Why You Should Hire an Architect

2010 September 8
by squadron

An architect is a highly qualified expert 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 important 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 visions 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 pricing 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 endeavor.

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 charge of planning and designing the building or dwelling as well as provide the necessary feedback and support throughout the entire assignment.

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 problems of a particular strategy.

These are just some of the many important benefits and key reasons why you should use 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 used 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 stunning
structures and Tent styles out there. Some are unique and make a statement of their own. Ask the rental company you’re working with for a list of the type styles they have on hand.

Usually, the different types of Tents available in most companies are (the names vary depending of the company):

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

They are used by:

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

Inflatable Tents An exciting and entertaining alternative Tent. Easy & fast to set up. Be sure they have removable printed roof because in that way you can share the investment with other licences.

What Size Tent Will I Need?

The size of Tent depends on a few factors:

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

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

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

Therefore, the key rule is; know what you are going to use your tent for. The choice of tents is incredible, almost on par with the choice of cars that you can buy.

So if you need a tent for the family BBQ, for example, your needs are fairly 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 diverse range 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 be a little more expensive.

In the last 5 years, portable Tents have become important to businesses for their marketing. The essential need for these buyers is a prominent and 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 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 splendid array of breathtaking landscapes. Like enormous mountain ranges, sweeping coastlines, abundant rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These picturesque wonders have all made New Zealand an appealing destination for all kinds of holidays.

Amazing travel packages and holiday specials are available on quality accommodation in modern city hotels and luxurious wilderness lodges at slashed prices. Among the top holiday destinations 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 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 beautiful 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 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 brilliantcountryside 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 flexibility of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the high life in the casino, surfing at lots of beaches or tasting the exotic wines at local vineyards. Hotels come in stylish and comfortable studios, and 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 memorable holidaying experience. Visitors to Auckland adore visiting the Antarctic Encounter, which showcases the only penguins present in the sub-Antarctic region. More adventures include cage-bereft shark dives, scuba expeditions and snorkel safaris. New Zealand is waiting.

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

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

2010 August 18
by squadron

Don’t have an amateur 24 hour carpet cleaner try to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the signs you have to be aware of:

Overcharging. An amateur water restoration carpet cleaner may build the job up with extra steps. E.g. using dehumidification for drying the water damaged carpets isn’t always necessary.

Not having the correct equipment. They might hire equipment from hire companies for drying the carpet. This is acceptable, but an experienced water damage technician will own all their equipment to provide a quicker response and hopefully a better value job.

The right moisture metre. If they don’t have the correct moisture meter, they will not be able to tell if the carpet is fixed. This furthers the danger of future mould. Mould removal would then be required in the future.

Specialisation. There are a lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage repair work on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t those who do this type of repair every day. Be aware of this. Drying carpets is an art. Taking carpet off the gripper strips then reinstalling them needs to be done by a professional, otherwise the carpet can be permanently damaged.

You might be pondering, how do I pick a good Flood Restoration techinician? Below I have selected some things to look out for when you call around for a carpet flood damage business:

What size is their Yellow Pages ad: This can be a sign of how much repair work they have already. A full-size Yellow Pages advertisement can cost more than $50 000. So if they have got a large ad, you can have some indication that they will deliver the goods.

Where do they come up in Google? The higher they are in Google, the more click-ins there have been for the business.

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

Do Insurance companies hire them for carpet damage jobs? This is a better indicator. If insurance companies source them, the business is probably going to be excellent at their work. Insurance companies often use the companies that provide 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 show they have been up and running for some time. Our business took 8 years to build up that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What level of commitment can you get out of them by calling? Try to pin them down to a set fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they don’t give you a rate for this at the least, you know they are not willing to serve you, so go with someone else.

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

If you stick to these tips you are sure to get a Flood Damage Restoration business who knows how to 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.

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 get 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 create 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 consider how you want to explain your business and what it offers in 7 seconds or less. Sounds impossible? Well that is the average time that a user will consider the point “is this site I searched for?”.

2. Budget and estimation
Have a budget in mind and don’t be afraid to let the developers know what it is. In saying this: BE REALISTIC, $500 will never see a great web site created, nor will they be anything left in the bank to market it.

3. The creative process
Be loaded with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can get an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will build a good profile and realise not only what type of site to construct for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for efficient development. The more interaction and information you give 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 made, the developers will more than likely collect the general layout of this concept and then create the inner page template. It is this template that will be replicated for most of your pages for your site.
Submit your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t become too creative with the document fonts etc. as these will not be 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 establishing with the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; present a decent amount of content but formulate it in a way that a reader may attain 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 works on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. You need to know that you can utilize and understand the system when your site is complete.

