Remote sensing utility expansion through Earth Portal internet browser

A modular, graphic-oriented Internet browser has been developed to enable non-technical client access to a literal spinning world of information and remotely sensed. The Earth Portal (www.earthportal.net) uses the ManyOne browser (www.manyone.net) to provide engaging point and click views of the Earth fully tessellated with remotely sensed imagery and geospatial data. The ManyOne browser technology use Mozilla with embedded plugins to apply multiple 3-D graphics engines, e.g. ArcGlobe or GeoFusion, that directly link with the open-systems architecture of the geo-spatial infrastructure. This innovation allows for rendering of satellite imagery directly over the Earth's surface and requires no technical training by the web user. Effective use of this global distribution system for the remote sensing community requires a minimal compliance with protocols and standards that have been promoted by NSDI and other open-systems standards organizations.

Internet teaching foundation for the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum program

The Remote Sensing Core Curriculum (RSCC) was initiated in 1993 to meet the demands for a college-level set of resources to enhance the quality of education across national and international campuses. The American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing adopted the RSCC in 1996 to sustain support of this educational initiative for its membership and collegiate community. A series of volumes, containing lectures, exercises, and data, is being created by expert contributors to address the different technical fields of remote sensing. The RSCC program is designed to operate on the Internet taking full advantage of the World Wide Web (WWW) technology for distance learning. The issues of curriculum development related to the educational setting, with demands on faculty, students, and facilities, is considered to understand the new paradigms for WWW-influenced computer-aided learning. The WWW is shown to be especially appropriate for facilitating remote sensing education with requirements for addressing image data sets and multimedia learning tools. The RSCC is located at http://www.umbc.edu/rscc. The Remote Sensing Core Curriculum (RSCC) was initiated in 1993 to meet the demands for a college-level set of resources to enhance the quality of education across national and international campuses. The American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing adopted the RSCC in 1996 to sustain support of this educational initiative for its membership and collegiate community. A series of volumes, containing lectures, exercises, and data, is being created by expert contributors to address the different technical fields of remote sensing. The RSCC program is designed to operate on the Internet taking full advantage of the World Wide Web (WWW) technology for distance learning. The issues of curriculum development related to the educational setting, with demands on faculty, students, and facilities, is considered to understand the new paradigms for WWW-influenced computer-aided learning. The WWW is shown to be especially appropriate for facilitating remote sensing education with requirements for addressing image data sets and multimedia learning tools. The RSCC is located at http://www.umbc.edu/rscc.

Using biomimicry to inform urban infrastructure design that addresses 21st century needs

The design of society’s major infrastructure systems are generally based on anthropogenic learnings and seldom encapsulate learning from nature. This results from a pervading attitude of superiority of human-designed systems, particularly since the Industrial Revolution. Problems created by such behaviours have previously not been thought to present a serious threat to humanity. However, many built environment professionals are now reconsidering the impact of such systems on the environment and their vulnerability to issues such as climate change. This paper presents an approach to delivering sustainable urban infrastructure that addresses 21st Century needs by emulating natural form, function and process - biomimicry – in infrastructure design. The analysis reveals the context for infrastructure change and the need for sustainable solutions, detailing the current inquiry into biomimicry informed design and highlighting potential applications from literature that demonstrate precedence for nature to inspire the design of urban infrastructure, in particular water and energy systems.

At home on the outstation : barriers to home Internet in remote Indigenous communities

Indigenous Australians living in remote areas have little access to the Internet and make little use of it. This article investigates the various dimensions of Internet take-up in remote Indigenous communities in Australia and considers the implications for broadband policy. It focuses specifically on the circumstances and experiences of three remote Indigenous communities in central Australia. Residents in these communities provided significant insight into the social, economic and cultural aspects of communications access and use. This evidence is used to examine the drivers and barriers to home Internet for remote Indigenous communities and to discuss a complex set of issues, including: the dynamics of remote living, economic priorities, cultural engagement with technology, and the characteristics of domestic life in remote Indigenous communities.

Using the internet to assist court processes : delivery of justice in an electronic age

This article presents an overview of two aspects of the role the internet now plays in the court system - first, the extent to which judges, administrators and court officials at the different levels in the court hierarchy are using the internet to deliver enhanced access to the Australian justice system for the community as a whole, and second, how they have embraced that same technology as an aid for accessing information for better judgment delivery and administration.

