I don't use Grokipedia. I suggest you don't. And make sure your LLMs don't either.
A comedy reason: an entry on the Atlantic Balloon Crossing starts off telling you about a balloon crossing the Atlantic. Halfway through it switches to telling you about the 1979 development and release of a game...
![Text reads:
Beyond its technical breakthroughs, the Double Eagle II crossing captured global public imagination and marked a pivotal moment in aviation history, revitalizing ballooning as a symbol of human exploration. Landing in a French barley field after 137 hours aloft, the pilots were mobbed by cheering spectators who had tracked their progress by car, evoking the excitement of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 flight to the same airfield. The event garnered widespread media coverage, a personal telegram from President Jimmy Carter, and gold medals from the U.S. Congress in 1979, underscoring its status as a triumph of perseverance over 119 years of failures that had claimed at least seven lives. By positioning ballooning alongside powered flight in the annals of transoceanic adventure, it inspired subsequent feats like the 1981 Pacific crossing and elevated the sport's prestige, shifting perceptions from quaint novelty to elite test of endurance and ingenuity.[1][3][6]
Development
Programming and Design
Dean Powell served as the sole designer and programmer of Atlantic Balloon Crossing, creating the game single-handedly for the TRS-80 computer.[8] He developed it as a personal project beginning in early 1979, drawing direct inspiration from the Double Eagle II's historic transatlantic balloon crossing in August 1978.[9]
The game was implemented in BASIC, the TRS-80's primary programming language, with careful attention to the system's hardware constraints, including the standard 4 KB of RAM in the base Model I configuration.[10][11] Powell's design choices emphasized realistic simulation of ballooning physics to capture the essence of the event, incorporating elements such as variable wind currents that affect trajectory, altitude control through ballast and burner management, and resource tracking for fuel and supplies to heighten the challenge of a successful crossing.[8] These mechanics were optimized for the TRS-80's limited processing capabilities, ensuring smoo…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j75pfaawdqehpck44lxr3l6b/bafkreicwxkqsnufj4fz7aer57tftisbfa3f4pw4tshjm53n4pier55tb74)
