Mexican authorities say two Australians and an American were killed on a surfing trip because thieves wanted the tires from their truck. Relatives of those killed confirmed their identities on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.
The latest details in the case come after a fourth body was discovered during a search for the missing men in Baja California. State prosecutors have not officially confirmed the identities of the missing men, but have said the victims’ family members are viewing the bodies to see if they can be identified by sight.
The corpses were found decomposing after the thieves dumped them into a remote well about 50 feet deep, some four miles from where the men were killed, authorities said. The well also contained a fourth cadaver that had been there much longer.
Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said the probability that the corpses belong to the missing men is “very high,” noting that they still appeared to be identifiable by sight. “If they say that they are not completely certain that it is their relative, we would then have to carry out genetic testing.”
The three men, brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad, were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada when they went missing last weekend.
Andrade Ramírez theorized the killers drove by and saw the foreigners’ pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal their tires. But “when [the foreigners] came up and caught them, surely, they resisted.”
She said that’s when the killers would have shot the tourists.
The thieves then allegedly went to what she called “a site that is extremely hard to get to” and allegedly dumped the bodies into a familiar well. She said investigators were not ruling out the possibility the same suspects also dumped the first, earlier body in the well as part of previous crimes.
“They may have been looking for trucks in this area,” Andrade Ramírez said.
The thieves allegedly covered the well with boards. “It was literally almost impossible to find it,” Andrade Ramírez said, and it took two hours to winch the bodies out of the well.
The site where the bodies were discovered near the township of Santo Tomás was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and truck were found Thursday along the coast.
On Sunday, dozens of mourners, surfers and demonstrators gathered in a main plaza in Ensenada, the nearest city, to voice their anger and sadness at the deaths.
“Ensenada is a mass grave,” read one placard carried by protesters. “Australia, we are with you,” one man scrawled on one of the half-dozen surf boards at the demonstration. A woman held up a sign that read “They only wanted to surf — we demand safe beaches.”
Baja California prosecutors had said they were questioning three people in the case, two of them because they were caught with methamphetamines. Prosecutors said the two were being held pending drug charges but continue to be suspects in the case.
A third man was arrested on charges of a crime equivalent to kidnapping, but that was before the bodies were found. It was unclear if he might face more charges.
The third suspect was believed to have directly participated in the killings. In keeping with Mexican law, prosecutors identified him by his first name, Jesús Gerardo, alias “el Kekas,” a slang word that means “quesadillas,” or cheese tortillas.
Andrade Ramírez said he had a criminal record, and that more people may have been involved.
Women directors were seen as a “risk” prior to the success of the “Barbie” movie, according to Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster. Speaking with Variety on Friday, Foster praised the $1.4 billion success of the blockbuster film, claiming that this was “new” for female directors. “I’ve had the beauty of being able to be in … Continue reading Jodie Foster claims before 'Barbie,' women directors were a 'risk' in Hollywood
This is a question that comes up a lot in my interviews, most recently with a young reporter while discussing the actions of Operation Pineapple Express and other volunteer groups during the botched August 2021, evacuation of Kabul.
I was floored. How could these people not know why Afghanistan mattered so much to all of these veterans?
How do you explain this deadly lack of understanding to generations who weren’t born yet or were too young to understand what was happening? Or to those who were there, but have simply forgotten?
How can you make them understand that history is about to repeat itself, but it doesn’t have to be that way?
There is a generation of Americans that can never forget the images burned into their minds of planes striking the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, killed 2,977 people, and for the veterans, it was personal. It happened while they stood vigil. American warriors, eyes narrowed and fixed on the smoldering rubble displayed on the television, made a single, silent vow “never again on my watch.” 800,000 American warriors would deploy to Afghanistan, sacrificing youth, marriages, limbs, mental health, and in some cases, their very lives.
America built relationships and made promises during those two decades of war.
Al Qaeda’s attack was largely due to bad U.S. ground intelligence and the inability of a partner force to counter them in their unrestricted planning and preparation. To prevent this from happening ever again, our combat veterans and civilians built partnerships with Afghan police, soldiers, nonprofits, Afghan schools, and a myriad of other organizations. America asked the people of Afghanistan to stand up, reach for freedom, and oppose oppression in all its forms. Like proud parents, we assured them they could be whatever they wanted to be, and we would be there by their sides.
