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 oversight of construction projects.

Also, one is not considered an architect until he or she has properly passed all the necessary education and accredited programs to procure a license in order to practice architecture. When practicing architecture, the architect can have 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 place of business, then an architect can ensure 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 taken into account, and these are also covered in the responsibilities of the architect.

For example, there are some architectural firms that not only design the building for you, but they also prepare the tender documents for the 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 engage an architect, you will not have to be confused by by all the small but important technical details. All you have to be concerned about is if whether or not the building is coming along according to your plans originally devised with the help of the architect.

The architect is also very helpful before the actual construction. 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 professional to take carriage of planning and designing the building or dwelling as well as provide the necessary feedback and support throughout the entire project.

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

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

These are just some of the many important benefits and key reasons why you should engage 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 splendid 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 fantastic
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 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 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 fundamental
and your budget may be tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a decent warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a selection of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to promote yourself, you can have your names printed for around $150-$300. Printing logos usually 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 dull as a website address or they can be a design masterpiece.

Remember, if it is for commercial purposes, the aim is to build awareness 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 amazing landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, majestic coastlines, bountiful rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These panoramic wonders have all made New Zealand an attractive 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 outstanding online specialist travel operator and provides astounding tourist services for New Zealand. Travel Online provides an instant quote and booking service for accommodation in cities right across the country.

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

There is constant 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 cutting-edge facilities, gyms, spas and fantastic views are available at various holiday retreats across the city. Bigger apartments with more bedrooms, tennis courts, private jetties and fitness centres are also available at a higher price. Luxury complexes with studio rooms in the vicinity of cafes, bars, and restaurants are also found in Travel Online’ Queenstown Accommodation selection.

Christchurch
When choosing a place to stay in Christchurch look for hotels that give views over the attractive Victoria Square, across the mesmerizing Avon River or towards the epochal Anglican Cathedral. Situated on New Zealand’s South Island, this cosmopolitan city is always abuzz with great 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 stunningcountryside 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 choice of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the high 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 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 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 permit an amateur 24 hour carpet cleaner show up to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the worries you should be aware of:

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

Having the correct equipment. They can hire equipment from hire companies for drying the carpet. This is ok to do, but a professional water damage technician will own all their equipment to enable a speedy response and hopefully a better value job.

Proper moisture metre. If they don’t have the correct moisture meter, they can’t know whether the carpet is dry. This enhances the danger of mould in future. Mould removal would then be required.

If they aren’t specialised. There are a whole lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do repair jobs on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t the ones who deal with this type of task often. Be aware of it. Drying water damage to carpets is an art. Reinstalling carpets on the gripper strips should be completed by a professional, otherwise they can be damaged incontrovertibly.

You might be asking, how do I pick a proper Flood Restoration Business? Below I have selected some pointers to check for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

The size of their Yellow Pages advertisement: This can be a sign of how much business they are getting already. A full-size Yellow Pages advertisement can cost upwards of $50 000. If they have got a large ad, you can at least have some indication that they will deliver the goods.

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

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

Do Insurance companies use them for their carpet water damage jobs? This is a very good indicator. If insurance companies use them, the business is probably going to be superb at their work. Insurance companies tend to use the companies that offer them the better value for the fee.

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

What kind of commitment can you get with them on a phone call? Ask if you can pin them down to a set fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they won’t give you a rate for at least this, you know they are not interested in serving you, so move on.

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

If you focus on these tips you are sure to find a Flood Damage Restoration company who knows how to do the job.

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

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 get you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Knowing your business and how you are currently positioned in your market.
In order to 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 armed 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 build a good profile and analyze 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 efficient 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 take 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 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 crucial later on in not only establishing with the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; present a decent amount of content but present it in a way that a reader may attain a summary of what you are trying to get across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

5. Development Programming and CMS
If your website contains Content Managed Areas (CMS) or has any other dynamic sections the developers will wrap your design around a content management program such as Joomla or Drupal or they may have a custom built system. Make sure that you get to see how the CMS system operate on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. You need to know that you can use 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, odds 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 bring your site live 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 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 essential step to building a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face expresses the tone of your business, indicates the service and screams the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the creation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they need to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that created 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 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 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 searching for a more illustrative finish without losing recognition.

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

Tip 2
Colour can be an extremely important decision as it not only could influence the output costs but can also margin 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
Make sure you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and assure that it includes all the files needed for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Assure 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 difficult to reverse into black and white. Images also have limitations when it comes to size – they can only be reproduced to a certain size before they start pixilation.

