Defensive Architecture: Designing The Homeless Out Of Our Cities

Image via www.shutterstock.com

By Rowland Atkinson, University of Sheffield and Aidan While, University of Sheffield

On any one night in London, there around 700 people sleeping in the city’s street. Rough sleeping is a risky decision – and almost always the choice of the most desperate. Yet the response of the state – and our society – is surprisingly hostile.

Rough sleeping – and homelessness more generally – are on the rise. But austerity measures have made things worse, by cutting funds to vital support services. On top of this, rough sleepers have good reason to fear abusive behaviour from passers-by. Shockingly, this has even included physical attacks, resulting in documented deaths.

But beyond the discomfort, the abuse and the absence of social support, there is another factor making life even more difficult for those sleeping on the streets. The very shape of our cities has started to reflect our hostility toward the homeless, in the form of design elements that prevent them from seeking refuge in public spaces. This phenomenon is known as “defensive architecture”.

CINEMOOD Presents an Innovative Portable Projector That Creates New Family Experiences, at CES 2016

Size is not always everything...

 Imagine a gadget that can fit in the palm of your hand, creates a widescreen experience and gives parents new, creative ways to spend more time with their kids.

CINEMOOD, an innovative start-up about to launch an Indiegogo campaign, has developed a handheld, mini-projector that embraces the Internet of Things through its cloud connected projector, preloaded with safe and fun kids-friendly content. A simple user interface and collection of smart accessories makes the product fun and usable for all ages.

The Strange Case of ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde

ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde

By Gregory Tate, University of St Andrews

By the final episode of ITV’s adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, viewers might be forgiven for wondering if there’s any connection between the series and Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella other than the title. Set in 1930s London, the series has found room for plenty of violence, a menagerie of CGI beasts and monsters, an X Files-style secret government organisation, and a demon named Lord Trash.

But the freedom with which writer Charlie Higson has adapted the story is nothing new. Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of several late Victorian texts (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Sherlock Holmes stories) that have been so frequently adapted that the leading characters have taken on lives of their own.

Will Donald Trump Get The Schlong? - Petition To Ban Him From Entering The UK Will Be Debated In Parliament!

The following is a quick update on how the petition asking the Government to ban Donald Trump from entering the UK is doing...

And, from what the email I received last night says, it's not doing too badly, somehow. As the petition has over 100,000 signatures., the Petitions Committee will not only consider it for a debate, but they can also "gather further evidence and press the government for action."

Sounds promising...

The full response from the Government can be found below as well as a little humoristic video of mine as a bonus. .

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

Ten New Year's Resolutions That Will Benefit Both Your Work and Personal Lives

New Year's Resolutions to Benefit Both Your Work and Personal Life
(PRNewsFoto/Real Office Centers)

2016 is quickly approaching, and for many of us that means it is time to come up with our annual list of New Year's resolutions. If you are a busy professional trying to balance work and family life, these ten resolutions from Real Office Centers may help you on both fronts.

Stranger Than Strangelove: How The US Planned For Nuclear War in The 1950s

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) CC BY-SA

By Paul Lashmar, University of Sussex

Those who have written about the nuclear Cold War remain grateful to Stanley Kubrick for giving us the satirical 1964 film Dr Strangelove which captures the madness that swept the world for 40 years. The name Strangelove may be overused but the United States has now released a secret file that really does justify the sobriquet: “Stranger than Strangelove”. Almost anodyne in title, Atomic Weapons Requirements Study for 1959 is a truly shocking document, revealing the scale of the holocaust that would have been unleashed in a nuclear war.