to pin them down to a price for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they won’t give you a price for at least this, you know they are not interested in serving you, so go elsewhere.

Response Time – Our Water Damage Brisbane business is committed to a 59 minute response time to water damage emergency. The restoration needs to be done ASAP. Mould can come inside a 24 hour period.

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

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

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 aquire 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 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 get 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 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 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 collect 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.
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 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 achieve a summary of what you are trying to present across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

5. Development Programming and CMS
If your website contains Content Managed Areas (CMS) or has any other dynamic sections the developers will wrap your design around a content management program such as Joomla or Drupal or they may have a custom built system. Make sure that you get to see how the CMS system 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 made for you. You can guarantee if it is has just been written for you then it will not work 100% first time round. This is a where things can get ugly in the process you must understand the way the program operates and test it as if you were normal website user. If it doesn’t make sense to you, chances are it won’t make sense to your audience. Make sure you test your website on more than just your browser, try to test it on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. All of these browsers are available to download on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to bring your site onlive make sure you have completed 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 essential step to forming a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face represents the tone of your business, indicates the service and displays the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the formation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they need to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that formulated the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is needless and may cause complications 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 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 looking for a more illustrative finish without losing recognition.

A perfect example of this is the well-known and executed Nike logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an essential decision as it not only could alter the output costs but can also margin your output use. Think about the end result and what you will be assigning your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

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

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

Tip 7
Insure that you collect a copy of your logo in CMYK high resolution 300 dpi (for printing use) and RGB 72 dpi(for web use).

Tip 8
It is important to have a style guide of your logo. It will clearly show you how to use your logo so it looks exactly the same every time it is reproduced. This allows you to keep your corporate image consistent.

Tip 9
Make sure that you get a letter from the design studio declaring that you own the copyright to your logo.

If you follow these tips then not only will you acquire 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 sent business cards to print and picked up yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been excited to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then observed that the crucial tag line is missing or your logo has been squashed.

There is only one way to stop this from happening and that is to create a style guide. Not only will a style guide help you conduct 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 : Mark the audience for your Style Guide. Is this for staff to utilize in-house or is this for suppliers and contractors to refer to?

Step 2 : Mark 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 : Insure 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 : Make sure to include any contributing logos or logos of business that are correlated with you. It’s also important that you issue a copy of the layout to these companies to insure they approve the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

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

Step 7 : Insure 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 validated as correct.

Have your Style Guide completed and as tight as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly suggest a training session – whereby your design studio arrives 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 typical question heard when purchasing a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: do I buy 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 brands and models available, it can be overwhelming for the buyer to make a choice between the two technologies. The fact is that LCD projectors give far better image quality and colour accuracy. The next paragraph tells you why DLP projectors struggle with creating the same standard of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your home for your bedroom window. By pulling a rod you can turn the shutters open or closed, depending on whether you want to let light in or not. Such is exactly how an LCD projector behaves. 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 functions to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point at which the projector turns on to when the content reaches your screen is extremely important for image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors process white light from the lamp by cutting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which send the coloured light to 3 individual LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels form the elements of the image by switching each pixel on and off. The pixels are then simultaneously processed in a glass prism to send the projector image. An important point to remember about LCD projectors is that all three colours are directed onto your screen all at the same time. The way a DLP projector works is vastly different and even the final product of how an image shows up is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is directed through a spinning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This way of projecting 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 create the image elements. The elements of the image are sent in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s vision will then put together each coloured element of the image into the full image. With LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to offer the highest brightness and great colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at any given time, and so resulting in lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP developers have included a white segment into the colour wheel to improve brightness generally, but this then detracts from colour accuracy.

I hear in forums all the time that DLP gives a higher contrast ratio and therefore must be better quality. For those unsure, the contrast ratio is a measure of a display system defined as the ratio of the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the machine is able to produce. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications in comparison to the majority of LCD projectors. At first glance, this appears to be an advantage, however, in truth, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room when the projector is being used. Do not be duped by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you are trying to see has moving images, DLP projection technology also has image marks, or ‘artifacts’. The most commonplace artifact that a DLP projector displays with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is to be expected in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are pulled up. LCD projectors do not have this downside because the colours are processed with the others. DLP builders have developed 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to resolve the colour break up problem, but the cost of these projectors make them almost impossible for the large part of businesses and consumers.

Another point of difference between LCD and DLP is how they match the balance for the refractive qualities of light. Take yourself back to high school science, and remember when they taught you how the different colours of light refract various amounts when shone through the same lens. The disadvantage with DLP projectors is that they take 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 in different ways. Most of the time with a DLP projector, some extra yellow colour will be projected above and a superfluous blue will show below an image as simple as a lone black line. During manufacturing LCD projectors can be fixed to remove these effects on the projected image, as each colour is processed on separate LCD panels.

