Numlock News: December 23, 2024 • Moxie, Malls, Grand Marnier
By Walt HickeySonicSonic the Hedgehog 3 beat expectations and made $62 million domestically, easily lapping Disney’s call-it-live-action-but-it’s-CGI Mufasa which had a bad miss and made just $35 million. Sonic scored the best launch for a PG-rated movie in December in 20 years, while Mufasa saw Disney successfully distract one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation for several years on a mirthless studio effort. Mufasa won the international box office by default, as Sonic drops worldwide next week. Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter MoxieA few weeks ago, the startup Embodied announced it will fold, and that all of its appliances would be bricked. This is an annoying thing that happens to a lot of companies, but for Embodied its buyers were understandably ticked: it sells $800 robots named Moxie that are designed to provide emotional support for kids ages 5 to 10, and it’s hard to explain why we should have had advanced right-to-repair legislation years ago to an emotionally vulnerable child who just had a friend unplugged forever. In its last weeks, the company responded to the backlash by attempting to develop an open-source solution to keep the Moxie bots running, by developing an option to run the bots without the existence of the company. MallsOver the past decade, the number of malls has decreased sharply, from 1,318 malls in the United States in 2014 to just 1,141 malls in the country as of this year. The mall enjoyed its dominance for the decades following the 1970s, serving as a major incubator of brands and a crucial meeting spot, until they weren’t anymore. Now, some dead malls are getting a new life as housing or community spaces, and the live malls look fundamentally different from the mall at its most hegemonic: in 2000, apparel made up around 75 percent of the average mall’s occupancy, entertainment made up 5 percent, and food and beverage made up 5 percent. In 2022, that was down to 45 percent apparel, up to 15 percent entertainment, and food pretty much flat. The future is doing alright: foot traffic is actually decent, mostly up year over year since the start of the pandemic actually. Nia Warfield, Sherwood News and John Kell, Sherwood News GLPsGLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Victoza accounted for 5.4 percent of all prescriptions in the United States in September 2024. That’s a remarkable chunk of prescriptions in such a short time: that figure was just 1 percent at the start of 2021 and up from 3.5 percent in September 2023. They’ve got a pretty solid potential consumer base, as 70 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, but the next potential booster for the GLP-1s could be new uses and efficacies discovered over their increased use; one just got approved to treat sleep apnea, and there’s evidence that GLP-1s could have potential in treating addiction or even Alzheimer’s disease. Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review Grand MarnierInternational liquor brand Campari acquired the company that produces Grand Marnier in 2016, and is getting around to pitching people on drinking it. It’s a slightly unique liqueur which is made up of 51 percent cognac and the rest orange liqueur. While the liqueur market has generally been pretty humming, sales by volume rose 8 percent from 2019 to 2023, rising alongside cocktail culture’s increased trendiness. Grand Marnier isn’t enjoying that boost, though: in 2023, sales dropped 16.5 percent. To attack that head on, the brand is courting musicians and setting up appearances at events like the Grammy Awards and the NBA All-Star weekend. Katie Deighton, The Wall Street Journal Airplane MoviesThe business of what airs on airplanes is a brisk one, with small teams at the airlines making major decisions on what gets added to the library. Delta has a team of four that decides what gets onto 165,000 screens on 840 jets, Southwest has a single person picking what makes it onto their media servers, United has a team of eight picking what goes on in the 500 planes where it has seat-back screens. Churn and keeping it fresh is important: American carries 1,500 titles overall and averages 500 movies, and tends to add 200 new titles a month. The best airline movie, according to the very people who analyze every iota of data they get from the screens? Crazy Rich Asians has remained popular for years and gets the most complaints when airlines yank it. Matt Stevens, The New York Times StormThere’s a massive storm ripping in the North Pacific Ocean right now that’s generating some particularly wild sea conditions. According to the National Weather Service’s Ocean Prediction center, wave heights are being measured as hitting 65.77 feet (20 meters), based on measurements captured by an altimeter instrument from the Sentinel-6A satellite. These would be some especially rough seas: the current record for significant wave height measured by a buoy — which again, this is not — is now just 19 meters, measured in 2013 during a storm between Iceland and the United Kingdom. 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: MCU · Fanfiction · User Magazine · Reentry · Panda Dunks · Net Zero · Spiraled · On The Edge · Luggage · The Editors · Can’t Get Much Higher · Solitaire · Posting Nexus · Memorabilia · Drainage Tile · Desert Surfing · Music · Congestion Pricing · Underwater Sound · Hunts Point · Queer Olympics · Energy Drinks · Baseball Movies · Trillion Trees · Risk Aversion ·Packaging · Ice Cores · Stadium Names · Uncertain · Green Homes · Political Future · UFOs · Antarctica Comms · Rot Economy · The Internationalists · Video Game Funding · BYD · Disney Channel Original Movie · Talon Mine · Our Moon · Rock Salt · Wind TechsSunday Edition Archives: 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Numlock News, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. |
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Numlock Sunday: Great stuff from 2024
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Hello! The Numlock Sunday edition is a weekly interview that goes out to paid subscribers. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Numlock News: December 20, 2024 • Stunts, Tornadoes, Sonic
Friday, December 20, 2024
By Walt Hickey ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Numlock News: December 19, 2024 • BirdVox, Murder Hornets, Popular
Thursday, December 19, 2024
By Walt Hickey ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Numlock News: December 12, 2024 • Bond, Antarctica, Scotch
Thursday, December 19, 2024
By Walt Hickey ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Numlock News: December 13, 2024 • Firefly Sparkle, Dirigibles, Neanderthals
Thursday, December 19, 2024
By Walt Hickey ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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