Just let them complete their metamorphosis into spidermoths and terrorize everyone! You thought you had problems with spiders before, NOW THEY CAN FLY!!!
Yeah, I know, this is total fantasy of the lousiest kind, and probably next months Syfy 'original' movie.
Peaceful? The Middle East? Since when? Historically that entire area has always been a hotbed of hotheads wanting to slaughter someone. Whether it was a nearby nation, or several of their own 'tribes'.
And although there have been a great number of wonderful people who came from, or are unfortunately still trapped in Iran, those in charge really are a bunch of hateful rejects with medieval mindsets.
As much as I'd love for everyone in the world to just shun and ignore people like that, it's not feasible. You see, they really do have the ability to disrupt the entire worlds economy, which is rather fragile right now. If you want to imagine this will only hurt the USA, then you are severely deluded. As we are currently so dependent on oil (I wish we weren't, but that's an entirely different rant) an increase in the cost of that will increase the costs of virtually everything. All the shipping is reliant on that, a clear chunk of the power used by manufacturing is generated by oil, and the cost of farming is decidedly increased by fuel costs as well. If all luxury goods were ignored, and you just looked at food and nothing else, increasing oil prices jacks up the price of food. Sure other countries produce food, but they are just as reliant on oil, except for the non-mechanized farming which tends to be significantly more expensive for far lower yields. A very LARGE number of countries have to import food. If you increase the cost of that food, since those countries don't have more money to spend on it, they get less food. Less food than required means people go hungry, possibly even die of starvation. The USA is one of the worlds largest producers of food, and if it came to famine in the USA vs selling food to the rest of the world, the USA wouldn't be the ones starving. That may sound self centered, but do you know any country that would starve it's own population just to feed another countries people? (Yes, there are inequities in all nations, and there are starving everywhere, but what I'm talking about is mass famine due to food shortages.) Ok, so an increase in oil costs increases costs for virtually everything else down the line, but with food, let's see... Maybe you have a measly 1% increase in world wide food prices. Any idea how many thousands of people will starve to death in that year, that probably wouldn't have if the price had remained stable? There are organizations and people that run those numbers every day, and yes, it's in the thousands.
So you say the USA taking action to prevent another country from drastically destabilizing and increasing the costs of oil is self serving and should be stopped. You seem to be conveniently ignoring that what they are stopping is something that will hurt everyone in the world, so even if it is for personal reasons, it has an indirect but decidedly observable, altruistic, and beneficial effect for the world in general.
I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if the USA were to find a means to fill all its energy needs domestically, and also withdrew all forces, military, political, charitable, etc, from the rest of the world. It would be a very illuminating experiment, but even if current politics allowed it, the morals of any sane rational person wouldn't, as it would undoubtably be the root cause of significant upheaval and death around the world. You may hate some of the current power structures, but there are no suitable replacements that would not be geosadistic.
Not to mention you have thousands upon thousands of years where there was no such thing as copyright, and it in no way prevented people from either creating new works of art, nor from earning a living from them. On the other hand, the existence of copyrights or similar laws has in no way ensured any ability of a creator to actually profit from their work either, though it in many ways has greatly reduced the appreciation of such works by limiting access to them to the point where there is limited consumption and sampling, thus making it difficult for the consumer of such works to find those pieces which they truly value.
Actually, 'them' has been in Africa as well as many other places that. It's not always about economics or even political ideals. Although lately just about all you've been hearing has been the military actions in the middle east. Check your history, some of it not even that old. And yes, the USA has done plenty of screw-ups. Things like funding/helpin/arming the Contra, Iran, etc. Trying to foment military coups, taking over Hawaii, and other stupidities. Although that kind of crud seems to be pretty standard for a lot of countries, it doesn't make it right. Yet even with that seedy side, the American people and even the government do a whole lot to aid others in the world. I haven't seen the numbers in about a decade, but the ones I have seen say the USA uses more resources to actually help people around the world than any other country. Even with the time that's passed, they probably aren't a whole lot different.
Yeah, sure, the USA is evil. If you believe that, maybe we should stop all assistance outside our own nation. Maybe then you will re-evaluate a few things. No large group is completely of one ideal. Also, the larger that group is, and the more individual freedom to chose that it has, the more you will have contradicting, or at least non-complimentary activities.
It was used as a prop in a movie. Nobody thinks that's real, like the whiskey and champagne they supposedly drink in the movies, it's just a prop. I'd be amazed if they'd spend the insane amounts of money for one of those ugly bags, when they can get something that looks the same on film for a tenth or less the price.
