CHANGEX. An annual exhibition of student art and design works in Australia addressing issues of sustainability, environmental responsibility, social equity and community. The exhibition opens in Sydney on March 4 and runs for ten days only. See CHANGEX 2005 and 2004.  ¶

Call for Entries: Government Food. Style and photograph a U.S. Government Meal Packet to look as scrumptious as it could ever hope to be. The best photos will be incorporated into a 2007 calendar, sold to support The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition. Contact govtfood@yahoo.com for more info or to receive a Government Meal Packet (while supplies last.) The deadline is April 15. Photos will be posted here.
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Not a Toy. Adam’s posted a few images of an illustrated guide for children about the dangers of touching or playing around unexploded munitions. The illustrations cover free, blank softcover notebooks produced by the US Army for distribution in Laos as part of the UNDP UXO program in the 1990’s.
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Death and Taxes. A visual analysis of the U.S. budget, circa 2003. (Update: BoingBoing reader notes significant error.)
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World Prison Population. (50KB PDF) by country, 2003. Though only 4% of the world’s population lived in the U.S. in 2003, the U.S. held 23% of the world’s prison population — more than any other nation.
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cu @ my rally. Presidential candidates in Uganda drum up support with thousands of ‘personal’ text messages.  ¶

Is it too easy for buildings to get certified as eco-friendly?. “Unlike other so-called green products... some green buildings are little more energy-efficient than traditional structures. Yet they manage to earn a coveted certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, a leading, private environmental organization.... At issue is the Green Building Council’s [LEED] checklist system that certifies projects as green. Some critics say the system gives too much weight to certain easy tasks, while giving the same weight to much more expensive ones.”  ¶

Ten Successes That Shaped The 20th Century American City. (100Kb PDF) (via)  ¶

The Age of Corporate Environmentalism. “To ward off excessive regulation, help the bottom line, and get brownie points at the same time, companies started playing nice with environmental groups.” Voluntarily. (via)  ¶

Hemp for Houses. Building with compressed hemp boards and ‘hempcrete’ is a sustainable alternative to killing trees. A 2002 UK study found hemp homes use less energy to build, create less waste and take less fuel to heat, though cost about 10 percent more to build than conventional houses. (via)  ¶

2006 Olympics: Art, Sports & Fascism. The Turin Winter Olympics take place in a stadium financed by, dedicated to, and briefly named after Benito Mussolini. The 2006 Opening Ceremonies included a “Salute to Futurism.”  ¶

The Graphic Imperative. “International Posters for Peace, Social Justice, and the Environment 1965-2005.” A design show with a few classics and greatest hits. More images here.  ¶

APHont: A Font for Low Vision. “APHont was developed by the American Printing House for the Blind specifically for low vision readers. APHont embodies characteristics that have been shown to enhance reading speed, comprehension, and comfort for large print users.” The APHont Suite is available for free on the APH web site.  ¶

. Overheard: “In the evening, on Russian TV they often show movies about the decimation of the Native Americans, documentaries about U.S. street gangs, and the like. In the U.S. they show movies about the pogroms in Russia.”  ¶

2006 International Bamboo Building Design Competition. Seeking innovative designs for family homes, affordable housing, high-end houses, tree and pole houses, as well as temporary, portable, emergency relief structures. (via)  ¶

Wayfinding in Tokyo: Local Context and Direction Map Design. Analysis and practical pointers for the design of web-published direction maps. (via)  ¶

Take Back The News. A non-profit organization run by four sisters that challenges the misrepresentation and under representation of rape in the media.  ¶

No Oil for Sweden. “Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years — without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.” Bring in the biofuel, bring in the renewables. (via)  ¶

A Basic Guide to Printing & Having a Successful Press Check. Some things to look for. And note, “The average number of press sheets it takes to get to final approval is 2 to 3.” Also, be nice. (via)  ¶

Wearing Propaganda. Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States 1931-1945. An exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center of propaganda fashion. Bigger images and a review at designboom.  ¶

txt mob. In the New Zealand Herald: “Syrian protesters who burned and looted the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus were encouraged to organise by the Syrian authorities, and received text messages from Islamic study centres urging them to gather. ‘The sheikhs told us to send five text messages to every true Muslim we knew urging them to participate,’ said a student from the Abu Nour Islamic Institute in Damascus.” And Radio Sweden: “The attack in Damascus followed SMS text messages which falsely claimed that people in the Danish capital Copenhagen planned to burn copies of the Moslem holy book the Koran.” (via)  ¶

NYC Grassroots Media Conference. This Saturday, February 11. I’ll be there.  ¶

Sustainable Leadership Awards. I hate design competitions for many reasons, but this one looks promising. Prizes for best practices, leadership, and sustainable design in interior design, architecture for large and small for-profit companies, and for non-profit organizations. Here’s hoping for an affordable housing category next year.  ¶

State-Sponsored Links. A fun parody of Google search results from the Weekly Standard, simulating the user experience of the browser in China searching for “human rights.” (via S.D.)  ¶

Je refuse. Melina’s new illustrated zine is out. And she’s pissed.  ¶