Why You Should Hire an Architect

2010 September 8
by squadron

An architect is a highly trained professional who has experience in planning, designing and the construction of buildings and the management of construction projects.

Also, one is not considered an architect until he or she has properly passed all the necessary courses and accredited programs to procure a license in order to practice architecture. When practicing architecture, the architect can have free reign 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 make sure that those dreams 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 examined, 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 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, tendering 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 charge of planning and designing the building or dwelling as well as provide the necessary feedback and support throughout the entire assignment.

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 used when you want to make a daring outdoor scene. They are generally structures installed at a location for a period of time.

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

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

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

You may know you want to use a standard Tent for your event, or your event planner may already have in mind to use a Tent. You have options! There are lots of other spectacular
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 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 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 extravaganza.

Remember, if it is for commercial purposes, the aim is to build recognition of your company with your printed Tent. Printed corporate Tents range in price from $1500- $4000. Good ones will really catch your eye.

Once you have decided on what sort of buyer you are and how you are going to use your Tents, a good Tents company will offer you a choice of frames, a warranty of between 3-5 years and help with designing the printing-if you need it.

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

New Zealand’s Top Holiday Cities

2010 August 23

New Zealand has a magnificent array of breathtaking landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, majestic coastlines, bountiful rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These scenic wonders have all made New Zealand an inspired destination for all kinds of holidays.

Awesome 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 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 request for Queenstown Accommodation all round the year and Travel Online offers a select group of hotels best suited for New Zealand holidays. 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedroom apartments, with modern facilities, gyms, spas and fantastic views are available at various holiday retreats across the city. Bigger apartments with more bedrooms, tennis courts, private jetties and fitness centres are also available at a higher price. Luxury complexes with studio rooms in the vicinity of cafes, bars, and restaurants are also found in Travel Online’ Queenstown Accommodation selection.

Christchurch
When choosing a place to stay in Christchurch look for hotels that give views over the astounding Victoria Square, across the transfixing Avon River or towards the historic Anglican Cathedral. Situated on New Zealand’s South Island, this cosmopolitan city is always abuzz with colourful festivals, shopping spots, theaters and art galleries. Hotels overlooking Victoria Square provide visitors with an insight in to the city’s English history.

Individuals 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 majesticcountryside 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 lots of 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 wonderful, and is seen perfectly from atop Sky City and the surrounding accommodation.

Affordable and comfortable apartments are available for casual tourists, equipped with kitchens, laundries, and balconies to provide a fantastic holidaying experience. Visitors to Auckland 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 let a novice 24 hour carpet cleaner show up to repair your carpets with water damage. These are the cautions you need to be aware of:

Overcharging. An inexperienced water restoration cleaner may build the job up with extra extras. E.g. using dehumidification on the water damaged carpets may not be needed.

Not using the correct equipment. They sometimes hire equipment from hire businesses for the carpet. This is acceptable, but an established water damage professional will own all their equipment so they offer a speedy 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 see when the carpet is repaired. This enhances the potential of mould growth in the future. Mould removal in future may be required.

They are not Specialised. There are a lot of “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage work on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t those who deal with this kind of task every day. Be careful of them. Drying a carpet is an art. Removing and repairing and reinstalling the carpet is best to be done by a professional, otherwise carpets can be damaged incontrovertibly.

You could be asking, how do I find a proper Flood Restoration techinician? Below I have listed some pointers to check for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

What size is their Yellow Pages advertisement: This can be a sign of how much repair work they are doing already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad can cost about $50 000. If they have invested in a large ad, you can have some promise that they are professionals.

Where do they show in Google? The higher they are in Google, the more webpage views there has been for the business.

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

Do Insurance companies use them for carpet water damage jobs? This is a better indicator. If insurance companies source them, the business is probably going to be superb at their job. Insurance companies will use the companies that give them the best value for their client’s money.

How much Equipment do they have? They should own at minimum 100 Air movers. If they own this many, this probably means they have been up and running for a good time. It took our business 8 years to accumulate that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What sort of commitment can you get from them with a phone call? Ask if you can pin them down to a set price for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they can’t give you a rate for this only, you know they are not willing to serve you, so look elsewhere.

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

If you follow these tips you are sure to locate a Flood Damage Restoration technician who knows what they are doing.

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

Eight Steps to Great Web Design

2010 August 7
by squadron

Take charge of getting your site established by a developer and know the process it will save you money and attain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Understanding your business and how you are currently positioned in your market.
In order to create a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full understanding 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 achieve an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will construct a good profile and analyze not only what type of site to build for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for fast development. The more interaction and information you give 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 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.
Present your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t become too creative with the document fonts etc. as these will not be kept when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is 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 getting the point across to the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; formulate a decent amount of content but present it in a way that a reader may get 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 know 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 on the internet for free!

