Lemming Tracks: No Pictures, Please! The Lemming is Busy

The Lemming frantically assures visitors that there will be a post ready, later today: if the Lemming isn't interrupted. Again.

This time, the Lemming says that an unexpectedly hectic schedule pushed today's post aside: and that's the story the Lemming is sticking with.

And, seriously: no pictures of the Lemming, or today's post may not show up until next week!

Related post:

• "Lemming Tracks: It's Friday?!"
  (August 10, 2012)

Roomba Review, and Dancing Robots

"It Might Not Be the Robot We Want, But It's the Robot We Deserve"
Roberto Baldwin, product review, Wired (August 13, 2012)

"Along with the zombie apocalypse, the robot uprising is a real fear among the people that populate the internet. Blame it on Terminator if you want, but in reality, the mass-produced robots that have entered our homes have yet to come close to even the comically inept Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons.

"Instead of autonomous robots running our households and raising our children, we have Roomba. The utility robot from iRobot has been sweeping our floors for 10 years, and while the basic task it performs has remained the same, the famous vacuuming disk has gotten smarter. Not smart enough to take over the world, or even the family room, but smart enough to keep the floors clean. Or at least clean-ish.

"The new Roomba 790 series is the latest vacuum out of iRobot. The base functionality of the device is better than previous versions - in my testing, the 790 gathered more dirt and animal hair than my older Roomba ever did...."

Maybe some of "the people that populate the internet" really do fear "the robot uprising." Maybe they're the same folks who kept seeing Elvis, back in 'the good old days.' Then again, maybe not.

What the Lemming is fairly certain about is that the Roomba series of robots has become part of many American households: not as a toy, but as a (slightly) intelligent household appliance.

It's the Lemming's opinion that seriously-intelligent robots are more likely to have nice, polite, deferential personalities like Star Wars' C3PO. Maybe they'll be good dancers, too:

"Dancing Japanese Robots"

pongielan08, YouTube (December 29, 2005)
video, 3:26

Related (?) Posts:

• "Mars Rover Spirit: Not Bad for a Limited-Warranty Robot"
  (May 26, 2011)
• "Nine Decades of Robots Turning on Their Masters"
  (January 25, 2011)
• "Meet Fenway the Robot, Hospital Helper"
  (September 21, 2010)
• "Robovie-II and Robovie-IV: Robot Assistants for Store and Office"
  (January 7, 2010)
• "Japanese Dwarf Flying Squirrels: And Dancing Robots"
  (August 18, 2009)

Lemming Tracks: It's Friday?!

For those loyal folks who reasonably expected to see a post this morning: the Lemming offers sincere, contrite, and belated apologies.

There's a very good explanation for why Friday morning's post didn't show up.

The Lemming didn't write it.

At a hastily-arranged meeting, the Lemming explained that today being Friday slipped the Lemming's mind. It's been 'that sort of a week.'

And, let's face it: the Lemming is a bit fuzzy around the head at the best of times.

There will probably be a post ready tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that. Or sometime before next Friday.

At least, that's the plan.



All-too-related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks, or, the Lemming Did it Again"
  (July 20, 2012)
• "Friday the Lemming Slept Late"
  (June 29, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: A Change in Schedule"
  (May 14, 2012)
• "Where is the Lemming?"
  (February 13, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: Change in Schedule"
  (October 3, 2011)