Net Neutrality: Fight for the Survival of the Free Internet

The Internet is often thought of as a tool that allows for the free flow of information. Today, as a vessel of free speech, the Internet threatens to become a vestige of its original self. Increasingly, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) claim the power to regulate content and arbitrarily increase the price for customers to access certain information and have the ability to make customers financially support content that they disagree with. In these ways, ISPs have gained increased control over the flow of Internet information, while the citizen of cyberspace has increasingly lost his freedom to control his choices online. This poses an even more important problem for American democracy, which demands educated citizens, who are threatened by censorship. Only a libertarian approach to this problem, which sustains the original ideals of the Internet as a tool of unfiltered communication, will continue freedom of information. The best implementations of the libertarian approach are net neutrality laws, which ensure that all users are treated equally. This paper argues to support both the need for net neutrality laws to protect against economically driven encroachment upon the freedom of the Internet and the importance of libertarian ideas to the maintenance and strengthening of democracy

Flash@Hebburn Urban Art in the New Century

The publication of Flash@Hebburn, explores the creation of the public art installation Flash@Hebburn featuring light and electricity, by Charles Quick, on the banks of the River Tyne at Hebburn Riverside Park in South Tyneside, which spanned a period of seven and a half years and was inaugurated on March 9th 2009. It extensively documents the testing, making and installing of a public art installation that resembles a technical functional placement, which serves to evoke a largely post-industrial site without resorting to nostalgia, while strongly relating to the community where it is placed. Jonthan Vickery’s essay, Infrastructures: Creating Flash@Hebburn, places the work not only in its context of site and its relation to the audience but also in the development of an art world discourse on new urban arts. This is supported by an interview with the artist by Dr John Wood, Henry Moore Institute which discusses the project as a piece of art work in relationship to other contemporary works the artist and others have carried out

Sense of place at a British coastal resort: Exploring ‘seasideness’ in Morecambe

This paper considers the tourist’s sense of place as experienced at Morecambe, Lancashire; it is concerned with emotional connections and reactions to place. This struggling traditional British seaside resort has seen the ebb and flow of visitors over the years and more recently regeneration. The qualitative research that underpins this paper consisted interviews with 55-74 year old repeat visitors from the North of England, reflecting the resort’s visitor demographics. This paper therefore reflects a perspective rather than the views of a wider population. The interviews reveal the important role of the sea and seascape to these visitors, this coastal environment lies at the heart of their sense of place. It facilitated a distinctive experience which centred around the inter-related themes of nostalgia, wellness and spirituality. Exposure to the open space of the seafront allowed a connection to something more substantial and enduring than themselves; this was considered thought provoking, uplifting and even spiritual. The respondents valued their seaside visits and percieved them as enjoyable, beneficial and a part of their identity. The tradition of seaside visits was part of their childhood, family narrative and something to be shared with children and grandchildren now and into the future. Their attachment to Morecambe fed into a positive sense of place, referred to here as seasideness, which relied on the distinctive socio-cultural and physical elements of the resort

A socio-cultural analysis of the traditional seaside resort and its contemporary meaning to tourists with specific reference to Morecambe, U.K.

The original contribution of this thesis to knowledge is the concept of seasideness. That is, this thesis presents an in-depth exploration and analysis of the contemporary sense of place at a traditional British seaside resort. Due to the research focussing on issues of place, the study has been framed within human geography. Coastal resorts were amongst the earliest and remain the most important tourism destinations in Britain. However, many medium-sized traditional seaside resorts have in recent decades faced a number of significant challenges, not least Morecambe, a resort located on the Lancashire coast in north-west England. Indeed, few resorts have suffered a greater loss in terms of infrastructure, visitor numbers and reputation than Morecambe. Nevertheless, the resort has benefitted recently from a new promenade adorned with statues and a restored art deco hotel, and has staged a modest recovery from the lows of the late-twentieth century. In the context of its turbulent history, this study considers present day tourists’ experience of Morecambe, a place that has been on the margins for some time. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to establish if a seaside-specific sense of place exists for these visitors and, indeed, for visitors to the seaside more generally. Following a review of the ‘rise and fall’ of the British seaside resort and specifically Morecambe, the thesis explores the factors that may contribute to a sense of place at the seaside, in so doing establishing a conceptual framework for the subsequent research which deliberately employs a mixed methods approach. Firstly, a questionnaire survey amongst visitors to Morecambe establishes a foundation for identifying and understanding touristic behaviour and views. Building on these results, the second stage of the research comprises in-depth interviews with a small purposive sample of older Northern visitors –the largest market as identified at the first stage. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is employed to offer a rigorous and systematic analysis of these interviews. This approach aims to represent a perspective rather than a population and is considered an appropriate method to understand the visitor experience of place and to generate theory. This thesis reveals how space, specifically blue space, informs the touristic reaction to place through a variety of perceived characteristics. Most of these reactions can be grouped into the broad themes of identity, wellness, spirituality and nostalgia for childhood. A seasideness model is proposed which clarifies these inter-related findings. Taken together, these themes and findings paint a picture of a place which holds significant meaning for these visitors. First and foremost, this ‘place’ is the seaside, rather than Morecambe specifically; that is, people visit Morecambe for the natural coastal environment and the enduring socio-cultural construction that is the British Seaside. The thesis concludes by exploring the implications of this research for the future of Morecambe and, implicitly, other resorts