If they had said that Louis Vuitton bags caused cancer and alien leprosy, maybe I could see the point of a slander/libel suit (no idea which applies to films), but for using a lookalike prop? OMG - They'd have to start using the real Mona Lisa, Spacecraft, Prize winning Livestock, etc... Yeah, right. I think they'd also have a case if the filmmakers were selling the props as the real thing. Obviously selling a prop as a prop is just memorabilia, and not counterfeiting, but as far as I know, they aren't even doing that.
The Louis Vuitton bag makers have apparently lost their sanity, and this lawsuit is the proof.
Amazon is know for quoting different prices for different people. It's also rather easy to identify what platform/browser is being used, unless they are spoofing their info. (But who does that with mobile devices?) It is possible that Amazon doesn't give iphone/ipad browsers the same price/discount they give to others. Note, this is not an accusation. I have no idea if they are doing that, but it is rather easy to do.
If you want to test this, use a computer (not a mac), to check the prices on some things on Amazon. Don't use an account, you don't want it linked to you personally, just the machine being used. If possible, a machine that has never been to Amazon before would be best, since it wouldn't have any other user data for them to use to mess with the pricing. (Note, Amazon has been caught giving different prices to new visitors vs returning visitors.) Then look up the same stuff on and iphone. Again, don't log into an account or anything, just browse to the item. Are the prices different? Please tell us your results.
Nice:) And water ice is pretty identifiable and totally unlike virtually all other 'ices' in the entire universe. (That's literally.) If you don't know, ask a chemist. Heck, almost any physical scientist will remember the oddities of water/ice from school even if they don't have to deal with it in their current field. It really is that weird of a substance.
Of course it doesn't fly in the USA, the Palestinian guy is probably in the back room getting a body cavity search by the TSA and missing his flight, that he may not even be able to get on since he hasn't even been informed yet that he was put on a no-fly list because he his last name is similar to someone that is under suspicion of having ties to terrorists. Oh, did I forget to mention that the "Palestinian" is a native born American who's parents were Palestinian immigrants?
It can and does happen. Haven't you been reading the new the past couple of years?
Except for all the people actually developing fuel cells for higher density portable applications such as cell phones and computers that have been talking publicly about this exact usage for over a decade now...
I tried to read the patent, but after the billionth self-reference, my eyes went cross and I still can't see straight. Maybe I could tolerate more of that junk if it wasn't almost 3 am. Even so, I can't really say I could find anything interesting in the articles that hasn't been done or published before. Of course, I can't believe a patent examiner would think than any implementation of <power source> employed to power <device> isn't bloody obvious. Now the <power source> or <device> might be unique, but that isn't what they are patenting.
I won't exclude the possibility that I'm too bloody tired to make heads or tails of this, so I'll leave it to those of you who aren't half asleep, and can read legalese and the like without wanting to strangle someone.:) Nite
He purchase a product to do a job it was advertised as being capable of doing. Now, after the fact, the manufacturer is attempting to get him to agree to lose his rights he already has or else he can't use the functionality they sold him the device for. He is using the right tool. It may not be what you or I would have chosen, but he did, and they said he could.
I remember using a word processor over a decade ago that would recognize internet addresses and ask me if I wanted to turn it into a hyperlink. Too bad I can't recall which software that was right now.
Don't forget that UMG (Universal Music Group) doesn't even have the copyright for this song in the first place. It was a commission promo piece that was done for, and paid for by Megaupload for their purposes. UMG was never even part of the deal, much less a copyright owner of it. It doesn't even use UMG samples in the music. So what UMG is doing, is claiming copyrights they do NOT have to block the promotional use of another company. This is ILLEGAL. As to a news report using a clip, that has been specifically listed as allowed and fair use in the laws, so is explicitly legal.
ianal (obviously)
And if anyone actually wants to see/hear the song, go to megaupload.com, they have it posted.
Most of the people in power are those that vigorously sought it out. Those people are almost always those who want power to have power, not to wield it for the greater good, justice, or compassion. These, of course, are the worst people to have that power. So even if you raise a generation of 99.9% kind and caring people, 90% of the positions of power will belong to that power grubbing remainder.
