In its current incarnation, the Avatar doesn't do much apart from offering telepresence -- authenticated by the company's servers -- but the robot has been designed to be open source.

ENGADGET: Robotex Avatar for Home and Office eyes-on Hands-on

The system isn't perfect, however -- in this early incarnation it can only nab 40% of transmitted data before giving itself away, and more importantly, it requires the invention of a "quantum non-demolition box" before the attacker can be anywhere but the same room as the receiver, since right now both attacker and receiver need to be using the same photon detector.

ENGADGET: blogger-avatar

And as the first African-American president, he can't help but see himself as a transformational figure, the modern-day incarnation of Lincoln's legacy at Gettysburg and at Appomattox.

CNN: 1 year in: Will fortune smile on Obama?

There's something about the journey of John Waters' Hairspray to its current incarnation as a candy-colored, big-budget movie musical that I can't quite believe.

NPR: Hollywood's Musical 'Hairspray,' a Little Too Bouffant