• more about #wiscon
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: All of our machines -- cars, VCRs, DVR's, computers, and if we had a Roomba -- are male. Techie things are male, and they act as stubbornly and unpred... more »
    twophrasebark: Let the robots decide for themselves. more »
    Meirelle: I don't have a Roomba. However, my car is male. more »
    JennaW: Mine's a boy. I refer to him as The Monster when I'm talking to the cats (because all vacuum cleaners are The Monster to cats), and otherwise as Pangu... more »
    Killa_Charlie: My Roomba is a female. On account of the hole. more »
    TomSkylark: Heteronormativity: It's not just for carbon-based life anymore. Right around the time Wall-E came out, I heard an interview with the Pixar designers a... more »
    Roklimber: "The question I was left with after the panel is what will happen to all these gendered robots in the future. If robots ever achieve human-level intel... more »
    Purple Dave: It all depends on what it sounds like. In the absence of any regular voice, if the vacuum function produces a deep throaty rumble, it's a male Roomba.... more »
    Cribbage Left: Vacuums my house right? Female. When they make a dish-washing robot, THAT will be female also. more »
    OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear: Hooray! This means when I have sex with my Roomba I can call it a girl's name and I wont be gay. more »
    Grey_Area: This is silly. If a robot earns less than other entities for carrying out the same task it is considered female. Now stop all this pointless speculati... more »
    whatamidoinghere: There's a neuter gender in the english dictionary for a reason... And, no, it's not to piss off people trying to get pronouns straight. more »
    jianna: This makes me think of using the self checkout lines at Albertsons. It's a nice friendly female voice giving you instructions until you go to move a ... more »
    braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.: Wisconsin? I am so fucking there. more »
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: Oh, sure, you'll go all the way to friggin' Wisconsin, while dissing the con in your own backyard. BAYCON! This weekend, Santa Clara Hyatt Regency. (n... more »
    Log1c: Just a quick note, you can get Mac and Cheese pizza at some places in Madison. Ian's Pizza rings a bell... there might be others. more »
    Hamslicer: I'll try and stop by Friday, late afternoon. YAY! more »
    ♪: Yay for living in 'sconsin's capitol! more »
    D'Amicos one good year: Annalee- Now I have a reason to venture down from sloshkosh to mad-town this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to make it. more »
    gertymac: I keep getting told that I would love this con, and now io9 will be there! *sniffles* Maybe next year. more »
  • #strangequestions

    What Gender Is Your Roomba?

    Why do we assign genders to robots, even when they look like Wall-E or a Roomba vacuum cleaner? That was the subject of a panel at WisCon, where a roboticist debated sexbots and macho tanks with writers and science fiction fans. More »
  • #conventions

    Join io9 at Wiscon This Weekend in Madison, Wisconsin!

  • #wiscon

    See You at Wiscon!