The only way to change that is either eliminate all positions of power, find a means to ensure that would be power mongers can never attain it, or somehow alter humanity itself so there is no such thing as a desire for power. Honestly, I don't think any of those will ever happen, though I can imagine a dictatorial situation where all the power is held by one small group so no-one else can attain any power, but that just eliminates competition, not the problem. (And yes, I dream of a utopia where the would be politicians and such can never obtain the power they crave because they are considered unfit for the job, but the problem with utopians is that even science fiction writers don't believe in the possibility of a utopia being real.)
Of course this whole thing with Apple is the result of a pissing contest it looks like they started. Guess they are going to have much bigger problems if the wind keeps shifting direction. (Patenting a flat rectangle that's black with beveled edges. What moron let that through?)
I guess you really don't want to know how many companies out there are still running lots of machines on Win9x. (Even Win95.) Companies are notorious for not updating. It's a hassle and expense for them they'd rather jury-rig their way around more often than we think is sane. Considering that, giving companies a warning that they only have a few years to move away from something, is like telling a slug he's got an hour to get to the shelter a mile away or he's getting a salt bath.
I don't think what that video showed was an American Spy drone. It looked more like a garage kit-bashed fiberglass ooh that would be cool concept of a drone.
Lets see, first the shape. It's a flying wing, and what the heck are those large things standing up on the back like that? It's completely different than anything I've ever seen on any flying wing design before. I'm not a plane expert by any imagination, but still, it looks like something a George Lucas wannabe would build, not the military. It's totally the wrong color, honestly, nothing the military makes is that color, and there's reasons for it. If it was really a spy drone, it would most likely be radar absorbent black. By the way, the SR71 was NEVER flat black when they were in use, it was a special radar absorbent black paint that is still top secret. That paint was completely removed and then repainted with normal aircraft paints before they were transferred to their new non-military homes. What the heck is that grill thing on top, but too far past that wide nose to be a sensor grill, and it's not an air intake either, unless if was cut from an old car radiator.
Cyber warfare implies they took control of it. Not impossible, but let's just say I highly doubt it. Maybe it was electronic warfare and they jammed the control signals. Far more likely, but don't even try and convince me that something that freaking huge for a drone doesn't have a backup plan involving an inertial compass and software to return it to a safe location if it's GPS gets jammed.
Did Iran get an American Drone? Maybe, but I'm pretty sure this thing is NOT it.
Actually it says it "...tore through a cinder-block wall...", and that my friend is NOT a miss, though they did miss the containers of water.
Oh well, one in a milliion chance things happen everyday, that's why you buy insurance.
I actually broke a 1 inch steel rod on a lidless empty glass jar. Sometimes bizarre unlikely things do happen, and all you can do is clean up the mess afterwards. (And remember it for those weird anecdote stories, like this one.)
Pacifism is great and all that, but it only works if the other guy does NOT want to kill you. Now if you're dealing with a psychopath, hungry carnivore, mugger, hostile alien warriors, etc, pacifism will only get you the short end of the stick, often followed by a funeral - if they can find enough of you to bury.
If they're like the University students around here, they'll step out into moving traffic without looking even if you were driving an F-111 with afterburners on full blast.
There are several people around here in fast electric wheelchairs on some of the roads, including an elderly couple that go everywhere together. I haven't actually clocked them, but I'm pretty sure they get up to about 30mph. They've got red pennant flags on antenna poles to make sure the cars can see them.
To a certain extent I agree with you, but you forget a few relevant points. They are working to make internal combustion cars much quieter, mostly for the comfort of the users. I have encountered a few cars (non-electric gas suckers) that when at those "parking lot speeds", the tires make more noise than the engine, and that's not even on gravel. Of course, the background noise of the city is primarily what is masking it. Of course, if you damp down the city noise by silencing so many motors, how much easier would it be to hear the tires?
By the way, in this city, the crosswalks have noise makers for blind or visually impaired people, and you aren't allowed to cross against the light, even if you can't see it. So I guess the biggest threat from a totally silent car would be if they didn't watch where they were going when a blind person tried to cross the street illegally against the light.
Honestly, I'm not saying it isn't something to be considered, but it is in no way a reason to cease developing quieter cars or slap giant noise pollution generators on them.
Slashdot Mirror
Just let them complete their metamorphosis into spidermoths and terrorize everyone!
You thought you had problems with spiders before, NOW THEY CAN FLY!!!
Yeah, I know, this is total fantasy of the lousiest kind, and probably next months Syfy 'original' movie.
Peaceful? The Middle East? Since when?
