Numlock News: May 14, 2024 • Everest, Quebec, Seabirds
By Walt HickeyUnlimitedA new settlement involving 49 out of 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia has the three major telecom carriers forking over $10.2 million — $4.1 million each from T-Mobile and Verizon and $2 million from AT&T — to settle allegations that the carriers engaged in false advertising when they threw around words like “unlimited” wireless plans and “free” phones. It also sets up five years of advertising restrictions around the specific vocabulary of those words, and concluded a nine-year-long investigation. EverestSunday saw two new records posted, with Nepali guide Kami Rita Sherpa scaling the mountain for a record 29th time at the age of 54, the highest-ever number of summits, while on the very same day Kenton Cool, also a guide, summited the peak for the 18th time, marking the most ascents made by a foreigner. This is the very beginning of the climbing season on Mount Everest, which was once a recognizable and impressive achievement in mountaineering but recently was converted into a facility that grants about 800 sporty rich people an ego boost in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars. It FollowsThe theory that humans are natural pursuit hunters, using our endurance and persistence to chase down and exhaust targeted beasties, is controversial, but recently got more evidence in its favor. A new study published yesterday in Nature Human Behavior documented 391 historical reports of endurance pursuits among indigenous peoples from around the globe between the 16th and 21st centuries. This involved poring over 8,000 texts produced over 500 years to find the reports. SecurityCoaching is never the easiest or most secure job, but one league in particular has a permanent hot seat for coaches. Across the 124 teams of the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL, 45 percent of the current coaches have been in their current job for at least two full seasons. In the NFL, that’s 60 percent of coaches in their gig for two years, and in the MLB and NBA it’s an above average 53 percent of managers and coaches, but in the National Hockey League it’s a paltry 16 percent, as just five coaches out of all 32 teams have been in their current job for at least two years, following the summary dismissal of Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe last week. Tim Reynolds and Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press Maple SyrupThe Quebec Global Maple Syrup Reserve, the local cartel’s way of maintaining prices, is alive and well with high-security warehouses with a capacity of 221,000 barrels of maple syrup, drawing comparisons as the Saudi Arabia of syrup. The 595,000-square-mile province has 50 million syrup-producing trees, which gives Quebec control over 72 percent of the world’s supply. Quebec’s tech is also bleeding-edge, with reverse osmosis machines that can more efficiently separate water from sugar in sap than the traditional slow-boil method, increasing yield by 200 percent. Vipal Monga, The Wall Street Journal Bounce BackTromelin Island is a 1-square-kilometer uninhabited island in the western Indian Ocean that was first infested with rats sometime in the late 1700s. Before then it was probably home to eight different species of seabirds, but the rats were voracious and decimated the birds, with just two bird species left: masked and red-footed boobies. In 2005, the French made the effort and killed off the rats with a rodenticide campaign. The fun part, though, is that after the ensuing 20 years, the birds are back in town; thousands of breeding pairs are back, from at least seven different species, and it didn’t really even take a ton of coaxing. Ethan Freedman, Hakai Magazine BedroomsIt’s become more and more common in recent decades for kids growing up in the United States to have their own room and not have to share a room with a sibling. This was the result of a couple of trends, including bigger houses and fewer kids per family. As a result, the average number of bedrooms per child in the U.S. from 1960 to 2000 increased from 0.7 bedrooms per kid to 1.1 bedrooms per kid. That said, there isn’t a ton of evidence that either setup — independent rooms or bunking with a sibling — has any particularly positive or negative long-term impacts. Annie Midori Atherton, The Atlantic Thanks to the paid subscribers to Numlock News who make this possible. Subscribers guarantee this stays ad-free, and get a special Sunday edition. Consider becoming a full subscriber today. Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. Send corrections or typos to the copy desk at copy@numlock.news. Check out the Numlock Book Club and Numlock award season supplement. Previous Sunday subscriber editions: The Internationalists · Video Game Funding · BYD · Disney Channel Original Movie · Talon Mine · Our Moon · Rock Salt · Wind Techs · Yeezys · Armed Forces · Christmas Music · The Golden Screen · New York Hotels · A City on Mars · Personality Change · Graphics · You Are What You Watch ·Comics Data · Extremely Online · Kevin Perjurer · Kia Theft Spree · Right to Repair · Chicken Sandwich WarsSunday Edition Archives: 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018You're currently a free subscriber to Numlock News. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
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Numlock News: May 13, 2024 • Apes, Arts, Automation
Monday, May 13, 2024
By Walt Hickey Welcome back! It's the Numlock sixth anniversary this month! Get a steeply discounted subscription today: Apes Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the 10th installment in a 56-year-
Numlock News: May 10, 2024 • Giants, Harbor, Brass
Friday, May 10, 2024
By Walt Hickey Giant Slayer B&G Foods, one of the massive food conglomerates you're only vaguely aware of, is kicking the tires on a sale of its Green Giant brand of frozen vegetables, just six
Numlock News: May 9, 2024 • Oroville, Pizzerias, NoVa
Thursday, May 9, 2024
By Walt Hickey Remember, we've kicked off the Numlock Sixth Anniversary event early because we'll have guest writers in while I'm on my honeymoon later this month, so jump on the promotion
Numlock News: May 8, 2024 • Sunscreen, Warhammer, Red vs. Blue
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
By Walt Hickey I'm going on my honeymoon at the end of the month and we'll be having guest writers during the actual anniversary of the newsletter, so we're starting the annual promo early
Numlock News: May 7, 2024 • Broods, Blades, Black Lotus
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
By Walt Hickey Supercomputing The US government's Cheyenne supercomputer auction has ended, with all 313 TB of ram and 8064 Intel processors selling for $480085 after attracting 27 bidders. The 32
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