Tents and Marquees

September 2nd, 2010

marquees-pavillion-3Event Tents, such as wedding tents are for when you want to make a fabulous 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 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 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 selection of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to advertise yourself, you can have your names printed for around $150-$300. Printing logos usually 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 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.

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New Zealand’s Top Holiday Cities

August 23rd, 2010

New Zealand has a magnificent array of astounding landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, sweeping 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.

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

Christchurch
When choosing a place to stay in Christchurch look for hotels that give views over the wonderful Victoria Square, across the transfixing 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. 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 wonderfulcountryside surrounding the city.

Auckland
Auckland, also known as the City of Sails, is situated in between 2 harbors and has more boats per person than anywhere on the planet. Within minutes a person has the chance of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the sweet 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 splendid, 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.

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

August 17th, 2010

Don’t permit an unprofessional 24 hour carpet cleaner come to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the things you must be aware of:

Overcharging. An amateur water restoration carpet cleaner may pack the job up with superfluous extras. E.g. using dehumidification for the water damaged carpets may not be needed.

Having the correct equipment. They may hire equipment from hire companies to dry the carpet. This is all right, but an experienced water damage technician will own all their equipment so they can offer a speedy response and hopefully a better value job.

Proper moisture metre. If they don’t have the choice moisture meter, they won’t be able to see when the carpet is fixed. This furthers the potential of mould growth in the future. Removal of this would then be required in the future.

If they aren’t specialised. There are many “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do repair repairs on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t the ones who take on this type of work everyday. Be aware of that. Drying carpets is an art. Removing and repairing and reinstalling the carpet needs to be taken on by a professional, otherwise they can be permanently damaged.

You might be wondering, how do I decide on a good Flood Restoration professional? Below I have listed some things to look for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

What size is their Yellow Pages advertisement: This can be an indication as to how much work they get already. A full-size Yellow Pages advertisement can cost upwards of $50 000. If they have got a big ad, you get some assurance that they will deliver the goods.

Where do they show up in Google? The higher they rate in Google, the more webpage views there are for this business.

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

Do Insurance companies use them for their own water damage jobs? This is a better indicator. If insurance companies source them, the business is likely to be superb at their work. Insurance companies generally use the providers that grant them the best value for their client’s money.

What Equipment do they have? They should own about 100 Air movers. If they own this many, this shows they have been going for a good while. Our business took 8 years to accumulate that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What sort of commitment can you get with them by calling? Try to pin them down to a fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they won’t give you a fee for this only, you know they are not willing to serve you, so keep looking.

Response Time – Our Water Damage business in Brisbane works to a 59 minute response time to a water damage emergency. The restoration needs to be completed ASAP. Mould can grow during 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 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.

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Podiatry as a Career in Australia

August 12th, 2010

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

  • You can be self employed: This is a choice that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even General Practitioners . Big Business controls a lot of health practices. Consider how often you see an independent optometrist these days – can they compete on price with the multinational chains?
  • Legal Issues: In Australia (unlike the USA where things are very different), podiatrists very, very rarely get sued . The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your patients the bad news that their condition will be terminal.
  • Working Hours: Emergency call outs are very unlikely. This is great news for those among us who like their sleep uninterrupted.
  • Financial Reward: Whilst it is true that podiatry doesn’t pay as well as being a medical practitioner or dentist , the salary is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the best facets of being a podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will see a plethora of bite-sized jobs each day, many with a cure you can provide immediately. From someone that has worked with unanimously grumpy customers in a past career, believe me when I tell you, it makes the day much more pleasant when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will provide you a great deal of opportunity to help relieve the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatryallows a practitioner the power to determine their own course of action for the benefit of their patients. This is unlike a career in nursing for instance where one works under the direction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can work as a podiatrist are those with a podiatry qualification. The clear roles that this delineates relieves the need to find your ‘niche’ after university - as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Feel the need to travel? There are many places around the world that do not make their own podiatrists including Tasmania, the Northern Territory, all of Asia and all of the Middle East. If you want to work around the the world, Australian podiatrists can gain employment in any Commonwealth country and are particularly in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a big range of complaints. There might be an ingrown toenail or two, a debilitating corn, a sports injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful arches . The primary skill required in being a good podiatrist is to be a great problem solver. Every patient is an individual with a unique complaint requiring a well considered solution.

How do you train as a podiatrist ?

To qualify as a podiatrist provided by six Australian Universities:

  • Curtin University
  • La Trobe University
  • Charles Sturt University
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • University of South Australia
  • University of Western Sydney.

Last year, the entry score for the QUT was OP 8.

Stephanie Cosgrove graduated as a podiatrist from QUT in 1990 and with a Master’s degree in Applied Science (Podiatry) in 1996. Since 1991, she has worked in private practice as a Podiatrist Brisbane. She received three university prizes during her studies, including the award for excellence in design and manufacture of orthotics. Brisbane has been the site of her private practice since 1991 which has grown to four locations and eleven staff. If you want to Walk Without Pain consider a visit to Brisbane’s most innovative podiatry practice today. Call for an appointment now on 1300 A1 Feet.