Sense of place at a British coastal resort: Exploring ‘seasideness’ in Morecambe

This paper considers the tourist’s sense of place as experienced at Morecambe, Lancashire; it is concerned with emotional connections and reactions to place. This struggling traditional British seaside resort has seen the ebb and flow of visitors over the years and more recently regeneration. The qualitative research that underpins this paper consisted interviews with 55-74 year old repeat visitors from the North of England, reflecting the resort’s visitor demographics. This paper therefore reflects a perspective rather than the views of a wider population. The interviews reveal the important role of the sea and seascape to these visitors, this coastal environment lies at the heart of their sense of place. It facilitated a distinctive experience which centred around the inter-related themes of nostalgia, wellness and spirituality. Exposure to the open space of the seafront allowed a connection to something more substantial and enduring than themselves; this was considered thought provoking, uplifting and even spiritual. The respondents valued their seaside visits and percieved them as enjoyable, beneficial and a part of their identity. The tradition of seaside visits was part of their childhood, family narrative and something to be shared with children and grandchildren now and into the future. Their attachment to Morecambe fed into a positive sense of place, referred to here as seasideness, which relied on the distinctive socio-cultural and physical elements of the resort

Net Neutrality: Fight for the Survival of the Free Internet

The Internet is often thought of as a tool that allows for the free flow of information. Today, as a vessel of free speech, the Internet threatens to become a vestige of its original self. Increasingly, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) claim the power to regulate content and arbitrarily increase the price for customers to access certain information and have the ability to make customers financially support content that they disagree with. In these ways, ISPs have gained increased control over the flow of Internet information, while the citizen of cyberspace has increasingly lost his freedom to control his choices online. This poses an even more important problem for American democracy, which demands educated citizens, who are threatened by censorship. Only a libertarian approach to this problem, which sustains the original ideals of the Internet as a tool of unfiltered communication, will continue freedom of information. The best implementations of the libertarian approach are net neutrality laws, which ensure that all users are treated equally. This paper argues to support both the need for net neutrality laws to protect against economically driven encroachment upon the freedom of the Internet and the importance of libertarian ideas to the maintenance and strengthening of democracy

The Evaluation of Conservative Treatments and Surgical Interventions on Return to Play Outcomes in Shoulder Labrum Tears in Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic

Clinical Scenario: Historically, superior labral tears anterior to posterior (SLAP) of the shoulder have been widely viewed as uncommon; however, current literature supports a rise in surgical repair of these lesions. Treatment for SLAP tears in athletes through surgical or conservative methods often produces a low return to play (RTP) rate. However, the most effective treatment to increase RTP rates at the previous level of activity has yet to be determined. Clinical Question: In athletes who have SLAP tears of the shoulder, how do arthroscopic surgery and biceps tenodesis compare with conservative treatments in return to play efficiency? Summary of Key Findings: A thorough literature search returned 204 possible studies; 4 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included. Current evidence supports the use of conservative treatments before surgery is attempted. When considering whether to pursue surgical interventions or continue nonoperatively, conservative treatments produced relatively similar results as surgical interventions; however, overhead athletes showed a lower return to previous play (RTPP) rates than regular athletes. Clinical Bottom Line: There were consistent findings from multiple low-quality studies that indicate there is no clear difference in the use of conservative treatments compared with surgical interventions when comparing RTP rates in physically active athletes. Strength of Recommendation: Grade C evidence exists that conservative treatments and surgical interventions equally minimally improve RTP rates

An exploration of webcam-travel: connecting to place and nature through webcams during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown of 2020, freedom to travel was restricted but there was a remarkable increase in webcam-travel, which can be defined as visiting place-based webcams online. Media commentators suggested that this technology was being used to connect with places and nature; an observation mirrored by webcam hosting organisations. This study examines the surge in popularity of these webcams which reflect a wide range of sites – often natural environments. It goes on to explore the attributes of webcam-travel to explain its rise during lockdown, primarily by employing an online questionnaire. It reveals that this experience is marked by feelings of freedom, nostalgia, and connection – each of which offers potential wellness benefits. Respondents exercised their freedom through these virtual portals to connect to nature, the outdoors, and places that they associated with happy memories pre-lockdown. This article also suggests that webcam-travel links to an increased likelihood to physically visit these sites in the future. Therefore, this research may be relevant to both academics and practitioners with an interest in the experience economy