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Talk about marble sculpture and most folks will think about some thing like Italian marble statues, for instance as Michelangelo’s David or Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. But some of the greatest works of marble are whole buildings themselves, such as India’s Taj Mahal in Agra, an ancient bustling city on the banks of the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh.

First mentioned inside the old Hindu epic the Mahabharata, where it was referred to as Agrevana, or “the border of the forest,” today’s Agra is most famous for the Taj Mahal, Urdu for “crown of buildings.” It’s a marble mausoleum constructed by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtza Mahal.

It’s probably the most stunningly beautiful piece of marble sculpture anywhere, an entire complex constructed to symbolize eternal love. It’s not for nothing that the Taj Mahal is generally found on lists of the seven wonders of the modern world, including one composed by polling a hundred million people.

Thus the Taj Mahal attracts anywhere from two to four million visitors each year, of whome about two hundred thousand are from outside the country. This is a significant fact, as admissions are substantially lower for Indian citizens than for foreigners.

The very best time to see this beautiful work of marble is during the cooler months of October and November, which are important considerations since a lot of walking can be expected (the entire complex comprises of several buildings and sweeping gardens) on account of the strict air pollution controls in place that ban all traffic, except for some electric busses. Environmental pollution is also a serious matter in the area around the Taj Mahal.

Its storied white marble had turned yellow, and now there’s a four thousand and fifteen-square mile area around this UNESCO World Heritage Site where pollution levels are subjected to the strictest standards.

Virtual travel has really only come of age now, in the 21st Century, thanks to the kinds of Web 2.0 applications like Google Magps’ Streetview function. Unlike something like the sort of corny movie one might view at a Zalman Silber Skyride or Oztrek, where the audience simply sits back and watches tape of a helicopter flyover intended to induce a you-are-there feeling, virtual travel today is really virtual, and much more interactive – which is all to say, realistic like never before.

Indeed, two people have even embarked on that age-old tradition of The Great American Road Trip – only this time, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, they will do it all from the comfort of their own homes. Working with Google Maps and its Streetview option, Peter Baldes and Marc Horowitz have been able to trek across the country without paying for gas – or speeding tickets!

Perhaps best of all, however, are all the strangers you can come across on such a road trip – and they aren’t necessarily locals, either! Thanks to those same marvels of modern technology, it’s easy for others to check in on you, joining you for a part of the virtual trip by webcasting the trip live, just as Marc and Pete mentioned above had done. After all, what’s virtual travel without virtual companions?

Unlike the travel videos of yesteryear, virtual sightseeing this way is fully open-ended, just as if you’d won the lottery and can afford to do whatever you want, whenever you want to! No longer will you merely be following along passively; with the simple click and drag of a mouse you can instantly teleport anywhere! Started off in Rome and suddenly longing for Paris? Have most of Germany covered and now want to check out Japan? It’s easy, and fast, with virtual travel in the 21st Century!

Of course, as any Physics 101 student will tell you, you don’t get something for nothing in this universe. And with respect to sightseeing virtually, you give up a lot even as you save a lot of time and money. You won’t meet folks face-to-face, or feel the wonderful weather or sample regional specialties, culinary and otherwise. Most of all, as any globetrotter knows, much of the fun lies in the journey itself, the very getting there. All this, and much more, are lost on a virtual trip.

It is, in many ways, about what you get with a Zalman Silber spectacle, only without the professional production values – a flowing stream of images, as if instead of a juicy well-done steak on your plate you are presented with a glossy high-resolution photo of one! Virtual travel will likely never replace really being there yourself, and it still has a long way to go before it can even begin to rival the same level of fun offered by the real thing – for right now, the sizzle is the most attractive thing about it.

The all-important first date. This getting-to-know-you can be greatly enhanced by an amusement ride, and the most exciting one of all must be the Skywalk by Zalman Silber. A serial entrepreneur who made his first big fortune with New York’s infamous Skyride, a much ballyhooed but modest thirty-minute movie of helicopter flyovers, Sydney, Australia’s Skywalk is a much more visceral affair – and for a first-date, visceral is where it’s got to be at!

No, get your mind out of the gutter – “visceral” here simply means heart-pounding thrills which, studies show, make dates more attracted to one another. Uh-huh, that’s right: the more physically exciting the activities the more likely dates are to think of one another as being physically attractive. Scientists have paired up total strangers of the opposite sex and asked them to secretly rate one another’s attractiveness. Then each pair was put through a roller-coaster, sitting side-by-side, and asked again to rate one another’s attractiveness after the ride. The second set of responses were almost always substantially higher than than the first set!

