Numuruzero

If you'd like a VERY thorough explanation, check out QuentinReviews video on Fred. The very condensed version is that he got tired of the character and sold the channel, which immediately started producing generic throwaway content and quickly failed.

I don't watch his current content but it was bittersweet seeing the transition from his original style. He mentioned at the time that he had depression during that period and it seemed like the change was a lifestyle one as well; he seemed pretty happy around that time.

I don't think it's just a feeling of futility - it's true phones can be distracting and offer more potential entertainment, and it's true learning can sometimes be a slog. At the same time, learning can be fun and engaging, and phones can offer access to a wealth of information (of highly varying quality, admittedly).

Concentrating too hard on mere academic success as gauged by metrics like school grades is undoubtedly discouraging for a student who only goes to school if they are told they must.

Bashing denizens who decide to denote their sarcasm is as /stupid as bashing those who don't. "Oh no, now that the tone has been set the point is ruined!" Gosh, it must suck to be you, I'm genuinely sorry this is the way your brain works.

I don't have any interesting secrets or facts from my current ex-jobs, so I'll share an interesting fact from a buddy's. It's one of those companies that offers automated phone systems (and chats, nowadays) that listen to your options rather than taking number inputs.

This may no longer be the case, but these systems were not actually automated. There are entire call centers dedicated to these phone systems, whereby an operator listens to your call snippet and manually selects the next option in the phone tree, or transcribes your input.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if advances in AI have made this whole song and dance less in need of human intervention, but once upon a time, your call wasn't truly automated - it was federated.

I think with the registration questions they're just trying to solve two things: preventing bots from signing up, and preventing trolls. It doesn't seem so bad, really.