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

8. Marketing
There is little point in having a website if nobody visits it, make sure as part of you contract you have discussed search engine optimisation and or search engine marketing as part of your website build. This is the absolute most important factor of the whole process. If you are the only one looking at your site then you are in trouble.

Remember Search Engine Optimisation is about 30% Onsite (getting your site correct for Search Engine to index correctly) and 70% Promotion. Any developer who tells you otherwise hasn’t been in the industry too long.

For more information about web design Brisbane, contact Web Site Blue. Our web designers understand marketing as well as design.

Tips to Creating a New Business Logo

2010 August 6

A logo is a decisive step to creating 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 creation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they require to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that created the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it redone. This is redundant and may cause complications when trying to recreate the logo exactly as completed originally.

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

Tip 1
First things first – you need to decide if you would like your logo to have an accompanying icon. It is suggested that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will assist in conveying 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 excellent 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 hinder your output use. Think about the end result and what you will be putting your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

Tip 3
Make certain you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and ensure 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 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
Insure 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
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 receive a well-designed logo but you will also own the artwork. And when it comes to reproducing your collateral you will be doing it the most cost effective way.

For logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today for a free two hour consultation.

How to Create a Style Guide

2010 July 31
by squadron

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

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

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

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

Step 2 : Define what your output uses are. This is important because you will need different logos and file formats for example, black and white publication adverts in comparison to vehicle graphics.

Step 3 : Define the tone for the copy and content required. For example you may wantcopy rules for printed content and then copy rules for website content.

Content rules cover all punctuation rules and how to attribute 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 repeated.

Step 5 : Insure to insert any contributing logos or logos of business that are associated with you. It’s also important that you send a copy of the layout to these companies to guarantee they accept 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 affirmed as correct.

Get your Style Guide finished 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 advocate a training session – whereby your design studio arrives 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 common question heard when buying a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: do I get an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, short for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, short for ‘digital light processing’ are the two top projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and models available, it can be challenging for clients to pick between both technologies. Ultimately LCD projectors have superior image quality and colour accuracy. The next paragraph will explain why DLP projectors struggle with reproducing an equal standard of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your house covering your bedroom window. By twisting a rod you can make 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 operates like a unique shutter on a set of blinds to either shine light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is formed 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 image reaches your screen is absolutely significant to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors shine white light from the lamp by splitting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which project the coloured light to 3 stand alone 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. A point to realise about LCD projectors is that all three colours are directed onto your wall simultaneously. The way a DLP projector runs is very different and even the way an image shows up is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is processed through a turning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This approach to forming an image casts a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors mentioned above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to construct 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 combine each coloured element of the image into a single full image. With LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to create the best brightness and superb colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at a time, causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some manufacturers have placed a white segment into the colour wheel to improve overall brightness, but this goes and degrades colour accuracy.

I find in forums all the time that DLP provides a higher contrast ratio and therefore must be better quality. For those who are unsure, the contrast ratio is a measure of a display system defined as the ratio of the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the technology is capable of producing. DLP projectors do possess high contrast specifications as compared to a majority of LCD projectors. At a glance, this can seem to be an advantage, however, in real life, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room when the projector is used. Do not be fooled by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you want to see has moving images, DLP projection technology also has image imperfections, 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 change up between the time red, blue and green colours are pulled up. LCD projectors do not have this problem because every colour is delivered simultaneously. DLP builders have come up with 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to solve the colour break up error, but the price tag of these projectors make them not practical for the majority of businesses and consumers.

Another variance between LCD and DLP is how they match the balance for the refractive qualities of light. Think back to high school science, and remember when they taught you how different colours of light refract differing amounts when shone through the same lens. The disadvantage with DLP projectors is that they use the one same panel with the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously different and refract light differently. Most of the time with a DLP projector, some yellow colour will come up above and a spill of blue will appear below an image as simple as a lone black line. In manufacturing LCD projectors can be set to minimize these effects on the projected image, because each colour is directed on a separate LCD panels.

The only actual advantage (excluding price) with picking a DLP projector is its overall smaller size and weight. However, this is only relevant for portability and needs to be traded off against the image benefits of LCD projectors. If the outcome of the picture quality is vital to you, then the answer is simple. Take an LCD projector! LCD projectors will always show bright, colourful images with fewer image mistakes. If you wish to learn more about LCD technology in more detail, have a gander at this tremendous 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 of Projector Central, Australia’s number one online shop 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 rose to dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht became a leisure craft used first by royalty and later by the burghers for the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing yachts was incidental, arising as private matches. English yachting originated with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English throne 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, sovereign 1685–88), built more 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 rose as fashionable among the wealthy and royalty, but after that time the trend did not last.