Historically that entire area has always been a hotbed of hotheads wanting to slaughter someone. Whether it was a nearby nation, or several of their own 'tribes'.
And although there have been a great number of wonderful people who came from, or are unfortunately still trapped in Iran, those in charge really are a bunch of hateful rejects with medieval mindsets.
As much as I'd love for everyone in the world to just shun and ignore people like that, it's not feasible. You see, they really do have the ability to disrupt the entire worlds economy, which is rather fragile right now. If you want to imagine this will only hurt the USA, then you are severely deluded. As we are currently so dependent on oil (I wish we weren't, but that's an entirely different rant) an increase in the cost of that will increase the costs of virtually everything. All the shipping is reliant on that, a clear chunk of the power used by manufacturing is generated by oil, and the cost of farming is decidedly increased by fuel costs as well. If all luxury goods were ignored, and you just looked at food and nothing else, increasing oil prices jacks up the price of food. Sure other countries produce food, but they are just as reliant on oil, except for the non-mechanized farming which tends to be significantly more expensive for far lower yields. A very LARGE number of countries have to import food. If you increase the cost of that food, since those countries don't have more money to spend on it, they get less food. Less food than required means people go hungry, possibly even die of starvation. The USA is one of the worlds largest producers of food, and if it came to famine in the USA vs selling food to the rest of the world, the USA wouldn't be the ones starving. That may sound self centered, but do you know any country that would starve it's own population just to feed another countries people? (Yes, there are inequities in all nations, and there are starving everywhere, but what I'm talking about is mass famine due to food shortages.)
Ok, so an increase in oil costs increases costs for virtually everything else down the line, but with food, let's see... Maybe you have a measly 1% increase in world wide food prices. Any idea how many thousands of people will starve to death in that year, that probably wouldn't have if the price had remained stable? There are organizations and people that run those numbers every day, and yes, it's in the thousands.
So you say the USA taking action to prevent another country from drastically destabilizing and increasing the costs of oil is self serving and should be stopped. You seem to be conveniently ignoring that what they are stopping is something that will hurt everyone in the world, so even if it is for personal reasons, it has an indirect but decidedly observable, altruistic, and beneficial effect for the world in general.
I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if the USA were to find a means to fill all its energy needs domestically, and also withdrew all forces, military, political, charitable, etc, from the rest of the world. It would be a very illuminating experiment, but even if current politics allowed it, the morals of any sane rational person wouldn't, as it would undoubtably be the root cause of significant upheaval and death around the world. You may hate some of the current power structures, but there are no suitable replacements that would not be geosadistic.
Not to mention you have thousands upon thousands of years where there was no such thing as copyright, and it in no way prevented people from either creating new works of art, nor from earning a living from them.
On the other hand, the existence of copyrights or similar laws has in no way ensured any ability of a creator to actually profit from their work either, though it in many ways has greatly reduced the appreciation of such works by limiting access to them to the point where there is limited consumption and sampling, thus making it difficult for the consumer of such works to find those pieces which they truly value.
Actually, 'them' has been in Africa as well as many other places that. It's not always about economics or even political ideals.
Although lately just about all you've been hearing has been the military actions in the middle east.
Check your history, some of it not even that old.
And yes, the USA has done plenty of screw-ups. Things like funding/helpin/arming the Contra, Iran, etc. Trying to foment military coups, taking over Hawaii, and other stupidities.
Although that kind of crud seems to be pretty standard for a lot of countries, it doesn't make it right.
Yet even with that seedy side, the American people and even the government do a whole lot to aid others in the world. I haven't seen the numbers in about a decade, but the ones I have seen say the USA uses more resources to actually help people around the world than any other country. Even with the time that's passed, they probably aren't a whole lot different.
Yeah, sure, the USA is evil. If you believe that, maybe we should stop all assistance outside our own nation. Maybe then you will re-evaluate a few things.
No large group is completely of one ideal. Also, the larger that group is, and the more individual freedom to chose that it has, the more you will have contradicting, or at least non-complimentary activities.
It's just a picture of a gun, so who cares what it does?
Of course, this means they are censoring a picture of a gun. Think about that for a bit.
It was used as a prop in a movie. Nobody thinks that's real, like the whiskey and champagne they supposedly drink in the movies, it's just a prop. I'd be amazed if they'd spend the insane amounts of money for one of those ugly bags, when they can get something that looks the same on film for a tenth or less the price.