Then, in August 2021, we left. We broke those promises, squandered those relationships, and handed control back to the very oppressors we fought against 20 years before.
Why can’t veterans forget?
Veterans know something most Americans don’t. The enemy gets a vote in what happens next. The United States might be done with al Qaeda and ISIS, but they aren’t done with us. This enemy will follow us home.
There is credible evidence that al Qaeda is fully re-constituting right now. Foreign fighters from Syria, Iraq, North Africa, and even Southeast Asia are openly training on former Afghan Army bases in Kandahar and Helmand. The Taliban are fully accommodating and have gone so far as to issue visas to al Qaeda members that allow them to move freely throughout the country in clear violation of the Doha Agreement.
Additionally, Iran and al Qaeda have set sectarian differences aside and are cooperating to foment disruption in the Middle East. According to numerous Afghan Special Operations Forces, this al Qaeda is a younger, more capable force. ISIS-K is also in play.
There is an unthinkable yet highly possible scenario in how all this plays out. It’s not a stretch to imagine that America’s enemies will launch another catastrophic attack on the homeland. Out of the ashes emerges a freshly mobilized U.S. blinded by revenge and short-term memory toward “bringing justice to the evildoers.” Backed by American citizens, young warriors will load up again on C-17 cargo planes and fly back into the graveyard of empires to exact justice.
But this time it will be different.
Instead of Northern Alliance resistance allies waiting on the ground to receive and work with our troops, there will be thousands of forlorn, pissed-off former Afghan commandos who are well-trained and well-equipped in U.S. tactics and gear. They have been co-opted by al Qaeda after watching their children starve, salivating for revenge over unkept promises.
This September 11th, Americans should demand change and accountability from their government. It’s not too late to protect our homeland if we act now.
The U.S. government must resume all sanctions on the Taliban and stop all aid. Credible sources tell us that millions of dollars in humanitarian aid is not getting to its intended victims.
The government must assume the care and management of Afghan special operations partner forces and other at-risk, high-impact Afghan security officials from veteran groups.
And the government must support the Afghan National Resistance Front, which is the legitimate Afghan Government. They are the best option for standing against terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
Even if America doesn’t pull its head out of the sand, veterans won’t stop trying to intervene in this impending disaster because they know what’s at stake. Without immediate action, the next 9-11 Commission testimony is practically writing itself.
Police discovered the bodies of three missing girls in a Texas pond on Saturday, hours after they had been reported missing.
The three girls, 9-year-old Zi’ariel Oliver, 8-year-old Amanda Hughes, and 5-year-old Temari Oliver were staying with a family friend while their mother was working. The friend reported the sisters missing at roughly 10 p.m. on Friday.
Police began searching the area and came across a pair of shoes sitting on the edge of a pond on a neighbor’s property. Investigators discovered the bodies of all three girls at the bottom at roughly 2 a.m. Saturday, according to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
Circumstances of the girls’ deaths are under investigation, but police have not announced a criminal inquiry. The sisters’ bodies have been sent for autopsy to determine the cause of death.
The law enforcement search included elements of the local police, fire department and game wardens. Authorities say they discovered footprints in the mud near where the shoes were found.
The girls’ mother, who remains unnamed, confirmed that the shoes belonged to one of her daughters.
Authorities have indicated the girls’ deaths may have been an accident.
“That is unknown, whether they were swimmers or not. None of them had life jackets on, so I don’t know how strong of swimmers they were or if were swimmers at all,” Lieutenant Game Warden Jason Jones told KTAL.
Rabbi Brian Strauss with Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas discussed the “frightening” hostage situation at another synagogue in his state, noting that he is now going to “reevaluate everything that we do” and increase security at his place of worship.
Jennifer Aniston opened up about how her “expectations” for her personal life shifted “overnight” after she stopped filming “Friends” in a recent interview. The actress also characterized the scrutiny of her lack of children as “really hurtful” and “nasty.”
Are you ready for X reality? It’s coming, too, along with a host of exciting business and marketing opportunities.
Here is what it is, why it matters, and how to use it to grow your business.
What Is X Reality?
