I'd imagine that a lot of drivers would end up switching to autonomous cars for financial reasons. If the insurance rates are dramatically cut for autonomous vehicles (which is extremely likely) then it's going to end up being cheaper to not drive. There's many other advantages as well - you may not need to run two cars if you can commute to work in one and have it drive back home for your spouse's use during the day.

I think the finances would work in favour of shared use of autonomous car networks. Most cars spend most of their time being parked, so in theory we can increase the usage and reduce the number of cars needed. They'd become like taxis but much cheaper and more convenient.

If we end up with the vast majority of vehicles being autonomous, then it shouldn't cause any problems to have a few human drivers around as well. I still see the occasional vintage car being driven around, so there's definitely going to be enthusiasts.

However, I bet they're going to be chock full of cameras and sensors, so maybe a few reckless drivers will get caught out with their shenanigans.

I don't see why driving within the speed limits would cause any major problems as on most motorways, they'd be spending most of their time in the left-most (slowest) lane. The other lanes are for overtaking and they shouldn't need to do much overtaking. If they do need to overtake, then I imagine it would make sense to exceed the speed limit just whilst they are overtaking so that they safely join the faster flow.

Some vehicles (coaches and buses generally) are speed limited and can't go above 70mph and they don't cause more crashes as far as I know. I reckon that people will soon get used to the conservative behaviour of driverless cars. It's got to be a lot less annoying than some of the hyper-aggressive or distracted drivers.

I don't think that would apply as he was talking about refusing to do an auth check on an already refused transaction. I'm surprised that you legally have to accept any form of credit, though, as that doesn't sound very practical (and I've seen places that don't accept various cards).

It was option 2. The bank declined the transaction and then Apple was tricked by the customer pretending to phone the bank whilst actually phoning an accomplice. The accomplice then "authorised" the transaction with a manual code, which Apple believed was from the bank.

Apple should have phoned the bank itself using a known good number. That would have caught out the scammer and Apple wouldn't have lost money.

No, the bank refused the transaction (declined the card). The Apple store employee was then tricked into thinking that the bank had authorised it with a manual code though they had done no such thing.

It is on the very verge of release now. It's been shown in several US cities and is now invading Canada. I'm a backer of the Kickstarter campaign to get it released: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elizabethkarr/radio-free-albemuth-theatrical-release/posts/ . Hopefully the DVDs and Blu-rays will not be too long away and I'm waiting for a UK release so that I can get my hands on a legit copy.

The bank didn't "verify" the transaction. An accomplice of the trickster "verified" the transaction and the Apple store employee thought that the bank had verified it.

There's still rumours about that. Michel Gondry has declared that he's "still working" on it. Ubik is supposed to be the most unfilmable of all of PKD's work, but Michel Gondry has a unique style that could work really well (I'm thinking of Eternal Sunshine - definitely not Green Hornet).

Incidentally, the Radio Free Albemuth film is almost available (for certain values of available) now. I'm kind of bummed that I paid $70 for the Kickstarter campaign, but as I live in the UK and it hasn't been released here yet, I can't get my hands on a legit copy of it yet. In case you didn't know, Radio Free Albemuth originally started as a sequel to Man in the High Castle, but then ended up becoming a first-draft of what became VALIS.

I really enjoyed The Cabin in the Woods, but then I'm a big Joss Whedon fan. I even enjoyed Dollhouse (apart from the first 5 or so episodes). Yet to see Much Ado About Nothing, though.

I agree with Prometheus being a big pile of poop, but Alien was superb - it had buckets of claustrophobia and tension. (Aliens was directed by James Cameron, so I assume that you meant Alien).

The credit card issuers do have some security in place - they confirm the identity of the card-holder with various questions. However, in this case, the credit card company weren't contacted and were obviously unable to confirm or deny the card-holder's identity.