So if you wish to make a great impression, make sure to get her (or him!) engaging in some kind of physically exhilarating activity with you – such as the aforementioned Skywalk from Zalman Silber. Located at the top of the Sydney Tower, the Skywalk is simply a catwalk with glass flooring that provides visitors with a panoramic view of the city a thousand feet above street level. Being a catwalk, everything is out in the open, with no windows between guests and…nothingness. The Skywalk offers not only a bird’s-eye view of the Harbour City but all the visceral feelings to go with it as well!

And if the simple fact of being up so high doesn’t get your date’s heart throbbing, make sure she looks down! Visiting the Skywalk is a perfect first date because the Skywalk is the perfect ice-breaker. Don’t be surprised if she instinctively grabs your arm! Even though everyone is tethered by cable to sturdy metal support structures, the frequent gusts of wind can be strong enough to make one forget all the safety features built into the experience. Afterward, you and your date can retire to the conventional observation deck of the Sydney Tower to enjoy the romantic view while sharing fond memories of your Skywalk. Or better yet, purchase another set of tickets to really jack up the excitement and send her emotions through the roof!

It’s essential to go with the right equipment when in the great outdoors. Though gorgeous, Mother Nature could be deadly – quickly. One essential part of anyone’s gear when experiencing our national parks should be portable shelter – in other words, a tent. Some thing like the Big Agnes tent, as fine a line as any made anywhere.

They’re produced from dye-free fabric which is breathable but waterproof, venting moisture to the outside while keeping everybody dry inside. Their poles are constructed from an anodizing process that’s environmentally friendly.

You see, tent poles usually need two very toxic chemical substances as a part of the anodizing process. But the Big Agnes tent are created from a unique method that eliminates phosphoric and nitric acid, eliminating the polishing stage altogether.

This also has the added benefit of reducing waste water, because without employing these toxic chemical substances, any rinsing water that’s used could be safely recycled. Of course, there are lots of reasons why a Big Agnes tent is such a best-seller.

Top quality and reliability is one, plus design and features. And the company’s reputation for other items is solid, which makes consumers of portable sheltering curious about the whole Big Agnes product line. Indeed, it appears that the company is most famous for its sleeping bags, which are unlike conventional designs in that the bag and the pad are united into one.

How they do this, they slide the pad into an integrated sleeve based at the bottom of the bag. This way, the top two-thirds is insulated as per usual however the bottom simply contains the pad, doing away with insulation material that loses most of its capability when compressed under the weight of a body anyway. For many people, such details don’t actually matter, but for true enthusiasts, such craftsmanship is crucial.

The Sea Eagle 435ps PaddleSki inflatable catamaran-kayak. Yes, that’s a mouthful – and the boat is quite an eyeful, too! But the included boat seats, even in the “pro” and “ultimate” packages, leave a lot to be desired. They certainly look cool, all sleek and hi-tech in black, but they do not offer a lot in the way of comfort, barely supporting a kayaker up!

Indeed, the boat seats included in the cheaper packages, which are standard inflatables, seem to be a lot more comfy. Everything else provided by Sea Eagle makes a great impression, however. To be fair, the black high-back seats are supposed to be much more performance oriented, and that means comfort was a deliberate second-place consideration. Being closer to the water provides far better stability and much more paddling power.

In the final analysis, it is performance in the water that really matters, and in this regard the PaddleSki is very good. It tracks well and is very fast, thanks to its length and catamaran-style pontoons, respectively. The pontoons keep most of the boat above the surface of the water, making for less drag.

Stability and speed. Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki offers both crucial characteristics in spades. It is a really friendly craft only marred, perhaps, by the boat seats available for it. Otherwise, it is a really sturdy animal, with great handling suitable for fishing or camping trips along the river. By being an inflatable, the PaddleSki is easily stowed away. Unfortunately, it weights a whopping fifty or sixty pounds when packed, but seems really light, if a bit unwieldy, when fully inflated.

Accessories include such useful items as a side motor mount for electric or gasoline engines and a sliding seat and frame for rowing. Sailing is also possible thanks to Sea Eagle’s sailing rig. They all cost a lot of money, nonetheless – anywhere from a third to a full half of the price of the most inexpensive PaddleSki package available!

