
Edward Snowden’s Strangely Free Life as a Robot - robbiet480
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/06/edward-snowden-life-as-a-robot.html
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pavel_lishin
We have a robot similar to this at work. It's broken right now - maybe the
battery is dead, maybe there's a software issue - and nobody's particularly
interested in fixing it, because it never worked too well.

For one, on our model, there's zero peripheral vision. This makes it really
hard to orient yourself in space - how far away is that wall? Did I scoot far
enough past that doorway to swivel 90° to the right and go through it? Am I
about to hit someone?

The same problem occurs when you're trying to talk to people. You can really
only see two people who are standing in front of you. I'm not even sure if
there's stereo sound - as there appears to be on the Snowbot, since he swivels
towards people who are addressing him.

Other minor difficulties:

* it was difficult to park it into its charging station, which meant that sometimes it would just go comatose in a hallway.

* there's still a fair amount of lag, which makes it slightly annoying to have a conversation. Dialing someone over Skype/Hipchat/whatever-video is almost always the better option.

* sometimes you'd remote in, and be in an unfamiliar location because the robot wasn't returned to its parking spot. Since the whole point is to be able to access remote locations, we typically weren't familiar with the office layout, and would have to wander around aimlessly trying to get someone to help us get to where we needed to go.

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riprowan
The camera on the bot should switch to wide-angle / fisheye view when it
moves, then switch to a regular lens for faces when it's still / just rotating
in position.

The wide angle / fisheye view would provide a more typical FPS-like frame of
reference, while the 20-35mm view makes faces appear realistic.

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basch
that was my first thought as well. the main problem seems like something a
tiny piece of curved glass could solve. If it could get almost 180 degree FOV,
you could pan in software on the client end.

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winxp5421
Much respect toward Snowden. Sacrificed his birthright as a US citizen to
bring an injustice to light.

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jsn117
and his only reward was international celebrity

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cdmckay
And a high chance that one day they'll lock him up and throw away the key,
Chelsea Manning-style.

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s_q_b
That's the problem with defecting to a country without the rule of law. You're
always a bargaining chip.

As soon as there is a sufficiently high value trade on the table, Putin will
put him on a plane to the United States, without a moment's hesitation.

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ska
What makes you believe things would be any different in a symmetric situation?

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s_q_b
Once granted political asylum in the United States, it's virtually impossible
to revoke. As much as pessimism is warranted, there are significant
substantive differences between Russia and the United States.

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ska
Oh, there are absolutely substantive differences, I wasn't claiming there was
not.

However I imagine politically useful dissident might well be kept in an
ambiguous status, if the perceived use as a bargaining chip later was high
enough.

Really I was just objecting to the idea that the US is somehow above such
shenanigans because of some sort of philosophically deep commitment to the
"rule of law". Neither proposition holds much weight on evidence of actual
behavior. Which isn't at all to say I believe the US is equally likely to
engage in such behavior as Russia, mind you.

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Jerry2
I know this question might sound silly but can FBI "arrest"/confiscate/disable
the robot itself because it's aiding a fugitive? And the person/company that
owns the robot, can they by charged with aiding a fugitive?

IANAL but would love to hear what some more informed have to say about this.
The law is constantly catching up to technology....

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CamperBob2
It definitely raises interesting questions about mind-body duality. If a
telepresence robot is a physical manifestation of Snowden's self, then it
would seem to be fair game for the FBI to arrest it. If it isn't, then we have
to ask how a sufficiently-advanced version of the robot would really differ
from one's physical body.

To make the question meaningful, I suppose you'd have to stipulate that the
robot is somehow irreplaceable. Meaning it's the only one of its kind that's
capable of representing itself as the body of Ed Snowden, and that it's the
only means at his disposal for interacting with the outside world.

On the other hand, it's no stretch at all to say that the company who provided
the robot is liable under US law for aiding and abetting him, especially if
Snowden has to use their servers to communicate with it. (Well, OK, it's a
stretch, but it's a stretch that the US judicial system has had no qualms
about making in the past.) Our Federal courtrooms aren't often mistaken for
philosophy classrooms.

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nojvek
Getting very close to the argument: we should fine Boeing because their planes
aided in 7/11\. The plane was a manifestation of the pilot.

It's not like those robots are only made for Snowden are they?

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throwawaysocks
_> we should fine Boeing because their planes aided in 7/11_

Those gas station corn dogs are a crime against humanity but a fine seems
excessive.

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infinity0
Tell me Mr Smith, how can you put me to prison if I don't have ... a body?

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stephengillie
Good point - and also like arresting Ultron - "Don't mind me, Officer. While
you arrest me, I'll just be downloading myself out of this robot and into
another robot across the city."

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mietek
Which is, of course, entirely absurd. Why would Ultron need to be “present” in
only a single robot at a time, if not for the sake of plot?

