I like my cruise control plenty fine but I don't want anything taking my focus off the road. Not to mention if they take the Airbus theory of automation (automation knows better than pilot) rather than the Boeing theory of automation (pilot can override automation at any time), I won't even sit in one of these cars. Of course I've flown in an Airbus but airplanes have a lot better known (or at least consistent) set of conditions than cars do.

Which results in "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.". If you are absolutely certain about anything, it is time to figure out why you are so certain.

Sorry, my monitor is clean and my chair doesn't squeak. Did he get the wrong IP?

The winner writes the histories. This is new since when?

With the stories today I'm sometimes not sure if I should attribute to April Fools and other stories I just wish I could attribute to April Fools...

Though you are typically expected to understand DO-178b, or at your company should have people who do in order to certify the software. Then the FAA DER audits that software based on DO-178b. At least if the software is considered critical to safety of flight.

We are getting closer to times where computers can handle everything but it is hard to fully hand off control. A computer never makes mistakes when programmed right and the hardware doesn't fail but the computer can't handle unexpected situations. Programming it for all situations before problems happen, or allowing it to adapt to the unexpected, is the hard part.

I've worked on a few types of terrain avoidance equipment and it is pretty good. Though when you are landing somewhere like this http://www.chonday.com/Videos/..., the system would go nuts and need to be overridden. Any time a human can override the system... we'll we are talking about one of the examples.

>= 0?

Yeah I would agree with this. People on the ground are at least independent enough to consider if the situation warrants unlocking the cockpit or if the possibility of terrorist takeover is too high. Regardless though, no human system will ever be perfect. With modern autopilots I would almost like to see the system just turn over control to the auto pilot to land at the nearest available airport. Of course this has it's own issues.

Where I used to live was forced by the state to up the speed limits because they were far lower than the state mandated "75% of the speed all cars are traveling on this road". Then I moved to a smaller country city nearby and they have speed limits slower than where I used to live before they raised the limits. Never seen anyone pulled over on the "strictly enforced" speed limits thought.

15 years driving and I usually use the cruise control at any speed when I have more than a minute of going the same speed. One ticket for missing a stop sign when I wasn't using the cruise control. YMMV.

So we need to arm police cars with guided missile launchers? Would cut down on police pursuits...

For the most part you can stop from 45 MPH in under a second and 25 MPH in a quarter of a second. The average human reaction for breaking is 1.5 seconds and I assume this is under fairly ideal circumstances. So I think all this means paying attention makes a lot more difference than speed (assuming you aren't doing 70 on a city street).

Plutonium?