This is not true. Brake fade is caused by the hydraulic fluid boiling, thereby turning an incompressible fluid into a compressible one, thereby greatly reducing the amount of force applied to the pads. It is also important to keep in mind that, as has been previously stated but largely ignored, most modern-day brakes are vacuum-assisted. At wide open throttle, there is no appreciable vacuum in the intake manifold, so the brakes will only work for one or two pumps (there is a vacuum reservoir that maintains a limited amount of vacuum in the event that the engine is shut off and the brakes need to be applied).

I do the exact same thing in Philadelphia where 95 becomes 476. It's a 4-into-2 merge, and I used to merge early, but nowadays, I just sail on past. My thinking / justification was exactly the same as yours. I believe there have been studies done that show that in the absence of total law-abidance (which is impossible, pragmatically speaking), the most efficient traffic patterns are ones where the individual actors follow the rules most of the time, but break them when they think they will gain an advantage.

Based on what I've heard from people who actually had the swine flu, I'd rather have the disease than the vaccine.

Has the "upgraded" Hubble taken any images of objects it previously imaged with its old sensors? I would be interested in a comparison.

It's still accessible as of 12:58 EST

I am another Vista user who hasn't experienced any issues at all. From the moment I installed it, it "just worked". I just finished installing SP1, and it still "just works". I've never understood what all the hate was/is about.