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Comment I want to see the trailers (Score 1) 92

I don't go to the movies that often these days, but when I do I usually make a point to get there in time to see the trailers. It's advertising, yes, but it's actually useful advertising - it targets people who genuinely might not know about something and genuinely might be interested in purchasing it. I actually want to know what's coming soon.

Comment Re:Just 52? (Score 0) 61

There are very good reasons to exclude 1 as a prime, and really no good reason to include it. And there are analogues in other definitions, for example:
* 0 is not a simple module
* The empty set is not connected
The number of mathematicians crusading to make 1 a prime number is 0.

Comment Yes, please. (Score 2) 64

For a long time this has seemed to me to be a great application for AI. So much time wasted at a red light with no cross traffic. Racing up to a light only to have it turn red just soon enough so I have to stop, when there's no other traffic around. Just missing the poll of the left turn sensor (which happens well before the light actually changes) and having to wait an entire cycle. This wastes time, raises stress levels, and causes pollution.

Comment Assistant is just a toy anyway (Score 4, Insightful) 73

Pfft - I gave up using Assistant for everything but the most routine tasks years ago, after I realized it was just not reliable enough to pin anything important in my life on it. It's basically a toy that has some cool features, which might work today, might not work tomorrow.

Comment Re:Yes (Score 1) 370

Stick shift FTW. If you're not experienced, sure, an automatic might generally make better decisions than you. But then why are you driving a stick?

If you know how to really use a stick shift, though, driving a car with an automatic transmission is just perpetually annoying. One of the most frustrating things too is that there is typically a significant delay between pressing the accelerator and waiting for the car to respond. None of that with a stick shift.

They're definitely not for everyone. But personally I would never choose to drive a car with an automatic transmission, much less purchase one.

Comment Nonsense (Score 1) 316

Seriously, I use self-checkout all the time unless I have too many things to make it practical, and it works great. It's much, much faster than the alternative somehow; if I have just 2 or 3 items it takes me less than 30 seconds to scan, click "finish and pay", click on "brought my own bags", tap my phone, wait for the receipt to print (by far the slowest part) and leave.

I will say though that as they become more popular and less tech-savvy people become more comfortable with them (definitely happening wherever I shop), the "waiting for the slow person in front of you" part is slowing things down. But at the moment that seems relatively rare, and in any case can be handled by adding more units.

Self-checkout is here to stay, and I'm happy about that.

Comment Re:Honest question (Score 1) 93

Exactly. If "you" are a computer, and you *understand* what a prime number is, then you will get this question (and others like it) right every single time. If you get it right 10% of the time, and then improve to 90% of the time, that is meaningless, because you obviously still don't know what a prime number is, you're just parroting other statements with the phrase "prime number" in them.

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