If they had said that Louis Vuitton bags caused cancer and alien leprosy, maybe I could see the point of a slander/libel suit (no idea which applies to films), but for using a lookalike prop? OMG - They'd have to start using the real Mona Lisa, Spacecraft, Prize winning Livestock, etc... Yeah, right.
I think they'd also have a case if the filmmakers were selling the props as the real thing. Obviously selling a prop as a prop is just memorabilia, and not counterfeiting, but as far as I know, they aren't even doing that.
The Louis Vuitton bag makers have apparently lost their sanity, and this lawsuit is the proof.
How dare you make light of the situation. :)
:(
I'm betting not a lot of cops will get your joke.
(You knew this was coming) "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics
Amazon is know for quoting different prices for different people. It's also rather easy to identify what platform/browser is being used, unless they are spoofing their info. (But who does that with mobile devices?)
It is possible that Amazon doesn't give iphone/ipad browsers the same price/discount they give to others. Note, this is not an accusation. I have no idea if they are doing that, but it is rather easy to do.
If you want to test this, use a computer (not a mac), to check the prices on some things on Amazon. Don't use an account, you don't want it linked to you personally, just the machine being used. If possible, a machine that has never been to Amazon before would be best, since it wouldn't have any other user data for them to use to mess with the pricing.
(Note, Amazon has been caught giving different prices to new visitors vs returning visitors.)
Then look up the same stuff on and iphone. Again, don't log into an account or anything, just browse to the item.
Are the prices different?
Please tell us your results.
He doesn't have an iphone/ipad.
:)
That's my guess.
Either that or his phone service has been disconnected, or he has no money to make said purchases.
I'm in one or more of those situations myself.
One of my sisters just got a Galaxy Tab, she's very happy.
Nice :) And water ice is pretty identifiable and totally unlike virtually all other 'ices' in the entire universe. (That's literally.) If you don't know, ask a chemist. Heck, almost any physical scientist will remember the oddities of water/ice from school even if they don't have to deal with it in their current field. It really is that weird of a substance.
Of course it doesn't fly in the USA, the Palestinian guy is probably in the back room getting a body cavity search by the TSA and missing his flight, that he may not even be able to get on since he hasn't even been informed yet that he was put on a no-fly list because he his last name is similar to someone that is under suspicion of having ties to terrorists. Oh, did I forget to mention that the "Palestinian" is a native born American who's parents were Palestinian immigrants?
It can and does happen. Haven't you been reading the new the past couple of years?
There have been lots of reports that the TSA also treats you inequitably if you look Arabic or have a Middle Eastern sounding name in their opinion.
So your point is?
Except for all the people actually developing fuel cells for higher density portable applications such as cell phones and computers that have been talking publicly about this exact usage for over a decade now...
:) Nite
I tried to read the patent, but after the billionth self-reference, my eyes went cross and I still can't see straight. Maybe I could tolerate more of that junk if it wasn't almost 3 am. Even so, I can't really say I could find anything interesting in the articles that hasn't been done or published before. Of course, I can't believe a patent examiner would think than any implementation of <power source> employed to power <device> isn't bloody obvious. Now the <power source> or <device> might be unique, but that isn't what they are patenting.
I won't exclude the possibility that I'm too bloody tired to make heads or tails of this, so I'll leave it to those of you who aren't half asleep, and can read legalese and the like without wanting to strangle someone.
He purchase a product to do a job it was advertised as being capable of doing.
Now, after the fact, the manufacturer is attempting to get him to agree to lose his rights he already has or else he can't use the functionality they sold him the device for.
He is using the right tool. It may not be what you or I would have chosen, but he did, and they said he could.
I remember using a word processor over a decade ago that would recognize internet addresses and ask me if I wanted to turn it into a hyperlink.
Too bad I can't recall which software that was right now.
Don't forget that UMG (Universal Music Group) doesn't even have the copyright for this song in the first place. It was a commission promo piece that was done for, and paid for by Megaupload for their purposes. UMG was never even part of the deal, much less a copyright owner of it. It doesn't even use UMG samples in the music. So what UMG is doing, is claiming copyrights they do NOT have to block the promotional use of another company. This is ILLEGAL.
As to a news report using a clip, that has been specifically listed as allowed and fair use in the laws, so is explicitly legal.
ianal (obviously)
And if anyone actually wants to see/hear the song, go to megaupload.com, they have it posted.
Most of the people in power are those that vigorously sought it out.
Those people are almost always those who want power to have power, not to wield it for the greater good, justice, or compassion.
