I am not sure which side you belong to? But here is an interesting competition around the corner open both to design students and to professionals, without age limit.

Conducted by Andreu World, last date of entry is 10th of August 2012.  You design an item of furniture (seat or table) that integrates all the specifications outlined by Andreu World.

You will need to submit a prototype of the proposed piece (scale 1:5), a project synopsis, to be presented on 2 to 4 double-space, single-face A4 typewritten pages, CD with plans, diagrams, sketches, etc.and a duly signed affidavit.

Each participant assumes responsibility for the costs of sending their projects and presentations.
The following prizes will be awarded:  1^st and 2^nd prizes of 3000 Euros and 1000 Euros, respectively, will be awarded by a jury composed of professionals from different sectors: Design, Industry, Media and other fields related to creative activities. The jury will also award up to a maximum of 4, non-monetary, special mentions.
 Registering can be done online. You can send more than one entry if you like.

Please find the details here

Good luck!

Registration for continuing students begins April 26.

New and former students can enroll in courses starting May 14.

New club

In Fall 2012, Ohlone adds the Women’s Empowerment Club to its roster.

The club will discuss what matters most to its members and some of the sample topics are; building healthy relationships, positive body image and stress management.

Contact Emily Grantz for more information at egrantz@ ohlone.edu.

Travel

Ohlone’s Study Abroad has provided students the opportunity to jet set off to foreign lands such as Greece, Italy, Australia, Thailand and China.

This August, the nation that’s home to Guinness and Riverdance will host the next Ohlone study-abroad trip in Ireland.

Want to get lucky? Applications are due on April 12 to instructor Carol Nance at cnance@ohlone.edu.

Faculty

Photography professor Paul Mueller has been named April’s Faculty of the Month member.

Mueller will have a solo exhibit displayed at the Mercury 20 Art Gallery in Oakland this June where he is a member.

His work can also be viewed at paulography.com.

Mueller incorporates multimedia ranging from video captures, slide shows into his courses.

Philosophy professor Wayne Yuen is asking faculty to participate in the process of selecting individuals to be Faculty of the Month by making a nomination to wyuen@ohlone.edu.

Newcomers to the show include Christopher Heyerdahl, who narrates the teaser, Giles Matthey, Camilla Luddington, and Christopher Meloni.

It has also been announced that creator of the series, Alan Ball, will step back after this season to allow someone else to take up his role.

Click the picture below to watch the teaser.

Well I came across it when a friend forwarded an email to me with this project.

The email message describes the project as below:

“Solar City Tower “, built atop the island of Cotonduba will be the welcome symbol to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro . It will be seen by the game visitors and participants as they arrive by air or water. The tower captures solar energy. It will supply energy for all of the Olympic city, as well as also for part of Rio. It pumps up water from the ocean to create what appears like a water fall and this fall stimulates turbines that produce energy during the night. It will also hold the Olympic flame. The Tower possesses an amphitheater, an auditorium, a cafeteria and boutiques. Elevators lead to various observatories. It also has a retractable plat-form for the practice of bungee jumping. At the summit is an observation point to appreciate the scenery of the land and ocean, as well as the water fall. Solar City Tower will be the point of reference for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The concept is unique and attention grabber for sure at the same time being environment friendly since it claims to generate energy to run the tower activities . Although RAFAA has denied any confirmation about the project being actually considered to build.

I am hoping that it will inspire you all too!

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Sources: 1, 2

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Hizb-ut Tahrir (and it’s front organisation at Westminster, the Global Ideas Society/GIS)** is a group with an agenda to transform Western society, presenting themselves as a liberating alternative to capitalism and socialism. However, this form of religious politics that they promote, predictably, is based on subjecting billions of people to theocratic fascist rule. It means rule by religious authorities, the formation of an international Islamic Empire, it means a return to the European Dark Ages.
Those under this tyranny would be subject to a loss of freedom in the form of anyone who does not share Hizb-ut Tahrir’s outlook of the world being subject to brutal repression such as we see in Iran currently. It would bring about an end to long fought for LGBT rights and freedoms, equality for women and the destruction of every element of self-organisation, democracy and freedom in society  from the right of women to wear what they want, to the ability to choose your sexual partner freely, to the suppression of trade unions and student unions.

So, when we finally took notice of the fact that a guest speaker from this organisation was coming to speak at our university on a public platform (or at least we were under the impression it was a public platform as with every other society event) we thought to rally together and promote a rational critical debate with this individual, we planned on leafleting to highlight his views and to raise the issue of his attendance. All of this was available on the Facebook event page which was set up to organise for last Thursday.