X reality is short for extended reality. Sometimes called cross reality, it’s a convergence of the real, physical world around us and a digital world or space.
One way to think about it is combining a digital or virtual experience with a physical one. There are many different ways this plays out, but as the technology develops, the opportunities explode.
To get a better picture of what we’re talking about, let’s take a moment to imagine. Have you ever taken a tour through a museum with a set of headphones that give an audible experience as you walk along? Suddenly, it sounds like you are walking through the Wild West or wherever this experience is taking place.
Now add visuals and other physically interactive elements. Maybe you can actually touch the doors of the saloon or watch the scenes change as you walk down the dusty road. You can draw your pistol for a duel.
Imagine having these experiences, even when you aren’t at the museum. Maybe it’s in your own backyard. Or your hometown main street. Your reality has merged with the virtual. Your reality is extended.
The technology that allows for these immersive reality experiences is constantly evolving, bringing our reality closer to the virtual experience.
To get the full X reality experience, certain hardware may be required. Again, think about enhancing the physical with the digital. You may need tools to provide that combined experience. Typical hardware may include a tablet, such as an iPad, a smartphone, a headset, earphones, or other body wear, including gloves, etc.
The specifics reflect the specific experience, and what you are trying to achieve for the user. Some extended reality experiences are simpler, while others are more involved and more immersive.
In so many ways, it is the future of marketing. Whatever marketing campaign you’re developing, the goal is to get your brand out there and help your target market see how they can’t live without your brand. Extended reality opens a world of opportunities to interact with products, services, and brands.
It’s not just in the sales funnel at an introductory level where X reality can support your brand growth. It can help you build brand awareness, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, word of mouth, and referrals, and more.
Here are a few ways it can be used in your business:
Train your staff to prepare for difficult or tricky customer service situations.
Arm your sales team with tools to connect customers with the best options.
Let customers “try out” a product beforehand.
Connect in-person shoppers with digital information.
Create new designs or products in a virtual world.
Bring a certain layer of fun to your brand.
As X reality continues to expand, the entire marketing ecosystem will evolve as well, calling us to respond. Everything from brick-and-mortar experiences to SEO will be impacted by X reality.
AR vs. VR vs. MR: The Three Types of X Reality
X reality is an overarching term that can refer to each of these: augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). While these are sometimes used interchangeably, the specifics can vary, and they do have exact definitions. Let’s dive in.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is about overlaying the real world and the experiences of the physical world around us with virtual or digital enhancements. Augmenting means to make something bigger or better, so augmented reality is about making the things you see around you somehow better, depending on your definition of better.
It’s a way of interacting with the people and things around you and a digital space simultaneously, often using the camera of a smartphone or mobile device to interact.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality refers to interactive, immersive experiences that are computer-generated. Virtual reality experiences are about full digital worlds that are a sort of escape or separation from the real world, rather than an overlay. Virtual reality requires hardware to help the user jump into the virtual world. These tools may include a headset, viewers, glasses or goggles, as well as other items like gloves. With these, the user is able to simulate experiences in their virtual world, incorporating their own bodies and movement.
Mixed Reality
Mixed reality is exactly as it sounds. It’s a mix of the virtual world with the physical. According to Microsoft, when it comes to the spectrum of physical and virtual worlds, mixed reality sits in the middle. It’s also in the middle of virtual reality and augmented reality. It takes place with one foot, or one digital foot, in each space.
Mixed reality is where a lot of technology evolution is pushing right now. While it’s easy to come up with examples of AR or VR, mixed reality is more about pressing those concepts together, using all the tools and technologies we have to create even more exciting experiences.
How AR, VR, and MR Differ
While these three concepts differ slightly in their starting points, and the tools needed to make them work, they do have one thing in common: They are about extending a digital world into our everyday lives with greater ease and more seamless connections.
These three types of X reality are ripe with the ability to bring better user experiences to your customers throughout the sales process, to help you ultimately reach your own brand goals.
5 Ways to Use X Reality in Business
As much as there are fun and entertaining ways to use X reality, there are also powerful and exciting ways to integrate the technology into your business to support your sales goals. Using extended reality keeps you on the cutting edge, setting you apart from your competition who may be slow to adopt it.
It also equips your customers and your team with opportunities. Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking.
