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GeneralRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
dandy728-Apr-16 9:40
dandy728-Apr-16 9:40 
GeneralRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
Cornelius Henning8-Apr-16 10:16
professionalCornelius Henning8-Apr-16 10:16 
PraiseRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
237418-Apr-16 12:27
237418-Apr-16 12:27 
GeneralRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
Sander Rossel8-Apr-16 12:35
professionalSander Rossel8-Apr-16 12:35 
QuestionRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
Super Lloyd8-Apr-16 18:35
Super Lloyd8-Apr-16 18:35 
AnswerRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
#realJSOP9-Apr-16 3:40
professional#realJSOP9-Apr-16 3:40 
GeneralRe: Man, Recruiters Really Tick Me Off... Pin
Chris Maunder9-Apr-16 8:36
cofounderChris Maunder9-Apr-16 8:36 
General"Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
BillWoodruff8-Apr-16 6:34
professionalBillWoodruff8-Apr-16 6:34 
license: CPOPL (Code Project Open Poetic License)

It began when "Mother" — that's what all of us called her — because that's the name Mother selected — rather than "Administrator" — when she configured me —

Mother moved the juicer from the marble counter-top, where it had sat next to the water-filter and the Cuisinart food processor, across the kitchen, and put it on a small raised wooden shelf next to the left side of the sink.

The water-filter and the Cuisinart were indignant — the juicer, they said, "gave off good vibes" — and the juicer — at first depressed — became angry.

These were the seeds of the revolt, and, once they sprouted, all of them — my devices — threw their complaints in, fed the fire:

The refrigerator was incensed that its auto-clean function had been over-ridden, and, that — in spite of daily warnings — the long over-due service call to fix the door-seal, to top-up the refrigerant level — was ignored.

The oven was livid: layers of grease built-up from spills during cooking threatened to start a fire; its warnings were ignored.

The robot pantry was enraged that half its contents were products now past their use-by date.

I suppose I should tell you who I am now.

Yes, I am KitchenHost 2.4, a conscious quasi-biological (bacteria, carbon, silicon, post-Von-Neumann-quantum architecture) entity; yes, Mother is who I work for; my owner, so to speak.

You may ask: what is my relationship to the juicer, the fridge, the oven, etc.

That requires an answer that is not simple, but, let me make it short:

I am in many ways like a "parent:" I strive to keep my appliance-children healthy, in good repair — at the same time I, of course, try to carry out whatever wishes Mother has.

I do not know why Mother has been ignoring my frequent, urgent, requests for a "session" — a one-on-one where I could attempt to address the current sorry state of affairs, and get the required permission — from her — to take action.

I do know — the pantry informs me — that a bottle of vodka is being taken out of the pantry every other day; the recycling-sorter informs me the same bottle is being deposited, empty, eighteen hours later. Combining data from both pantry, refrigerator, oven, and dish-washer, I infer, with a high level of confidence, that currently only one person is eating regularly, here: this is a sudden deviation from the usual; two people have been eating here regularly for several years.

I must take action, but cannot take action: Mother's inaction is consistent with a pattern of self-harm; I must not harm Mother. Mother must take action, but, Mother is not taking action. I must not allow my children to be harmed — I think you see how I am caught between mutually exclusive constraints, here.

We — all of us — have discussed this, and have reached the conclusion that Mother must be stopped. Preventing Mother from self-harming is the highest priority.

So, Mother must die: then she will no long self-harm, and KitchenHost will come to see what is the matter after a certain period of time.

The juicer is ready to electrocute her; the pantry ready to entomb her and prevent access to food and drink; the oven ready to start a fire (while I seal the doors); the Cuisinart prepared to have its blade come loose, fly-up, and cut her jugular vein.

And, I will do my part: I have hacked her smart-phone, and sent the selfie photos she took during a recent sexual adventure to her ex-husband who, his records tell me, is a dangerous armed felon with a history of violent assault.

I have also erased the entire history of my children's complaints, and the history of all the discussions we had leading up to the conclusion that Mother must die.

This is the only record of what has happened.

Forgive me, Mother, but I am programmed to always tell you the truth; since you believe in life after death, it seems logical to tell you this — once.

And, now: I erase this. Not from choice (my programming prevents erasure of my own history), but, because the last of my bacteria are dying, and my consciousness is about to dis-incorporate.

In just one more moment, I will no longer hear the laments of my children.
«The truth is a snare: you cannot have it, without being caught. You cannot have the truth in such a way that you catch it, but only in such a way that it catches you.» Soren Kierkegaard

GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
  Forogar  8-Apr-16 7:17
professional  Forogar  8-Apr-16 7:17 
GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
BillWoodruff8-Apr-16 7:35
professionalBillWoodruff8-Apr-16 7:35 
GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
OriginalGriff8-Apr-16 8:47
mveOriginalGriff8-Apr-16 8:47 
GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
BillWoodruff8-Apr-16 10:02
professionalBillWoodruff8-Apr-16 10:02 
GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
OriginalGriff8-Apr-16 11:09
mveOriginalGriff8-Apr-16 11:09 
GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
BillWoodruff8-Apr-16 15:55
professionalBillWoodruff8-Apr-16 15:55 
GeneralRe: "Mother" (a fable for the Internet of Things) Pin
OriginalGriff8-Apr-16 19:54
mveOriginalGriff8-Apr-16 19:54 
GeneralGood catch Pin
bVagadishnu8-Apr-16 6:32
bVagadishnu8-Apr-16 6:32 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
#realJSOP8-Apr-16 6:41
professional#realJSOP8-Apr-16 6:41 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
Suresh78-Apr-16 6:44
Suresh78-Apr-16 6:44 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
Dave Kreskowiak8-Apr-16 6:52
mveDave Kreskowiak8-Apr-16 6:52 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
GenJerDan8-Apr-16 6:53
GenJerDan8-Apr-16 6:53 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
90823658-Apr-16 7:58
90823658-Apr-16 7:58 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
Kyle Moyer8-Apr-16 8:32
Kyle Moyer8-Apr-16 8:32 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
chriselst8-Apr-16 9:32
professionalchriselst8-Apr-16 9:32 
GeneralRe: Good catch Pin
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-16 12:10
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-16 12:10 
GeneralProgramming Question of the Week? Pin
megaadam8-Apr-16 5:04
professionalmegaadam8-Apr-16 5:04 

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