Robots are the future

I've spent years lusting after a Roomba (and a Scooba) because who wouldn't? I mean come on, it's a robot that hoovers the floors for you! A robot doing housework - dudes, that that is the future right there. Unfortunately I also share my life with some 7 million cats, a clumsy dog that weighs in/around 14 stone and a hairy dirt shedding mop that comes back from the groomer three times a year resembling a cocker spaniel and I just couldn't justify spending that much money on something they might kill.. I know, hard life.

Happily, I got a secondhand Roomba recently (it needed a little bit of work but we're a technically able household) and couldn't pass up the opportunity to test it in the House of Cats. Not being stupid I have it confined to the study/kitchen when I'm not home to keep it safe from the Horde and Roomba has been living with us for a couple of weeks now.

Things I Have Learned About Life With A Roomba:

• No matter where I am in relation to it in a room as soon as I step backwards it's there, ready to trip me up
• It takes a while to housetrain but once it figures out the rules it's pretty good at not eating the rug
• It has an unerring sense for stuff it's not supposed to have and is over within seconds if I drop something
• It has no respect for Him Inside and attempts to charge out past him as soon as he opens a door
• The cats are fascinated and want to sit on it

Honestly, it's kinda like living with a better behaved MooDog but without the mess, huge food bills and on call vet.

Speaking of which, I went into the kitchen earlier and found Roomba sitting forlornly in the middle of the floor with a flashing red light that looked suspiciously like the handbrake warning light on the car. Of course, I immediately panicked and went straight to Google but wasn't having much luck (though I was able to confirm that Roombas don't have handbrakes). In desperation I hit the clean button to see if it'd restart and discovered the single best thing about robot hoovers. They tell you what's wrong! (that should be a feature in cars, why isn't it?)

Turns out there's a dust filter thing too and I hadn't cleaned it. Oops. 4 minutes later and Roomba was back making inappropriate overtures to Him Inside's guitar and getting lost under the chairs.

I'm in love. Time to research the wireless models and the Scooba methinks :-)

Modern technological wonders

I have a Blackberry for work. A Pearl 8100 to be exact, a nice enough phone all told. It's small enough to carry around, allows me to access my email anywhere and has a lovely web browser for those evenings spent stuck in stationary traffic on the M50 north. The battery life is fairly ok and you can spend hours customising it until it practically runs your life. It does have one flaw though. Receiving calls...

When I pickup a call I have to count to 4 before the person on the other end can hear me. I can hear them perfectly for these 4 long seconds and, without checking caller ID, I can tell quickly if they've called me before. Someone who's been introduced to the idiosyncrasies of my Blackberry will be quietly counting to 4 before speaking while everyone else is saying "hello... hello? Is anyone there?..."

It is a fairly major flaw in a device that is primarily marketed as a phone though isn't it?