As Snowden roams free in robot form, our cyborg future has arrived

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I take it back I take it all back.

The Beam teleconference robot is not the douchiest product of all time, as I so cynically claimed after seeing it in action during the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. In fact, its amazing so amazing that its use by NSA whistleblower and eloquent fugitive badass Edward Snowden at this weeks TED Talks made me realize an idea that is both astonishing and, somehow, already a normal part of 21st century life: Thanks to technology, we are not longer merely humans at all. We are cyborgs. The line has been crossed.

Using Beams keyboard-powered interface, Snowden wheeled around the stage, giving himself a better look at the audience.

Beam, if you havent yet encountered it, is a remote presence system made by Suitable Technologies, and first launched in 2012. The $16,000 contraption has an iPad-like screen for a face, multiple Internet-connected cameras, and has wheels that allow users to pilot around a room (or, in Snowdens case, a conference center).

The company touts many uses for Beam eliminating the need for business executives to travel to international offices, allowing doctors to better treat quarantined patients, remote learning for university students all of which I dismissed as secondary to Beams eerie presence after experiencing it on the show floor of CES. In retrospect, I realize that I was simply being an unimaginative jerk.

The next time I came across a Beam was this week, while streaming TED Talks to my TV with Google Chromecast. (Highly recommended, FYI.) Thanks to the Beam, Snowden appeared on stage in Vancouver for a 35-minute interview with TED head Chris Anderson. Using Beams keyboard-powered interface, he wheeled around the stage, giving himself a better look at the audience. He shifted his digital gaze to have a quick chat with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, father of the Web, who had a brief on-stage cameo. He wore, below his screen, a big name tag that read Edward Snowden, citizen.

Seeing as this is a TED, home of next-generation ideas and thinking, it is easy to take this futuristic scene for granted. But lets just pause for a moment to reflect on what took place: From a secret remote location in Russia, Snowden, one of the most sought-after fugitives from the U.S. government, gave an interview, chatted with the inventor of the Web, tooled around on a stage some 5,000 miles away, then mingled with the TED crowd, and even had his picture taken with Googles Larry Page.

That is goddamn incredible.

Without the Beam, most of that would have been impossible. Yes, he could have still done the interview part, like he did at SXSW. But he certainly couldnt have taken selfies with TED-goers. And, I imagine, it wouldnt have felt like he was really there. Even from my remote location (on my couch), Beam-Snowden seemed like a person, like a living being occupying space around other living beings. He wasnt just a face on a screen.

This idea that we are already cyborgs an interdependent mix of man and machine is not new. But it is part of our reality. Just snatch a smartphone away from a 16-year-old, and youll see that neither function well without the other. Nor is it novel that technology allows us to do things that were previously impossible thats the point. But Beam-Snowden is something different; he (it, whatever) existed in a place outside his body. He did, in fact, go to Canada.

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As Snowden roams free in robot form, our cyborg future has arrived

Natural hot springs at Therma Beach on Kos Island – Beaches and attractions in Kos – Video

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Natural hot springs at Therma Beach on Kos Island - Beaches and attractions in Kos
We are at the natural hot springs found at Therma Beach on the Greek island of Kos in Greece. Its July at the height of summer and many tourists and locals h...

By: Traveller

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Natural hot springs at Therma Beach on Kos Island - Beaches and attractions in Kos - Video

Avett Brothers "If It’s the Beaches" Johnny Mercer Theatre, Savannah, GA. 03.20.14 – Video

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Avett Brothers "If It #39;s the Beaches" Johnny Mercer Theatre, Savannah, GA. 03.20.14
Another gem! 4th Song in a 5 Song Encore Set List: Amazing Grace Will you Return Go to Sleep Distraction 74 Pretty Girl From Annapolis Another is Waiting Sal...

By: DCRANGERFAN

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Avett Brothers "If It's the Beaches" Johnny Mercer Theatre, Savannah, GA. 03.20.14 - Video

Oil washes up on beaches

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Debris and oil weighing 35kg washed up on Bay beaches after last weekend's tropical storm.

The pollution happened after Rena's stern changed position on the Astrolabe Reef.

The revelation comes a day after the Bay of Plenty Times revealed that Mount Maunganui Main Beach was voted one of the top four beaches in the South Pacific, and as activists gathered at Mount Drury to launch a petition calling for the wreck's removal.

Bay of Plenty regional Council senior communications advisor Linda Thompson revealed yesterday that Bay of Plenty Regional Council received complaints from beach walkers about oil on the beaches. She said before tropical storm Lusi the last time someone had reported oil on Bay beaches was October or November last year.

Regional council environmental management general manager Eddie Grogan said 20kg of oil and debris was picked up on Mount Main Beach and another 15kg on Papamoa Beach by Envirowaste.

Local resident Nevan Lancaster said he had been collecting pieces of container insulation from the Rena along the beaches for quite some time.

"You find it washed up on the beach every day, it's basically dense polystyrene that lines the containers on the Rena.

"On Sunday, there was also quite a few plastic beads around Tay St and Omanu surf club, too."

Mr Lancaster, who also spearheads the Rena Business Oil washes up on beaches as storm shifts Rena

Compensation Group, said it showed the ongoing damage the Rena was causing to the environment.

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Oil washes up on beaches

TripAdvisor announces 2014 Travelers Choice Awards for Beaches

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TripAdvisor, the worlds largest travel site*, today announced the winners of its Travelers Choice Awards for Beaches. This year the awards have recognizedmore than 322beachesglobally and 25 beaches from India, including top lists for Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, the South Pacific, the U.S. and India.

List of Travellers Choice Beaches

String of Pearls The India List

The India list also throws up an interesting mix of beaches from various states dotting the coastline. We hope the TripAdvisor awards will act as a guide for all beach lovers to travel to these pristine stretches of sand, many of which are yet unexplored.

The Asia Story India ranks 2ndafter Thailand as the country with most number of winning beaches in Asia with 6 beaches having made it to the list. Thailand leads the way with 8 winning beaches.

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TripAdvisor announces 2014 Travelers Choice Awards for Beaches