These, of course, are the worst people to have that power.
So even if you raise a generation of 99.9% kind and caring people, 90% of the positions of power will belong to that power grubbing remainder.
The only way to change that is either eliminate all positions of power, find a means to ensure that would be power mongers can never attain it, or somehow alter humanity itself so there is no such thing as a desire for power. Honestly, I don't think any of those will ever happen, though I can imagine a dictatorial situation where all the power is held by one small group so no-one else can attain any power, but that just eliminates competition, not the problem.
(And yes, I dream of a utopia where the would be politicians and such can never obtain the power they crave because they are considered unfit for the job, but the problem with utopians is that even science fiction writers don't believe in the possibility of a utopia being real.)
Of course this whole thing with Apple is the result of a pissing contest it looks like they started. Guess they are going to have much bigger problems if the wind keeps shifting direction. (Patenting a flat rectangle that's black with beveled edges. What moron let that through?)
I guess you really don't want to know how many companies out there are still running lots of machines on Win9x. (Even Win95.)
Companies are notorious for not updating. It's a hassle and expense for them they'd rather jury-rig their way around more often than we think is sane.
Considering that, giving companies a warning that they only have a few years to move away from something, is like telling a slug he's got an hour to get to the shelter a mile away or he's getting a salt bath.
I don't think what that video showed was an American Spy drone.
It looked more like a garage kit-bashed fiberglass ooh that would be cool concept of a drone.
Lets see, first the shape. It's a flying wing, and what the heck are those large things standing up on the back like that? It's completely different than anything I've ever seen on any flying wing design before. I'm not a plane expert by any imagination, but still, it looks like something a George Lucas wannabe would build, not the military.
It's totally the wrong color, honestly, nothing the military makes is that color, and there's reasons for it. If it was really a spy drone, it would most likely be radar absorbent black. By the way, the SR71 was NEVER flat black when they were in use, it was a special radar absorbent black paint that is still top secret. That paint was completely removed and then repainted with normal aircraft paints before they were transferred to their new non-military homes.
What the heck is that grill thing on top, but too far past that wide nose to be a sensor grill, and it's not an air intake either, unless if was cut from an old car radiator.
Cyber warfare implies they took control of it. Not impossible, but let's just say I highly doubt it. Maybe it was electronic warfare and they jammed the control signals. Far more likely, but don't even try and convince me that something that freaking huge for a drone doesn't have a backup plan involving an inertial compass and software to return it to a safe location if it's GPS gets jammed.
Did Iran get an American Drone? Maybe, but I'm pretty sure this thing is NOT it.
Actually it says it "...tore through a cinder-block wall...", and that my friend is NOT a miss, though they did miss the containers of water.
Oh well, one in a milliion chance things happen everyday, that's why you buy insurance.
I actually broke a 1 inch steel rod on a lidless empty glass jar. Sometimes bizarre unlikely things do happen, and all you can do is clean up the mess afterwards. (And remember it for those weird anecdote stories, like this one.)
Pacifism is great and all that, but it only works if the other guy does NOT want to kill you.
Now if you're dealing with a psychopath, hungry carnivore, mugger, hostile alien warriors, etc, pacifism will only get you the short end of the stick, often followed by a funeral - if they can find enough of you to bury.
If they're like the University students around here, they'll step out into moving traffic without looking even if you were driving an F-111 with afterburners on full blast.
There are several people around here in fast electric wheelchairs on some of the roads, including an elderly couple that go everywhere together. I haven't actually clocked them, but I'm pretty sure they get up to about 30mph. They've got red pennant flags on antenna poles to make sure the cars can see them.
To a certain extent I agree with you, but you forget a few relevant points. They are working to make internal combustion cars much quieter, mostly for the comfort of the users. I have encountered a few cars (non-electric gas suckers) that when at those "parking lot speeds", the tires make more noise than the engine, and that's not even on gravel. Of course, the background noise of the city is primarily what is masking it. Of course, if you damp down the city noise by silencing so many motors, how much easier would it be to hear the tires?
By the way, in this city, the crosswalks have noise makers for blind or visually impaired people, and you aren't allowed to cross against the light, even if you can't see it. So I guess the biggest threat from a totally silent car would be if they didn't watch where they were going when a blind person tried to cross the street illegally against the light.
Honestly, I'm not saying it isn't something to be considered, but it is in no way a reason to cease developing quieter cars or slap giant noise pollution generators on them.