Day: July 3, 2007

Robot news – shocking to you

As the robots continue their work toward world domination, they are picking up new partners.  In an attempt to not be crushed by the robots, the humans at Taser have agreed to arm the robots for the coming battle.

RoboCops and robot soldiers got a little closer to reality Thursday as a maker of floor-cleaning automatons teamed up with a stun-gun manufacturer to arm track-wheeled ‘bots for police and the Pentagon.

By adding Tasers to robots it already makes for the military, iRobot Corp. says it hopes to give soldiers and law enforcement a defensive, non-lethal tool.

But some observers fear such developments could ultimately lead to robots capable of deciding on their own when to shoot and kill.

Expect those humans to mysteriously disappear soon.  The robots don’t want humans pointing out their slow growth in power.

I happen to know the robots are collecting lethal weapons too.  This deal with Taser for non-lethal (actually less-lethal according to law enforcement, but that’s a minor quibble) weapons is a ruse to cover the real ambitions…

[tags]The robots will take over, The coming robot uprising, Robots get tasers – zap your ass, Robots stocking up on less lethal weapons to cover amassing of lethal weapons[/tags]

Fired for having a little fun on the job?

In a “What the hell was I thinking? I must be an idiot” moment, Norberto Cappas made a bad decision that has come back to haunt him:

An officer who ordered two women to put on a “sex show” in a jail cell will be fired. Norberto Cappas, 32, was found guilty by a police tribunal of conduct unbecoming an officer and lying during a departmental investigation and will lose his job following a 30-day suspension, the department said Tuesday.

nternal Affairs investigators found that Cappas ordered the two women to kiss and touch each other and expose their breasts in September 2003. The two had been picked up on suspicion of drug possession, but they had no drugs and were not charged with a crime.

Of course, that was a stupid move. Sounds like perhaps an abuse of power done by someone who thought he could get away with it, although honestly I’m not sure I believe ol’ Norberto has sufficient mental facilities to actually think about whether he could get away with it:

Cappas has denied wrongdoing and refused to talk to a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter seeking comment Tuesday.

The real kicker though, is this little tidbit in the story:

The case sat idle for years until the Inquirer raised questions about it last year.

Yup. Sounds like a case of limited thinking combined with departmental inertia and buearacracy let him do something stupidly abusive and almost get away with it.

[tags]Stupid criminal watchers?, Stupid abuse of powers, Dumb cop story[/tags]