Qwerty

re: If Huey Long had been President

Posted by Qwerty on 10/18/14 at 3:33 pm

quote:
essentially had a "Robin Hood" mentality, to take from the rich to help the poor, which was a very noble and respectable thing.

:lol:

re: Money is Freespeech And Corporations Are People

Posted by Qwerty on 10/18/14 at 3:07 pm

Is there a point?

re: Question about home schooling

Posted by Qwerty on 10/18/14 at 2:43 pm

quote:
Without knowing you, assuming you are more qualified, you are the exception rather than the rule. Most people are not equipped to provide a comprehensive education to their children.

I somewhat disagree. It may be true that most people wouldn't do a good job, but in my experience most of those who choose to do so, do a good job. Those who would not do a good job usually would rather send them to public school. There are pros and cons to homeschool, but most of the parent homeschoolers I know are at least as, and in many cases more qualified than most of the teachers that I had. All Have college degrees. Some (like myself) have post graduate degrees. And none of them were education majors, which is good thing. I have been tutoring/teaching my entire life at various stages, throughout school, college, med school, and residency. But still I'm not considered qualified to be a public school teacher. It's crazy.

Plus there is the benefit of being able to choose what we deem to be the best materials, and to give individualized, focused teaching.

re: Question about home schooling

Posted by Qwerty on 10/17/14 at 1:36 pm

Upvote

re: Question about home schooling

Posted by Qwerty on 10/17/14 at 1:33 pm

The yearly monitoring is annoying depending on who does the review. One year had a teacher who used the public school curriculum and kept pointing out where ours differed. I know it is different. That is one of the reasons we are homeschooling. This past year we had one familiar with the materials we were using, and it was actually a helpful experience.

I am still annoyed though because the assumption is a certified public school teacher is more qualified to teach my children, or at least we need their approval.

re: Question about home schooling

Posted by Qwerty on 10/17/14 at 1:25 pm

It varies from state to state. Some require yearly testing or portfolio review and some don't. I don't think Louisiana does, but my state does for my home schooled kids. We go to a certified teacher's house for progress evaluation yearly. We will do some standardized testing as well so my kids are exposed to this.

I don't particularly like the idea of a government worker coming to my home to decide whether we are fit to homeschool our kids.

re: Positive news re cure for Type-1 Diabetes (not the obesity induced type)

Posted by Qwerty on 10/10/14 at 9:28 am

quote:
Yes, diabetes can be devastating, especially for the lower-income population. It's not an infectious disease, it is manageable, and has been treatable for years, so the push to find a cure is somewhat mitigated. Kudos to the lead researcher referenced in the article for using his expertise to tackle something personal to him. That's often the way great things happen. Not to go all TxTiger on conspiracy theories, but the cynic in me just hopes big pharma doesn't fight this too hard. They make billions yearly from diabetes treatment products and to lose that market could wreck their balance sheet in the short-term.

As far as numbers go, type 2 is way more common than type 1 and will remain a big problem (money maker).

re: Positive news re cure for Type-1 Diabetes (not the obesity induced type)

Posted by Qwerty on 10/10/14 at 9:25 am

quote:
This is pretty awesome news. Will this also apply to fat people diabetes?

Different set of problems with type 2. There is plenty of insulin but cells are resistant to its action.

re: Rating the risks of Ebola, Isis, Colon Cancer, and Colonoscopies

Posted by Qwerty on 10/9/14 at 11:12 am

quote:
quote:
According to the American Cancer Society, colonoscopies do not reduce the death rate of colon cancer.

Well, you fricking idiot, it definitely spots and is part of early detection, allowing colon cancer to be stopped and removed.

I guess you believe mammograms are not responsible for saving lives of people with breast cancer.

More recent studies shows a greater than 50% mortality reduction with colonoscopy. NEJM zauber 2012.

The question regarding mammograms is more complicated and currently controversial. it definitely detects cancer early but the mortality benefit is not clear. There is the issue of lead time bias which confounds things for one. Likely there will be subgroups where mammograms have clear benefit and others not so much. Finding DCIS in an 85 year old is labelled as a cancer diagnosis in with this data, and may be better left not found. This is just one example.

re: Walmart and Best Buy Opt Out of 'Apple Pay'

Posted by Qwerty on 9/12/14 at 1:15 pm

quote:
What is Best Buy? Are you talking about that Amazon display center?

Price match is your friend. Best buy has become good about this. Off course I use it as an amazon display center as well , depending on when I need the item.

re: Someone help me with AT&T Next

Posted by Qwerty on 9/12/14 at 1:11 pm

quote:
The scam was the previous set up where I was paying for an upgrade I wasn't using.

This. My being thrifty by not upgrading in over three years has actually been costing me money compared to this plan.

re: Someone help me with AT&T Next

Posted by Qwerty on 9/12/14 at 11:00 am

quote:
Hmmm. Is it worth it to switch carriers? this AT&T Next thing really seems like a scam. Unfortunately my plan ends in November 2015

It depends on a lot of factors, and how you use it. They are marketing it as a way to upgrade early because they will make money on those customers who do so. But basically it's free financing for your phone split up over 20 or 24 months. If you hold it for 2 or 3 years it can be a cost saver because once your payments are up your bill will be lower than when on a standard contract.

Those who upgrade early are basically selling their phone to att for the price of whatever remaining payments they have left. So you're selling it at 60% depreciation for the 12 month upgrade or 75% depreciation for the 18 month upgrade. That doesn't sound good but I'm not sure of typical phone values at 1 year or 18 months. Or you've been leasing/renting it. However you want to look at it.

For me, I'm trading in a 3 year old phone and could have been saving money for over a year with a next type plan compared to my monthly contract.

re: Apple Watch: The Musical

Posted by Qwerty on 9/12/14 at 8:13 am

quote:
side question: will there eventually be a version for lefties?

You can turn it upside down. The direction of the side wheel thingy will change when you do.

re: Someone help me with AT&T Next

Posted by Qwerty on 9/11/14 at 3:36 pm

Yep

re: Someone help me with AT&T Next

Posted by Qwerty on 9/11/14 at 2:18 pm

quote:
Does the phone have to be in perfect condition?

Not perfect, but "good physical and fully functional condition."

re: Someone help me with AT&T Next

Posted by Qwerty on 9/11/14 at 1:53 pm

quote:
Now, I know you have to trade the phone in when you get a new one

It depends on when you trade it in. When your payments are finished you own your phone. If you keep it longer then your payments will go down. You could then sell it and start over if you like.

re: Someone help me with AT&T Next

Posted by Qwerty on 9/11/14 at 1:42 pm

quote:
What's the point of the NEXT plan when you can only upgrade every 18 months?

You choose 12 or 18 months. For me it would be the same or slightly cheaper per month than what I'm paying now, plu there is no activation fee or initial payment on the phone.

re: Andrew Garfield talks about what went wrong with The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Posted by Qwerty on 9/11/14 at 12:19 pm

quote:
Iron Man 3 actually had a really incredible trailer

Movie/TV Board

re: So straight up: iPhone 6 or 6 Plus...which are you getting and why?

Posted by Qwerty on 9/11/14 at 10:40 am

My biggest question is how my running habits will change, or if I'll have to get some other device to run with music and nike+ now. Any thoughts? Would running with either or these phones be practical? I've never tried anything larger than the 4s.