Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

 Firstly the big news: the Answers Team have joined Twitter (www.twitter.com/YahooAnswersUK).  If you’re a fan of the service, follow us on Twitter for news, competitions and articles about Answers.

It’s always nice to be reminded of things from time to time.  Every day the Yahoo! Answers Team and our Customer Care Teams take time to review your feedback and try to help you if you have any doubt about how Answers is used. Today we want to recap the most common questions we receive, and the answers we give.

-          I want to have an Avatar, how do I do it?

o        Go to Yahoo! Avatars.

o        Create your avatar

o        Then, go to Yahoo! Answers

o        Click My Profile

o        Select your Avatar

o        Click Preview

o        Click Save

o        There you are!

-          How can I contact another user?

o        You can go to his/her profile and see if they allow communications via e-mail or messenger.

o        If you want to be reachable, you can set that on your profile (we will not display your email address).

-          How can I add a friend or block someone?

o        To add an existing Answers user – Rollover the picture (or avatar) of the person you’ve chosen to add as your Contact, and click the Add to My Contacts link.

o        To add someone you know outside of Answers – Click here to enter your friend’s name, email address, and a brief message (optional), and we’ll do the rest. Your friend will receive an email from us, with a link to connect to you as a Contact on Answers.

o        Answers ID Card – Rollover the picture (or avatar) of the person you’ve chosen to block, and click on the link “Block User.”

o        Profile Page – Go to the person’s profile page and click on the link “Block User”.

-          I have seen content I find offensive, what do I do?

o        Yahoo! Answers provides a Report Abuse link after every question and every answer. You should complete this form if at any time you are exposed to content that you feel violates the Community Guidelines or Yahoo!’s Term of Service.

o        Here you can learn more about our moderation system.

-          How can I keep up-to-date with the latest questions from my network and the news from the blog?

o        You can subscribe via RSS to the different Y! Answers Categories.

o        You can subscribe to our blog

o        You can follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YahooAnswersUK

o        You can join our MyBlogLog Community

-          How do I subscribe to the Newsletter?

o        You can subscribe and unsubscribe whenever you want. Just go to your profile and select the option “I want to receive communications from the Yahoo! Answers Team”.

 Do you have any other questions? Leave a comment and let us know!

“I won’t send a picture of myself since Answers is meant to be confidential but here is a picture of my great-grandfather taken in about 1908 because people say I look more like him every passing year.  He was then about the same age I am now.”

Every so often we come across an Answers user so wonderful we have to share them with you all as a Featured User. Given this, meet Victor: author and expert contributor with nearly 70% Best Answer percentage who’s been with us since spring ‘06. Why did he join? He saw someone write that recession and inflation were the same thing. And when someone else answered that the French Revolution came before American Independence, well, he had to step in. Answers has been the better for it ever since.

Some great Answers by Victor:

• How did Napoleon’s downfall lead to his death?
• How long is it going to take for the economy too completely fail?
• What does the expression ‘economies of scale’ pertain to?
• Was the enlightenment period a positive or negative influence on Europe?
• In Physics why does equation E = MC2 use the square function?

Get more Best Answers from Victor…

Meet Victor…

Yahoo! Answers Team: What do you enjoy about answering?

Victor: “Two parts to it.  First, I like to think that my answers are interesting and may be helpful for someone who needs to know.  Secondly, it’s a kind of competition with myself: how much do I know about this subject that I can write down? I’m willingly ignorant about some things and wouldn’t ever answer on those, but some subjects are very close to my head and heart, and I stick to those.”

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?  Where are you based?

“I spend about half the year in South London and the rest at Igatpuri, Maharashtra, India because my wife is Indian and there is a big family there.  Although I’ve worked in education and the Civil Service, I’m self employed now, so I can find work in both places and India is nicer than UK between November and April.  At this moment, therefore, I’m at Igatpuri which is 19 deg N of the Equator and about 73 deg E of London.”

You seem to answer in some quite diverse categories, such as history, economics and mathematics – can you explain a little about your interest in these areas?

“I went to university in the early 1960s and studied mathematics and economics, and then did a Masters 15 years later in management sciences [maths in business and engineering].  I’ve written books on these subjects.  However, my real intellectual love is history and I’ve studied that formally and informally since childhood – but you can’t make a living from it!  I did a minor in my BA in history, especially the development of government and democracy in Europe and N America.  As you see, I’ve a big interest in a range of subjects and special knowledge is some of them.”