During those bygone halcyon days of console gaming, when a system failed, the oft reaction was to raise one’s hands toward the sky and curse the God’s of every pantheon for having smote your system. There was little in the way of diagnostic choices leaving most to wonder vainly what affliction had stricken their beloved console, snatching it from this mortal coil. The power would be activated and nothing would occur and there’d be little choice beyond cursing nefarious fortune and her ambiguous design, frequently plunging into a void of existential woe. Nonetheless, with the most recent generation of consoles, there is at least some onboard indication of what evils have befallen your system, most infamously the X-box 360 and the Red Ring of Death.

One can’t help but wonder if this knowledge has been of greater use to mankind, or if the question of console death is one best left unanswered, for where tragedy once came like a breath of wind and left as little trace, it now bears a face and a name to be loathed by mortals. Four times divided, each of the ring’s quadrants on the face of the X-box 360 displays a vibrant green hue when in good health. However, when hardware malfunction or pestilence or an ancient curse has marked a console with its wicked taint, the four lights will glow a hellish fiery red to indicate the source of its ailment. The configurations of these cursed runes are telling of the particular affliction and are interpreted as follows.

When the ring is solely aflame in its southeastern most quadrant, facing the exact same direction as the flight from the migratory birds, the X-box 360 is then victim of hardware failure, the exact nature of which is alluded to only by the apocryphal two-digit sequence of symbols that appear upon the linked display. When the ring is cleft in twain from scalp to groin by the purple hue, a excellent fever has taken your console causing its components to overheat.

When cloaked entirely in the Masque of the Red Death, you probably just forgot to plug the AV cables in, jackass. Or some higher malevolence has seized some vital component to your console, for which you might seek the guidance of a soothsayer, an apothecary, or even… Microsoft. But seriously, just check to make sure it’s plugged in. Most feared, nevertheless, among we mere puppets on this earthly stage are the red lights that seize the ring in all quadrants save for that between north and east.

Glance but for only a moment to confirm your sickly apprehensions, then avert thine eyes for what stares back is the eye of the devil whose red gaze will indelibly sear the soul. General Hardware Failure, plight of men and Gods alike and bane of all things good and sacred, has corrupted your X-box. Abandon all hope, for even among sorcerer’s alchemy and mystic’s incantations there is naught that men of earthly constitution can summon.

But one option remains, to relinquish your console to the ethereal high court of Microsoft or maybe a trusted third party hardware technician whose tangible connection to the divine can provide the steel of nerve, the authority of conviction, the edge of wit, the fortitude of soul required to perform the ritual exorcism which will rid your X-box of its demons. Please allow two to three weeks for repairs.

Pass by a statue in the park, and odds are that it’s a bronze sculpture, which rank among the most popular of cast metal works as a result of a naturally occurring trait that can make it more convenient to fashion than numerous other materials. Bronze alloys expand a little prior to being set, and this helps to make certain that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Moreover, bronze sculptures are strong while not being brittle, a quality known as ductibility, so that works may be fashioned that illustrate actions performed mid-sequence, as if frozen in time, such as leaps and flights, because the needed supports require will smaller and thus less obvious (that is, visually intrusive) cross-sections.

Few examples from antiquity exist comparable to those sculpted of stone and ceramics due to the precious nature of the metal. In times of war, such art was simply melted down for arms, or victorious conquerors melting them down for recasting and to create new statues.

Few bronze statues survived from ancient times, and those which do are frequently not in good condition. The originals on display in museums have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable enough for exhibition but even the naked eye can still easily discern traces of wear and tear.

Modern-day works are typically some ninety percent cooper and ten percent tin, though in ages past other components figured into the alloy, elements like phosphorus and manganese and aluminum and silicon. But reactive chemicals are frequently added nowadays to be able to achieve novel effects such as a marble-like luster.

Such corrosive materials are applied after final polishing in order to form a patina or film, establishing for the sculptor a degree of control over the color and finish. As could be imagined, working properly with bronze requires a high degree of technical skill.