Tip 5
Using gradients in your logo is not recommended. This too can have limitations when it comes to output for ie: gradients are hard to reproduce when embroidering fabrics.

Tip 6
Assure sure the font is legible. Some logos need to be reproduced on small pieces of collateral ie: post stamps. It is important that in this case the text is
legible.

Tip 7
Ensure 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 collect 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 received yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been frantic to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then noticed that the crucial tag line is not present or your logo has been ruined.

There is only one way to thwart this from happening and that is to use a style guide. Not only will a style guide aid 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 : Define 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 require different logos and file formats for example, black and white publication adverts in comparison to vehicle graphics.

Step 3 : Define the tone for the copy and content required. For example you may requirecopy 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 : Make certain you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding lies on all the different pieces of collateral that may be repeated.

Step 5 : Assure to insert any contributing logos or logos of business that are correlated with you. It’s also important that you deliver 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 : Assure that grammar, spelling and contact details are correct.

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

Have your Style Guide completed 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 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 common question heard when buying a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: should I purchase an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, short for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, an acronym for ‘digital light processing’ are the two most popular projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and different models available, it can be difficult for customers to pick between these technologies. The simple fact of the matter is that LCD projectors have far superior image quality and colour accuracy. The next paragraph tells you why DLP projectors struggle with projecting a comparable level of image quality.

Visualise a set of blinds in your home on your bedroom window. By pulling a rod you can have the shutters open or closed, depending on if you want to let light in or not. Such is exactly how an LCD projector behaves. Each pixel functions like a unique shutter on a set of blinds to either allow light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is formed of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as pros like to call them. Each pixel element operates to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the time the projector is turned on to when the content reaches your screen is ultimately significant with regard 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 project the coloured light to 3 separate LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels cast the elements of the image by shining each pixel on and off. The pixels are then combined in a glass prism to send the projector image. A point to realise about LCD projectors is that all three colours are directed onto your projected surface simultaneously. The way a DLP projector operates is widely different and even the produced image appears is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is directed through a turning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This way of forming an image casts a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as described above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to form the image elements. The elements of the image are cast in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eyes will then pull together each coloured element of the image into a full image. With LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to create the highest brightness and great colour accuracy. In DLP, only one colour is available at a time, causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some designers have placed a white segment into the colour wheel to improve general brightness, but this goes and lessens colour accuracy.

I read in forums all the time that DLP has a higher contrast ratio and ergo must be superior quality. For those uncertain, 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 able to produce. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications when compared to many LCD projectors. At a glance, this seems to be a plus, however, in reality, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room while the projector is being used. Do not be tricked by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you plan to see needs moving images, DLP projection technology also has image errors, or ‘artifacts’. The most common artifact that a DLP projector creates with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is incontrovertible in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are displayed. LCD projectors do not have this disadvantage because every colour is processed simultaneously. DLP manufacturers have created 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to answer the colour break up artifacts, but the expense of these projectors make them not practical for the majority of businesses and consumers.

Another variance between LCD and DLP is how they make up for the refractive qualities of light. Take yourself back to high school science, and recall when they taught you how different colours of light refract differing amounts when directed through the same lens. The downfall 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 different ways. Generally with a DLP projector, some yellow colour will appear above and a spill of blue will come through below an image containing something as simple as a straight black line. In manufacturing LCD projectors can be fixed to remove these effects on the projected image, as each colour is refracted on a separate LCD panels.

The isolated actual benefit (excluding price) with choosing a DLP projector is its smaller overall size and weight. However, this is only relevant in regard to transport and needs to be traded off against the image superiority of LCD projectors. If the outcome of the picture quality is crucial to you, then the answer is simple. Go for an LCD projector! LCD projectors will definitely make bright, colourful images with fewer image mistakes. If you want to ask more about LCD technology in more detail, have a look at this fantastic resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any additional questions, get onto Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager at Projector Central, Australia’s leading online provider for projectors. Brisbane based, Projector Central has been servicing 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 found preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht had been 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. Racing was incidental, arising as private challenges. English yachting started 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 gave him a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he called Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, reigned 1685–88), built other 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 became classy for the wealthy and nobility, but after that time the fashion did not last.

