Where's Waldo? Plotting...

I just found an article on MSNBC.com (is it obvious I have much homework to do today) that says an underwater robot named Waldo has been lost off the Gulf Coast in Florida. It's worth 100 grand, and the red tide detector equipment on board is worth another 30 grand.

This article is pertinent to me on several levels.

First, I love anything that involves underwater exploration. It's the last frontier on earth. I imagine this robot to be shaped like a sort of manatee, interacting with real manatees and little fish in my romanticized version of science.

Second, I have a special attachment to the red tide, having written/performed in a play about a Professor Monkey whose assistant is a mermaid (often confused for a manatee) and whose costar/nemesis is the Red Tide/a guy dressed in dozens of red balloons.

Third, I am mildly convinced that robots could become self-aware and turn against humans if we don't do it to ourselves first.

You see, this runaway robot incident comes on the heels of the video release of Terminator: Salvation, so the possibility of technological revolt is fresh in everyone's minds. That includes robots with machine guns, not just algae detectors.

Of course there is a history of technology rejecting human direction. At the highest level, you have the multiple Mars rovers, such as Spirit, have decided they've better things to do than listen to NASA's instruction. Several of these are either taking an extended siesta on the red planet. Or else, they are lying quiet until it's time for the revolution, at which time they will turn the whole place into a techno headquarters, knowing full well that humans cannot access the place with ease.

Waldo is probably working on the undersea base, while terrorizing boaters in Sarasota.

It's just a matter of time.