The Age of Caprica draws near, and life imitates art imitating life...

Roxxy and the Cylon prototype from Caprica (do I need to say which is which?)

12 days and counting...

I am counting the days until January 22nd, when CAPRICA debuts on Syfy (it's on Space in Canada). And by that I mean I am literally counting the days in a series on PinkRaygun.com that started today. 

How would YOU deal with the death of a loved one?

Imagine my surprise then, when today on Friendeed I saw an article about Roxxxy, the sex robot that has just been unveiled to "...adoring fans." Another Buffybot, perchance? Possibly, but it was the end of the article that really made me sit up:

"Inspiration for the sex robot sprang from the September 11, 2001 attacks, when planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and an empty field in Pennsylvania.
"I had a friend who passed away in 9/11," Hines said. "I promised myself I would create a program to store his personality, and that became the foundation for Roxxxy True Companion."
(Quoted from here)

Eek!

On Caprica a grieving father created a mechanical device to store the personality of his child who was killed in a terrorist attack, that goes on to become the beginning of the end of Caprica.

On Earth a grieving friend created a mechanical device to store the personality of his friend who was killed in a terrorist attack, that goes on to become...a sex slave?

I'm not even sure which one of these scenarios is worse. And I'm really trying not to think how the inventor went from wanting to store his friend's personality to a sexbot that is programmed so she "..loves what you love.." and has wi-fi so she can email you at work. And did I mention there are five models...?And that a male version is in the works?

So the next time one of your less-geeky friends tries to pooh-pooh your love of sci-fi, impress them with your knowledge of the REAL WORLD!

It's happened before and it will happen again.

Things I left out because I have standards:

• wondering if it's protected from backdoor viruses
• wondering what Kryton from Red Dwarf would make of Roxxxy
• if she loves what you love isn't she likely to run off with another plastic sexbot? Or is this the reason they can't walk (yet)
• the whole hygiene issue
• something about handling 3.5" floppies