Risk control in transmission system expansion planning with wind generators

With the advent of large-scale wind farms and their integration into electrical grids, more uncertainties, constraints and objectives must be considered in power system development. It is therefore necessary to introduce risk-control strategies into the planning of transmission systems connected with wind power generators. This paper presents a probability-based multi-objective model equipped with three risk-control strategies. The model is developed to evaluate and enhance the ability of the transmission system to protect against overload risks when wind power is integrated into the power system. The model involves: (i) defining the uncertainties associated with wind power generators with probability measures and calculating the probabilistic power flow with the combined use of cumulants and Gram-Charlier series; (ii) developing three risk-control strategies by specifying the smallest acceptable non-overload probability for each branch and the whole system, and specifying the non-overload margin for all branches in the whole system; (iii) formulating an overload risk index based on the non-overload probability and the non-overload margin defined; and (iv) developing a multi-objective transmission system expansion planning (TSEP) model with the objective functions composed of transmission investment and the overload risk index. The presented work represents a superior risk-control model for TSEP in terms of security, reliability and economy. The transmission expansion planning model with the three risk-control strategies demonstrates its feasibility in the case study using two typical power systems

Porno? Chic!: how pornography changed the world and made it a better place

Porno? Chic! examines the relationship between the proliferation of pornography and sexualised culture in the West and social and cultural trends which have advanced the rights of women and homosexuals. Brian McNair addresses this relationship with an analysis of trends in sexualised culture since 2002 linked to a transnational analysis of change in sexual politics and sex/gender relations in a range of societies, from the sexually liberalised societies of advanced capitalism to those in which women and homosexuals remain tightly controlled by authoritarian, patriarchal regimes. In this accessible, jargon-free book, Brian McNair examines why those societies in which sexualised culture is the most liberalised and pervasive are also those in which the socio-economic and political rights of women and homosexuals have advanced the most.

WikiLeaks, journalism and the consequences of chaos

This article considers the impact of the WikiLeaks organisation in relation to debates around the defence of national security and free speech, global media citizenship and the emerging dynamics of the global public sphere. Building on the author’s previous work on political communication, journalism and ‘cultural chaos’, it explores the implications of WikiLeaks for emerging conceptions and definitions of journalism, and for the changing structure of media–politics power relations at the global level, against the background of three trends: democratisation, declining deference and digitalisation.

The 'new' news

This themed issue of Media International Australia brings together a collection of work that critically examines some of the rapid changes to the news media system in recent years, including an explosion of news sources, formats and increasingly popular hybrid styles and the collapse in the authority of the trusted news sources of the past. Much news is now broken by social media, and journalists compete in a cycle of news and politics that has been dramatically influenced and sped up by 24-hour news channels. The role of journalists has changed, and they increasingly are being called up on to interpret and explain events rather than simply report them.

Et tu, George? Campaign journalism and the politics of compromise

There is a category of film about journalism in which journalism is not the star, but the supporting player, and journalists not the protagonists but the Greek chorus, commenting on and also changing the realities they report. In such films the news media are a structuring presence driving the plot, shaping the narrative, constructing what we might think of as a pseudo-reality. Like Daniel Boorstin’s notion of the pseudo-event (introduced in his still-relevant book The Image, 1962), this pseudo-reality is so-named because it would not exist were it not for the demands of the news media’s hunger for stories, and knowledge of the damage they can do with those stories, on the calculations and actions of the key actors. Pseudo-realities form as responses to what political actors think journalists and their organisations need and want, or as efforts to shape journalistic accounts in ways favourable to themselves. Films about politics often feature pseudorealities of this kind, in which the events and actions driving the plot have only a tenuous relationship with important things going on in the everyday world beyond the political arena. Everything we see is about image, perception, appearance.

Towards a taxonomy of passenger airport experience

Airports are vital sources of income to a country and city. Airports are often understood from a management perspective, rather than a passenger perspective. As passengers are a vital customer of airports, a passenger perspective can provide a novel approach in understanding and improving the airport experience. This paper focuses on the study of passenger experiences at airports. This research is built on recent investigations of passenger discretionary activities in airports by the authors, which have provided a new perspective on understanding the airport experience. The research reported in this paper involves field studies at three Australian airports. Seventy one people who had impending travel were recruited to take part in the field study. Data collection methods included video-recorded observation and post-travel interviews. Observations were coded and a list of activities performed was developed. These activities were then classified into an activity taxonomy, depending on the activity location and context. The study demonstrates that there is a wide range of activities performed by passengers as they navigate through the airport. The emerging activity taxonomy consists of eight categories. They include: (i) processing (ii) preparatory (iii) consumptive (iv) social (v) entertainment (vi) passive (vii) queuing and (viii) moving. The research provides a novel perspective to understand the experience of passenger at international airports. It has been applied in airports to improve passenger processing and reduce waiting times. The significance of the taxonomy lies in its potential application to airport terminal design and how it can be utilised to understand and improve the passenger experience.