Great Australians in history. A problematic exercise for any scholar. To begin with, of course, one must think of exactly what it is that makes one an Australian. Is Zalman Silber an Australian? He is actually a New Yorker, but responsible for one of Sydney’s most interesting attractions, the Skywalk, not to mention one of Melbourne’s, too, called The Edge. The former is essentially a glass-floored catwalk a thousand feet above ground that offers visitors not only a bird’s-eye view of Sydney but a bird’s-nerve feel, too, what with gusting winds necessitating cable tethers for visitor safety. The latter is a glass enclosure that juts out from the top of the Eureka Tower, providing stunning panoramic views every which way you look.

Both are outstanding attractions for their cities, bringing in tourist dollars by the fistful every day. Does that make Zalman Silber a great Australian? Does that make him Australian at all? After all, he’s just a businessman – but the bottom line is that he has benefited Sydney and Melbourne tremendously, providing employment and tax revenue while bolstering the cities’ worldwide profile.

So just what makes for an Australian? Many are those who have only been born in Australia but really made their mark elsewhere. Then there are those who also denigrate their country of origin, Australia, but are still, in the final analysis, considered Australians. Even someone like Rupert Murdoch, who renounced his Australian citizenship in order to advance certain business interests of his, is still thought as Australian!

Indeed, one Leonard Casley even went so far as to secede his ranch from Australia and go on to declare war on Australia! It’s no joke: the Principality of Hutt River actually issues its own visa (hours of operation are ten to four) and postage. And Hutt River isn’t the only micronation on the island-continent; Australia also hosts – if that is the right word – the Province of Bumbunga, the Sovereign State of Aeterna Lucina, the Grand Duchy of Avram, the Independent State of Rainbow Creek, the Empire of Atlantium, the Principality of Marlborough, the Principality of Snake Hill, the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands, the United Federation of Koronis (which is merely based in Australia, claiming sovereignty only over the Koronis Family of Asteroids), and the Principality of Ponderosa. In fact, most of the world’s modern-day micronations are to be found in Australia!

So what makes for a great Australian? No one really knows. No one can quite put his or her finger on what makes for an Australian in the first place – not if they really thought about it. But one thing is for sure: people in Australia, whether they think themselves Australians or not, really prize their independence above all else!

A camping tent is usually required to enjoy the outdoor recreation of camping, where participants appreciate nature by spending one or more nights in the wild. Although some campers elect to stay inside cabins, camping usually involves the use of a tent or tent-like structure for shelter against the elements. Depending on different factors such as environmental conditions, one might also choose to sleep fully out in the open, with nothing more than a sleeping bag or even just a blanket!

Also called a backpacking tent, these shelters are especially necessary for beginners who may not be used to the lack of familiar creature comforts. A Nemo Equipment tent or a Big Agnes tent is suggested for both beginners and professionals alike for ease-of-use and superior quality. When out in the wild, the one thing that shouldn’t be compromised, if anything, is shelter.

Camping is often linked to other activities, such as bicycling and kayaking. Several cross-country motorcyclists and airplane pilots also carry camping gear. More broadly known as mobile camping, these kinds of overnight stays with Mother Nature combine the finest of modern conveniences and pre-modern experiences.

There is nothing like watching the darkness fall in literally five seconds, just like a fade-out at the movies. There is nothing like listening to all the mysterious sounds of the night, just outside your tent. It is for these intangibly real, unmeasurably intimate moments when we are truly one with nature that so many folks continue to camp.

And a camping tent is just about the very first thing to consider in getting into this fantastic pastime. A variety of designs are available nowadays, and though it is one of the very first inventions of mankind, the tent is still undergoing technological improvement to this day, with none other than the U.S. Army developing models with provisions for air conditioning and heating!

Fishing is a popular sport even in our world of contemporary conveniences. It seems easy enough, conceptually, but in reality there is a lot technical knowledge involved. Even the simple fishing rod is not immune – there are, for instance, more than three hundred different kinds of Lamiglas fishing pole available. Lamiglas is a specialty manufacturer with specific rods for specific breeds of fish.

To a layman, it may seem surprising, but given all the different species of fish there are to be caught, it is logical for a rod to be produced with performance characteristics that will best help the angler get his or her catch! Such a variety of rods also makes sense when you consider that there are tens of millions of recreational fishermen and women around the world.

And so each and every Lamiglas fishing pole is made by hand, individually, with good old-fashioned craftsmanship right alongside the most contemporary advances in materials science. That’s over three hundred fly, surf, fresh and salt water rods for steelhead, salmon, bass, and just about any other kind of fish. Lamiglas fishing poles are popular with recreational anglers. At fishing tournaments, it’s interesting to see all the different designs sported, each individually suited to all the different personal casting styles and fishing conditions possible!