The only real benefit (excluding price) with choosing a DLP projector is its smaller total size and weight. However, this is only relevant to transporting the device and cannot be traded off against the image superiority of LCD projectors. If the outcome of the picture quality is important to you, then the solution is a no-brainer. Go with an LCD projector! LCD projectors will always show bright, colourful images with fewer image errors. If you desire to find out more about LCD technology in more detail, have a look at this fabulous resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any further questions, go to Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager of Projector Central, Australia’s premier online retailer for projectors. Brisbane-based, Projector Central has served 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 was a leisure craft used mostly by royalty and secondly by the burghers on the canals and then in the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, arising as private games. English yachting began with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English royalty in 1660, the city of Amsterdam sent him a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure 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), built additional yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and the same way back, on a £100 bet. Yachting was found to be classy among the rich and aristocracy, but after that point the trend 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, and held large naval panoply and rigour. The closest thing to a race was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued a fictional enemy. The club persisted, for the large part as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, by joining with other clubs, it became the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was seen in some organized method on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland instigated the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to monarchy in 1820, it came to be called the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded after a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht club had been formed at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal sponsorship made the Solent – the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight – the continuing setting of British yachting. The organisation at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, also at the rise of George IV. Each member was required to possess boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing matches for great bets were held, and the club life was splendid. Eventually Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to over 350 tons.

In North America, yachting began with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English had dominance. Sailing was for the most part for pleasure and rose to its epitome in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which cruised on the Mediterranean Sea and established a standard of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in those waters from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht group, the Detroit Boat Club, was formed in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens instigated the New York Yacht Club while on board his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The first sailing yachts followed the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the latter half of the 19th century. The craft of large yachts was first largely put upon by the success of America, which was drawn by George Steers for a association headed by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) had its namesake after its win at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and built in the modern 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 research of aerodynamics do for the design of sails and rigging what such science had earlier done for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats had been individually custom-built, there was a desire for handicapping boats as this was before the one-design class boats were made. Therefore, a rating rule was written, which resulted in the International Rule, adopted in 1906 and edited in 1919. Today, one of the fastest growing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are manufactured to single dimensions in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing these boats can be had on an even par with no handicapping necessary. A prime example is the uniform International America’s Cup Class adopted for racers in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

For the time that yachting was done primarily for the aristocracy and the wealthy, expense was no problem, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The promotion and preference of smaller craft happened in the later 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) sailed single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray proved the value of smaller yachts. Later in the 20th century, for the larger part 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, craft of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Post the decade 1840–50, at which point steam was set to take the place of sail power in market boats, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were employed more and more in pleasure vessels. Sizeable power yachts were progressed to a high standard, and long-distance travel was a favoured pastime of the affluent. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; they then gave rise to boats powered by the wholly submerged screw or propeller sort of propulsion. Like naval and merchant boats, auxiliaries with both sail and power were the yacht fashion for many years. By the second half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the large part were only power yachts with gasoline or diesel engines.

In the last decade of the 19th century there was a boom in the manufacture of large steam yachts. In particular among these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, that had triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was sailed by a crew of over 150. The Mayflower, purchased by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and gave active service for World War II.

As bigger and more dependable internal-combustion engines were created, many bigger boats were using them for power. The establishment of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, advanced for World War I. In the decade following, bigger power-yacht building blossomed, climaxing in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that period the biggest auxiliary yacht built was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The building of bigger power yachts fell away in 1932, and the style thereafter was toward smaller, less pricey boats. After World War II, lots of small naval craft were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. By the late 20th century, yachting is a internationally beloved sport enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen who are actually manning and upkeeping their own small recreational craft. The number of boats and owners is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional places by the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes can be differentiated by the impact they have on the allocation of income and wealth. A proportional tax is a tax that puts the same relative burden on every taxpayer—i.e., when tax liability and income increase in equal levels. A progressive tax is characterized by a more than proportional growth in the tax onus in relation to the growth in income, and a regressive tax is recognisable by a less than proportional rise in the relative burden. Thus, progressive taxes are viewed as reducing inequalities in income distribution, while regressive taxes are seen to have the result of an increase in these inequalities.

The taxes that are usually regarded as progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are categorically progressive, however, might become less so in the upper-income group—particularly if a taxpayer is allowed to lessen his tax base by claiming deductions or by removing certain income aspects from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates if applied to lower-income categories can also be more progressive if exemptions of a personal nature are declared.

Income measured over the course of a given year does not absolutely provide the most appropriate measure of taxpaying requirement. For example, transitory increases in income can be saved, and during temporary declines in income a taxpayer could elect to provide for consumption by decreasing savings. So, if taxation is compared with “permanent income,” it should be less regressive (or more progressive) than if it is compared with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except luxuries) are mostly regressive, because the spread of own income consumed or spent on a specific good lessens as the rate of personal income is raised. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), nominated as a fixed amount per capita, clearly are regressive.

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

In regarding the economic purposes of taxation, it is essential to distinguish between various ideas of tax rates. The statutory rates are those specified in the law; generally these are marginal rates, but in some cases they are mean rates. Marginal income tax rates note the fraction of incremental income demanded by taxation when income rises by one dollar. Thus, if tax burden grows by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax statutes commonly contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that rise as income rises. Careful analysis of marginal tax rates are required to consider provisions in addition to the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) lessens by 20 cents for each one-dollar increase in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than nominated in the statutory rates. Since marginal rates indicate 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 difficult to realise the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, as it may be dependant on considerations 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 nil under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates display the part of total income that is taken 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 generally grow with income, both because personal allowances are permitted for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the other side of things, preferential treatment of income received fundamentally by high-income households could dampen these effects, forcing regressivity, as shown by average tax rates that decrease as income grows.

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