Hindenburg only carried 70 passengers at its largest configuration, and it could only carry that many because they were forced to use hydrogen as the lifting gas instead of helium because of American export restrictions. Hydrogen carries more but is significantly more dangerous, and likely would not be used in any modern aircraft because of safety reasons. Perhaps modern advances in lighter materials and other weight saving methods could help, but even 100 paying passengers doesn’t seem commercially viable.

This was nowhere near the only deadly airship disaster, nor was it the last, but that’s not really what ended airship travel. With the advances in airplanes by the end of World War II, lighter-than-air ships just couldn’t compete. Even postwar piston aircraft were cruising at more than 3 times the speed of most airships with range to make nonstop transatlantic crossings, and once the jet age really started to take hold in the ’50s it was all over. I mean, by the ’60s multiple countries had started supersonic passenger aircraft programs. Not a lot of success there, but still there were nowhere near enough customers to support commercial service on airships when faster, cheaper options existed.

That’s a good point since I think the lactose intolerance becomes an issue in the intestines. The person you’re replying to might want to consult with a doctor.

This got me thinking about it and realizing it’s kind of odd that Civilization lets you build atomic weapons but not chemical or biological weapons. Maybe it’s in Civ 4 or Civ 6; I haven’t really played either of those.

I remember Pawn Stars once had someone bring in a gas mask designed for infants from that same era, and after authenticating it Rick found the concept and need for something like that so horrific that he didn’t even make an offer.

Given that reel to reel tape recording of television didn’t begin until the 1950s I’m going to say they didn’t. The only way they recorded back then was pointing a film camera at the TV, but this couldn’t really be used for rebroadcast, so I’m guessing a lot of these early TV broadcasts weren’t recorded.

Lactase enzyme tablets are relatively cheap and easy to carry at least a few around at all times

I wonder when this was in relation to the opening of the wall?

I may have in the past put lyrics from “Never Gonna You Up” or links to the music video on YouTube in QR codes I printed on blank business cards and left them in public places around town.

I read the article but not the court brief, but from the circumstances of the case I think the town also could’ve used some relatively not expensive commercial satellite images to show that the defendants had been expanding their junkyard in violation of ordinances and previous court agreements. I would be shocked if a court said satellite photos were not allowed, and it seems like at some level aircraft observation would be allowed. I’m not a lawyer, so I’m curious if the police flights like you mention need a warrant before they go looking for a grow operation or whatever. Not going to look that up right now, but maybe later.

I always wanted to get that and drive my cities but never did

I remember an old post about someone seeing a neighbor doing that, I think in Brooklyn or someplace like that.

Reminds me of this old What if? from XKCD

Yeah, now there is, but I don’t think a lot of those features were in when I first used it over a decade ago. It became a lot more useful over the years.

Does IRC still exist? I remember laughing when I first saw Slack and its early competitors because people were excited about it and when I finally used it I realized it was basically just IRC with a nicer interface. I’m assuming these offer improvements like encryption?

The difference being that Sony actually has teams of lawyers who specialize in copyright violations, including unauthorized sampling. If the AI companies are caught using Sony material this won’t go nearly as easily for them as stealing some random blogger’s writings or a small artist’s images.

I certainly think it makes sense to try to extend Hubble‘s service life, and if someone wants to do it for free and actually has the resources to succeed then let them have at it. But there’s definitely no reason to try something risky now when we should still be able to get another decade of science out of it in its current configuration. I think the article makes clear that no matter how prepared the crew is, working directly on Hubble is risky, and even moreso without the Shuttle’s wonderful bay and robot arm.

However, it’s this quote that really concerns me:

"Up until now, there's only been, you know, one group that would ever touch Hubble. And I think that they have an opinion of whether — of who should or shouldn't be allowed to touch it," Isaacman said. "I think a lot would say, 'I'd rather it burn up' than, you know, go down a slippery slope of, you know, the space community growing. So I think that's a factor now, unfortunately."

That definitely reads like someone who’s most concerned about his own ego, not what’s best for science. I highly doubt there’s anyone on the science side at NASA who opposes the mission because they don’t want someone who’s not NASA being the hero. I’m very confident they don’t want someone who’s not NASA killing their very expensive instrument prematurely. They probably would feel better about a NASA astronaut accidentally killing the telescope because at least then they’d be confident that they did their best to minimize the risk but at the end of the day there’s always a chance for it to go very wrong.

It’s hard to say a specific top but it would probably be Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chili. Unfortunately as an American those are a bit harder to find, except through gray market importers and that makes them expensive enough that I rarely get them, and save them for a special treat.

Walkers is a UK brand of Frito-Lay. They actually tried bringing the Sensations sub-brand to the US in the mid-’00s with various Lay’s and Tostitos flavors. I bought a lot of the flavor, which I think they called Sweet Chili and Sour Cream but was basically the same. Sadly it didn’t last long, maybe a year. At a college career fair a couple years later I asked a regional manager from Frito-Lay what happened and he said all the potato Sensations flavors were selling really well, even selling out, but the corn flavors did really poorly. The corn flavors were produced on the same lines that produced Sun Chips, which were really growing in sales at the time. For unexplained reasons when they ended the corn Sensations flavors they ended all the Sensations flavors in the US. It’s funny, as kettle-cooked chips have been gaining market share it seems like Frito-Lay has struggled to find a strong brand in that area outside of Miss Vickie’s. I still wonder if they’d given Sensations more support if they would’ve done better.

I’ve seen other US brands try their hands at that flavor, but the only one I’ve felt come close is Hal’s of New York. I don’t live in New York, though, so they’re not easy to find.

Weirdly another favorite is a store brand salt and vinegar kettle chip. The vinegar is really acidic on those, to the extent my lips feel a bit burnt for several hours after eating them. I keep feeling like I should try to find the manufacturer just in case the store ever changes suppliers.

Those are the only baked chips that basically taste the same as their fried counterparts

The new ones are good, but I’ve never seen this harvest cheddar flavor