Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Friday, December 18th, 2009
The AILA National Office has been informed of a range of stories on the implementation of the Commonwealth’s Stimulus Package for infrastructure as well as the school’s program.
We would like to gather together some of the feedback, positives and the other, on the roles of landscape architects in the processes as well as on the value of landscape being considered - and any and all other related matters or issues.
All this will be fed into our thinking for future national and state based advocacy.
All feedback appreciated.
Paul Costigan, Executive Director.
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General, Plants, climate change, environment, landscape principles, urban design | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 4th, 2009
The AILA National Conference in Melbourne will be using the Australian Landscape Principles as the basis for the discussions on the future of professional practice. The Australian Landscape Principles have been developed as a strategic response to this issue, based on respect for the inherent and measurable values of landscape when developing planning, design and management strategies for climate change adaptation in our natural and built environments.
At least one practice will be interrogating their own practice for their presentation at the conference and discussing the issues of ethics in their decision making and in their project work.
The question for all members: Have you conducted such an assessment recently? Have you any thoughts on conducting this kind of in-house study? or any other comments on the future of the profession and the use of the Landscape Principles ?
Look forward to your comments.
Paul Costigan
AILA Executive Director
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General, climate change, education, environment, landscape principles | No Comments »
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
Hello ex-QUT students and lecturers BAS/BBE(LA) 1989-91 and GDLA 1993-94!!!
Former student, Walter Van Der Loo is travelling from far flung Perth to attend the AILA national conference in Melbourne in May and thinks it’s about time for a catch-up with former uni buddies.
Anyone interested in getting together to reminisce the old days and generally catch-up and have a larf can contact Walter on walter.vanderloo@edaw.com
Posted by Administrator in General | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Hello AILA folk!
We are considering the marketability of a Graduate Certificate (4 units or subjects) in Conservation of Historic Landscapes, or something similar.
I know I would love be involved in teaching it! Is anyone interested in studying it?
I trained at the University of York (MA-Conservation Studies 1990) which has informed my practice as a heritage consultant and a teacher. Professor Gini Lee has joined us here at QUT and we would be the chief staff involved, with special appearances by other QUT staff as needed.
I envisage lots and lots of expert guest lecturers which was the model at York. We want to make it solidly practical with an emphasis on conservation plans prepared through design studios investigating REAL historic landscapes.
Interested anyone?
Dr. Jeannie Sim, QUT, Brisbane.
Posted by Administrator in General | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Queensland University of Technology has been presented with an exciting student project in the Gulf of Carpentatria.
The Project called “Linking Karumba: Creating Sustainable Connections” involves a multi- disciplinary group of 16 senior students, Q.U.T Teaching staff and the residents of Karumba.
This September for 10 days, the group will immerse themselves in the nature and culture of Karumba and create planning options that link the two separate parts of the township.
Karumba is located at the mouth of the Norman River in the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland.
The attached image shows the landscape that surrounds the township.
Stay tuned…………………!
Ashley Nicholson, student landscape architect QUT.
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General, QUT, student project | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
A recent call to landscape architects to give input to a journal about urban agriculture heightened the opportunity and responsibility we have to help feed a future low consumerism, highly urban world. Is there any one out there interested to being part of this.
I have a touch of permaculture in my veins and am keen to see the Victorian State Government’s program of “Food for all” be successful.
Ros
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General, environment | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
The National Office was contacted by a teacher of Year 10 Graphics Technology at Port Hacking High School, on the southern side of Sydney.
He have the class currently undertaking a module on Landscape Drawing and was wondering if any AILA members could suggest a few good on-line Australian landscape symbol libraries they can access for symbols to use/duplicate in class exercises.
The school has found a handful, but none that they would describe as comprehensive by any means.
Failing that, are there any other sources of landscape drawing symbols could be recommended? (ie. not on the internet)
Are there any good Landscape Drawing related teaching resources you can recommend? (on or off line)
This is the first time they have run the Landscape Drawing module and they are very low on resources for it!
Thank you in advance for /any / help your members might be able to provide.
Greg Bennett
Posted by Administrator in General | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
Dear members
Review Netspeed as an ISP and web host, the many serious problems and the disappointing service
The AILA National Office can report that we have successfully transferred the web site away from Netspeed. Many complaints about Netspeed.
We had many many problems with Netspeed over many months - this led to requests and complaints to Netspeed, to any Netspeed staff we could find - but little response from Netspeed , most of time nil response or too little too late - so we gave up on complaining to Netspeed - held a review of Netspeed in comparison to other providers - and moved away from Netspeed!
