I just am better at some of it than some computers (though some computers are better at parts of it then me).

My face recognition sucks beyond the telling of it. I can meet people I see every day and think they are strangers.

I'm sure most people who have gmail have gotten rid of the gmail "clips" banner that runs above their inbox by now, but I always kept it up in hopes it would be useful. I think it is strange, though, that the clips are so stale (and that google still timestamps them!). Thankfully, today brought some screamingly up-to-date news I'm so glad was brought to my attention:

Discovery Channel News - Napoleon's Army Destroyed by Lice - 1 day ago

Oh, thank goodness. I was worried about how we were going to defeat the frogs.

Wait, so Emily is a Roomba?

You and your metal hook just stay the hell away, Buster.

Us humans can never be replaced by robots, because robots will never have midichlorians.

I thought it had something to do with our capacity to run back in the burning house to rescue the dog. Or children's ability to reintroduce hope into the lives of the despairing?

Oh crap, or is that how we're different from Voldemort? Damn. Getting confused.

how your Roomba overlord copes with fringe.

I was off doing actual work (stupid semester starting next week), and I saw the question and didn't have a chance to answer it before Jess reprogrammed me.

Rosie handles fringe fine on a normal (read: cheap) rug but not very well on the one that's thin and delicate enough that I should really hang it on a wall rather than walking all over it. In both cases, she does better than any other vacuum I've had, but I wouldn't leave her unattended with the flimsy rug.

(The same is basically true of all kinds of trailing floor stuff: it will drag heavy cords, or suck up a shoelace, but it's all easier to stop and unmunge than my old vacs, which would damage my things and break their belts and the like. Supervise it until you know its behavior around your stuff, and don't deliberately run it over the pets stuff you wouldn't normally vacuum.)

Also, in spite of my shameless anthropomorphism, Rosie the Roomba exemplifies the Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control style of AI rather than the HAL style.

How does the Scooba deal with corners? Because if it works, DAMN.

and didn't have a chance to answer it before Jess reprogrammed me.

Huh. You weren't supposed to remember that...

Rosie the Roomba exemplifies the Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control style of AI rather than the HAL style.

That seals it. I completely need one.

I wish I had a bigger kitchen, so I could justify, even slightly, a Scooba.

They're a little defensive on their product comparison page about Scoobas and Roombas being inherently separate devices, but what a killer app is the device that vacuums and mops!

Though they're a bit old-school-Dalekky with the stairs limitation.

Luckily, I have none of those.

How does the Scooba deal with corners? Because if it works, DAMN.

We need to find someone who knows.

Damn. I don't mind vacuuming, and have a decent one at home, so justification of a Roomba = unpossible. Mopping, however, I hate so much that even the WetJet is an occasional chore and my kitchen floor ALWAYS looks like something died on it.

I want the Roomba and the Scooba to mate and make something that decides whether the floor needs mopping or sweeping or vacuuming or shampooing. And then empties its own dirt canister at the end. And peels me grapes. But I suspect I'd be peeling it grapes if it were that good.

stoopid overlords

There are SIX Roombas?? My god, how are you supposed to choose?

I think only the Discovery works well. That gets rid of 4.