The first yacht club in the British Isles, the Water Club, was instigated at about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard association, and had great naval panoply and gravity. The closest thing to racing boats was the “chase,” for which the “fleet” pursued an imaginary enemy. The club went on, mostly as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after joining with other groups, it became the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first 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 sovereignty in 1820, it was known as the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded with a racing fight, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht club 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 setting of British yacht racing. The organisation at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, likewise at the ascension of George IV. Each member was required to have boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for great stakes were held, and the society life was wonderful. Eventually Royal Yachting Club boats grew in size to bigger than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting was first accomplished with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and continued when the English had control. Sailing was largely for leisure and rose to its high point in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which sailed on the Mediterranean Sea and established a minimum of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in the area from the late 19th century. The first enduring American yacht society, the Detroit Boat Club, was started in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens began the New York Yacht Club aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
Early sailing yachts were within the style of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through to the second half of the 19th century. The craft of bigger yachts was first largely put upon by the success of America, which was drawn by George Steers for a club led by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) had its namesake after its success at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and crafted in the modern sense, with only a model used. Not until the second half of the 19th century did what was labeled naval architecture come about. 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 been individually built, there arose a need for handicapping boats as this was previous to the one-design class boats were built. Hence, a rating rule came into being, which ended up in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. In modern times, one of the fastest flourishing areas in the field of sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to standard requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing those boats can be held on an even keel with no handicapping required. 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 belonged largely for the nobility and the wealthy, expense was no problem, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The promotion and popularity of smaller yachts occurred 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. Following this in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and pleasure craft 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 sailed single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
After the decade 1840–50, at which point steam began to take the place of sail power in market craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly used in personal vessels. Bigger power yachts were developed to a high standard, and long-distance cruising was a favoured activity of the well off. The earliest power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; they then gave rise to yachts powered by the completely submerged screw or propeller sort of propulsion. Like naval and merchant yachts, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht archetype for a number of years. By the later half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the large part were exclusively power yachts that had gasoline or diesel engines.

From the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the construction of large steam yachts. Notably within 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 gave active service during World War II.

As larger and better quality internal-combustion engines were produced, many bigger yachts started using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, progressed from World War I. During the decade following, bigger power-yacht manufacture flourished, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. From that point the best auxiliary yacht built was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The building of larger power yachts lessened after 1932, and the style after that was in preference of smaller, less costly craft. Following World War II, a lot of small naval vessels were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting is a internationally beloved activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen personally manning and maintaining their own small leisure boats. The popularity of craft and owners is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional areas on the sea but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

2010 July 8

Taxes can be categorized by the impact they have on the placement of income and wealth. A proportional tax is a tax that imposes the same relative requirement on all the taxpayers—i.e., in the case where tax liability and income move in equal proportion. A progressive tax is recognised by a more than proportional growth in the tax onus relative to the rise in income, and a regressive tax is characterizable by a less than proportional growth in the related burden. So, progressive taxes are viewed as reducing inequity in income distribution, but regressive taxes are seen to have the result of increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are normally believed to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, can become less so for the upper-income categories—particularly if a taxpayer is permitted to lower his tax base by nominating deductions or by leaving out certain income components from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates which are applied to lower-income classes would also be more progressive if such exemptions of a personal nature are claimed.

Income measured over a given period may not necessarily provide the most accurate measure of taxpaying requirement. For example, transitory rises in income could be saved, and in temporary declines in income a taxpayer may select to provide for consumption by reducing savings. Thus, if taxation is held in comparison with “permanent income,” it should be less regressive (or more progressive) than if held in comparison with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (save luxuries) are usually regressive, because the share of individual income consumed or spent for a specific good decreases as the amount of personal income grows. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), calculated as a flat 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 the lack of certainty around the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of dictating who bears the tax burden lays essentially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being debated.

In considering the economic purpose of taxation, it is necessary to distinguish between various ideas of tax rates. The statutory rates will include those specified in the law; often these are marginal rates, but for some cases they are average rates. Marginal income tax rates indicate the fraction of incremental income that is demanded by taxation when income rises by one dollar. Ergo, if tax burden rises by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax statutes generally contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that rise as income increases. Structured analysis of marginal tax rates need to consider provisions as well as the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) falls by 20 cents for each one-dollar growth in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points more than nominated by the statutory rates. Since marginal rates display how after-tax income changes in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the appropriate ones for appraising incentive effects of taxation. It is even more difficult to know the marginal effective tax rate applicable to income from business and capital, because it may depend 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 nothing under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates show the portion of total income that is paid in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is important for appraising 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 provided for the taxpayer and dependents and also due to that marginal tax rates are graduated; conversely, preferential treatment of income received predominantly by high-income households might dampen these effects, allowing regressivity, as indicated by average tax rates that decrease as income rises.

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