We have moved the web hosting due to the disappointing and frustrating service being provided by Netspeed over an extended period of time.
yes we were very very disappointed, and even very very amazed, with the Netspeed service.
We tried everything and were very patient over an extended time - months!
But in the end we gave up on Netspeed! both as a web host and as the Internet Service Provider.
The final Review
there were four major issues in the end.
FYI: A REVIEW of Netspeed
The first was that we paid extra to be business customers - but the responses to problems was slow and often did not happen at all - this was the Netspeed priority service!
Second was that over the last few months the site would regularly disappear overnight. this then a special call for Netspeed to make it active again. in the end this magic Netspeed fault was happening almost every night. you can see how the lack of confidence in Netspeed developed!
third was the placement on the Netspeed server of a piece of software - Google-Urchin. this little gem tracked the visitor usage. Without our permission or knowledge, it appeared in all of the AILA main pages on the Netspeed server and was being detected as a virus. We did not ask Netspeed for the software. We definitely did not appreciate the code being placed within all our pages. Netspeed never explained what it was doing there, despite requests. It took a whole weekend for us to remove the code from all the thousands of pages on the AILA web site.
and Fourth (yes there’s more), Netspeed moved the AILA site to a new server, but Netspeed failed to update the server side code that ran such things as the AILA pay page. This at a time when it was in high demand with members making payments and booking for events. One week later Netspeed replied to our many urgent requests - but they had failed to get the pages working!
We gave up on Netspeed!
and finally Netspeed then responded to our many requests to shut things down in the same Netspeed manner. That is there was no Netspeed response from urgent requests sent to Netspeed staff! (still have not received a response from our ten communications).
It was such a fun four weeks extracting our services from the Netspeed services!
AILA National Office
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General | No Comments »
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
Dear members,
we are well on the way (we hope) to final solutions for the troubled AILA web site.
Moves are underway and hopefully by the end of this week, we will have made the necessary changes to the operations.
Fingers crossed that you will not notice the change except for the increase in stability and maybe even a working Pay Page again.
It will also mean that for a day or two (or three?) there will be no uploads (such as job postings, newsletters etc) or changes to the site .
Sadly these things do take time and resources from other matters. Thank you for your understanding and the notes of support. AILA National Office
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General | No Comments »
Monday, May 5th, 2008
5 May 2008
What is happening to the AILA web site?
In the last couple of weeks, we (the AILA National Office) have become aware that the web site was disappearing on many occasions, often overnight.
On each occasion we have had to ring the internet service provider (ISP) and ask them to fix the problem. In their usual relaxed fashion they would attend to the problem - eventually.
then to complicate things we started to receive calls that there was a virus on the web site. Given that this means that any such virus would be on the server - not here in this office - then again we started ringing the ISP and asking them to investigate.
Again in their relaxed fashion, the juniors who answer the phone would say that the senior technicians were working on it.
But all of the above just continued! ie the page kept disappearing and more phone calls arrived about a possible virus on the web site.
Eventually after much time on the phone last week, and with some outside assistance form a very good tech person, Joel Roberts of Tekhaus (Newcastle NSW), we worked out that there were two separate problems.
……………………………
Was there a virus on the web site? NO
BUT we worked out that someone within the ISP had placed a piece an evil piece of software (URCHIN by Google) on the same server we were on - and that it had been let loose onto our web site - without our permission.
This meant that all the main pages on our web site - and there are hundreds - had had a piece of code or two inserted into the page code. Once we realised what it was, we naturally contacted the ISP and asked for it to be removed.
BUT, it was too late. The tracking code was in all those pages on the server.
After about 12 hours work, we may have found them all and removed them!!!
While the application, and subsequent code, would do no one any harm, we definitely resented the insertion of the tracking code without our permission.
It is always likely that it was done by a junior who allowed it to travel into all the web sites on the server.
But still!!!!!! (please image a rude word or two at this point!)
If your workplace does detect the code - the tracking code - it will most likely show as a virus on the web site.
PLEASE - send us an email or ring to let us know, but more importantly identify if you can which page you were visiting when it was identified.
Fingers crossed we have found it all.
………………
and why then was the web site disappearing??
again it turns out that the problem was the ISP.
The particular server was not coping. So we have now been moved to another server which they (the ISP) say is more stable.
But in the process we lost some of our log-ons such as the PAY page and other stuff.
We are chasing all this up!!
……………………….
Thanks for your patience.
All will be resumed soon. - we hope!
thanks again to the advice from Joel Roberts of Tekhaus (Newcastle NSW)
Posted by Administrator in AILA, General | No Comments »
