Life on the edge : housing experiences in three remote Australian indigenous settlements

This analysis of housing experiences and aspirations in three remote Indigenous settlements in Australia (Mimili, Maningrida and Palm Island) reveals extreme liveability problems directly related to the scale and form of housing provision. Based upon field visits to each of the settlements and extensive interviews with residents and local housing and community officers, the paper analyses two aspects of living in such housing conditions at two spatial scales, the layout of the settlement and the design of individual houses. The failings at both scales are shown to be the fault of a dysfunctional housing system that is only recently been addressed.

Cultural economic geography and global media studies : the rise of asian media capitals?

This paper considers the scope to develop an approach to the spatial dimensions of media and culture that is informed by cultural-economic geography. I refer to cultural-economic geography as that strand of research in the field of geography that has been informed on the one hand by the ‘cultural turn’ in both geographical and economic thought, and which focuses on the relationship between, space, knowledge and identity in the spheres of production and consumption, and on the other to work by geographers that has sought to map the scale and significance of the cultural or creative industries as new drivers of the global economy. The paper considers the extent to which this work enables those engaged with urban cultural policy to get beyond some of the impasses that have arisen with the development of “creative cities” policies derived from the work of authors such as Richard Florida as well as the business management literature on clusters. It will frame these debates in the context of recent work by Michael Curtin on media capitals, and the question of whether cities in East Asia can emerge as media capitals from outside of the US-Europe-dominated transnational cultural axis.

Keeping up with the neighbours : China's soft power ambitions

Over the past century numerous waves of transnational media have washed across East Asia with cycles emanating from various centers of cultural production, such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul. Most recently the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has begun to exert growing influence over the production and flow of screen media, a phenomenon tied to the increasing size and power of its overall economy. The country’s rising status achieved truly global recognition during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the seven years leading up to the event, the Chinese economy tripled in size, expanding from $1.3 trillion to almost $4 trillion, a figure that made it the world’s third largest economy, slightly behind Japan, but decisively ahead of its European counterparts, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. The scale and speed of this transformation are stunning. Just as momentous are the changes in its film, television, and digital media markets, which now figure prominently in the calculations of producers throughout East Asia.

New affordable strata title housing solutions : a case study in Surabaya, Indonesia

Accessibility to affordable housing for low income people are one of the housing problems in Indonesia, especially in major cities like Jakarta and Surabaya. Government has provided indirect subsidised on home ownership for low income people through planning instrument such as inclusionary zoning. However, low cost housing has been located in cheaper land which is very far from city and employment centre. This paper aims to discuss recent government initiatives to support low cost strata title housing in prime location which closer to the employment centre. This paper compares the characteristics of existing affordable housing solutions and focus on a new initiative as a case study. Learning from this initiative will allow a recommendation on application of similar scheme in other sites. The land availability, high construction cost, culture barriers and higher risk with lower return have been named as main barriers on repeating this model in other sites. Moreover, the high-rise solution is still very expensive compared to landed houses.

Contemporary take on deconstructed Medea : a review

THEATRE: The New Dead: Medea Material. By Heiner Muller. Stella Electrika in association with La Boite Theatre Company, Brisbane, November 19. THERE has been a lot of intensity in independent theatre in Brisbane during the past year, as companies, production houses and producers have begun building new programs and platforms to support an expansion of pathways within the local theatre ecology. Audiences have been exposed to works signalling the diversity of what Brisbane theatre makers want to see on stage, from productions of new local and international pieces to new devised works, and the results of residencies and development programs. La Boite Theatre Company closes its inaugural indie season with a work that places it at the contemporary, experimental end of the spectrum. The New Dead: Medea Material is emerging director Kat Henry's interpretation of Heiner Muller's 1981 text Despoiled Shore Medea Material Landscape with Argonauts. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Muller is known for his radical adaptations of historical dramas, from the Greeks to Shakespeare, and for deconstructed texts in which the characters - in this case, Medea - violently reject the familial, cultural and political roles society has laid out for them. Muller's combination of deconstructed characters, disconnected poetic language and constant references to aspects of popular culture and the Cold War politics he sought to abjure make his texts challenging to realise. The poetry entices but the density, together with the increasing distance of the Cold War politics in the texts, leaves contemporary directors with clear decisions to make about how to adapt these open texts. In The New Dead: Medea Material, Henry works with some interesting imagery and conceptual territory. Lucinda Shaw as Medea, Guy Webster as Jason and Kimie Tsukakoshi as King Creon's daughter Glauce, the woman for whom Jason forsakes his wife Medea, each reference different aspects of contemporary culture. Medea is a bitter, drunken, satin-gowned diva with bite; Jason - first seen lounging in front of the television with a beer in an image reminiscent of Sarah Kane's in-yer-face characterisation of Hippolytus in Phaedra's Love - has something of the rock star about him; and Glauce is a roller-skating, karaoke-singing, pole-dancing young temptress. The production is given a contemporary tone, dominated by Medea's twisted love and loss, rather than by any commentary on her circumstances. Its strength is the aesthetic Henry creates, supported by live electro-pop music, a band stage that stands as a metaphor for Jason's sea voyage, and multimedia that inserts images of the story unfolding beyond these characters' speeches as sorts of subconscious flashes. While Tsukakoshi is engaging throughout, there are moments when Shaw and Webster's performances - particularly in the songs - are diminished by a lack of clarity. The result is a piece that, while slightly lacking in its realisation at times, undoubtedly flags Henry's facility as an emerging director and what she wants to bring to the Brisbane theatre scene.

