LillyPip

Great example , thanks! Yeah, same thing.

In the early days they didn’t; that was the whole point of them. You paid a subscription specifically not to have ads like free broadcast television did.

It only lasted like a decade, but it was their whole selling point.

e: keep in mind, too, that broadcast tv at the time was where all the good content was. HBO only showed movies that had already been in theatres (thus the name Home Box Office) and Showtime’s hook was soft-core porn. (‘Do your parents have Showtime?’ was sleepover code for ‘can we watch kinda-porn after the ‘rents have gone to sleep?’) There wasn’t the dearth of original shows/movies we have now. They weren’t studios back then.

e2: sorry for multiple edits, but also bear in mind that when HBO first came out, people were watching their content on televisions like this, which was so inferior to movie theatres that ‘it’s in your home advertising free!’ was basically their whole selling point at first.

There’s kind of a cheat code.

First, always call, don’t bother with chat. The first prompt you get, say ‘agent’. Don’t say anything else, and keep saying that until you get a live person (it should only take 1-3 times in the menu.

Once you have a person, threaten to cancel your service. You have to mean it (I always mean it if I’ve got to this point). They will escalate you to the customer retention team and they will listen.

e: oh, and also be nice, but firm. Angry tirades never work, but exasperated friendliness does.

And when are they appropriate or inappropriate?

This is my big problem. In a group where people are telling stories about themselves, when it’s my turn, my stories are inappropriate somehow. In 50+ years, I still haven’t figured out what I say that’s wrong,

I’ve spent ages analysing my stories compared to others and I can’t figure out the difference, and no one will tell me. Is it the content (seems comparable) or how I tell it?

It seems better to just say ‘pass’ in those situations and stop engaging.

Omg I want to print this out and staple it to my chest. I’ve been accused so many times of being a ‘one-upper’ when I’m just doing my best to relate to people.

I also need a label like sandpaper has – I’m like 60 grit abrasive.

Oh god, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?

Neat. I cancelled Hulu a few months ago, and this doesn’t make me regret my decision. I like some Disney content, but they’re corporate vultures and, based on their practices, they don’t deserve any loyalty.

And Comcast, of course, can fuck themselves to death. I wish this wasn’t an amicable takeover and Comcast would lose badly, but that’s just my murderous mouse fanfic.

Barkeeper’s Friend is a miracle, but people should know it’s incredibly abrasive and can debride enamelware. I ruined a pan’s outer finish because that didn’t occur to me, using it to get carbonisation off the bottom.

It’s brilliant for raw metal and glass cooktops, though. When I bought my house, the previous owners left a kit for the glass cooktop including the razor tool in your OP. I’m so grateful they did because I wouldn’t have known.

e: can’t spell

I’m old enough to remember when HBO’s entire point was you paid for cable so you wouldn’t have ads. That was their business model.

Then sometime in the late 80s or early 90s (I dunno, that decade’s kind of a blur) they started sneaking ads in between shows, but not in the middle of shows. But you were paying a higher price, with a few ads. Then they started showing ads to everyone, and still making you pay. I’m still salty about that.

This was always going to happen. They’ll compound paying PLUS ads, and you’ll like it, because what choice do you have if all services are doing it?

Fuck them all . 🏴‍☠️

e: massively borked that first sentence

Oh wow, it just keeps going.

This looks perfect, thank you.

Oh yeah. And Stephen Fry is a national treasure.

I don’t know why, but I can’t sleep to them, though. I have to listen for some reason, and my brain gets too engaged.

That’s exactly the quality I’m looking for, thanks!

Technology Connections sounds straight up my alley, thanks!

PBS Spacetime is already a standby. I’ve seen all of them at least twice. I’m always up for more watches.