Numlock News: October 25, 2021 • Gotham, Arrakis, Canada
By Walt HickeyWelcome back! SpiceDenis Villeneuve’s Dune made $40.1 million at the North American box office, a solid start towards the higher end of projections despite a simultaneous release on HBO Max. The movie got another $47.4 million abroad and has made $220 million globally, which may be enough to get the film a sequel. Dune tells the story of a down-on-his-luck kid named Paul Atreides who, after his dad gets transferred at work, has to move out to the country and handle with all sorts of fish-out-of-water hijinks in a fun-for-the-whole-family adventure. He’ll have to confront all sorts of changes to his body, learn to speak with confidence, deal with rascally Old Man Harkonnen, and maybe — just maybe — meet the girl of his dreams. ShoesThe earliest known pair of Michael Jordan’s regular season game-worn Nikes sold for $1.47 million at auction, setting a new record for sneakers at auction. The sneakers, which were worn during Jordan’s fifth game in 1984, sold at the high end of the $1 million to $1.5 million range anticipated pre-auction. They’re not the most expensive shoe ever sold — that’s a pair of Air Yeezy 1s that sold in April in a private sale for $1.8 million — but it is further proof of a red-hot market for footwear. FontsLast month, Monotype, the largest seller of fonts in the world, bought Hoefler&Co, a New York font foundry that is best known for designing Gotham. The font business has been undergoing rapid consolidation under the private-equity-backed Monotype, which now owns roughly 30,000 digital typefaces including Helvetica, Times New Roman, and Arial. The font business is a good one, with large companies paying royalties for the right to use them, and a 2019 publication put Monotype’s gross profit margin at a fairly wile 85 percent. Two-Point ConversionLast weekend, a college football game between Penn State and Illinois went into a record nine overtimes. The new overtime rules for college football were designed to minimize injuries to players after two conventionally-played overtimes. At the third overtime and thereafter, it becomes a contest of two-point conversions, and the offensive futility on display kicked in; after five periods with no conversions, both scored in the eighth overtime, leading to a ninth overtime where Illinois won out. I hate to say this, but it really seems like soccer-style penalty kicks might be the ideal solution here. BaseballMinor League Baseball has been running a number of experiments on behalf of Major League Baseball in their ongoing quest to make the game faster and more interesting to watch. Many think stats got them into this mess, and the league thinks stats will get them out of it. There were four ongoing automated umpire experiments in 2021: the Atlantic league had an automated strike zone that was 20 inches wide and ran from 51 percent of batter height to 28 percent of batter height, then switched to a 21-inch-wide zone that ran up to 53 percent of batter height, while the Low-A Southeast league ran a similar A/B test on the strike zone over the course of their season. These experiments may have been slightly beguiled by, uh, mysterious differences in players’ actual and their listed heights. This includes other experiments, like the Atlantic League moving the pitcher’s mound back a foot, the infield shift getting banned in Double-A, and Triple-A enlarging the bases from 15 inches per side to 18 inches. Certainly this data will go towards fixing baseball’s key issues, like how the Astros are in the World Series again. Ben Lindbergh and Rob Arthur, The Ringer FisheriesOver the summer, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced plans to spend $647.1 million (Canadian dollars) to rehabilitate the Pacific commercial salmon industry. Right now, salmon harvests are at 8 percent of historical averages. They plan to close 57 percent of the 138 Pacific salmon fisheries, a controversial and ambitious plan. The DFO is using the money to offer to buy salmon licenses from commercial fishers for market rates, taking them off the market. There are 2,109 salmon licenses, and while there are a few major holders — the Jim Pattinson group owns 424, and the Northern Native Fishing Corporation owns 254 — 1,360 people own just one, and the hope is that some may be down to cash out. Michelle Gamage, Hakai Magazine OttersIn the 1970s, Singapore’s otter population was driven out by pollution and habitat loss. Today, after an ambitious clean-up and reforestation plan, the city-state is now home to at least ten otter romps, which is the adorable name for a family of otters. A striking ecological success story, the otters are a bit of a nuisance for some residents, as the bright little animals have learned to use the city’s drainpipes as a conduit throughout its subterranean maze, and no fountain, koi pond, or condo pool is safe from the otters. Marina Lopes, The Washington Post 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. The best way to reach new readers is word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends. 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. 2021 Sunday subscriber editions: Giant clams · Instagram · Remote Work · Latinos · Vapes · Smoke · Jeopardy! · Mangoes · BBLs · Summer Box Office · Time Use · Shampoo Bars · Wikipedia · Thriving · Comic Rebound · Return of Travel · Sticky Stuff · For-profit Med School · A Good Day · Press Reset · Perverse Incentives · Demon Slayer · Carbon Credits · Money in Politics · Local News ·Oscar Upsets · Sneakers · Post-pandemic Cities · Facebook AI · Fireflies · Vehicle Safety · Climate Codes · Figure Skating · True Believer · Apprentices · Sports Polls · Pipeline · Wattpad · The Nib · Driven2020 Sunday Edition Archive2019 Sunday Edition Archive2018 Sunday Edition ArchiveYou’re on the free list for Numlock News. For the full experience, become a paying subscriber. |
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Numlock News: October 22, 2021 • Pelicans, Triceratops, Trapped In Amber
Friday, October 22, 2021
By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! Gift Cards This year the amount spent on gift cards is expected to rise 27 percent this holiday season to $270 per person, with gift cards accounting for 40 percent
Numlock News: October 21, 2021 • Vikings, Walruses, Giphy
Thursday, October 21, 2021
By Walt Hickey Giphy Facebook has been slammed with a £50 million ($70 million USD) fine from the UK Competition and Markets Authority after it failed to provide the regulator with information about
Numlock News: October 20, 2021 • Roborealtors, Turkmenistan, College Towns
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
By Walt Hickey Lucy In The Sky With Problems Saturday saw the successful launch of Lucy, a NASA spacecraft that's headed for the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter. It's got two 7-meter-wide
Numlock News: October 19, 2021 • Holiday Shopping, Obscenities, Kids Television
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
By Walt Hickey Holidays The latest tracking poll from mid-October has about 18 percent of Americans half or more done on holiday shopping, with another 21 percent having accomplished more than zero but
Numlock News: October 18, 2021 • Squid Game, Jackup Boats, Invasive Hippopotamuses
Monday, October 18, 2021
By Walt Hickey Welcome back! Spooked Halloween Kills beat expectations, earning $50.4 million domestically in its initial release, the best showing for a horror movie of 2021 and the best performance
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