Re making eye contact --
when I am approaching an intersection in which I will have the right of way, but there are vehicles approaching/stopped/rolling forward/etc that might possibly think I would yield to them, I will BOTH make eye contact and move as far over in the lane as I possibly can (if it is a large intersection or busy road that I am familiar with, I will actually anticipate ahead of time and look for a break in traffic so I can cut in), signalling to them that I have every intention of proceeding straight through the intersection. I will do this with driveways and parking lot entrances when there is a vehicle nosing forward too, and I try to look as far ahead as I can so I have plenty of time to do this without causing other problems with traffic in my lane (if necessary I will give a hand signal to warn cars behind me). In an actual intersection, when I'm halfway past the car, I will give a nice wave to acknowledge that I appreciate the fact that they respected my right of way .

I have also learned (by near accident) that when traffic is moving more slowly than I would like to ride, it is unfortunately safer to pull in line with traffic and roll along at 9 miles an hour than it is to speed along the right shoulder, moving up the line. Cars will NOT be looking for you in that situation and may just turn right into you, sans signal. This somewhat reduces the speed advantage that cycling can have in urban situations, but I'll take safety over speed if I have to choose, I guess.