April is around the corner and I suspect some of our submissions are in an April Fool's vein. I also look for "decoy" articles - outrageous stories that have many readers thinking they must be fake, yet turn out to be true after all. Just keepin' y'all on your toes.

As I wrapped up last week's issue my computer mouse decided it didn't want to scroll anymore, making it a little harder to move around all the files and windows I have open. Here I was proud of my December pre-emptive technology upgrade, when I went out and got a new phone and laptop before they got too long in the tooth. Now the voice in my head was saying, "Hey dumba$$, why didn't you pick up a new mouse, too?" Guess I felt lucky. You don't even notice the reliable stuff until it finally breaks. Long live my old mouse.

I've mentioned before that the area where I live (Ashburn, VA) is a popular location for data centers. My wife's cousin came for a visit last week, and I drove her around for a tour, noting that growing up back in Pittsburgh, driving around town you couldn't miss the steel mills, drivers of the economy from the 1850s to the 1970s. My father spent his whole career at one of the steel companies. Where I live now you can't travel anywhere without passing data centers, drivers of the 21st century economy. The building frenzy around here is so intense that they've already bought up and torn down a Gold's Gym and some offices, including part of the old America Online (AOL) campus. This week came word of a rumored potential buyout of an entire neighborhood of single family homes, just a mile and a half from our house:

The Regency neighborhood just off Waxpool Road in Ashburn is beautiful this time of year: 143 spacious half-acre lots, open space, just blocks to the Metro and shopping. But here's the problem: On two sides, the subdivision is flanked by data centers — and more are coming. There is noise, and those data centers can be an eyesore.

That led former HOA President Mital Gandhi, a real estate developer, to devise a plan. He found a data center developer who would pay roughly $4 million to buy out each homeowner. Kept mostly quiet for more than a year, the proposal was just spotlighted in a data center publication and then in a local paper...
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/were-ashburn-neighbors-offered-4m-each-to-sell-for-data-center-development/4080800/ .

That deal may not come to pass, but it shows how insane the current market is. While these can and are being built anywhere with high-speed connectivity, Ashburn is still special, being faster and more connected. 40% of the world's internet traffic flows through here - the mother of all data center hubs. Think of it as the Strait of Hormuz for shipping bits. All the hyperscalers are here - Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix etc. etc. Even at fiber optic speeds a shorter cable performs measurably faster.

There are plenty of nice walkable neighborhoods like ours around here, and we're not hemmed in by data centers. But most of the remaining greenfield sites in the area already have construction cranes on them.

Anyhoo, here are some interesting non-numismatic articles I came across this week. Think coming up with an original Coin Week theme each year is hard? Try your hand at the North American Manure Expo slogan contest.

Can you survive inside a tornado? This scientist did by accident – he's lucky to be alive (https://theconversation.com/can-you-survive-inside-a-tornado-this-scientist-did-by-accident-hes-lucky-to-be-alive-278648)

Inside the Arrest That Led to Banksy's Possible Unmasking Decades Later (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/nyregion/banksy-identity-robin-gunningham-arrest.html?unlocked_article_code=1.U1A.Glu7.QVr2rbjOAzjl)

For Banksy, Crime Does Actually Pay (https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/03/for-banksy-crime-does-actually-pay/)

John Bengtson, Modern-Day Silent-Film Sleuth, Dies at 68 (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/movies/john-bengtson-dead.html)

There are more public libraries in the U.S. than McDonald's locations. (https://interestingfacts.com/fact/more-public-libraries-than-mcdonalds-in-us/)

A Phone-Free Childhood? One Irish Village Is Making It Happen. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/realestate/ireland-cell-phones-children.html)

10 Classic Comedy Movies That Are Still Masterpieces Today (https://collider.com/classic-comedy-movies-still-masterpieces-today/)

It's that time again: Manure Expo slogan contest returns (https://www.manuremanager.com/manure-expo-slogan-contest-returns/)

-Editor