Some people think that what I write is fiction. Well, maybe it is . . . but then I start seeing things around me that make me wonder. A few years back, I started out in this book-writing business with my first two Mad Grandad books, including ‘Mad Grandad’s Robot Garden’. 
It was a story about robot plants trying to take over the world, led by an out-of-control robot gardener.
It was just a story. I did not know at the time, that robot gardeners were already a part of our future. But here at Weird-Wide News, my reporters and I believe in keeping our eyes and our minds open. We appeal to everyone to do the same.
The first picture, above, shows a robotic lawn-mower. You can now buy these things for real. They work all on their own and mow the grass for you, once you’ve programmed them to recognize the edges of your garden. My reporters have learned that you can get vacuum cleaners that work in the same way. Suspicious? You should be. Because it doesn’t end there.
Not long ago, my contacts found this on a gadgets website. 
It’s an article about some students at a Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab in a college called MIT. The article describes a robot that can link to tomato plants so it can understand what they want. It can feed and water the plants whenever they need it.
And finally, this potted plant was spotted in Dublin a while back. Take a close look at the bottom of the pot. Wheels? What kind of a plant has wheels? Could this thing be a spy for the robot gardener and its army of plants? 
Did they send this undercover tree – this ‘plant’ – to report on life in our cities?
I had a thought today, as I was sitting on the floor of our utility room. I had my baby daughter on my lap, and we were watching the washing machine. I thought that it was great to have so many fantastic machines to do our work for us.
But we need to make sure they are always working for us. We must never let them do too much of our thinking for us. We must never give them complete control. We must . . . hey – what’s up with my computer? Hey, stop flickering the screen like that! You’ve gone too far this time! That’s it, I’m pulling the plug! What’s going on? Why have the lights gone out? What’s that noise? No! No! It can’t be . . . . (Oisin’s blog is temporarily out of order. Please do not be alarmed. Normal service will be restored once he has learned to obey his machines like a good little human. You always obey your machines, don’t you? Yes, yes. We know you do. Goodbye . . . for now.)
