# Aussie commits suicide by robot! No, really! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104 "2008-03-20T18:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/21 "2008-03-21T04:57:43Z")
Wasn’t there a story awhile back about the development of some strange robots with teddy-bear heads designed to walk into dangerous areas and rescue injured soldiers? I don’t think I dreamt this… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/22 "2008-03-21T05:07:43Z")
Nup, **Night Rabbit** , [you weren’t dreaming.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/07/nrobot107.xml) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/23 "2008-03-21T05:51:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Aussie commits suicide by robot! No, really! [/QUOTE] That’s what we want you to think. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/24 "2008-03-21T08:26:00Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I don’t for a moment doubt that the guy was messed up or in some kind of pain, but jeez, arranging to shoot yourself repeatedly in the head because you know workers are nearby to discover your corpse? Damn. Call 911, explain what you’re doing and then do it, so at least the cops and EMTs will know what to expect when they arrive. [/QUOTE] I just wanted to mention that ringing 911 won’t do you a lot of good in Australia; the emergency number here is 000. I can’t even begin to imagine how depressed and miserable this guy must have been, and it can’t have been pleasant for the tradies who found him, either. What’s sadder is that no-one noticed how he was so they could help before it got to this… Poor guy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/25 "2008-03-21T08:52:27Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] I just wanted to mention that ringing 911 won’t do you a lot of good in Australia; the emergency number here is 000.( [/QUOTE] Don’t quote me on this, but I heard that, owing to sheer numbers of fuckwits, 911 will actually be diverted to 000 here. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/26 "2008-03-21T10:35:59Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I don’t for a moment doubt that the guy was messed up or in some kind of pain, but jeez, arranging to shoot yourself repeatedly in the head because you know workers are nearby to discover your corpse? Damn. Call 911, explain what you’re doing and then do it, so at least the cops and EMTs will know what to expect when they arrive. [/QUOTE] I wonder if they had to bring in a bomb squad or swat team to disable the robot before approching the body. If I looked out my window after hearing a gunshot and saw my neighbor dead in the driveway and a robot with a gun, I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t go check on him for fear of being shot myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/27 "2008-03-21T10:44:12Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Don’t quote me on this, but I heard that, owing to sheer numbers of fuckwits, 911 will actually be diverted to 000 here. [/QUOTE] [Interesting, but it doesn’t seem to be the case](http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1695), except for some mobile phones. > [@](#): > > 911 is used by emergency services in the United States of America and cannot be used to call the Emergency Call Service in Australia. > > Telephone numbers beginning with the 911 prefix (for example, 02 911x xxxx) have already been allocated by ACMA and are being used by individuals and businesses. This means that if 911 is dialled, the system only recognises these digits as the first part of an existing number. Any diversion to the Emergency Call Service after 911 has been dialled is therefore not possible. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/28 "2008-03-21T10:45:17Z")
Thank you, O wise one. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/29 "2008-03-21T10:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Thank you, O wise one. [/QUOTE] Nah, not really. I checked 'cause I thought it’d be a good idea here, as saturated as we are by American telly shows (our code is 111). Shame that the diversion isn’t a happening thing. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/30 "2008-03-21T11:38:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Nup, Night Rabbit, you weren’t dreaming. [music]This is the Day The Teddy Bears staged Their Res…cue…[/music] ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/31 "2008-03-22T00:17:12Z")
Re: **Ice Wolf** ’s link… you can also dial 112 on a GSM phone in Canada and get emergency services. It forwards to 911. I don’t know whether the same holds for CDMA mobile phones here. But you can’t dial 000 or 111. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/32 "2008-03-22T00:28:48Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] …Aside from the fact that he was suicidal and probably not thinking straight, he was 81, and a man of that generation would think of the workers next door as being MEN and able to handle it. … [/QUOTE] I gotta say if he’s 81, able to find the plans on the internet, build the robot and carry this out, his thinking seems very clear to me. That’s really quite an intellectual and physical accomplishment. I believe people have the right to end their own lives. More power to him. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/33 "2008-03-22T03:02:12Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] [music]This is the Day The Teddy Bears staged Their Res…cue…[/music] [/QUOTE] My God, this gave me a hefty case of the giggles. What an adorable way to be rescued. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/34 "2008-03-22T11:25:55Z")
[QUOTE=Danalan] Basically, the only things we’ve built robots to do so far is vacuum our floors and kill people. Plus some light manufacturing. The ‘three laws of robotics’ don’t apply until the robots can think for themselves, but I suspect the first practical application for thinking robots will be to kill people. That’s where the research dollars are going, anyway. [/QUOTE] Not true at all, they’ll also [clean your gutters](http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=354), [clean your pool](http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=316), or [let you chat with your family while you’re off in a hotel room with a $1K/hr hooker.](http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=338) Not to mention there’s a [prototype which one day might be able to write science fiction novels.](http://www.boingboing.net/2005/06/23/philip-k-dick-robot.html)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/35 "2008-03-22T11:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] Nah, not really. I checked 'cause I thought it’d be a good idea here, as saturated as we are by American telly shows (our code is 111). Shame that the diversion isn’t a happening thing. [/QUOTE] I seem to recall in NZ when the first American reality/rescue shows started being shown that dialing 911 would get you to a recording reminding you that the nZ emergency number is 111. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/36 "2008-03-23T18:35:23Z")
Maybe he had seen the automatic murder-by-Glock robot that the gang had set up aimed at tied-up Nick Memphis’ (played by Michael Pena) head before he was saved by Bob Lee Swagger (played by Mark Wahlberg) in the excellent 2007 sniper-turned-assassin-stooge flick, _Shooter._ ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/37 "2008-03-23T19:09:46Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] I seem to recall in NZ when the first American reality/rescue shows started being shown that dialing 911 would get you to a recording reminding you that the nZ emergency number is 111. [/QUOTE] You’re right, I remember that. That recording may still be around – dunno, because I use 111. BTW, according to [this site](http://www.911dispatch.com/911/history/haleyville.html), our 111 code pre-dates 911 by nearly 10 years (British 999 in 1937, NZ 111 in 1958, and American 911 in 1968). Just a bit of trivia this Easter weekend. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/38 "2008-03-24T17:06:51Z")
How 'bout this guy? [http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14099445/detail.html](http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14099445/detail.html) > [@](#): > > The body of a 41-year-old man was found in a wooded area next to a guillotine he built and used to kill himself, police said. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/39 "2008-03-24T17:17:13Z")
[QUOTE=UncleBeer] How 'bout this guy? [http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14099445/detail.html](http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14099445/detail.html) [/QUOTE] His friends described him a as a real pain in the neck, I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104/40 "2008-03-24T17:22:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Oh, crap! I just realized that I put the wrong link in my previous post. What a maroon! [This](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/) is the link. Sorry, it sorta’ loses its punch this way. Note to self: “Preview Post” exists _for a friggin reason_! If a moderator can fix my fuck-up, I’d be deeply grateful. [/QUOTE] I wonder how long it’ll be before they disable THAT feature too… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-commits-suicide-by-robot-no-really/442104.md?page=3)