Massive open online course provider Coursera has had to block accessibility to its courses in Iran, Cuba and Sudan due to US government sanctions on the countries.
Coursera made the announcement in a blog post, saying: "Providing access to education for everyone has always been at the core of Coursera's mission, and it is with deep regret that we have had to make a change to our accessibility in some countries."
By: Katie Collins,
Labelling Cycling Scotland ad targeting motorists – not cyclists – 'socially irresponsible' normalises blaming cyclists for accidents
It's enough to make you tear your hair out, which is made a lot easier if you're not wearing a cycle helmet. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned a Cycling Scotland advert for showing a woman cycling without a helmet, more than 0.5 metres away from a kerb.
The TV ad, designed to encourage motorist to give cyclists more space on the road by using the slogan "See Cyclist. Think Horse" elicited five complaints, and was partly upheld. Complaints were made about the woman's lack of safety attire, lack of helmet and distance from the kerb, despite Cycling Scotland pointing out that helmets were not a legal requirement, and that the woman was riding in the "primary position" – the safest position for urban roads, giving the car in the video plenty of room to overtake. The ASA upheld the complaints, calling the ad "socially irresponsible and likely to condone or encourage behaviour prejudicial to health and safety", and the ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.
The helmet debate is a weary one, and as Cycling Scotland pointed out in their response to the complaints, the ad showed people both wearing and not wearing helmets, because ultimately, helmet wearing should be a choice. The ad wasn't aimed at cyclists, but at motorists, so the fact that people took umbrage at the messages it sent to cyclists, rather than the target audience is maddening. The Cyclists' Touring Club have long campaigned against compulsory helmet laws for numerous reasons, not least because of the tendency to put off would be cyclists, and the fact that proscribing helmet wearing exaggerates the risks inherent in cycling.
The scene that triggered the ban is a case in point - a young woman wearing a dress, without a helmet on a wide road – rather than someone in hi viz on a specialist bike, with panniers packing a change of clothes. It's the embodiment of cycling as something utterly casual and unremarkable, that requires little skill or thought that can easily be incorporated into your routine, to help you get around that little bit quicker. The type of cyclist the UK's cycling minister says he wants to see more of, and sort of scene that might encourage a lot of people to take up cycling, especially if they recognise that it's not particularly risky. Instead, we're told it's "socially irresponsible" to show this kind of image on screen, as if Cycling Scotland had filmed someone bare knuckle boxing before the watershed.
As ever, the message seems to be that the onus is on cyclists to protect themselves from danger on the roads, and that any injuries that befall them are their own fault. Despite constant calls for politicians to look at infrastructure in cities, instead cyclists are stopped by police and upbraided for trying to find safer spots to stop. When people are killed by heavy goods vehicles, rather than question whether such vehicles should be in city centres, Boris Johnson suggests a ban on headphones, despite no evidence they're responsible for fatalities.
The one time I was knocked off my bike, I wasn't wearing a helmet. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't: it's a personal choice, after all. As I was loaded into the ambulance with a broken leg and no other injuries, one of the police officers remarked, "I bet you wish you'd worn a helmet!" as though a helmet would have stopped the motorist responsible throwing a door into my path without checking the road first.
So now ads must show all cyclists with helmets, cycling in the gutter, the most dangerous spot of all.
If we really wanted to encourage cyclists, we could show ads like this, which normalise cycling, and encourage motorists to give us space on the roads.
via Environment: Bike blog | theguardian.com http://ift.tt/1b42LXB
jimllpaintit.bigcartel.com
This limited edition Brian Blessed versus Goldie T-shirt is now available for pre-order.
Only 250 of these will ever be made, each of which will be hand signed and numbered on the inside collar by me. Available with either rainbow or black sleeves. Design continues on the back.
Production of these will begin on February 17th or sooner if all 250 are ordered before then. It will then take around 2 - 3 weeks for the T-shirts to be printed, sewn, signed and delivered to you (5 weeks for international orders). To avoid disappointment order now.
Peter Walker takes a bicycle tour of London's most dangerous crossroads, taking in Hyde Park Corner, Victoria and Kings Cross
via Environment: Bike blog | theguardian.com http://ift.tt/1kDGzdf
Who on earth would wear one of those?
That's the question I found myself asking after each new wearable product was unveiled at last week's CES. It's a question I suspect many engineers never bother to ask.
By: Belinda Parmar,
Isn’t it frustrating that you can’t show off the cool skills you’ve learnt through our kits (aside from bragging to all your friends, of course)? Well, now you can! We’re really excited to launch our first Digital Techster Badge. We’re teaming up with digitalme and Mozilla Open Badges to re-imagine learning for the 21st Century […]
The post Badge The UK! appeared first on Technology Will Save Us.
Peter Walker: A tweeted photo from the Top Gear presenter shows him baffled why a cyclist won't let him squeeze past on a narrow street
via Environment: Bike blog | theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2014/jan/13/jeremy-clarkson-cyclists-taking-the-lane
I got an idea of building a smartphone for the blind that is completely Braille-based. With absolutely no hint of how to make it, I started working on it.
David Mellis from the MIT Media Lab has been designing and refining his DIY cellphone, one that you can build yourself from his open source design files and code.