Media classification : Content regulation in an age of convergent media

This article outlines the key recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review of the National Classification Scheme, as outlined in its report Classification – Content Regulation and Convergent Media (ALRC, 2012). It identifies key contextual factors that underpin the need for reform of media classification laws and policies, including the fragmentation of regulatory responsibilities and the convergence of media platforms, content and services, as well as discussing the ALRC’s approach to law reform.

Remote, rural, and regional airports in Australia

This paper provides an overview of the challenges faced by remote, rural and regional airports in Australia. The deregulation of airports over the past decades has resulted in local councils owning most of the rural and regional airports across Australia. The paper provides an overview of the international literature on regional airports and research directed at defining the issues faced by regional and rural airports in Australia. A survey of airport managers, regulators and local councils was undertaken across Australia to outline the challenges and stresses that regional airports are facing. Core findings indicate that the operation of rural and regional airports is under stress due to the interrelating factors of infrastructure costs, high cost of maintenance, and security infrastructure upgrades. Small airports often compete with one another to attract airlines and maintain their infrastructure advantage.

A Companion to New Media Dynamics

A Companion to New Media Dynamics presents a state-of-the-art collection of multidisciplinary readings that examine the origins, evolution, and cultural underpinnings of the media of the digital age in terms of dynamic change Presents a state-of-the-art collection of original readings relating to new media in terms of dynamic change. - Features interdisciplinary contributions encompassing the sciences, social sciences, humanities and creative arts - Addresses a wide range of issues from the ownership and regulation of new media to their form and cultural uses - Provides readers with a glimpse of new media dynamics at three levels of scale: the ‘macro’ or system level; the ‘meso’ or institutional level; and ‘micro’ or agency level

Ambient media for the third place in urban environments

As ambient computing blends into the fabric of the modern urban environment developing a positive interplay between people, places, and technology to create enlivened, interactive cities becomes a necessary priority in how we imagine, understand, design, and develop cities. Designing technology for art, culture and gastronomic experiences, that are rich in community, can provide the means for collaborative action to (re)create cities that are lively, engaging, and promote a sense of well being as well as belonging.

Villains of the piece

Welcome to the first of what will be a regular review essay on films about journalism, covering recent releases as well as looking back at established classics and under-rated obscurities.

Film review : Citizen Murdoch?

It hasn’t been a good year for media barons. Actually, it’s not been a great century. In 2007 Baron Conrad Black was sent to jail in the US for embezzling his shareholders. Silvio Berlusconi’s grip on the Italian media hasn’t prevented a steady flow of allegations of sleaze and scandal since 2009, which have reduced him to a global laughing stock. And since July 2011, we have seen the dizzying fall of Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, from their positions of unquestioned (and unquestionable) authority at the helm of the world’s most powerful media empire.

Enhancing women’s participation in Turkey through digital storytelling

This paper explores the process of introducing Digital Storytelling (DST) workshop practice to Turkey through a project called “Digital Stories from Amargi Women”, which was part of my Ph.D. research in the Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. In the resulting dissertation, I examined the potential of Digital Storytelling workshop practice as a means to promote agency and self-expression in a feminist activist organization (such as Amargi Women), focusing in particular on whether or not Digital Storytelling can be used as a change agent – as a tool for challenging the idea of a single public sphere in ways that make it more inclusive of women’s participation. In order to explore the issue in depth, my thesis engaged with feminist scholarship’s critiques of the public/private dichotomy, as well as the concept of gender. The conducted workshops, the resulting digital stories, and in-depth interviews were analyzed to seek connections between these topics and narrative identity. The results indicated that the participating women defined new activist usages for digital stories, as well as their overall activated networking habits in the DST workshop settings. Digital Stories from Amargi Women became the first Digital Storytelling project that aimed to enable women’s participation in Turkey through facilitating a co-creative environment where the participants could share their stories and learn digital skills that they could make use of after the workshops.

Flourishing and video games

Studies dedicated to understanding the relationship between gaming and mental health, have traditionally focused on the effects of depression, anxiety, obsessive usage, aggression, obesity, and faltering ‘real life’ relationships. The complexity of game genre and personality aside, this review aims to define a space for a positive relationship between videogame play and wellbeing by applying current videogame research to the criteria that defines the wellbeing construct ‘flourishing’. Self- determination theory (SDT), and flow provide context, and areas of overlap are explored.