Plus, people have developed the world-inside-a-computer theme in fiction so much since those days. Cyrstal Nights by Greg Egan comes to mind as a story that could totally blow people's minds on the big screen.

That was just happened to me, and exactly what I did (or rather, DIDN'T do). I still beat myself up for this - by reporting this kind of irresponsibility, we could have made the roads that much safer.

You seem to be arguing that automobiles are less agile because they're faster. And I do agree that at slow speeds (less than 5 MPH), it's easier for a pedestrian or bicyclist to turn than a car.

However, I still feel that even at 5 MPH, it's easier to stop in a car than on a bike. And at what a bicyclist might call "fast" (25 MPH), it's far less risky for a car driver to slam the brakes (possible fender bender, maybe some slight swerving) than it is for a bicyclist to slam the brakes (body separates from bicycle, flies into pavement). Same for quick turns.

But perhaps more importantly - for this argument, we can't isolate one factor (physics), because the other factor (behavior) IS so important. The road is a dangerous place for both reasons, because it is loaded with 1-ton battering rams that can swerve and kill a bicycle or pedestrian at any moment.

At twenty-five MPH, it's very hard to turn or stop. I'm not sure that your anecdote is a measure of this, since the biker went flying. I regularly ride on a 25-mph roads, and I have to slow down to half speed or less to make a 90-degree right turn. Even then, it's still an intense turn, with me having to do some serious banking. If I didn't do that exact turn every day, I would take it much slower.

When someone on a bike tries to turn or stop immediately while moving at 25MPH, they are risking a life. When someone on a car tries to turn or stop while moving at 25MPH, they are generally just risking repair bills.

Back to your original point - you aren't ever "only" relying on engine noise, but while on a bike, you do hear quite a bit. Being inside a car masks your ability to hear where noises are coming from (how many times have you sat in your car, heard a weird noise, and thought, "Is that my car or someone else's?"), but when you're on a bike, you hear everything... except that Prius behind you!

Not that I'm lobbying for this to be a requirement. I think it would be worth studying, however. There may be absolutely no positive effect to adding sounds to hybrids, but I think that should be determined by experts and not forum posts. Also, right now, hybrids are in the minority, which is one of the reasons it's so jarring to have one sneaking up behind you. If the average person is driving a hybrid in ten years, I think we all might simply "get used" to it.

Alternatively, I think there may also be some use to having an optional "growler" sound -- something less intrusive than a horn but still "engine-like" that the driver can just switch on whenever it's necessary.

Again, I don't think I agree. With the exception of kids playing on the sidewalk, the cars in every place I've lived have always seemed more unpredictable to me than the bicyclists and pedestrians. Eye contact is harder, and, as you pointed out, lack of situational awareness is generally a much bigger deal in cars - and unfortunately, ridiculously common.

You may have that perspective from driving in cars - whenever you see a bicyclist, you probably think "Oh no, what's that person going to do? I don't want to hit him." I understand, because I feel the same way when I'm driving past someone on a bike.

But try riding a bike to and from work in a mid-size city (or larger) every day, even one with bike lanes. When every car on the road has the potential to end your life with one user error, your perspective changes.

"A biker can turn on a dime, stop on a dime, and swerve in the blink of an eye."

What? Have you ever ridden a bike?

I got into a biking accident last month - an oncoming SUV took a left turn in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, turned my front wheel to skid, and still smashed into its side at normal cruising speed. Luckily I just had a couple scrapes and a gash in the inside of my lip, but the reality is, most bicyclists can't stop easily, and usually when they do have to make a hard stop, it's flesh and/or bone against a solid surface.

The Ice Age ending only around 12,000 years ago seems to be pretty congruent with this idea as well.

There are usually explosive crates nearby many turrets in both DX1 and DX2. If you are clever and observant enough, you can often sneak around and throw the crate at the turret, thus disabling it without having to waste your precious multitools.

I highly doubt that this "do not track" option prevents all environment variables from being sent. Browser data is quite often as unique as a thumbprint, even data that has nothing to do with cookies or privacy. Preventing the transmission of this data would break a lot of functionality designed for IE - think of all those messages on "enterprise websites" that say "Your browser does not have [control]. Please go here to download." That data in itself can make you trackable.

Youch. Good point, but you didn't have to get all ad hominem on the commenter.

And by the same token, smaller companies don't provide that infrastructure. This is exactly why "cloud computing" services are commonly targeted towards smaller companies. When you have three people in your office and a total budget of $500,000/year, buying and managing any infrastructure--for computing, power, communication, transportation, or water--can be daunting. Outsourcing management of these functions allows you and your employees to focus on your strengths.

And despite what the business weeklies may pretend, a massive part of our economy flows through small businesses rather than megacorps with on-campus roads and storage ponds.

That is the most elegant explanation of dark matter that I have ever seen or heard.

This. Bonus points for a professor who changes the requirements every week or two.

Yes. You plug it in first. Unlocking a phone can generally be done by touch after you've owned it for more than a couple days. And bringing it to your face is a lot easier than sitting up to see the alarm clock if you don't happen to have the right furniture for placing your alarm clock in a better position, which is quite common when you're a 20-something in a cramped apartment. No need to put on glasses, though. At least not for me.

Gaian Manifest Destiny: life is awesome, we're a part of it, and we all want it to survive, therefore let us spread it throughout the galaxy, because so far, we haven't found anyone else using it.