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The Google boys are keeping mum on details of the two large barges being built on the East Coast and West Coast of the United States- inviting a lot of conjecture.
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Google Barges / Gtty
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When a company as large, as powerful, very wealthy and with such obvious global aspirations as Google have, anything they do that is out of the ordinary or does not come with an immediate explanation is liable to cause those people with a more than an active imagination to begin to think in the wrong direction.
Conjure up images of a recent James Bond movie, rumors, gossip and some fairly exaggerated scenarios have been flying around the world for more than a week now since the news of the mystery barges, currently reaching the final stages of production in two sites, one close to San Francisco and the other in Portland, Maine.
The latest theory, coming from a San Francisco TV station were supposed to be in the know, is that the barges are being constructed as a form of luxury floating showrooms that will allow complete confidentiality for when the Google boys want to display some of the latest innovations to a selected audience.
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Google Barges/ Getty
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According to the information gathered by the TV station, the driving force behind the barge project is the highly secretive Google X research lab, where the company is reported to be involved in developing a number of mind-boggling future projects such as self-driving cars and the famous but infamous Google Glasses. Overseeing the Google X research lab is Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder and the one accredited with having a more fertile imagination than Larry Page, his co-founder.
Since the presence of that Google barge was first spotted, apparently transported in total secrecy to the San Francisco Bay where he now lives moored next to the aptly named Treasure Island, which is situated roughly halfway between San Francisco and Oakland.
Someone he knew something about Google’s plans was Larry Goldzband, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, who was approached by Google representatives during the summer months.
Google granted Goldzband the courtesy of updating him on their plans to tow the barge to Treasure Island and very little else.
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Google Barges / Getty
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All the Google representative was prepared to admit was that the company is interested in introducing a certain technology to the Bay Area, which will be situated on a large floating barge. They were not obliged to and were not prepared to prepare to admit where exactly the barge will be placed or how long it will remain there. The representative did state during the meeting that Google reserves the right to move their mystery barge up and down the bay or even tow it to a completely separate location. It is understood that the authorities in Portland Maine came up against a very similar wall of polite silence.
What Larry Goldzband did hasten to point out was that if Google are planning building a permanent structure or mooring the secret barge for an extended period of time in the bay, they will eventually need a permit from the BCDC. While it remains under construction, albeit well advanced Google will not require any form of permit.
In the meantime the world can only watch and wonder.
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