Throughout the remainder of that week until Thursday several members of the GIS ‘subscribed’ on Facebook to my posts, and by early Thursday morning the Westminster Student Union President (and former Global Ideas Society member) had messaged me over Facebook declaring my intention to bring in ‘unauthorised externals’ as a security risk and to clarify what I was doing. For a start, there was never any mention that so called externals weren’t allowed to the event on any of their posters and were not ‘unauthorised externals’ either, seeing as they were students from other universities in London which when it says “All students welcome” you expect to include them.
Secondly, the Student Union doesn’t have any (perhaps the University does) say in what we can and cannot do on campus politically so long as it is non-discriminatory or not causing physical harm to others. They may be our (barely) elected representatives but that doesn’t give them the right to control the (wider nature of the) debate. Especially in these circumstances, the GIS/SU bringing in a racist, homophobic, misogynistic reactionary guest speaker.
They then went onto ‘express the SU’s opposition to attempts to stifle debate’, drawing from the fact that I had emailed and messaged contacts within the NUS and other organisations, Student Rights etc, about the appearance of the controversial guest speakers. Stifling debate though? Surely, the opposite is true.
Maybe in the past guest speakers such as these have been allowed into the university without the proper political opposition to highlight their dangerous views but by opposing and confronting these speakers in reasoned debate, bringing to account the actions of their organisation in countries such as Indonesia and across the world where they have aided in military coup d’état etc to establish their ideal form of government is only enriching the debate, hardly stifling debate.
On Thursday afternoon, the Student Union communicated over social networks and its website that the event was to be cancelled, within hours the Student Union & (strangely) jointly, the Global Ideas Society released a statement claiming that the university itself had labelled us as a ‘violent threat’. They then claimed that we were planning to ‘disrupt the event’ and that there was a possibility of this hypothetical disruption for some reason ‘escalating to violence’. On what justification have they made this claim? That we were planning to oppose them in rational (peaceful) debate, that would somehow devolve into random violence? That because the GIS invited all students they were unhappy with anti-extremist activists coming to the event. Or was it a genuine fear that for we would be moved to violence through such impassioned discussion?
Either way, speaking for all those who lost the opportunity to debate and discuss last Thursday, we are absolutely disgusted at the implication of violence from the university and protest the event’s cancellation.
It is a very cheap shot to label your intellectual opponents as a ‘violent threat’ (the words of the University [apparently Carole Mainstone], but then backed up by the SU & GIS in the statement), and shows the limits to which the Student Union and the Global Ideas Society value free speech and healthy political debate, but then considering they (HT sympathisers) are totally opposed to the Western value-system of freedom of expression, assembly, democracy etc that is not entirely surprising. Also not entirely surprising is how the Global Ideas Society have removed me from their Facebook page, so is it really I who am stifling the debate?

Pot kettle black. Because rational debate #isnotaviolentthreat

Ps. GIS/SU have reorganised the cancelled event and moved it to the 8th March.

* “It is, however, banned by the National Union of Students and by many student unions across the county.” Telegraph Source below

* “Westminster University elected Tarik Mahr…president of the union despite his links to the group Hizb ut-Tahrir which advocates the establishment of an Islamic state…vice-president, Jamal Achchi…also has links to the group”. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8446562/Fears-that-university-has-been-infiltrated-by-Islamist-extremists.html

One player the Royals are known to be interested in is Republic of Ireland U21 international Karl Sheppard. The striker is available on a free transfer from Shamrock Rovers and Reading are in the driving seat for his signature, according to the Reading Post.

The Reading Guide also gives it’s take on the story

Jimmy Kebe has been offered a new two-and-a-half year deal at Reading but the latest club to be linked with the Malian winger is Stoke City (FootballFriendsOnline), after a host of clubs including West Ham and Leicester.

Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has extended his Royals contract until 2015, and joined Ipswich Town on loan until mid-April (Vital Football) - the England U21 keeper has already been on loan to Leeds United this season, where he kept three clean sheets in six games. Danish U21 keeper Mikkel Andersen has also extended his contract until 2015 (Football365).

Another player recently on loan elsewhere is Michail Antonio, who made 16 appearances and scored 4 goals for Colchester United in the back end of 2011. However, with Antonio now a fixture on the Royals’ bench, U’s manager John Ward has confirmed the winger is unlikely to return to Colchester (Football365).

