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Comment Re:Did anyone do the math? (Score 2) 79

I wonder if anyone has ever done studies of ad effectiveness vs frequency. If they had half the ads which were twice as effective, they could charge twice as much and have the same revenue and happier customers. There must be some sort of Laffer curve. No ads == no revenue but more watchers. 100% ads == no watchers and no revenue. Where is the sweet spot? Some old TV shows were 55 minutes long with 5 minutes of ads, then they switched to 50 minutes and 10 minutes, so they have to chop out 5 minutes to syndicate them.

I bet the broadcasters have done the studies, and 10 minutes must produce more revenue, but I'd really like to see those studies.

Comment Bait and switch (Score 1) 79

When they first bundled video with Prime, I figured it wouldn't be too long before it went south. It did. Series would include the first season only, they dropped a few I was in the middle of watching, they shifted some shows to Britbox and others which had been included.

Then they announced the ads, and I stopped watching. You're going to charge me for something I didn't ask for and can't get a reduction for not using, AND you're going to interrupt it with ads? No thanks. Stopped watching. Well, I was probably watching only one or two shows a week.

But it still annoys me that I'm paying for something I don't want which is supported by ads. I've been watching how much free shipping I get and comparing to Walmart and others. It's close enough that one more screwup and I might dump Prime.

Comment Re:There are many ways to touch type (Score 2) 189

I wouldn't be surprised if the multiplicity of keyboards does contribute. I learned in keypunch days, on cards, and they all had the same keyboards. Probably the first 10 or 20 years after were on desktop machines with builtin keyboards and they were all the same, or PCs where I could supply my own keyboards. Then came the world of laptops. It seems like every one has a different feel and different layouts for functions keys, numeric keypad, and CTRL/SHIFT etc. Right now, I have several laptops, all from the same manufacturer, and yet they have annoying little differences (half size arrow keys vs full size, ESC and ~/` subtly different) which always slow me down when switching. I could plug in my own keyboard, but then they wouldn't be laptops any more, and I'd probably have to buy a dozen keyboards before finding one I liked.

Comment There are many ways to touch type (Score 2) 189

I never took a class, I don't follow any particular pattern. Someone told me my fingers look like a spider crawling over the keyboard. But I don't watch my fingers, so far as I'm concerned, I do touch type.

And it does come with experience. The more you type, the more your fingers know where the keys are and you look less and less.

If you want to take a class to touch type, go ahead. But I would not call it necessary. Just type, and the more you do, the more you learn, like anything else.

Comment Slam your mouth shut (Score 4, Funny) 103

I swear to God, if I ever meet someone in the flesh who tells me something or someone has been slammed, blasted, destroyed, torched, trashed or grilled, I'm gonna punch them in the face.

It's impossible to read any headline without those toddler English-level verbs used and abuse all the fucking time these days. It's really annoying!

Comment Re: If you're not familiar... (Score 1) 337

First, we're down in the weeds down here. I replied to someone who said "SF median teacher salaries are between 100k and 150k" and "and that doesn’t even account for benefits", providing a source that shows mid-career teachers make $98k on average *including benefits*. So that was pretty much fail.

> And this doesn’t change the easily verified overall fact that the median teacher salary in virtually every state exceeds the states’ overall median salary

Given that all of the teachers have above-median education, it would be rather extraordinary if this *weren't* true.

Comment Re: If you're not familiar... (Score 1) 337

On the other hand, teachers have above-median levels of education, too.

> and that doesn’t even account for benefits,

Actually, your source does account for benefits. It says mid-career teachers in San Francisco Unified make $98k in total compensation counting benefits. And, of course, mid-career is not median; a whole lot of teachers wash out of the profession early.

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What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. -- Bertrand Russell, "Skeptical Essays", 1928

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