Freedom of Stoke-on-Trent protocol change condemned

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A COUNCILLOR has criticised a change to how the Freedom of the City is awarded in the Potteries.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has adopted a new protocol for conferring the honour, which will see decisions made by a new selection panel, made up of the Lord Mayor and group leaders.

But City Independent councillor Paul Breeze has hit out at this change, saying it has come in response to his successful bid to have the Freedom of the City awarded to former Stoke City kit man Neil Nello Baldwin.

Mr Breeze said: Isnt it strange that over the last three-and-a-half years the Labour group have been putting forward people for Honorary Freedom of the City, but as soon as I put forward Neil Baldwin...all hell broke loose behind the scenes. I had a phone call from council leader Mohammed Pervez saying backbenchers couldnt do this. There was no problem with the way things were being done.

Andy Platt, who proposed the amendment, said a more comprehensive overhaul of the councils constitution could come next year.

He said: One thing we have talked about in the constitution working group is a refresh of the constitution rather than individual amendments. It will be something that is looked at over the coming months.

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Freedom of Stoke-on-Trent protocol change condemned

Online freedom declines in growing number of countries but India's position improves

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Washington: Internet freedom suffered this year as a growing number of countries stepped up efforts to spy on users and censor online postings, a global survey showed Thursday.

The report by the non-government watchdog group Freedom House said online freedom declined in 36 of 65 countries surveyed.

In some cases, governments use revelations about surveillance by the US National Security Agency to justify efforts to boost their own monitoring of Internet users and to crack down on dissent.

Internet freedom suffered this year as a growing number of countries stepped up efforts to spy on users and censor online postings. (Internet, via Shutterstock)

"Countries are adopting laws that legitimize existing repression and effectively criminalize online dissent," the report said.

"More people are being arrested for their Internet activity than ever before, online media outlets are increasingly pressured to censor themselves or face legal penalties, and private companies are facing new demands to comply with government requests for data or deletions."

The lowest score for Internet freedom was in Iran, followed closely by Syria, China, Cuba, Ethiopia and Uzbekistan.

Nineteen countries were rated "free," with the highest scores for Iceland and Estonia. Thirty-one countries were rated partly free and 19 "not free."

India score on the index improved from 47 in 2013 to 42 this year.

But a majority of countries saw declines in freedom.

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Online freedom declines in growing number of countries but India's position improves

Kohala coast on rising destinations list

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KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) - The Kohala coast - known for pocket-sized, postcard beaches and resorts carved out of a wasteland of lava - has a new distinction.

Waikoloa is now ranked eighth on the list of the top 10 rising destinations in the United States in the TripAdvisor Travelers Choice awards.

The popular travel website bases its rankings on an algorithm that measures how much improvement there has been since last year to travelers reviews of accommodations, dining and other attractions.

The rating essentially offers a ground truth, said Ross Birch, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau. Like most top 10 rankings, it will give momentum to traveler interest in the island, he said, noting Waikoloa beaches also are popular with kamaaina and offer a quality, easily accessible experience to local residents coming over Saddle Road or through Waimea from the windward side.

The popularity of the Waikoloa resort area is reflected in hotel occupancy that has increased year to year, Ross said.

Its on the rise, mainly from the great responses like these from travelers who have already been here, he said.

Even though we have one of the lowest occupancy rates in the state, we have the highest return rate.

Jack Suyderhoud, a professor of business economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said hes heard from within the industry that times are good at West Hawaii resorts, but it is not clear whats driving the buzz in Waikoloa.

Suyderhoud spoke with West Hawaii Today via email from Hanoi, Vietnam, where he has been teaching.

In my talk with tourism folks, including those who are my MBA students here in Vietnam, they believe that word of mouth from sites such as TripAdvisor does have an impact on their sales, either for better or worse, he said.

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Kohala coast on rising destinations list

Bondi beach installs cameras to aid water rescues

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Australia's best known lifeguard Bruce 'Hoppo' Hopkins knows there's nothing better than the naked eye to spot the dangers of the surf - rip currents and sharks.

But the head lifeguard at Sydney's most famous beach Bondi is happy nonetheless that local authorities have installed cameras to help scan the water, a move officials believe saves lives.

"You get a report that someone has gone into the water ... you can put the camera on and get a closer look," Hopkins tells AFP from his lookout at the centre of the crowded beach.

"Nothing is going to beat your eyes - those of the life guards from the tower. This is for back-up and assistance," he says of the cameras which have made it easier to monitor Bondi for a couple of years and have more recently been installed at nearby beaches.

Lifeguards patrol Bondi Beach every day of the year, but the neighbouring, and sometimes challenging, beaches of Bronte and Tamarama are unpatrolled by paid lifeguards during some of the southern hemisphere winter months.

The new cameras at Tamarama, installed a few months ago, and those at Bronte allow lifeguards at Bondi to monitor what's happening at those beaches in real time.

They can respond to any emergencies by jumping on a jetski, often reaching the scene in just one or two minutes.

"Often you will get a call that a board rider or someone is in trouble. You can look at the footage to get a jetski (out there). You can always zoom in too, on rock fishermen," says Hopkins.

In decades past it used to be that swimming was discouraged at Sydney beaches due to the dangers of sharks and stingrays and for "reasons of decorum".

Not so today, with thousands visiting Bondi each year to enjoy the sun, sand and surf with Bondi lifeguards making 1,500 rescues per year as a result, dragging in swimmers, boardriders and rock fishers as well as recovering the bodies of suicides.

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Bondi beach installs cameras to aid water rescues

Jake VanderPlas: K-Means clustering tutorial for Astronomy in python – Video

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Jake VanderPlas: K-Means clustering tutorial for Astronomy in python
Tutorial by Jake VanderPlas at the ESAC Data Analysis and Statistics Workshop 2014. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/esac-science-faculty/esac-statistics-workshop-2014 iPython notebook with the...

By: ESAC Data Analysis

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Jake VanderPlas: K-Means clustering tutorial for Astronomy in python - Video