Community arts and appropriate internet technology : participation, materiality, and the ethics of sustainability in the digitally networked era

This thesis delivers new knowledge about how Australian community arts practices of appropriate technology are shifting due to the internet. It reconfigures the sector's incumbent ethics of sustainability in response to emerging concerns about how the internet's material politics are affecting cultural participation.

It’s Not Just a Game: Contemporary Challenges for Games Research and the Internet

In this final chapter we will raise a number of issues that we have encountered as we have put this collection of papers together. In doing this, we also reflect upon the seven challenges for video game theory that Bernard Perron and Mark Wolf(2009)put forward in the introduction to the second video game theory reader given it is probably one of the most recent assessments in the area at the time of writing. These challenges are concerned with Terminology and Accuracy, History, Methodology, Technology, Interactivity, Play and the Integration of Interdisciplinary Approaches. These issues will be brought up throughout this chapter, but not necessarily in mutually exclusive fashion...

Internet marketing and export market growth in Chile

Previous studies show that the Internet positively influences firms’ export activities from developed markets. However, the literature is vague as to whether the Internet has an impact on the export performance of firms from emerging markets. This study tests a conceptual model that includes the effect of Internet marketing capabilities on export market growth in an emerging market. Drawing on a cross-national sample of 204 export firms from a Latin American country (Chile), findings indicate that Internet marketing capabilities positively influence the availability of export information, which in turn impacts the development of business network relationships and export market growth.

Breathe easier online : evaluation of a randomized controlled pilot trial of an internet-based intervention to improve well-being in children and adolescents with a chronic respiratory condition

Background Chronic respiratory illnesses are the most common group of childhood chronic health conditions and are overrepresented in socially isolated groups. Objective To conduct a randomized controlled pilot trial to evaluate the efficacy of Breathe Easier Online (BEO), an Internet-based problem-solving program with minimal facilitator involvement to improve psychosocial well-being in children and adolescents with a chronic respiratory condition. Methods We randomly assigned 42 socially isolated children and adolescents (18 males), aged between 10 and 17 years to either a BEO (final n = 19) or a wait-list control (final n = 20) condition. In total, 3 participants (2 from BEO and 1 from control) did not complete the intervention. Psychosocial well-being was operationalized through self-reported scores on depression symptoms and social problem solving. Secondary outcome measures included self-reported attitudes toward their illness and spirometry results. Paper-and-pencil questionnaires were completed at the hospital when participants attended a briefing session at baseline (time 1) and in their homes after the intervention for the BEO group or a matched 9-week time period for the wait-list group (time 2). Results The two groups were comparable at baseline across all demographic measures (all F < 1). For the primary outcome measures, there were no significant group differences on depression (P = .17) or social problem solving (P = .61). However, following the online intervention, those in the BEO group reported significantly lower depression (P = .04), less impulsive/careless problem solving (P = .01), and an improvement in positive attitude toward their illness (P = .04) compared with baseline. The wait-list group did not show these differences. Children in the BEO group and their parents rated the online modules very favorably. Conclusions Although there were no significant group differences on primary outcome measures, our pilot data provide tentative support for the feasibility (acceptability and user satisfaction) and initial efficacy of an Internet-based intervention for improving well-being in children and adolescents with a chronic respiratory condition. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number: ACTRN12610000214033;

Online Copyright Infringement Discussion Paper July 2014

The Paper, by consideration of the issue of authorisation, addresses a very practical development in commerce. Online copyright infringement is now not only about unauthorised uses of cinematograph films but has filtered down to become more prevalent amongst small to medium enterprises (SME), as some competitors embrace online trading by aggressively and often unlawfully, seeking market share. It is understandable that internet service providers (ISPs), as gatekeepers of internet traffic, may be considered as being more than a conduit of contravening conduct but not a joint tortfeasor involved in a common design. In between those extremes lies the concept of authorisation in copyright which has a long history in Australia since the Copyright Act 1905 (Cth). The text of s 101(1A) of the Copyright Act, in particular s 101(1A)(a) and (c), derived from statements of Gibbs J in Moorhouse.

The responsibilities of intermediaries

This paper addresses the liability of intermediaries for copyright infringement, defamation and for engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct. It explores the issue of whether it is possible to develop a legitimate, decentralised copyright graduated response scheme in Australia.