Rationally, I think Robo and autofill are fine, but I nevertheless hand-type lots of sweeps. I hand-type for the cars, for example. I type quickly so it's not a huge hardship. I do notice the newbies posting wins right off the bat and I do wonder if it is because they are still handtyping at that point..... It just happens so often, I certainly have noticed it as an apparent pattern.
The number of seconds a person takes in entering a sweeps can be measured (although I think it may still be rare for administrators to do that), so Robo and autofill can be deduced that way. halogen advised opening several at once to Robo fill so they would stay open a bit longer before being submitted.
Also, I think it may give an edge to enter at the end of a sweeps period. Newbies are catching up on a lot of sweeps that are out there, so they are coming in at various times instead of always at the beginning. Maybe that is part of the phenomenon.
I dunno. I think handtyping puts me in a real minority. And I think the others win more often, as a matter of fact.
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