Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

 Let’s face it: maths isn’t everyone’s favourite school subject. Equations and formulas can quickly get so complex that they defy casual reading, like a specialist language that not everyone understands. But this week we’re congratulating a mathematical mastermind who does.Chris H has been solving people’s maths problems since December but has already reached level 4, with an incredible 88% of his answers being chosen as the best answer.

Still only in his teens, but already having completed three years of university level mathematics, Chris H is a whiz with formulae who loves to “… typically answer the math questions people are afraid to touch”. And he clearly does it well, because from statistics to standard deviation to calculus to integrals – he has conquered it all.

Chris H provides model answers, not just getting to the result but adding in graphics to clarify, before showing his working. One of the users he has helped, Moonlight, wanted to know the inverse of a function. Our numerical expert showed Moonlight step by step how to find the solution to the problem. Scaryguy is another user who was having some problems with finding the equation of a circle, Chris H made sure to clear this up as well. Providing knowledgeable answers like these not only reflects Chris H’s love for numbers but also leaves the asker feeling pleased and satisfied.

Although it may seem that maths is all about struggling with mind boggling symbols and letters, understanding the theory behind its rules is also important. Ace! was a user who couldn’t quite work out when to use single and double exponential smoothing. Our maths pro came to the rescue when explaining that “simple exponential smoothing as described above works well for time series without an overall trend. However, in the presence of an overall trend, the smoothed values tend to lag behind the raw data. This is were double exponential smoothing comes in”

Similarly, geliz2787 wanted to know, in simple terms, what a p-test was. Chris H, once again, provided the best answer, replying with “the p-test is a statistical test used to test hypotheses regarding a population.”

Amazingly, it wasn’t a maths question which attracted Chris H to Answers initially. He reveals: “I got started in Yahoo! Answers when I saw a question about a popular video game, Halo 2, that I wanted to answer. So I registered, answered, and have been addicted ever since!”. Becoming a genius in one area hasn’t stopped him from enjoying other things too. He says: “I’m a huge sports fan, and combining my passion for both sports and numbers has led me to an interest in statistics”

Thank you Chris H! You say that you “…hate calculators, they degenerate the mind — the human brain is a natural calculator.” Well, we hope you continue to use yours and keep helping fellow users on Answers.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

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“How can we encourage people to give English wine a chance?”

 – Matt Skinner, Head of Wine Operations for Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurants

Starting Saturday 26th of May, it’s English Wine Week. While many Answers users may be familiar with wines from other parts of the globe, English wines remain, on the whole, under-celebrated. To go a small way to address this we have a question on Answers from Matt Skinner, Head of Wine Operations for Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurants and author of several best selling wine books, wondering how we can encourage people to give English wine a chance.

“When I was first approached to try English wine I too was sceptical but, after my first glass, I was amazed,” says Matt. “People know so little about English wine so it’s great that a vehicle like Yahoo! Answers can provide a platform where people can learn more about the subject through asking questions.”

But don’t just take Matt’s word for it. Pontac, UK Answers’ very first Featured User, is something of a wine expert, and he agrees.

“The British tend to view foreign products as superior to our own when, in fact, the English produce some of the best sparkling wine,’ says Pontac who’s wine qualifications include WSET Certificate and a WSET Higher Certificate with Honours. In fact a Greenfields Sparkling Cuvee 2003, from the Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, won a gold award the International Wine Challenge earlier this week.

The Beer, Wine and Spirits category on Answers is a wealth of information about wine, something Pontac has gone no small way to helping with. User Eat Fish asked an interesting question about a grape used during prohibition in America that was so strong it could be diluted with water five fold and still hold its deep red colour. Amazingly Pontac not only knows the grape, he’s tried diluting it himself.

England has over 350 vineyards with wines like Reichensteiner becoming increasingly popular. English Wine Week will feature a wide selection of events, from wine tasting to vineyard visits. For more info, visit the English Wine Week site. And if you’re still curious about wine why not feed your curiosity by asking a question on Answers.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

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 This week (Monday 21st – Sunday 27th May) is National Vegetarian week. It is the 15th consecutive event of its kind and aims to celebrate all things vegetarian by promoting not just great tasting vegetarian food ideas but also the lifestyle and health benefits of a meat-free way of life.

A fully vegetarian diet has come into the mainstream in recent years as people have increasingly begun to care about what they eat and taken steps to keep their bodies in better shape. Leading a vegetarian lifestyle has been made easier with a growing range of meat-free products available. There are a wealth of new vegetarian ranges in supermarkets and shops nationwide so you no longer have to pay high prices or visit specialist stores.

