Slacker Meets Roomba

Even while our public figures debate the culture of life, death, and the boundaries in between - it would appear that the machines around us have begun their slow march towards sentience.

Take Clocky. Designed by some sleepy-but-clever MIT student, this robotic alarm clock comes to life after you hit snooze, rolls off the nightstand and finds a hiding place somewhere in the bedroom. The next time the alarm goes off you must climb out of bed and hunt around for the damn thing before you can turn it off.

I don't know about you, but I'm not a morning person. With that kind of AM ritual it wouldn't take long before I would punt Clocky through an open window.

If this same type of thinking were applied to other household appliances, the cupboard would permit you exactly one filch of Girl Scout peanut butter sandwiches. If you went for a second pass it would detach itself from the wall, sprout cybernetic legs and feet, and run away. You have to chase it through the house and wrestle it to the ground for more cookies.