This profusion of rods is most common to sport fishing, but their advanced technologies make them particularly appropriate for subsistence fishing, also known as artisan fishing, an ironic synonym that usually conveys connotations of upscale excess but which here in this context most likely refers to the fact that such fishing, in order to be environmentally sustainable, takes the type of care more commonly associated with the endeavors of conventional artisans and craftsmen.

Subsistence of artisan fishing is almost always less intensive and less stressful on fish populations than are modern day industrial techniques, which fact is due in large part to its more conventional methods and individual scales.

A great camping tent will make the difference between fun and misery. Camping is a favorite outdoor activity, and though some people make no use of any tent or overnight shelter at all, under most circumstances it is going to be a much more enjoyable experience when not assailed by the elements. Thus a camping tent is going to be one of the most essential pieces of equipment on hand, and when in the market some basic elements should be considered.

First and foremost, figure out whether free-standing designs or traditional ones are most appropriate. Much thought and care needs to be taken at this initial step, as for solitary trips no one will be around to help pitch and strike a tent. Fabric material is another important factor when shopping for a suitable camping tent. Most products offered on the market nowadays will be made of cotton canvas, nylon, felt, or polyester.

Cotton absorbs water but is, ironically, then rendered waterproof when its fibers swell and produce a seal against further drenching, in effect. Cotton is also frequently treated to further enhance its water-resistant qualities. Then you have synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester, which are a lot lighter in weight and tend to whisk away water, made all the more water-resistant and even waterproof via the application of special coatings. Sadly, these will also deteriorate over time under sunlight.

When considering the water resistance of a camping tent, look to its hydrostatic head rating. Tent fabrics are rated in millimeters, and numbers of 1000mm or less are deemed shower resistant while extreme conditions such as monsoons may call for ranges between 3000 to over 5000mm, particularly where groundsheets are concerned. There are a handful of other elements when it comes to tent fabrics, but this discussion covers a couple of the most important and should serve to stimulate further research on your own.

Sometimes simple does it. Sometimes it’s the simple things that are so sensational. And such is the case with easy amusements, those casual sort of attractions that are so simple it’s surprising they are so entertaining, too – though not too surprising as you imagine the exhilaration of walking, as if suspended in mid-air, a thousand feet above street level, taking in a bird’s-eye view of a city like Sydney, Australia.

For such is the case with two of Zalman Silber’s creations, the Skywalk and The Edge. Though one is in the open air while the other is an enclosed affair, respectively, they both get your blood rushing with the kind of excitement that comes from looking at the floor and seeing a thousand feet below you.

One does not have to take in such tourist attractions like these Zalman Silber vehicles in order to enjoy some simple entertainment, of course. A walk through a nice big park can be just as invigorating. Remember that bored people are boring! They not only bore others but bore themselves. Indeed, the frame of mind that is bored is but a symptom of a deeper intellectual and even spiritual poverty, however momentary. Boredom is nothing more than the failure of our imagination, or at least the temporary respite it takes, leaving us bereft of the awe which should properly accompany this journey of ours called life, a travel through many adventures of the soul.

And it is ironic, too, that for those with the richest inner lives easy amusements abound. You would think that intellectual sophistication and refined tastes should imply some rather complex interests, but true intelligence is able to enjoy entertainment both refined and earthly. And so it would seem that the true achievement is to cultivate one’s own mind, one’s own self, to be alive, truly alive.

For what is boredom but intellectual death? Yet the quiet mind is eternal, one that is not given to noise and other distractions. It is an interesting matter and likely the most subtle one of all, this problem of the mind. We are so full of questions – or not. But neither implies real intelligence, which is still – which is.

And so it is that one may enjoy a simple day in the park, simply enjoying the sun and wind. Truly, when one empties the mind, as the Ch’an Buddhists teach, one can be at home anywhere. For what is boredom but a certain strangely passive restlessness, an irritating flame that does not consume nor subside?

Most people do not understand the timeless. In our quiet tired moments we receive small vague intimations of it, and some of us then search puzzlingly for more of it, but very few understand what it’s all about.