Michael Hector, on loan at Barnet, helped his side to a 1-1 draw against Swindon Town in the first leg of the Southern Final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy (Reading OS). The second leg takes place on Tuesday 7th February, with the winners travelling to Wembley.

Because of Reading’s dismal 3rd Round FA Cup exit to Stevenage, and Bristol City’s loss at Crawley Town, the Championship game between the two has been brought forward to Saturday 28th January at 3pm, from the following Tuesday at 8pm (Reading OS).

In case you missed it, Royals Post Episode 12 is now available, featuring the triumphant trio of West, Williams and Fordham. Download it or listen to it for free here.

And Kilmarnock FC Supporters’ Club have an interview with ex-Royal Dylan Kerr, discussing Reading’s playoff failures amongst mostly Kilmarnock-related subjects.

So without further ado, here’s mine! News of the Bored presents the most profound, profane and inane news stories of the past year.

The war in Iraq officially ended. Time to dust off that Mission Accomplished banner!

US Special Forces assassinated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. The Republicans were right all along; Obama did have a death panel. And its name was SEAL Team 6.

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” military policy was rescinded. Conservatives charged that the repeals of DADT and Article 125, which forbade sodomy in the military, would pave the way for bestiality. Brave men and women of our fighting forces, I cannot stress this enough: Bomb-sniffing dogs are for sniffing bombs only. No exceptions.

Steve Jobs, Amy Winehouse and Patrice O’Neal passed away. The fact that you still remember the gory details of Ryan Dunn’s car wreck but forgot that Elizabeth Taylor even died should make you feel ashamed. I did.

Protestors who rose up against their corrupt governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya used Twitter to coordinate. The technological revolution aided successful political revolution around the world, even prompting aggressive demonstrations in Russia and the West. 2011 marked the year that social networking matured beyond purse-lipped, mirror self-portraited Myspace and Facebook vanity into a veritable tool of positive change. Finally, the internet transcended triviality and cemented its position as the last bastion of free speech and social organization.

Texas Rep. Lamar Smith drafted the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would severely curtail copyright infringement and bestow to corporations and the federal government the power to restrict access to any websites of which they do not approve. Nevermind all that shit I just said about the internet and freedom.

Public support in the US for the legalization of marijuana reached 50%. Anti-prohibition advocates are no longer a tokin’ minority.

As flavor-of-the-month GOP candidates came and went, Mitt Romney maintained a middling, yet steady spot in polls throughout the year. Despite a new survey showing the Massachusetts Mormon with a slight lead in a head-to -head matchup with the president, expect Romney to more than likely keep that penchant for placing second come November 2012.

The US considered allowing Ali Abdullah Saleh to seek medical treatment stateside after he agreed to abdicate the presidency of Yemen in response to Arab Spring protests. Because doing the same for the tyrannical Shah of Iran worked out so well for the Carter Administration.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and several attendees were shot at a town hall meeting outside Tucson. Arizona officials tackled assassination attempts the way they do every issue: building border walls surrounding all statewide politicians.

Brazil displaced the United Kingdom as 6th largest economy in the world. Who would have thought that there’s lower global demand for the garish nuptials of crooked-toothed inbred millionaires living off the public teat than jiggly, thonged asses?

The President made deep concessions to Congressional Republicans during a deal to increase the debt ceiling. And not a single FOX News headline referred to Obama wanting to “raise the roof.” Their outlandish bigotry has been noticeably neglected as of late.

The Fox Latin America network posted an online poll on whether or not Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus. Wait, there it is!

Libyan dictator Moammar Quaddafi was violated and executed by NATO-assisted rebels. Just because he was given a taste of his own medicine was no reason for him to get all butt-hurt about it. Oh wait…

Oprah Winfrey’s daily syndicated talk show went off the air. Without her book club around telling us what to buy, we don’t have to read anymore. Ever. Yaaaaaay!

Occupy Wall Street takes over Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park as well as public areas across the nation to denounce income inequality and corporate control of government. Don’t these filthy hippies know that Americans should never occupy land in which there’s no oil to be tapped?

Tim Tebow Mania overtook America as the quarterback led the Denver Broncos to a few improbable victories. If Jesus is responsible for this streak, then I’m switching over to Team Lucifer. The only downside is that the Dark Lord only follows teams owned by Mark Cuban.

The Great Recession persisted and employment stagnated. The bad economy even forced enterprising young graduate students to pass the time by writing stale jokes for blogs that nobody reads.

An Indian man died after his penis was chewed off by rats while he recovered in the hospital from pneumonia. Now that’s a News Bite! To one and all, have a happy and prosperous 2012!