Numlock News

By Walt Hickey Welcome back! A Black Lotus Magic: The Gathering card sold for $2.208 million at Goldin Auctions, a record price for a PSA Gem Mint 10 Alpha-graded Black Lotus card, though still behind the private $3-million sale of a CGC Pristine 10 Alpha Black Lotus in 2024. Rounded edge cut marks on the edge corners may have stymied the bidding on the sale, where the bidders may have differed from the PSA grader’s opinion of the card, which is only one of three such cards known to exist.

Photo by Kushagra Saxena on Unsplash By Walt Hickey This week, I spoke to Alex Davies who is out with a new book, Kobuk the Destroyer and Other Tales from the Wild Unseen World of Test Engineering. He’s previously written for Wired and a book about the creation of self-driving cars, and now he’s back and writing about the world of testing. We talked about the early testing of airplanes, including the sacrifice of many chickens, and the bear that inspired the title Kubok the Destroyer.

By Walt Hickey Thanks to all the folks who took advantage of our subscription sale this week, it makes a huge difference. We’re able to do this — no ads, free for all, something neat every morning — only because lots of readers of this newsletter have chosen to pay to subscribe. If you like Numlock, this is the best way to support it.

By Walt Hickey Thank you so, so much to all the folks who have subscribed this week to Numlock! Your paid subscription makes a big difference here. We don’t hit you with any ads and the weekday edition is and always will be free. That’s only possible because lots of readers of choose to pay to subscribe. There’s perks like the Sunday edition, but ultimately if you like Numlock, subscribing is the best way to support it, and this week is the best week subscribe.

By Walt Hickey The core weekday version of Numlock is and always will be a free offering. That said, this thing costs money to produce and edit, and we don’t hit you with any ads. We’re able to do this — no ads, free for all, something neat every morning — only because lots of readers of this newsletter have chosen to pay to subscribe.

By Walt Hickey The weekday version of Numlock is and always will be free. That said, this thing costs money to produce and edit, and we don’t hit you with any ads. We’re able to do this — no ads, free for all, something neat every morning — only because lots of readers of this newsletter have chosen to pay to subscribe.

By Walt Hickey Welcome back! The core weekday version of Numlock is and always will be a free offering. That said, this thing costs money to produce and edit, and we don’t hit you with any ads. We’re able to do this — no ads, free for all, something neat every morning — only because lots of readers of this newsletter have chosen to pay to subscribe.

By Walt Hickey This week, I spoke to artist Morry Kolman about their latest work, Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader. Morry’s mod adds Flock cameras into the GTA V. Morry’s art has always been particularly incisive and useing clever, digitally-driven techniques — take his film, MrBeast Saying Increasingly Large Amounts of Money, or the Webby-winning Traffic Cam Photo Booth. You can find Morry at WTTDOTM.com and any social media with the handle @WTTDOTM.

By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! It was more than they bargained for, yeah, as General Mills, Mars and McKee Foods are suing a group of sugar companies, alleging that they conspired to artificially inflate the price of sucralose, jacking up the price of the sweet stuff to all-time highs by coordinating prices.

By Walt Hickey Revenue for professional women’s sports is projected to hit $3 billion this year, up 340 percent in four years, thanks in large part to growth in established leagues like the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League. Upstart leagues are attempting to get in on the surge in interest as well, with the Women’s Professional Baseball League kicking off its first season back in August and the playoffs kicking off last night.