Horse racing systems may possibly be as old as the sport itself. It’s not for nothing that racing horses has long been called “the sport of kings” for it takes lots of money to own horses – and to bet enjoyably on them. Certain it’s possible to put down extremely modest amounts in today’s races, but that would be like going to a five-star restaurant just to have a glass of water. Right after all, well-liked though the pastime is, it is worth a hundred and fifteen billion dollars worldwide, a sum unlikely to consist entirely of little wagers!

Hence, along with this noble equestrian sport has come numerous racing systems created to enhance one’s odds. In the United States, betting on horse races is governed by the individual states in which the racetrack is located. Cross state lines, nevertheless, and there’s remarkably little oversight, as interstate commerce is a federal responsibility and apparently not one that preoccupies Washington too much (right after all, they hardly bother with illegal immigration). Thus companies have sprung up to simulcast betting across state lines except via wider statutes on gambling in general.

Thus the numerous racing tips, born from the social phenomenon of parimutuel gambling (from the French for “mutual” gambling) in which all bets are pooled together, with a house take removed instantly before calculating payoff shares. In a typical example, seventeen percent is withheld and eighty-three percent returned within the form of winnings. As with all games of chance, the mathematics of probability is intimately involved, with nuances exploited by those with an understanding with the details. Modern technology aims to make it even easier, and software exists which purport to assist handicap a race with the least amount of user input feasible. Interestingly, such computer-assisted handicaps don’t dampen the excitement of a bet!

Australia is a place that just begs for cinematic flyovers. First popularized during the 1980s by IMAX, the helicopter-flyover genre of travel video was brought to home theaters by a series of DVDs from various companies almost a decade later. It is in the context of such presentations that Zalman Silber’s Oztrek amusement ride makes its appearance. Screening at the Sydney Tower in the Harbour City, the Oztrek is a cinematic flyover through many of Australia’s national treasures – geographic and otherwise.

Some of the locations highlighted in this fifteen-minute ride (Oztrek bills itself as a “ride” on account of special seating that provides some physical, kinetic feedback in sync to events onscreen) are a Queensland river, a Sydney beach, as well as famous landmarks throughout the country, both natural and man-made. The non-geographic highlights include such activities as Aussie Rules Football and buffalo mustering, further cementing the self-image of Australians as a hardy hearty folk who work and play rough.

Also at the Sydney Tower – and also from serial entrepreneur Zalman Silber – is the Skywalk, an invigorating experience even more impressive than his Oztrek. This is basically a catwalk a thousand feet above street level, the highest point in all the city from which panoramic bird’s-eye views are possible. Full glass flooring really adds to the adrenaline rush, allowing guests to look straight down without any visual obstructions and feel like they are, well, literally walking in the sky!

It is difficult to compare the two attractions to one another, though they both come from the same entrepreneurial mind. One is extremely visceral, while the other is much more cerebral and, incidentally, rather conventional. Yet it is easy to see how they so wonderfully complement each other, and a visit to the Sydney Tower would not seem as fulfilling without sampling two of its most popular marquee attractions.

The Lamiglas fishing pole is no ordinary rod. Lamiglas is a specialty rod company that’s been in the sportfishing business for more than half a century, and it’s well known among many anglers for the diversity of its catalog. The organization prides itself for field-testing every concept to determine the best factors for sportfishing success. Lamiglas fishing rods are made for specific kinds of fishing involving particular techniques and even specific species of fish. We’re talking about more than 3 hundred models built by hand to suit individual casting styles and particular fishing conditions!

That’s three hundred different Lamiglas steelhead rods, salmon rods, surf rods, bait, bass, fly, fresh and saltwater rods, all designed to give the amateur angler a professional’s edge. Lamiglas boasts a hundred and twenty-three different salmon and steelhead poles and over fifty varieties for surf fishing for starters. The company’s designs are well-known and often found at fishing tournaments, also known as fishing derbies.

These competitive events center around a clearly defined body of water and involve specific rules that take into account the unique conditions of a place. Generally, prizes are awarded on the basis of weight, meaning the number of fish caught within a certain period of time. But while Lamiglas employs good old-fashioned craftsmanship with the latest technological advances in materials science, it’s arguably the internet that has changed competitive recreational fishing the most.

For while traditional tournaments take place at a specific location, with the results kept within that host community, the worldwide web enables anglers in many different countries to participate all at once, with outcomes posted on the web in real-time. Interestingly, such changes have resulted in lower fish kills because the real-time outcomes online can give participants a good sense of their chances for success vis-à-vis their competitors. That’s a good thing for conservation!