I thought 'like milking a robot' referred to coding or system administration. I thought 'Silverstein' referred to lyricist and composer Shel Silverstein. But OED may have been mentioning Harper's magazine editor Ken Silverstein, who has a muckraking blog about defense contractors, members of Congress and CIA officials playing poker with prostitutes in the Watergate hotel. Washington Babylon (Harpers.org) <www.harpers.org>