1. Product Content Management
When it comes to staying organized with everything you are creating and selling, your product content management system is the heartbeat of it all. Whether it’s a spreadsheet or integrated software, it’s the place where you keep all the details, facts, and data behind each product.
Here’s where X reality can take your product management system to the next level. Imagine being able to react to your customers’ needs and product demands in virtual 3D space. This interactive design is growing in popularity, allowing teams to make tweaks or try new designs, simulating a real-world without the cost or ability to actually create items.
This is particularly useful for products at scale that are too large or expensive to create prototypes of. It also gives the whole team an opportunity to actually interact with a product, so you don’t have to slow down, collect questions, run the numbers, and make necessary edits. It’s a time-saver and brings proof of concept faster.
There is an added benefit of these digitally connected X reality systems. They can connect with your product content management system and share data. You can keep track of all the specs of your current products, as well as all the information about products in development, in real-time.
2. Remote Team Building and Collaboration
Remote teams benefit from a host of technologies that allow them to communicate and stay in touch, including video meetings and instant messaging.
Yet nothing beats speaking in person, interacting with the rest of the team and the actual products. PromoLeaf did a survey and found that 72 percent of respondents preferred an in-person conference in their industry, rather than one online. In the youngest crowd they surveyed, ages 16-24, 84 percent preferred to be in-person.
X reality can help merge those opposing options by making it seem like remote employees are in the same location working together on projects.
3. Product Preview
We’ve all experienced the itch to “try before you buy” when it comes to new products. It’s just not apparel, tools, or the latest smartphone. How about furniture, automobiles, homes, and more? Does that seem too far out of reach?
Not with X reality. Using up-and-coming technologies, brands can create apps that allow you to view and interact with a product for yourself. Now you can test our furniture in your own home before buying. You can drive your ideal car through the streets of your morning commute before it’s even created. You can walk through your dream home, while still on the other side of the country or the world. Just imagine all the possibilities.
From in-app devices to headset-enabled simulators, you can “be there” without being there and trying it, even before it exists.
4. Interactive Advertisements
X reality has so many fun benefits to get people talking. Sometimes those features alone can be the reason to adopt them.
Using X reality in your advertising can allow the public to interact in different ways and help you seem more authentic than other ads. It can also get people talking and give your ad extra exposure.
Brands have tried all kinds of things, including bringing a printed item to life through an app. Suddenly your magazine or brochure is interactive or other videos. Other brands have used augmented reality and large screens to welcome passersby and onlookers to interact with virtual characters. Others use social media filters and other features to showcase their brands.
5. Train Your Team
Business is full of training. From safety and regulatory training to sales conversion and customer service training, arming your team with the most relevant information possible is critical.
With X reality, your team can do more than just talk about situations. They can walk through them together, interacting with people and products. You can even simulate potentially dangerous situations without putting one in harm’s way, and still gain the experience and confidence they need to be ready for real life.
Examples of X Reality
Have you experienced reality for yourself yet? Here are a few examples of some of the most talked about.
Pokémon Go
Pokémon Go put augmented reality on the radar for all of us. Through the lens of a mobile device, the world could suddenly be full of Pokémon characters. This game showcased how entertainment and X reality can boost small local businesses, with real-world locations signing up as Pokéstops and Gyms.
IKEA App
IKEA Place allows customers to “place” IKEA furniture in their own space, and see how it will look and fit. It sets the bar for other furniture makers by offering a service that others may not have incorporated yet. Plus, it’s kind of fun to use, so even when people aren’t ready to buy, they may still play around on the app just to see what it’s all about.
Warby Parker
Warby Parker has also cashed in on the opportunity to let customers try on before they buy. Using an app, customers can view themselves in any number of Warby Parker glasses.
It’s not just a snapshot with the frames overlaid, but an interactive, real-time experience where customers can move their head, look from all angles, and then throw on another pair.
Conclusion
X reality is a fun idea that seems primed for gaming and entertainment, but it’s tailor-made for business and online marketing. From product development to customer service, extended reality can change the way we interact with our brands, our customers, our team, and our world.
As the world of business continues to evolve, there are many reasons to believe extended reality will be part of that equation.
How will you incorporate X reality into your brand?
GDPR Cookie Consent Agreement
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