The critical meets the cultural : International students’ responses to critical, dialogic postgraduate education in a Western university

What happens when international students encounter critical, dialogic approaches to postgraduate education in a Western university? This chapter works with the narrative accounts of two students from Asian countries about their varied experiences of and responses to critically-oriented, interactive, English-medium study in a Master of Education course in Australia. Beginning from researcher standpoint, it tables the students’ stories of cultural, academic, linguistic and personal border crossings, and their ‘readings’ of course demands prioritising critical analysis, dialogic exchange and problem-solving. Their responses raise ongoing, unresolved epistemological and experiential issues about the cross-cultural and transnational relevance and value of Western/Eurocentric ‘critical’ education.

Intelligent physical modelling systems - Why?

“What did you think you were doing?” Was the question posed by the conference organizers to me as the inventor and constructor of the first working Tangible Interfaces over 40 years ago. I think the question was intended to encourage me to talk about the underlying ideas and intentionality rather than describe an endless sequence of electronic bricks and that is what I shall do in this presentation. In the sixties the prevalent idea for a graphics interface was an analogue with sketching which was to somehow be understood by the computer as three dimensional form. I rebelled against this notion for reasons which I will explain in the presentation and instead came up with tangible physical three dimensional intelligent objects. I called these first prototypes “Intelligent Physical Modelling Systems” which is a really dumb name for an obvious concept. I am eternally grateful to Hiroshi Ishii for coining the term “Tangible User Interfaces” - the same idea but with a much smarter name. Another motivator was user involvement in the design process, and that led to the Generator (1979) project with Cedric Price for the world’s first intelligent building capable of organizing itself in response to the appetites of the users. The working model of that project is in MoMA. And the same motivation led to a self builders design kit (1980) for Walter Segal which facilitated self-builders to design their own houses. And indeed as the organizer’s question implied, the motivation and intentionality of these projects developed over the years in step with advancing technology. The speaker will attempt to articulate these changes with medical, psychological and educational examples. Much of this later work indeed stemming from the Media Lab where we are talking. Related topics such as “tangible thinking” and “intelligent teacups” will be introduced and the presentation will end with some speculations for the future. The presentation will be given against a background of images of early prototypes many of which have never been previously published.

Elimination of dengue by community programs using Mesocyclops(Copepoda) against Aedes aegypti in central Vietnam

