I’m glad that it’s liquid water - that’s exactly what a flying plane in gaseous air needs!

Great article! The split rear window in the 50s Beetle is called ‘Brezelfenster’ in Germany. Yes, that’s what it means - ‘Pretzelwindow’.

The blinker / indicator sound in a Ford.

Gaahh - why is everyone calling it a monolith?! It’s a slab of metal. A monolith is a ‘single rock’.

Ahhh - 94 Cherokee manual. Had one of those - my favorite so far. Sadly, at 270k the engine gave out (plus that rear bench wasn’t really safe for a growing kid any longer...). Wouldn’t mind owning one again.

That comparison is a bit drastic... I meant that I’m living quite well in a civilized, ‘technologized’, professional environment. This is why I’m not entirely sure about the ‘necessity’ claim.

“Yet a smartphone is still a necessity...”

Ahh - the joys of pumping in Europe: pump first, then go inside and pay. Go back to car and drive off. Makes things easy.

Meanwhile, we’re almost back at $2.95 / gallon in MI - let’s see how the truck/SUV sales do in the longer run...

Wow - speeding past sharks, crocs, and box jellyfish. Getting nabbed by the Australian police doesn’t sound so bad.

Regarding ‘free’: how much annual fees do you pay?

Maybe with the exception of pushing e-cars - but I think that ‘cheaper spaceflight’, ‘hyperloop’ (still to be realized), ‘drilling tunnels’ (problematic) primarily try to solve specific technical problems more so than big societal problems.

What exactly would you call his ‘valuable contribution to society”?

I want to like dark mode, but I find the contrast between it and third party apps that don’t have it too harsh. Maybe I need to give it some time...

He is just another example of an increasingly myopic part of this country’s society: reduce taxes, increase shareholder value.

As far as I know the ‘core’ of Jupiter is likely metal hydrogen which is a gas, just really dense (and really cold).

That’s the business perspective. There’s also an ethical perspective, and it’s about ‘leverage’: Sherpas need the money. Rich Westerners wave with lots of cash. Whenever there’s a situation where one side has money, and the other side needs it to survive, there’s no real power balance.

Any chances you were part of that gang? Not the mauling, but the patching part...

What a nonsense reaction.

According to Gary Larson, accordion is one of the instruments of hell. The other one is banjo.