Judging the recent trend in Microsoft products, it'll be a subscription service costing you $5000 per year to own and operate the self-driving car.

And Anonymous Cowards posting drivel in Slashdot comments.

When the automobile debuted, the UK passed the infamous Locomotive Acts (otherwise known as the Red Flag Law), requiring someone to walk in front of a "horseless carriage" waving a red flag.

Requiring a license for a self-driving car is the modern red flag to avoid spooking the lawyers.

I trust a computer malfunction more than I trust a human malfunction. A computer can't get into the car drunk or high. It doesn't feel 'under the weather' or tired. It's not affected by the weaving motorist in the next lane, or the tailgater that raises your anxiety levels.

Can it malfunction? Sure. Can it get a virus? Oh yes, and there will be vectors for attack, just like every other computer.

But the actual, statistical probability that you will experience any of these problems? Far, far less than your current danger on the roads.

As much as they were disliked for other reasons, The Motion Picture and The Final Frontier had themes of optimism. The Voyage Home, too, carried the torch of hope for the future.

S-OW-na?
S-AW-na?

Thanks. I didn't really get much of a chance to use it in a live environment, so I don't know the kinds of features that were desired. I looked into it for another reason, and eventually found that SpecLog's sister project, SpecFlow, was a better fit for the needs.

I'll answer your questions as best I can.

SpecLog is a Windows/.NET 4.0 application. As far as I'm aware it only runs via Windows, but it has several export options for HTML, PDF, or spreadsheets. It also connects to a Microsoft SQL Server on the backend (this is optional, but likely ideal for the OP's scenario). Theoretically, one could create an interface for non-Windows users simply by calling a few queries and building a front-end for it.

The software allows for multiple projects, each would appear as a "page" or tab. Within the project is one massive editing area, which can be made larger than the viewable area. I didn't try editing with multiple clients, so I'm unsure if the project can be edited simultaneously by multiple people remotely, but considering it's simply built on a SQL server, it could probably be edited in near-real time, just not real time. SpecLog's doc wiki claims multiple clients can edit in parallel.

There's no moderator, access is pretty all or nothing. Either someone has access to to edit or they don't.

An external solution would need to be found for video/audio conferencing.

Hope that helps!

I recently did some research into (but not actual production use of) SpecLog. It's part of a TDD suite built as a Cucumber implementation for .NET. However, SpecLog is the one product that steps out of the IDE and allows devs, managers and clients to all be on the same footing. It's basically a digital whiteboard made specifically for specifications and requirements gathering. It uses a repository backend which allows for remote input and synchronization, and a graphical interface that lays out and connects features, user stories, actors and business goals all together.

As we understand more and more about the brain, that reality creeps ever-closer. I wouldn't put it past someone to be already working on it.

Removing a useless limb to replace it with a working mechanical facsimile? Seems reasonable to me.

Do you think the US government builds all its own equipment? Private companies build NASA's equipment, from spacesuits to rockets. A company like SpaceX or Boeing or Lockheed-Martin don't just sell this equipment at cost, they certainly make a profit on it.

This may be a case where identity verification is different in the US than elsewhere. I'm not sure. In the US, a government-issued ID (driver's license, state ID, passport, military ID) is a valid form of identity verification that trumps quite a bit. If you can compare a name on a card to the name, signature and photo on a government-issued ID, you're pretty well indemnified against issues unless the ID is an obvious fake (or you happen to be in a line of business, such as a bar, where detecting fakes is more critical).

As a side note, if I put my signature and CHECK ID on the back of the card, the CHECK ID would get completely and totally ignored.

Here in the US, if you are getting cash you're using the card as debit. And debit cards, by and large, don't allow signatures (pin only). If you're signing, it's more than likely credit, and no cash withdrawal is allowed.

And you'd have the signature. One on your pad or paper, and one on my license. It's much harder to fake the signature on my license, that's an official government document, whereas the signature on the back of my card was something I just did myself on my desk at home. If I was a criminal who just copied someone's card, you can be sure that I'd sign the card the way I would write the signature, and poof, there's your authorized signature that conveniently looks like the one I just signed for on your pad or paper receipt.

My state's driver's license still has my signature on it. Not sure if some have dropped it, but that used to be a thing. It's a fallback method for comparison, if my signatures don't match, my face better match the one on the card, or I'd expect the store to call the cops.

Sadly, most clerks these days will even look at the "CHECK ID" on the back of my card and ignore it anyway. It pisses me off, but it's actually the rare person who will check it, so pointing it out just gets tiring.

I'd sooner call the cops on rabble-rousers like yourself than to racially profile someone. Too bad (at least in the US) the first amendment protects your right to say this just as much as it protects someone's right to walk around.