Roomba

iRobot announced a new Roomba model the other day - the 500 series. It's leaps and bounds better than the previous generation - the specs say it sucks 100% more in fact. It's a pity I just bought replacement brushes for my older Discovery model (I bought model because it shares its name with a space shuttle).

I read through the specs for the new model, it's got some neat features. But I think iRobot left out a few items that would have made the new model a must-have in my house:

Pet-friendly:

This is not to say that the current models demonstrate any sort of animosity towards my cats, but it could be more friendly. It could talk to the cats - an occasional word of praise for the cats for staying out of the way would be nice - "good kitty, go play downstairs while roomba does its work."

Or maybe a dangling feather for the cats to chase? Or tossing a treat to the cats once in a while?

Furniture-friendly:

My old roomba, like every other one, I'm sure, cleans my house by wandering around and bumping into things. The new model apparently has some sensors so it can slow down before bumping into something.

That's a step in the right direction, how about if we take it one step further - when it does bump into something, offer an apology. You know, it bumps into a chair and says something like "excuse me" or "wow, I never saw that coming" or even "Oww my nose!"

Geek-friendly:

As most owners will tell you, watching a roomba do its thing is fun the first for the first couple of minutes. After that's it's up there with watching paint dry. How about adding Wi-Fi and a wbecam to Roomba. As it tools around my house I can see what Roomba sees, from wherever I happen to be.

As long as it's network-connected, it would be pretty cool if Roomba's route through my house was available as well - so I can see where it went, how it got there, how it spent its time. etc. I'm not looking to blame it for slacking off or spending time where it shouldn't have, I'm just curious, really.

It's Da-a-a-avid Litterman!

I was driving home from work this evening, and pulled up to a stoplight next to a beater car (1980-something Ford Escort), and watched the driver non-chalantly toss his cigarette out the window onto the road - holy crap - the nerve! Did you think no one would notice? No, you probably just didn't care?

But wait, it gets better. I guess the driver was something of a chain smoker, because no sooner had he tossed that cigarette, than he reached for another one from the pack (Marlboro Lights, of all things!) sitting on his dash. Wouldn't you know it, it was empty. Oh well, no cigarette for you. But out the empty pack goes, into traffic. Dude, are you wasted - you can't do that!

Or so I thought - it turns out, he can. I called the San Jose Police to report him (I'm like that) and they said that unless he was littering in the presence of a police officer (my being "the seat police" doesn't count), then there's nothing they can do about it.

Had he been on the freeway, the California Highway Patrol could have written him a letter. But that's sort of a catch 22 - I'm pretty sure his car can't get up to freeway speeds.

Tribute to Barry Bonds*

I grew up watching baseball. I probably even saw the game when Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record, and I've even met Willie Mays (I used to have a baseball that he signed, I think; it's all something of a blur these days).

I confess I've not been much of a fan lately - I watch a game here and there, mostly just because they're in HD (note to TV networks - I watch most anything if it's in HD, even if it's crap). I didn't stop watching for any particular reason - I just lost interest.

Even without following baseball, it would have been hard to not notice that Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's home run record. Today, the city of San Francisco is going to honor Barry's accomplishment, and, while I can't be on hand to participate, I wanted to do my part, so I put together a small piece of art to commemorate the event:

Lucy in the news with Texans

I saw the funniest story in the news the other day - the fossilized remains of Lucy left Ethiopia to begin a US tour. The Ethiopians were up in arms about the precious fossil being sent half way around the world - I don't blame them - they should have sent a fake, we wouldn't have known the difference.

But that wasn't the funny part. The funny part is the US tour itself. It starts in Texas. Why Texas? They don't strike me as big fans of evolution, which is what Lucy is all about. Maybe the security in Kansas' museums was not up to snuff?

Time to Pak it in?

I don't know why I do it, but every time the President speaks, I find myself hopelessly glued to the radio. It's comparable to rubbernecking at an accident scene, hoping to see blood and gore. The "I know I shouldn't, but I have to anyway" feeling. Like a deer caught in headlights, I suppose.

Not surprisingly, I listened attentively to the recent (August 9th 2007) press conference. After a while, a couple of thoughts popped into my mind.

First of all, why did the president say "first of all" so frequently? According to the transcript, he said it four times. And shouldn't there be more than one point following "first of all?"

The other thing I noticed was that the president referred to the Pakistani people as "the Paks":

To the question you asked, and to my answer in Camp David, I said I'm confident that we -- both the Paks and the Americans -- will be able to work up a plan, based upon actionable intelligence, that will bring the top al Qaeda targets to justice. I meant what I said. We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan, talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence. And the question was, am I confident that they will be brought to justice, and my answer to you is, yes, I am confident.

I've never heard them referred to that way before - it seems derogatory. But I'm not Pakistani, so I really don't know. Perhaps there is a Pakistani reader who can comment on the topic?