In my feverish opium dreams, truckers will become like harbor pilots for cargo container ships - they'll handle the tricky bits that lie between the cargo port and the highway on-ramp, and then again between the off-ramp and the destination. For everything else, HAL will handle the driving.

I'm of the opinion that the first big introduction of driverless or optionally-driven vehicles will be in the area of long-haul trucking, for several reasons:

A Kamm-tail Space Shuttle? What's next, a KERS-style ballistic re-entry heatshield that reclaims thermal energy and converts it to electri...oh my god you guys, that idea rules so hard I'm not worthy enough to even finish it.

B Engineering.

No, no, no, they need to give Dennis Miller Madden's telestrator. I want to see him (attempt to) draw a hypercube and explain n-dimensional space during Monday Night Football.

I nominate my first ride, the 1989 Ford Thunderbird (non-Super Coupe, of course). Six cylinders combining to put out a truly adequate 140 ponies! Doors heavier than your Aunt Gladys after the second round of Thanksgiving pie! Miles and miles of questionably-designed wiring feeding the power seats, power mirrors, power…

I'm going to 2nd that, and also extend the nomination to The Berkshires at the northern end of the TSP. It's close to several major highways, but rural enough that the state cops won't pull you over if you set the cruise control at 75. You can't drive for more than 15 minutes without coming across some jaw-dropping…

One of the best tricks I ever learned for maintaining Situational Awareness in crossing traffic is to quickly check out the front tires of cars that are approaching, stopped at, or accelerating away from a cross street as come up on it. By looking at the wheel, you'll get a better sense of whether the car is…

Emergency! Paging Dr. Beat!

I appreciate your sentiment, and I agree with the importance of intellectual honesty and accurate facts.

So, some components of the Caterham kit require hammering, then? Good to know.

Waaaaaiiiit a minute...I don't see a CD hanging from the rear view! SHENANIGANS.

It's a shame I held a gun to your head and forced you to read it then, huh? Bet you'll wish you had that time back when you're on your death bed!

I recently upgraded to a Droid X from a crummy LG feature phone on AT&T. I took the opportunity to port my 10-year-old number from AT&T to Google, and just opened a new account with Verizon at the same time. After the port from AT&T to Google was complete, I went onto Google Voice and added my brand-new Verizon number…

@Jimmy Williams: Too right, this sounds like he's either a nervous wreck or a crybaby.

@branchan: Airline pilots and flight attendants spend a significant amount of time at high altitudes, where the air is so thin compared to sea level that it cannot block very much UVA/UVB radiation. Pilots and FAs get a relatively large dose of radiation every time they go to work; many of them are understandably…

The Monaco Grand Prix circuit. It's maybe - maybe - wide enough for 2 F1 cars running side-by-side throughout most of its length. There is ONE place to pass. Spectators are everywhere. And even if you can avoid flying off the course and landing on Lady GaGa's yacht, you still have to watch out for supervillains…

@BrtStlnd: Who are themselves much tougher than the That Will Buff Out Organized Crime Agency.