The Robot Uprising Has Begun. The GPS unit that I bought a couple months back has been acting up recently. I really only use it on my trips out to LA, and all the other times, it just sits on my bookshelf. Well, recently, without anyone touching it, the GPS unit powers itself on. At first, I'd just walk past and wonder why the screen was on, but I didn't think much of it at the time. THEN, one day, it turned itself on and started talking, like "turn right," and showed that it was moving, even though it was staying in place in my hands. That's when I got creeped out. I mean, it's only a few logical steps from turning itself on to killing me in my sleep, right? "Tom Tom KILL! Rarrr!" Time to sleep with a knife under my pillow (again)? >_<

...or who knows? Maybe it's a benevolent machine, and it was trying to help/warn me or tell me something. Or GUIDE me to something. Which way to happiness, Tom Tom? "Turn right." *le sigh* If only it were so easy.

I dunno, I guess at the heart of the issue is the fact that I still wonder: Do androids dream of mechanical sheep? Do robots have latent memories and dreams? Do they dream when we power them off? What DOES free will mean to a robot? What would a robot DO with freedom? Would robots with A.I. and free will have self-destructive tendencies like we do? I'm sure it comes as no surprise to most of you that it's one of my deep-seated desires to be a cyborg one day. Maybe I just wanna know some of the fine print up front before I make the plunge?