The first yacht club in the British Isles, the Water Club, was formed at about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard organization, and held large naval panoply and gravity. The closest thing to racing was the “chase,” in which the “fleet” pursued a fictional enemy. The club persisted, largely as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, when 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 fashion on the Thames about the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland funded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV came to monarchy in 1820, it was called the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded following a racing fight, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht association 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 continued location of British yachting. The association at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, likewise at the ascension of George IV. Each member was required to possess boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for high bets were held, and the social life was superlative. It came to be that the Royal Yachting Club boats were raised in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English held power. Sailing was for the most part for leisure and found its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and set a minimum of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first enduring American yacht club, the Detroit Boat Club, was instigated in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens began the New York Yacht Club while aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts were within the style of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the latter half of the 19th century. The design of large yachts was first largely impacted by the win of America, which was designed by George Steers for a club led by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its success at Cowes in 1851. Early yachts were not designed and manufactured in the modern sense, with merely a model used. Not until the later half of the 19th century did what was called naval architecture come into being. Not until the 1920s did the use of the science of aerodynamics do for the design of sails and rigging what such study had already done for hulls.

Because most of all sailboats had to be individually built, there arose a desire for handicapping boats as this was before the one-design class boats were made. Thus, a rating rule was decreed, which resulted in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. In the present day, one of the fastest growing areas in the sailing industry is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are manufactured to the same specifications in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing between those boats can be held on an even keel with no handicapping at all. A great example is the uniform International America’s Cup Class adopted for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting was done mostly for the aristocracy and the wealthy, money was no problem, and the size of boats increased, in both length and weight. The promotion and preference of smaller boats happened in the second 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 voyage around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray made plain the value of less sizeable craft. Later in the 20th century, particularly after World War II, smaller racing and recreational boats became more common, down to the dinghy, a favourite training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, yachts of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
After the decade 1840–50, when steam was set to take the place of sail power in commercial boats, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly favoured in personal boats. Large power yachts were developed to a high element, and long-distance sailing turned into a favourite occupation of the affluent. The early power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then made way to those powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller sort of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht fashion for several years. By the second half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were solely power yachts containing gasoline or diesel engines.

In the last decade of the 19th century there was a rise in the construction of large 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 operated by a crew of more than 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 saw active service during World War II.

As bigger and better quality internal-combustion engines were produced, many large yachts were using them for power. The development of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, was furthered for World War I. During the decade after, large power-yacht manufacture grew, reaching a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. In that period the biggest auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The manufacture of large power yachts lessened in 1932, and the style thereafter was for smaller, less costly craft. Following World War II, lots of small naval vessels were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. At the late 20th century, yachting is a widespread beloved sport enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually manning and upkeeping their own small leisure yachts. The number of craft and sailors is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional locations on the sea but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes are differentiated by the effect they have on the allocation of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind of tax that places the same relative liability on all the taxpayers—i.e., when tax liability and income move in relative proportion. A progressive tax is characterized by a larger than proportional growth in the tax burden in relation to the increase in income, and a regressive tax is characterizable by a less than proportional growth in the relative burden. Therefore, progressive taxes are viewed as reducing a lack of equality in income distribution, whereas regressive taxes can result in increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are usually believed to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, can become less so in the upper-income demographic—particularly if a taxpayer is permitted to reduce his tax base by nominating deductions or by removing particular income aspects from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates if applied to lower-income categories could also be more progressive if personal exemptions are made.

Income measured over the course of a given year might not necessarily offer the most appropriate measure of taxpaying status. For example, transitory rises in income could be saved, and during temporary declines in income a taxpayer could opt to finance consumption by taking from savings. Ergo, if taxation is regarded with “permanent income,” it would be less regressive (or more progressive) than if held in comparison with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (with the exception of those on luxuries) are usually regressive, because the portion of personal income consumed or spent on specific goods lowers as the level of personal income is raised. Poll taxes (also called head taxes), levied as a standard amount per capita, obviously are regressive.

It is complicated to dictate corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, due to uncertainty surrounding the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of dictating who bears the tax burden depends essentially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being debated.

In considering the economic effect of taxation, it is important to distinguish between varied concepts of tax rates. The statutory rates include those nominated in the law; often these are marginal rates, but sometimes they are average rates. Marginal income tax rates signify the fraction of incremental income taken by taxation when income grows by one dollar. Therefore, if tax burden rises by 45 cents when income grows by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax legislation usually contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that increase as income rises. Structured analysis of marginal tax rates are required to review provisions other than the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) declines by 20 cents for each one-dollar increase in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points higher than indicated within the statutory rates. Since marginal rates signify how after-tax income increases or decreases in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the relevant ones for assessing incentive effects of taxation. It is even more difficult to understand 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 holds that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nothing under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates show the portion 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 increases with income. Average income tax rates commonly grow with income, both because personal allowances are provided for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the flip side, preferential treatment of income received mostly by high-income households can swamp these effects, forcing regressivity, as displayed by average tax rates that decrease as income increases.

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