6. Testing and training
We work closely with the developers to test your site especially if there are any CMS or special programs that have been created for you. You can guarantee if it is has just been written for you then it will not work 100% first time round. This is a where things can get ugly in the process you must understand the way the program works and test it as if you were normal website user. If it doesn’t make sense to you, 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 available to download on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to make your site live make sure you have finished the above testing step until you are pleased that this website is the best representation of your business / product it can be. Remember even though you can change things after going live it is still a poor reflection on your business if there are spelling mistakes or broken images when you launch.

8. Marketing
There is little point in having a website if nobody visits it, make sure as part of you contract you have 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 crucial step to creating a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face conveys the tone of your business, gestures the service and demonstrates 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 created the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it redone. This is redundant and may cause obstacles when trying to recreate 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 suggested that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will assist in portraying a clear message across to your target audience.

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

A 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 change the output costs but can also limit your output use. Consider 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 make certain 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 regulate. 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
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
legible.

Tip 7
Assure 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 accept 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 dispatched business cards to print and procured yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been fired up to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then spotted that the crucial tag line is nowhere to be found or your logo has been ruined.

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 assist you direct the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you sustain 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 work 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 needcopy 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 : Confirm you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding sits on all the different pieces of collateral that may be repeated.

Step 5 : Make sure to include any contributing logos or logos of business that are affiliated with you. It’s also important that you deliver a copy of the layout to these companies to ensure they agree with the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

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

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

Get your Style Guide finished and as established as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advocate a training session – whereby your design studio comes in and trains your staff on how to utilize the Style Guide and most importantly your brand.

For graphic design Brisbane, logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today. We help your brand build business.

Projectors: LCD Verses DLP (The downfall of DLP technology)

2010 July 19

The most typical question asked when buying a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: should I take an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, standing for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, short for ‘digital light processing’ are the two most common projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and models available, it can be challenging for the buyer to make a decision between these technologies. The fact is that LCD projectors have superior image quality and colour accuracy. The article below will explain why DLP projectors struggle with projecting a comparable standard of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your room for your bedroom window. By a twist of a rod you can make the shutters open or closed, according to if you want to let light in or not. And this is exactly how an LCD projector behaves. Each pixel functions like an individual shutter on a set of blinds to either allow light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is constructed 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 point at which the projector is switched on to when the content reaches your screen is ultimately important for image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors direct white light from the lamp by cutting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which project the coloured light to 3 individual LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels cast the elements of the image by processing each pixel on and off. The pixels are then combined in a glass prism to send the projector image. A point to remember about LCD projectors is that all three colours are sent onto your wall all at once. The way a DLP projector operates is vastly different and even the way an image comes out is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is projected through a turning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This way of making an image creates a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as mentioned above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to produce the image elements. The elements of the image are displayed in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s eyes will then pull together each coloured element of the image into a complete image. From LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to form the best brightness and great colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at a time, and so resulting in lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP developers have placed a white segment for the colour wheel to improve all over brightness, but this also lessens colour accuracy.

I hear in forums all the time that DLP offers a higher contrast ratio and as such must be superior quality. For those who are 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 machine is capable of. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications in comparison to many LCD projectors. At one glance, this seems to be a benefit, however, in reality, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room in which the projector is in use. Do not be fooled by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you plan to bring to life requires moving images, DLP projection technology also has image errors, or ‘artifacts’. The most often seen artifact that a DLP projector forms with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is unavoidable in DLP systems because moving images change position between the time red, blue and green colours are shone. LCD projectors do not have this downside because all colours are processed at once. DLP manufacturers have developed 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to answer the colour break up artifacts, but the price of these projectors make them almost impossible for many businesses and consumers.

Another point of difference between LCD and DLP is how they make up for the refractive qualities of light. Think back to high school science, and recall when they taught you how the various colours of light refract different amounts when directed 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 not the same and refract light in a different way. Often with a DLP projector, a spill of yellow colour will come through above and a spill of blue will come up below an image of something as simple as a straight black line. While being built LCD projectors can be adjusted to remove these effects on the projected image, as each colour is directed on a separate LCD panels.

The only true advantage (excluding price) with taking a DLP projector is its smaller size and weight. However, this is only relevant for mobility and has to be traded off against the image advantages of LCD projectors. If resulting picture quality is vital to you, then the choice is easy. Go for an LCD projector! LCD projectors will definitely produce bright, colourful images with fewer image errors. If you need to ask more about LCD technology in more detail, have a gander at this tremendous 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 leading online store for projectors. Based in Brisbane, Projector Central has been serving Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in the Gold Coast and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.

Yachting and Yacht Clubs

2010 July 16

As the Dutch came to dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the initial yacht was a pleasure craft used first by royalty and then by the burghers on the canals and then in the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, borne from private challenges. English yachting started with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his reaffirmation to the English monarchy in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with 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, reigned 1685–88), ordered for other yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and returning, on a £100 punt. Yachting became classy among the rich and aristocracy, but after that point the fashion did not last.