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phasmantistes
Because even Ultron doesn't want to `git merge` those personalities, memories,
and experiences back together.

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mietek
Think on another level of abstraction. Mere humans are already perfectly
capable of operating more than one remotely-controlled drone at a time.

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bobsil1
Snowden's making up to $1.25M/yr on speaking fees plus script consulting for
Oliver Stone. Nice bump from gov't payscale. Though not enough to compensate
for being under 24/7 FSB watch.

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linkregister
That's fascinating! Can you share some resources for me to learn more about
the subject? I haven't seen any quotes for his speaking fees or script
consulting revenues.

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jrowley
Well in the article linked they state the following: > He is scheduled to make
more than 50 such appearances around the world this year, earning speaking
fees that can reach more than $25,000 per appearance, though many speeches are
pro bono.

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belorn
"Earnings in a casino can reach more than $X per day".

How informative is such statement? Is the $25,000 based on the maximum fee
that any speaker has earned? Is it the average fee? Is it the highest fee that
Snowden or someone representing him has said he have earned?

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bobsil1
> In 2013, $10,000 was considered a lower limit for speakers brokered by
> speakers bureaus, $40,000 a regular fee for well-known authors, and famous
> politicians were reported to charge about $100,000 and more.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_fee)

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belorn
Does Snowden use a speakers bureau? I suspect that if you sell speeches to
highest bidder vs talk on specific conferences thats relevant to the subject
you want to bring awareness, you are going to earn different amount of money.
It the same way that civil rights lawyers has a different earning perspective
than say a high profile defense lawyer or a company lawyer.

Is the $1.25M/yr in any way anchored to Snowden, or is it just speculation? Do
Daniel Ellsberg also earn 1.25M/yr through speaker fees? The Wikipedia article
about him fails to mention his vast riches.

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jackfoxy
We have 3 Beams at 2 offices. Everyone assumed the first one would be just a
Silicon Valley start-up novelty, but they are surprisingly useful and personal
for someone out of the office to have a presence. They can drive right up to
your desk and it's like having a conversation with a live person.

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CaptSpify
I asked this elsewhere in this thread but...

Can I ask what problem this solves that something like skype/hipchat/whatever
doesn't solve? I guess to me it just feels like a step backwards.

I'm not saying that these bots are bad, but I feel like there's a benefit that
I'm not seeing.

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jackfoxy
Somehow the telecom connection (when it does not go completely down) is
better. The voice from the machine to the people in the office is clearer, and
the beam driver seems to pick things up with the microphone better (although)
I have never been on that end to experience it.

It's totally at the discretion of the Beam driver get online drive over to
your desk and start a conversation. Much more like having someone in the
office. It also has a very personal feel talking to your colleague next to
you. You have to experience it to understand. The full-scale Beam is a much
nicer experience, we also have the cheaper model, which also works well.

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gavinpc
To add to the irony, "robot" comes from the Czech word "robotnik," meaning
"slave."

[http://etymonline.com/index.php?search=robot](http://etymonline.com/index.php?search=robot)

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betaby
'Robotnik' is Russian and Polish for 'worker'. Etymologically [in Czech,
Russian, Polish] it's closer to 'worker' and 'servant' than to 'slave'.

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czechdeveloper
Well, the work was created by Karel Capek.

In Czech language `robota` means forced labor for your lord. Robotnik is just
guy performing it, it is not used in other way in Czech language.

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betaby
Forced labor as work for feudal [medieval taxation] not like forced labor of
slaves.

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spc476
Edward Snowden as a real life Max Headroom. We live in weird times.

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tripzilch
> He recently collaborated on a track with a French musician, delivering a
> spoken-word monologue on surveillance over an electronic beat, and
> recommended the title: “Exit.”

A little bit off-topic, I was quite surprised when I clicked the link, to find
that the unnamed "French musician" is, in fact, synthesizer _legend_ Jean-
Michel Jarre. Why not mention his name? It kind of sounds like it's some
random dude on youtube, but he's right up there with Kraftwerk and not even a
_little_ obscure :)

On another note, I think it's funny how many similarities this music video has
with the intro-theme of TV-series "Person of Interest" :) The imagery and
especially the vocal effects on Snowden's voice in the second half :)

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awesomerobot
Couldn't the government punish the people who are facilitating this? In their
eyes this would be akin to carrying around a camera for a Russian spy, no?

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r00fus
Weird, I remember running into (an earlier version of) one of these devices at
a club in Hermosa Beach, CA around 1997.

I'm guessing that one was locally manned by someone nearby. It's possible that
device did not have a videocam feed back either but that local person had LOS
on the robot.

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marze
Someone should crowdfund the development of an awesome new robot for Mr
Snowden's use, and those with similar needs.

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mtgx
Some say he still lives in the machines.

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strait
Wheelie Boy is next!