To celebrate National Vegetarian week why not try out some of these great recipe ideas submitted by the many users to the Answers community:

• Good vegetarian recipies
  “Mushroom stifado, coriander potatoes, mushroom veggie balls, penne with vegetables and fresh cream…”
• Original Indian vegetarian dish recipes
  “If you are not too keen on hotter foods … then use less chilli powder”
• BBQ recipes for fruit
  “Grilled Tequila-Cilantro pineapple, mixed grilled fruits with Crème Anglaise, “Grilled” Apple Crisp…”
• Vegetarian salad ideas
  “Take your veggies, add some seasoning… put it on the grill … boy is that tasty.”

There are not only superb nutritional benefits to going vegetarian but it’s also greener to go veggie as farmed animals create more emissions than plants and use more water. To find out more visit the Vegetarian Society’s website and find out how you can do your bit to help the environment by leading a more eco-friendly lifestyle while also looking after your body.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

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 2006-07 has been a gripping football season: the Premiership title changed hands and the relegation battle went to the final day of the season. Three English teams made it to the last four of the UEFA Champions League and Liverpool could yet win it.

Chelsea took the first selection of silverware on offer this season in February when they fended off Arsenal to lift the Carling Cup at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. However, while Chelsea couldn’t muster enough strength to see off the Red Devils in the Premiership, they got the better of them in the remaining piece of ‘07 English silverware: the FA Cup.

The largest domestic cup in the world, the competition is now over 130 years old and its history and prestige still manages to create a tremendous amount of interest from football fans all over the globe. Yet in recent years the influx of wealth into the modern game has created celebrities out of its top players, garnering the critism that they’re little more than overpaid actors.

This attitude prompted barry l to pose the question “has the FA Cup lost its so-called ‘magic?’” The responses were varied from the community, but it seems that all agree that even though there has been an above inflation increase in both ticket prices and players wages, cup final day still manages to melt the heart of even the most stone cold of football fans and turn them into either bouncing bundles of joy or and saddened, teary eyed messes.

The final game of the tournament has been played every year at Wembley stadium since its introduction in the 1871-72 season apart from the war years and the recent re-building of the new stadium. The old stadium held immense status and deep footballing memories so, wondered Prince, “is Wembley [still] the home of football?” It appears that even after all of the delay and under estimated construction costs the home of football still resides in North-West London. Hammers reinforces this point: “Wembley always will be, and has been, the home of football. The name conjures up so many memories that it will always have a place in our history”.

Saturday the 19th saw an electric atmosphere inside the newly opened stadium: a sea of blue and red met both teams. The game, watched by HRH Prince William, was evenly balanced. It took a remarkable goal by Didier Drogba in extra time to finally separate the teams. Congratulations to Chelsea on their win.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

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When it comes to sitting in front of the box every evening, most of us just happy to relax and watch our favourite programs. Not many people pay attention to the way the machine actually works: the cables or nitty-gritty guts of it all. We do know of one answerer that does though – Wondergeezer – this week’s featured user.He really is an expert when it comes to TVs, as his answers have shown. Although having only been on Answers since October, he has built up over 4,000 points, with a massive 62% of his replies being chosen as the best answer. By his own admission, Wondergeezer was a bit of a late developer when it comes to Answers. “I do love giving out some great answers,” he enthuses. “It’s just a buzz getting best answer.”

His expertise is down to in no small part the fact that he works for an electronics company and spends most of the day helping customers out. As he says: “[I am] passionate about re-educating customers on how best to connect their TV, VCR, surround sound etc together”. Not only customers, it seems, as he has advised many users on Answers too, mostly in the Consumer Electronics category.

With digital TV bringing major changes to the electronics industry, it’s expected to confuse a lot of us. Wondergeezer has helped other users understand exactly what they need to do during the digital switchover, while explaining the differences between HDTV and HD compatible TV to others.

If digital TV is one development, then LCD and plasma TVs are another. Wondergeezer is a master of these too, outlining their differences and qualities. He is also familiar with details such as the contrast ratio. Jeff wasn’t so sure about it’s significance, but our TV specialist was able to give out the right answer. And it’s not only the technical aspects of TVs that Wondergeezer is wonderful at describing, but also about the simple but useful technique as to how you should best clean a screen to keep that shine in place.

So the next time your TV refuses to work, and banging on it or hurling abuse at it doesn’t make any difference, post your problems on Yahoo! Answers and we know someone who may just have the perfect solution.

Thank you for all your terrific telly knowledge Wondergeezer, and keep those excellent answers coming.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

Selected Best Answers from Wondergeezer:

• What do I need to do to make the switchover to digital TV?
• What’s the difference between HDTV and HD compatible TV?
• Does screen size make a difference to picture quality?
• Why won’t my DVD player play a DVD from America?
• LCD or plasma, which is best?
• How important is contrast ratio?
• What’s the best way to clean my TV screen?

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