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Eight Steps to Great Web Design

August 7th, 2010

Take charge of getting your site established by a developer and understand the process it will save you money and aquire 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 formulate 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 acknowledge how you want to explain your business and what it offers in 7 seconds or less. Sounds impossible? Well that is the average time that a user will consider the point “is this site I searched for?”.

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

3. The creative process
Be furnished with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can attain an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will build a good profile and realise not only what type of site to actualize for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for fast development. The more interaction and information you bestow them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by getting what you want 1st time round. Check with the designers on how many rounds of changes come with the contract, most will allow for a total conceptual redesign only once and 2 rounds of changes after that.

4. Production and Content
After the home page design is 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 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 preserved when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is suggested 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 interacting with 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 achieve 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. it is essential that you 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 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 avialable 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 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 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.

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Tips to Creating a New Business Logo

August 6th, 2010

A logo is a very important 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 screams the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the formation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they need to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that formulated the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is needless and may cause complications when trying to replecate the logo exactly as created 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 hinted 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 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 affect the output costs but can also hinder your output use. Consider the end result and what you will be bringing your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

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

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Insure you have a copy of your logo as a PDF - with the text converted to curves.

Tip 4
Using images in your logo is not very easy to accomplish. For example it is troublesome to reverse into black and white. Images also have limitations when it comes to size - they can only be reproduced to a certain size before they start pixilation.

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

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

Tip 7
Ensure that you get 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.

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How to Create a Style Guide

July 31st, 2010

How many times have you commissioned business cards to print and picked up yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been enthusiastic to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then observed that the crucial tag line is not present or your logo has been wrecked.

There is only one way to thwart this from happening and that is to set up a style guide. Not only will a style guide help you control the reproduction of your logo - it will also help you extend 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 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 want 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 : 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 reprinted.

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

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

Step 7 : Assure 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 approved as correct.

Get your Style Guide completed and as tight as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advise 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.

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

July 19th, 2010

The most typical question heard when acquiring a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: do I get 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 brands and types available, it can be confusing for the buyer to decide between these technologies. The fact is that LCD projectors offer better image quality and colour accuracy. The next paragraph tells you why DLP projectors struggle with bringing up a similar standard of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your home for your bedroom window. By pulling a rod you can make the shutters open or closed, depending on whether you want to let light in or not. Such is exactly how an LCD projector behaves. Each pixel functions like an individual shutter on a set of blinds to either pass light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is constructed of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as experts like to call them. Each pixel element works to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the time the projector is turned on to when the content reaches your screen is ultimately significant in regard to 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 direct the coloured light to 3 stand alone LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels form the elements of the image by turning each pixel on and off. The pixels are then combined in a glass prism to form the projector image. A significant point to understad about LCD projectors is that all three colours are delivered onto your screen simultaneously. The way a DLP projector runs is very different and even the produced image appears is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is processed through a spinning 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 as described above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to construct the image elements. The elements of the image are displayed in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s vision will then pull together each coloured element of the image into the single whole image. From LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to deliver the best brightness and great colour accuracy. In DLP, only one colour is available at a time, causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP designers have placed a white segment into the colour wheel to improve general brightness, but this goes and lessens colour accuracy.

I see in forums all the time that DLP gives a higher contrast ratio and ergo must be superior quality. For those unaware, 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. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications as compared to many LCD projectors. At one glance, this must be a plus, however, in reality, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room when the projector is being utilised. Do not be hoodwinked by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you plan to project requires moving images, DLP projection technology can also create image imperfections, or ‘artifacts’. The most commonplace artifact that a DLP projector forms with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is unavoidable in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are shone. LCD projectors do not have this characteristic because the colours are processed simultaneously. DLP builders have created 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to fix the colour break up artifacts, but the price of these projectors make them almost impossible for the large part of businesses and consumers.

Another point of difference between LCD and DLP is how they match the balance for the refractive qualities of light. Remember back to high school science, and remember how different colours of light refract various amounts when passing through the same lens. The downside with DLP projectors is that they have the one same panel for the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are different and refract light in a different way. Most of the time with a DLP projector, an extra yellow colour will appear above and some extra blue will come up below something as simple as a straight black line. During manufacturing LCD projectors can be fixed to remove these effects on the projected image, as each colour is processed on isolated LCD panels.

The only true benefit (excluding price) with going with a DLP projector is its smaller overall size and weight. However, this is only relevant in regard to transporting the device and must be traded off against the image advantages of LCD projectors. If overall picture quality is important to you, then the solution is no-brainer. Choose an LCD projector! LCD projectors will constantly show bright, colourful images with fewer image mistakes. If you need to know more about LCD technology in more detail, see this fantastic resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any further questions, visit Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager of Projector Central, Australia’s top online shop for projectors. Brisbane based, Projector Central has served Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in the Gold Coast and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.

