Q: Who reanimated the corpse of the electric car?

I'm in love with their car.

A: My girlfriend Google, apparently. I somehow missed it when they announced it last month, but the company is building a "small fleet of plug-in [hybrid electric vehicles]," with fuel efficiencies of 70-100 miles per gallon. Not bad; of cars you can actually buy, the most efficient (by far, incidentally) is the Toyota Prius at 35-50 mpg, half of what the Googlemobile offers.

Google says its goal here "is to demonstrate the plug-in hybrid and V2G technology, get people excited about having their own plug-in hybrid, and encourage car companies to start building them soon." So I guess we shouldn't expect them to get into the automotive industry anytime soon...OR SHOULD WE?

MARK IT DOWN: In 2011, Google will use the change under Sergey Brin's couch cushion to acquire General Motors when it is put up for sale at the Wayne County sheriff's auction. By 2015, the oil crisis will have been averted, and global warming will be relegated to the status of the pet rock and the slap bracelet, a cultural relic. In 2017, we will all die in a plague.