From September 2000 to June 2003, a community-based program for dengue control using local predacious copepods of the genus Mesocyclops was conducted in three rural communes in the central Vietnam provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Khanh Hoa. Post-project, three subsequent entomologic surveys were conducted until March 2004. The number of households and residents in the communes were 5,913 and 27,167, respectively, and dengue notification rates for these communes from 1996 were as high as 2,418.5 per 100,000 persons. Following knowledge, attitude, and practice evaluations, surveys of water storage containers indicated that Mesocyclops spp. already occurred in 3-17% and that large tanks up to 2,000 liters, 130-300-liter jars, wells, and some 220-liter metal drums were the most productive habitats for Aedes aegypti. With technical support, the programs were driven by communal management committees, health collaborators, schoolteachers, and pupils. From quantitative estimates of the standing crop of third and fourth instars from 100 households, Ae. aegypti were reduced by approximately 90% by year 1, 92.3-98.6% by year 2, and Ae. aegypti immature forms had been eliminated from two of three communes by June 2003. Similarly, from resting adult collections from 100 households, densities were reduced to 0-1 per commune. By March 2004, two communes with no larvae had small numbers but the third was negative; one adult was collected in each of two communes while one became negative. Absolute estimates of third and fourth instars at the three intervention communes and one left untreated had significant correlations (P = 0.009-< 0.001) with numbers of adults aspirated from inside houses on each of 15 survey periods. By year 1, the incidence of dengue disease in the treated communes was reduced by 76.7% compared with non-intervention communes within the same districts, and no dengue was evident in 2002 and 2003, compared with 112.8 and 14.4 cases per 100,000 at district level. Since we had similar success in northern Vietnam from 1998 to 2000, this study demonstrates that this control model is broadly acceptable and achievable at community level but vigilance is required post-project to prevent reinfestation.

From bricks to clicks : hybrid commercial spaces in the landscape of early literacy and learning

In their quest for resources to support children’s early literacy learning and development, parents encounter and traverse different spaces in which discourses and artifacts are produced and circulated. This paper uses conceptual tools from the field of geosemiotics to examine some commercial spaces designed for parents and children which foreground preschool learning and development. Drawing on data generated in a wider study I discuss some of the ways in which the material and virtual commercial spaces of a transnational shopping mall company and an educational toy company operate as sites of encounter between discourses and artifacts about children’s early learning and parents of preschoolers. I consider how companies connect with and ‘situate’ people as parents and customers, and then offer pathways designed for parents to follow as they attempt to meet their very young children’s learning and development needs. I argue that these pathways are both material and ideological, and that are increasingly tending to lead parents to the online commercial spaces of the world wide web. I show how companies are using the online environment and hybrid offline and online spaces and flows to reinforce an image of themselves as authoritative brokers of childhood resources for parents that is highly valuable in a policy climate which foregrounds lifelong learning and school readiness.

Enhancing professional ethics : service-learning in teacher education

The ethical conduct of professionals has been the focus of increasing scrutiny over the past several decades as members of the public, the media, professional bodies, and legislative authorities have struggled to define ethical behaviour in times of governmental change, increasing internationalisation, globalised communications, threats of terrorism, and the challenges of developments in science and medicine (e.g., Demmke & Bossaert, 2004). National governments and transnational bodies have responded to these concerns about ethics and corruption through measures such as the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004), Transparency International’s annual corruption index (2010) and Queensland’s Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 (Queensland Parliament 1994). Similarly, academic interest in ethics and its application across a range of domains(e.g., business, health care, social welfare, criminal justice, law, journalism, defence, environment, and media) has also increased. To illustrate, in 1993, a non-partisan, non-profit national umbrella organisation, the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics, was formed following a conference concerned with the teaching of ethics (http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au./aapae/about_aapae/about_aapae.htm), while a recent review of the Excellence in Research for Australian rankings of national and international academic journals revealed that 16 journals related to ethics had received the top ratings of A* or A (Australian Research Council, 2009). In this chapter we examine professional ethics and argue, with specific reference to the context of pre-service teacher education, that Service-learning is one way of enhancing emerging professionals’ understanding of ethics.

Changes to the REIQ contract and conveyancing case law update

The Reference Schedule to the REIQ houses and land contract and the lots in a Community Titles Scheme (“CTS”) contract has been amended to contain provision for disclosure concerning the installation of an approved safety switch. This section will not be required to be completed if the land is vacant (in the case of the houses and land contract) or if the present use is a commercial use (in the case of the lots in a CTS contract).