The first yacht group in the British Isles, the Water Club, was started at about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard organization, and had great naval panoply and gravity. The closest thing to a race was the “chase,” in which the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club persisted, for the large part as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after conglomerating with other groups, it was known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing began in some ordered 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 rose to the throne in 1820, it came to be known as the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded with a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht society had been formed at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal funding made the Solent – the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight – the continued setting of British yachting. The club at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, likewise at the accession of George IV. Every member was required to have boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for high stakes were held, and the club life was superlative. Eventually Royal Yachting Club boats were raised 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 took control. Sailing was largely for leisure and rose to its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and set a standard of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in those waters from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht association, the Detroit Boat Club, was instigated in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The first sailing yachts were within the style of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through the latter half of the 19th century. The style of large yachts was originally largely impacted by the victory of America, which was created by George Steers for a association led by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) was named after its victory at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and manufactured in today’s sense, with only a model being used. Not until the latter half of the 19th century did what was labeled naval architecture come into action. Not until the 1920s did the employment of the science of aerodynamics do for the structure of sails and rigging what it had earlier done for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats were individually built, there arose a requirement for handicapping boats as this was before the one-design class boats were designed. Therefore, a rating rule was created, which is found in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and amended in 1919. In the present day, one of the most rapidly flourishing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are built to the same dimensions in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing such boats can be held on an even playing field with no handicapping at all. A great example is the standard International America’s Cup Class taken on board for racers in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting was done primarily for the royal and the affluent, expense was no object, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The rise and popularity of smaller yachts happened 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 proved the hardiness of smaller yachts. Later in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and pleasure craft became more common, down to the dinghy, a favoured training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, yachts of less than 3 m were sailed single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
After the decade 1840–50, in which steam started to replace sail power in market boats, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were favoured increasingly in personal craft. Large power yachts were progressed to a high element, and long-distance cruising turned into a favoured activity of the well off. The earliest power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then gave way to boats powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant vessels, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht archetype for several years. By the second half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the large part were exclusively power yachts with gasoline or diesel engines.

During the last decade of the 19th century there was a rise in the construction of bigger steam yachts. In particular of these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, containing triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was operated 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 was used in active service during World War II.

As larger and better quality internal-combustion engines were produced, many large yachts were using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, was furthered during World War I. From the decade following that, large power-yacht manufacture blossomed, reaching a climax 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 manufacture of larger power boats lessened after 1932, and the trend after that was for smaller, less expensive craft. After World War II, lots of small naval boats were sold to private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting had become a widespread beloved competition enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and maintaining their own small recreational boats. The amount of yachts and sailors has increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas on the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes are distinguished by the impact they have on the distribution of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind that applies the same relative requirement on every taxpayer—i.e., when tax liability and income increase in relative proportion. A progressive tax is recognisable by a more than proportional growth in the tax burden in regard to the increase in income, and a regressive tax is recognised by a less than proportional increase in the comparable onus. Therefore, progressive taxes are seen as taking away inequalities in income distribution, whereas regressive taxes may increase these inequalities.

The taxes that are generally considered progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are initially progressive, however, could become less so for the upper-income group—especially if a taxpayer is able to reduce his tax base by declaring deductions or by leaving out particular income aspects from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates that are applied to lower-income demographics will also be more progressive if personal exemptions are claimed.

Income measured over a given year does not necessarily offer the most appropriate measure of taxpaying ability. For example, transitory rises in income might be saved, and within temporary declines in income a taxpayer might elect to provide for consumption by taking from savings. Therefore, if taxation is regarded along with “permanent income,” it would be less regressive (or more progressive) than when it is held in comparison with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (except luxuries) are mostly regressive, because the portion of personal income consumed or spent for specific goods lowers as the rate of personal income increases. Poll taxes (also known as head taxes), nominated as a set amount per capita, clearly are regressive.

It is not easy to dictate corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, because of the lack of certainty surrounding the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of deciding who bears the tax burden depends essentially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being considered.

In analysing the economic effects of taxation, it is important to differentiate between various concepts of tax rates. The statutory rates include those nominated in the legislation; generally these are marginal rates, but for some cases they are mean rates. Marginal income tax rates note the fraction of incremental income demanded by taxation when income increases by one dollar. So, if tax burden rises by 45 cents when income increases by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax statutes often contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income increases. Heavy analysis of marginal tax rates must take into account provisions other than the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) decreases by 20 cents for each one-dollar rise in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points greater than indicated in the statutory rates. Since marginal rates indicate how after-tax income changes in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the necessary ones for regarding incentive effects of taxation. It is even more complicated to know the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, as it may be dependant on considerations including the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem determines that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is zero under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates show the percentage of total income that is required in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is important for assessing the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate grows with income. Average income tax rates usually grow with income, both because personal allowances are permitted for the taxpayer and dependents and also because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the flip side, preferential treatment of income received fundamentally by high-income households may dwarf these effects, allowing regressivity, as shown by average tax rates that lessen as income increases.

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