The #1 best show is Twin Peaks: The Return of course :)

The last Bolt model year was 2023 - you can't really find new ones at dealer lots anymore. There is supposed to be a new version coming at some point, but no official details or timeframe yet.

Plenty of countries have national parks btw. Many of them had them before America.

Well not really though ? Yellowstone established in 1872 is generally considered the first national park, in the modern sense of the term*, and inspired others to follow in the next couple of decades in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It wasn't until the 1900s that the first national park was established in Europe.

there are a couple of other places that also claim this distinction, depending on how exactly you define what a national park is, but not many

Calling national parks "America's best idea" is a quote from historian and environmentalist Wallace Stegner - I think the point of it is not to toot some US exceptionalism horn - in context it's more of an acknowledgment that America deserves a lot of criticism - saying that national parks are America's best idea is actually putting a bit of shade on other American exceptionalism claims, especially during the Reagan "shining city upon a hill" era.

According to CBP's own stats they conducted 42725 basic and 4322 advanced searches of electronic devices at US ports of entry last year (so before any new policies of the current administration took effect)

"Under a basic search, a border agent physically inspects your phone and reviews what they can, while an advanced search means the agent can potentially download all of your files using an external device."

This is true, however you can still be targeted for extra checks by both customs and immigration if they have a reason to suspect you, even when departing the US. Both CBP and ICE have access to departing passenger lists.

For example you are required to declare larger sums of cash being carried out of the country (over $10k). You are supposed to go to customs and fill out a form, but many people do not know this, often legal immigrant workers taking cash back to their home countries. CBP uses dogs trained to smell cash and patrols departure lounges in airports, and if they pick you out, you can be searched, and any undeclared cash will simply be seized if found.

It's easy to imagine with the current administration they could start targeting people based on social media posts or some kind of previously compiled political profile or "enemies" list or whatever, if they aren't already.

It was the 90s.. rules were different then ! I still have my white pants deep in the closet somewhere.. they haven't seen the light of day in a while though :)

I worked at Bell Labs back when this photo was taken - my office pretty much looked exactly like this, chair, furniture, Sun SPARCStation on the floor...

Bjarne still rocks white pants sometimes to this day though ! And the same haircut - he really committed to the look :)

Didn't the original full body scanners used at airports use backscatter X-rays, which are ionizing radiation ?

I believe these were mostly replaced by millimeter-wave scanners, and are not used anymore (even banned in some countries) but a lot of the initial pushback and debate surrounding the scanners when they were first introduced was about potential health risks of repeated X-ray exposure from those scanners, and so the idea of ionizing radiation exposure persists to this day in many people's minds.

Zappa's Bobby Brown topped the charts in several European countries, with most people oblivious to the lyrics, people thought it was just some pop song :)

For most citrus the pith has no flavor at all, definitely not bitter. Most people object to the texture and blandness/lack of flavor, which I can understand. I have a bunch of citrus trees in my yard, and learned to not mind the pith, mainly due to laziness (I eat a lot of oranges) - and it's a good source of fiber.

Western diet is actually notoriously low on fiber and high in sugar, and the citrus pith is also high in vitamin C.

So for many people eating the pith would actually be a healthier choice - in the context of their low fiber/high sugar diet.

Some species of birds, like Robins for example, walk around with their head cocked like this near the ground to hear worms chewing through the soil, and then pluck them out to eat.

But instead of worms, it's miners (not sure if tiny, or bird huge :)

I first got on the Internet just as the shift from :-) to :) was happening, only geezers still used :-) and :) was the hip new thing...

We have military bases in Taiwan

The US does not have military bases in Taiwan anymore - not since the US switched diplomatic recognition from the ROC to the PRC in 1979 - one of the concessions to the PRC was the removal of US military presence from Taiwan.

Sometimes a nose is just a nose

photography might be an area where digital hasn't caught up, since film's resolution is down to the molecular level

Film resolution is limited by the size of the silver halide crystals that make up the light sensitive layer of the film. Crystals can come in different sizes, but their sensitivity to light depends on their size - generally you need pretty large crystals for usable photographic film, somewhere between 0.1 and 10 microns (depending on the film ISO rating) - about 3-5 orders of magnitude larger than what you would consider molecular scale.

When the film is developed the crystals are visible as film grain limiting the resolution in some ways similar to pixel size of a digital camera (although there are differences, since the crystal size is not completely uniform but rather has a specific distribution, creating a more random effect than the regular pixel grid of digital cameras)

The pixel sizes on modern high resolution digital camera sensors are actually similar, down to 0.5 micron. It's hard to make an exact comparison, but I have seen estimates that you need a full frame digital sensor of somewhere between 10 to 50 megapixels to equal the resolution of 35mm ISO 100 film.

And modern sensors are much more light sensitive than film, which allows you to shoot more optimally and give you more flexibility (less exposure time, potentially higher f-stop with better lens resolution, lower ISO, less light, etc.) and therefore achieve potentially better results in more conditions. Add to that the hassle and costs of working with film, and most professional photo work is now done in digital as well. Film is generally only used for stylistic purposes, by purists who are not satisfied with digital simulation.

Isn't it referencing the birds rather than the flower? They are known for their impressive plumage.