Combating computer crime : an international perspective

Given the serious nature of computer crime, and its global nature and implications, it is clear that there is a crucial need for a common understanding of such criminal activity internationally in order to deal with it effectively. Research into the extent to which legislation, international initiatives, and policy and procedures to combat and investigate computer crime are consistent globally is therefore of enormous importance. The challenge is to study, analyse, and compare the policies and practices of combating computer crime under different jurisdictions in order to identify the extent to which they are consistent with each other and with international guidelines; and the extent of their successes and limitations. The purpose ultimately is to identify areas where improvements are needed and what those improvements should be. This thesis examines approaches used for combating computer crime, including money laundering, in Australia, the UAE, the UK and the USA, four countries which represent a spectrum of economic development and culture. It does so in the context of the guidelines of international organizations such as the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In the case of the UAE, we examine also the cultural influences which differentiate it from the other three countries and which has necessarily been a factor in shaping its approaches for countering money laundering in particular. The thesis concludes that because of the transnational nature of computer crime there is a need internationally for further harmonisation of approaches for combating computer crime. The specific contributions of the thesis are as follows: „h Developing a new unified comprehensive taxonomy of computer crime based upon the dual characteristics of the role of the computer and the contextual nature of the crime „h Revealing differences in computer crime legislation in Australia, the UAE, the UK and the USA, and how they correspond to the CoE Convention on Cybercrime and identifying a new framework to develop harmonised computer crime or cybercrime legislation globally „h Identifying some important issues that continue to create problems for law enforcement agencies such as insufficient resources, coping internationally with computer crime legislation that differs between countries, having comprehensive documented procedures and guidelines for combating computer crime, and reporting and recording of computer crime offences as distinct from other forms of crime „h Completing the most comprehensive study currently available regarding the extent of money laundered in four such developed or fast developing countries „h Identifying that the UK and the USA are the most advanced with regard to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems among the four countries based on compliance with the FATF recommendations. In addition, the thesis has identified that local factors have affected how the UAE has implemented its financial and AML/CFT systems and reveals that such local and cultural factors should be taken into account when implementing or evaluating any country¡¦s AML/CFT system.

The 2008 Tibet riots : perspectives, divided group protests and divergent media narratives

Awareness of the power of the mass media to communicate images of protest to global audiences and, in so doing, to capture space in global media discourses is a central feature of the transnational protest movement. A number of protest movements have formed around opposition to concepts and practices that operate beyond national borders, such as neoliberal globalization or threats to the environment. However, transnational protests also involve more geographically discreet issues such as claims to national independence or greater religious or political freedom by groups within specific national contexts. Appealing to the international community for support is a familiar strategy for communities who feel that they are being discriminated against or ignored by a national government.

Tea ceremony and Sukiya : negating social hierarchy

There is a widely held view that architecture is very strongly and even primarily determined by the society and culture rather than geographical, technical, economic or cli-matic factors. This is especially evident in societies where rituals, customs and tradition play a significant role in the design of built forms. One such society was that of Feudal Japan under the rule of samurai warriors. The strictly controlled hierarchical society of Feudal Japan, isolated from the rest of the world for over 250 years, was able to develop the art and architecture borrowed from neighboring older cultures of China and Korea into what is now considered uniquely Japanese. One such architecture is the Sukiya style tea houses where the ritual of tea ceremony took place. This ritual was developed by the tea masters who were Zen monks or the merchants who belonged to the lowest class in the hierarchical feudal society. The Sukiya style developed from 14th to 16th century and became an architectural space that negated all the rules imposed on commoners by the samurai rulers. The tea culture had a major influence on Japanese architecture, the concept of space and aesthetics. It extended into the design of Japanese gardens, clothes, presentation of food, and their manners in day to day life. The focus of this paper is the Japanese ritual of tea ceremony, the architecture of the tea house it inspired, the society responsible for its creation and the culture that promoted its popularity and its continuation into the 21st century.

Scaling of free convection heat transfer in a triangular cavity for Pr>1

Unsteady natural convection inside a triangular cavity subject to a non-instantaneous heating on the inclined walls in the form of an imposed temperature which increases linearly up to a prescribed steady value over a prescribed time is reported. The development of the flow from start-up to a steady-state has been described based on scaling analyses and direct numerical simulations. The ramp temperature has been chosen in such a way that the boundary layer is reached a quasi-steady mode before the growth of the temperature is completed. In this mode the thermal boundary layer at first grows in thickness, then contracts with increasing time. However, if the imposed wall temperature growth period is sufficiently short, the boundary layer develops differently. It is seen that the shape of many houses are isosceles triangular cross-section. The heat transfer process through the roof of the attic-shaped space should be well understood. Because, in the building energy, one of the most important objectives for design and construction of houses is to provide thermal comfort for occupants. Moreover, in the present energy-conscious society it is also a requirement for houses to be energy efficient, i.e. the energy consumption for heating or air-conditioning houses must be minimized.