The robots are attacking

This year for Christmas we got a Scooba. My wife couldn't wait to try it out, so on Christmas morning we cleared the kitchen and set the Scooba loose. It had been 3 weeks since the last mopping and our two kids did a fine job of making a great Scooba test floor. After the first pass on a given path some of the big grime was still there and Leslie was having doubts that this little robot was the path to mopping freedom. But by the time the cleaning cycle was complete she was a convert to the robot ways. Our floor was super clean! What happens is that Scooba makes several passes over each area and by the time it is done the floor is cleaner that it has ever been.

The scary part is that iRobot also makes military robots. And I think I have stumbled upon their secret plan. Infiltrate peoples homes with harmless looking, useful domestic robots which can morph into soulless killing machines when triggered with the right stimulus. I discovered this by accident. Caleb and I were have our usual lightsaber battle when Caleb decided to attack the mopping robot. To both of our suprise it managed to parry the blow and deployed and R2-D2 style stun gun. We had to rush Caleb to the hospital, but he was fine.

I contacted iRobot and they said I must be mistaken, their robots don't have stun guns and are programmed with human safety in mind. But they did send me a free Roomba to apologize for the incident. I figure I just need to keep the robots away from the guns and everything will be fine. So, as a warning to all robot owners, lock your bedroom doors at night, and watch them closely.  They could turn evil at any time!

Sunrocket, my new Vonage

So I got tired of Vonage not having my name on the outgoing caller-id and started looking for a new VOIP company.  I looked at ViaTalk, but decided to go with Sunrocket.  Today I tried installing the "Gizmo" they sent, it is a Linksys spa2102.  Very similiar to the PAP2, but with a built in router with QOS (Quality of service).  "Cool", thought I, "Now I won't have jittery calls when I am using the internet".  Alas, to put it in bridge mode I must have the admin password which Sunrocket will not give me.  I called tech support several times, but they wouldn't budge on the issue.   So it appears that Sunrocket is no better than Vonage, except on price.  Lets admit it, call quality is going to be very similiar between most of the companies.  What will distinguish a VOIP company is customer service, price, and features.  Sunrocket has a great price, great features, but poor customer support.  They think locking the device is the way to happy customers I guess.  At least I can cancel and get a refund when I find a better provider.