Building by Melbourne based international
architecture firm declared on of UK's top 10 building of the decade
White Hat congratulates Denton Corker Marshall on
their
Manchester Civil Justice Centre being declared by the
prestigious Blueprint magazine as one of the UK's top then buildings
of the decade. Australian architects, along with Australia's
engineers have an impact on contemporary world architectures and
building practices which is disproportionate to this country's
population. DCM have offices in Melbourne, Indonesia and the UK and
recently won the contract to design the new Stonehenge Visitors
Centre.
To
subscribe to the White Hat City Design Newsletter
click here. |
Australian 2009 International Future Energy
Challenge winners announced
White Hat congratulates the two Florida engineering
undergraduates who won the Australian 2009 International Future
Energy Challenge with their invention to maximize the energy output
of wind turbines.
Click here for details. |
Germany Sets Aside $130 Billion for Renewable
Energy
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on 30 May
that Germany, the world's fourth-largest economy and Europe's
biggest, would shutter all of its 17 nuclear power plants between
2015 and 2022, an extraordinary commitment, given that they
currently produce about 28 percent of the country's electricity.It
is by any yardstick an extraordinary (and expensive) commitment that
may well have the collateral benefit of unlocking similar funding
worldwide for renewable energy projects.
Read more >> |
|
Australian Student wins international inventions
prize for extracting water from air
White Hat congratulates Ed Linacre, a design student
at Swinburne University of Technology, for winning the prestigious
international James Dyson Award for his invention of a system of
extracting water from the air in drought prone country and directing
it to the roots of plants.
Even if it hasn’t rained for months, the air still
contains some water vapour. In fact warm is capable of holding more
water vapour than cold air as anyone who has lived in the tropics
will know. When warm air comes in contact with a cold surface some
of the water vapour will condense, hence the misted-up windscreen on
a cold morning. Linacre’s invention uses solar panel to create power
to cool the air, extract the moisture and distribute it at root
level to to the crop. You can read a description of how it works
here.
To
subscribe to the White Hat inventions Newsletter
click here. |
Who owns the photos on Twitter?
An American judge recently (mid January 2013) moved a
step closer to making this issue clearer.
A photojournalist found himself in Haiti at the time
of the 2010 earthquake and took graphic pictures of the aftermath
which he posted to a hastily created Twitter account. They
were soon published by several high profile media outlets including
The Washington Post. This was done without seeking permission
from the photographer. This sometimes happens in the case of fast
breaking news and a reputable media outlet will then sort out the
issues of rights, acknowledgements and royalties later. It appears
that this was not done and, worse than that a partner organisation
of The Washington Post, Getty Images started selling
them worldwide without authorisation.
The arguments from the media organisation were along
the lines that because these photos were already on Twitter
then they could do what they liked with them. The American judge
ruled otherwise and ordered the case go to a full trial with a jury.
She said that the Twitter terms of service agreed to by a user when
an account is created allow Twitter and its partners number of
rights to use that content but that does not confer a licence to
third parties to do the same. Put simply, you retain the
ownership (copyright) of an image posted to Twitter but confer
certain rights to its use to Twitter and its partners but not
to external parties. You can find the full ruling
here.
Copyright and publication rights is a particular
messy area with laws varying from country to country and all
struggling to keep up with the implication of fast changing
technologies. Although the issue in this case may prove reasonably
straightforward, the internet has opened open dozens of instances
each day where the rights of an individual's intellectual or
creative labours to earn a living end up in waters that are muddy
both legally and morally. We will watch the process of the trial
with interest.
Readers may interested in
what photos
it is permissible to take in a public place in Australia.. |
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Giant Soft Drink Manufacturer Admits its Bottled
Water is Just Tap Water
A giant soft drink manufacturer has
admitted that its popular bottled water product is just tap water.
According to one commentator "Modern schooling encourages
students to adopt an attitude on things to do with the environment,
their body and other such issues and to question accepted attitudes
- that is a good thing. At the same time modern schooling has
downgraded the teaching of core skills such as formal logic, science
and mathematics which enable students to critically analyse such
issues, and replaced them with 'discussion' - that is a bad thing.
Promoters and advertisers have spotted the gullibility chasm this
has created for people wanting to 'do the right thing' and quickly
moved to fill it with high-margin products and philosophies of
dubious value or, often, demonstrably no value".
more information >> |
Australian Invention wins International Award
White Hat congratulates the two Australians, Phil
Ashworth and Dr. Graham Robertson whose invention for baiting
commercial long lines underwater is expected to save many thousands
of seabirds each year from becoming accidently hooked and drowned by
the fishing activities of coastal tuna and swordfish vessels
worldwide. The World Wildlife Fund announced in Viga, Spain, that
the invention had won their 2009 award to reward innovations from a
field of 71 competitors from 27 countries. The award aims to
minimise ‘bycatch’ (unintended and wasted wildlife casualties of
commercial fishing) by rewarding and inspiring individuals and
companies who create what they adjudge to be best inventions that
achieve that purpose. The next award will be made in 2011. For more
information about Australian inventions go to
The White Hat
Guide to Australian Inventions. |
|
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