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Yachting and Yacht Clubs

July 16th, 2010

As the Dutch found preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht was a pleasure craft used first by royalty and secondly by the burghers on the canals and then in the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Yacht racing was incidental, borne from private matches. English yachting began with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English royalty in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with a 20-metre (66-foot) leisure 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, ruled 1685–88), made 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 for the affluent and aristocracy, but after that point the trend 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 group, and had large naval panoply and formality. The closest thing to racing boats was the “chase,” for which the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club went on, for the large part as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after joining with other groups, it became known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen 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 ascended to monarchy in 1820, it was then called 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 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 continuing location of British racing. The organisation at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the accession of George IV. Every member was required to possess boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for great bets were held, and the club life was superlative. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to more than 350 tons.

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

Kinds of sailboats
The first sailing yachts followed the design of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the second half of the 19th century. The craft of sizeable yachts was initially largely put upon by the victory of America, which was created by George Steers for a syndicate started by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its win at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and manufactured in the modern sense, with just a model being used. Not until the second half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come into action. Not until the 1920s did the use of the research of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what it had done earlier for hulls.

Because most of all sailboats had been individually built, there arose a requirement for handicapping boats previous to the one-design class boats were built. Thus, a rating rule was written, which is found in the International Rule, adopted in 1906 and revised in 1919. In modern times, one of the most rapidly blossoming areas in the sailing industry is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are manufactured to standard requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing between those boats can be done on an even basis with no handicapping required. A great example is the generic International America’s Cup Class adopted for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

For the time that yachting belonged mostly for the nobility and the wealthy, cost was no problem, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The rise and popularity of smaller yachts happened in the later half of the 19th century from the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A voyage around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray demonstrated the value of smaller boats. Thereafter in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and leisure boats became commonplace, down to the dinghy, a preferred training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, boats of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Post the decade 1840–50, during which steam was set to take the place of sail power in commercial craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly favoured in personal yachts. Large power yachts were developed to a high standard, and long-distance sailing turned into a favourite pastime of the wealthy. The early power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then gave way to those powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As in the case of naval and merchant vessels, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht standard for several years. By the second half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were exclusively power yachts with gasoline or diesel engines.

From the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the design of bigger steam yachts. Notably within 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 more than 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 for World War II.

As more sizeable and better quality internal-combustion engines were developed, many big yachts began using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, advanced for World War I. In the decade after that, big power-yacht manufacture grew, climaxing in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. In that time the largest auxiliary yacht built was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of bigger power craft lessened in 1932, and the trend after that was toward smaller, less pricey yachts. After World War II, many small naval boats were sold to private owners for conversion to yachts. At the late 20th century, yachting is a widespread loved activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and maintaining their own small recreational craft. The number of yachts and yachtsmen has increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas by the seacoasts but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

July 8th, 2010

Taxes are differentiated by the effect they have on the placement of income and wealth. A proportional tax is a kind that puts the same relative liability on all taxpayers—i.e., where tax liability and income move in equal proportion. A progressive tax is recognised by a larger than proportional rise in the tax burden relative to the increase in income, and a regressive tax is characterized by a less than proportional rise in the comparable onus. Thus, progressive taxes are regarded as fighting inequalities in income distribution, while regressive taxes are seen to increase these inequalities.

The taxes that are generally considered progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are categorically progressive, however, could become less so in the upper-income demographic—in particular if a taxpayer is permitted to lower his tax base by declaring deductions or by leaving out some certain income parts from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates which are applied to lower-income categories could also be more progressive if personal exemptions are declared.

Income measured over a given period may not absolutely come up with the most accurate measure of taxpaying status. For example, transitory growth in income might be saved, and in temporary declines in income a taxpayer might elect to pay for consumption by decreasing savings. So, if taxation is regarded along 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 generally regressive, because the dissemination of one’s income consumed or spent for a specific good declines as the amount of personal income is raised. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), nominated as a set amount per capita, clearly are regressive.

It is not simple to determine corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally because of the lack of certainty about the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of determining who bears the tax burden depends crucially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being determined.

In regarding the economic purposes of taxation, it is relevant to differentiate between varied ideas of tax rates. The statutory rates include those nominated in the law; generally these are marginal rates, but occasionally they are median rates. Marginal income tax rates note the fraction of incremental income taken by taxation when income increases by one dollar. Thus, if tax burden increases by 45 cents when income rises 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 grows. Structured analysis of marginal tax rates must review provisions other than the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) reduces by 20 cents for each one-dollar growth in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points greater than indicated in the statutory rates. Since marginal rates signify how after-tax income changes in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the important ones for appraising incentive effects of taxation. It is even more complicated to nominate the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, as it may be dependant on such factors as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem shows that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nothing under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates show the percentage of total income that is taken in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is important for considering the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate rises with income. Average income tax rates generally grow with income, both because personal allowances are allowed 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 may swamp these effects, producing regressivity, as signified by average tax rates that lower as income grows.

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