This seems like a very cool idea, but I can't help but think that any system like this that goes "widespread" will be a prime target for crackers looking to do a little terrorism. Seeing as many public-use devices--pacemakers, and others that have been reported on Slashdot--utterly fail to be secure against such attacks--and since this one requires wireless receiving wireless signals in order to function, it's only a matter of time before an enterprising "cyberterrorist" decides to cause a pileup. Therefore, I question the wisdom of enacting such systems, even though the technology is cool, and could be very helpful if it worked properly (and reliably).

I often wonder if a Shweeb-like system, modified with partial motorization for long stretches of (high-speed) highway, uphill areas, etc. might be a more sensible approach. Sometimes advanced technology doesn't make things "better," despite how fun it is to think so.

Haha. We should so try to make that into a "replacement meme" for the antiquated "Streisand Effect." I doubt that many young people even remember why that lady's famous (I don't, and I'm 30...but I also live under a rock). At least this would make a great Wikipedia page/story...if it isn't taken down by threats of litigation! :-D

LOL if "libel and slander" from internet posts was that easy to prosecute, we'll all have been litigated into homeless oblivion by now.

Heck, I bet even this post makes somebody think they/someone are/is being defamed, slandered, or caused "emotional distress," somehow. In fact, I think it would be awesome to see this post modded down as a "Troll." (Please?) I would get a good laugh out of that...though if others did, too, it would surely get modded back up as "Funny."

X-D

I think this is less an issue of games/porn making men socially awkward, and more a matter of games/porn giving men something to do instead of learning to not be awkward.

Tell me this: how many teenage boys do you know who are utterly socially awkward? Those of us old enough to remember when not all (or most) teenage boys had easy access to games/porn will recall that teenage boys--with a few exceptions--are awkward by default. As we get older, we (are supposed to) spend time with girls/women, wherein we learn to be more confident/attractive to the opposite sex, as well as figuring out how to not be complete social dunces in other arenas. We learn how to (temporarily) set aside our male angst (sexual and otherwise) when appropriate, so we don't seem repulsive to anyone who isn't similarly "afflicted."

So, what video games and pornography do isn't making men/boys awkward socially (including, but not only with women/girls), but it allows those of us who get too into games/porn to avoid learning how to not be awkward.

Please note that I'm not saying that video games are "evil," or that this is unavoidable for those who want to step outside their comfort zones once-in-a-while. (I personally think that porn is always at least somewhat degenerate--no matter how attractive it may be to us with overflowing testosterone; but that's not a point I care to discuss here, and is irrelevant the current point.)

Thus, along with the problems mentioned in the article, there is also a cure: find a way to hang out with some real, live females! This is, and will likely always remain, an age-old problem that's simply a bit exaggerated under current circumstances. Sure, some of us here are in the "geek in mom's basement" category; but I doubt that most of us really are, no matter how well we identify with that predicament.

Aside from having a person who's willing to "chap a few (or a lot of) hides" in order to do what he thinks is right, in government, it would certainly make it a LOT harder to extradite him if he were to become a senator. Just how many world leades get extradited? Not many, I recon.

As an American, I won't claim to know the intracacies of Australian government/politics, but at least on the surface, running/getting elected sounds like a smart thing for Assange to do...assuming nobody assassinates him for it.