When you leave it on the dashboard it looks like a CHEAP child's toy, not an expensive GPS unit. Less interesting to a thief.

Nuts & Volts had a 7 day dry food system a couple of years back (2003). I think it used a PIC to open the solenoids. Didn't take using your junk PC to run it.

http://www.nutsvolts.com/toc_Pages/jun03toc.htm#

Teaching the cat to SSH in would be cool, but with so many pets being chipped these days it'd make sense to install an RFID reader, and if the cat gets within range after x time has passed, feed it again. That way you could be sure that *that* cat was getting fed.

It is amusing anyhow.

The existing Roombas work pretty well. Understand it't not a replacement for a full-sized vac, it just can extend the time between full vacs by weeks. It's better on short carpets and bare floors, but actually does a very respectable job. I have an original, and they've advanced the technology a lot since I adopted mine (early adopter's disease).

If the outdoor robot is like most of the others, it's a mulching mower, chops the grass fine enough you do not have to rake afterward. Now if the Groomba is SOLAR, I'd be VERY tempted to pick on up. Husqvarna makes one, but it's not really available in the US.

>And... audio recordings for PAINTINGS? WTF? Is that
>so Engadget doesn't get sued for directly hijacking
>El Reg's musings about audio for photos, which
>certainly makes a lot more sense. Particularly
>considering HP seems to focus as much heavily on
>photography as they do on printers, these days.

Many museums have audio players for self-guided tours, but the tours assume you're following a set path and timing. With this type of technology, the audio notes could be embedded near the work, and when you move within distance with your receiver, the audio track is received and played.