Does work, education or your own personal experiences inform your choice answering?

“Mostly, I answer from personal knowledge or from academic research interests.  If a question is about business, management or government then I can answer from experience, and the same goes for maths and economic theory.  History involves judgement as well as knowledge and I try to bring both into my answers.  For a time, some weeks ago, I was a Top Contributor in History but then that status was removed.  I don’t know why or if the removal indicates something I’ve done wrong.”

 Can you tell me more about where you live (some of the year) in India?

“Igatpuri, to be honest, has been a rail station and truck stop until this past 5 years. Now it’s a boom town because of the dual carriageway highway from Mumbai to Nashik, and the opening of the big Mahindra diesel engine plant. The town is a pilgrimage centre because of the Vipissanar meditation centre and ashram, and the old temple of Ghatendevi (goddess of the mountain).  Attached are two images with names to indicate which is which.  The elephant statues at Ghatendevi are carved out of wood and covered in stucco, which is whitened each year.”

“The town is located at about 1300 metres (4400 ft) above sea level and the mountains behind the town rise to about 1900 metres (6000 ft).  Igatpuri is in the Nashik District of Maharashtra, which is the centre of the Indian wine-making industry and produces some very fine vintages, similar in style to California and some Australian types.  See, for example www.tigerhillvineyards.com.”

 In August we teamed up with Yahoo! Travel and Sunsail Clubs for the chance to win a trip to Turkey. So strong was the response from you all – with over 100 comments on our the blog alone – that it’s little surprise that an Answers user won. Recently we got in touch again to ask her how her trip went, and to see the holiday snaps of course! This is her review…

“We flew out to Turkey in September 08.  After a very pleasant flight we arrived at Sunsail in Ortokent, Turkey . As soon as we arrived, we were told that food was waiting for us in the restaurant and to leave our bags where they were and they would be in our rooms when we returned from dinner.

The food was very impressive, with something for everyone’s taste, from chicken, beef, fish, rice, vegetables, fruit and the desert cart was huge!  The accommodation was exceptional, with a very large room, very clean, satellite TV and balcony.  Also, if anyone is into water sports then this is the place to go!

On our first day, we walked to the beach, which was literally a stone’s throw away from our room and watched as everyone started their daily activities, then we walked the length of the beach to a little town with a few shops and more beaches. It seemed to be a lot busier than where we were staying, but it was only about a 15 minute walk away and it was nice to be able to get away from it and return to our quieter beach.

In the evenings, we went to dinner in the outdoor restaurant, which was lovely, but very, very windy and cold.  They had entertainment every other night, which only lasted for about ½ hour, but it was good.

The drinks at the hotel were very, very expensive and we were very surprised at the size of our bill and it was purely from drinks. I don’t think anyone realised how much they were spending, as they give you a card and the card gets swiped every time you buy something, then you pay at the end of your holiday.

The highlight of the whole holiday would have to be Bodrum.  I absolutely fell in love with it. We went there 5 times in the 7 nights that we were away.  There was so much to look at and do.  The markets just go on and on.  Around every corner there is a different shop, all selling different things and it was so much fun bartering.  It was a 40 minute journey by bus to get there and the busses were running quite regularly so it wasn’t a problem to get there.

I loved the hustle and bustle of the markets and the locals were so friendly, though could be a bit pushy in some places wanting you to buy things.

We had a kebab at a little restaurant just by the bus station and it was the best kebab we have ever had.  The waiter in the restaurant was so funny and made us feel very welcome.

I would just like to say thank you to Yahoo! Answers for giving us the opportunity to visit such a wonderful country.  I will definitely be returning to Turkey one day.”

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

• Ask questions about Travel in the Turkey category on Answers…
• Read the Yahoo! Travel Guide to Turkey
• Fancy going to Turkey? Plan a Trip

“Which political figure from the past 20 years would you like to interview, what would you ask them and why?”

– Kevin Bacon

Yesterday was Martin Luther King’s day. Today is Obama’s. No doubt the media will be filled with hyperbole and a heightened sense of history but it’s no exaggeration to say that Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th US President has captured the imagination of millions of people world wide. And not just those that voted for him.

Obama’s inbox is full: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the global economic crisis and a recession in the US, environmental change and several long standing conflicts all need his government’s attention. Thankfully he arrives with the highest poll ratings with 79% of Americans optimistic about the next four years.

Two years ago he asked a similarly positive question on Answers: how can we engage more people in the democratic process?

 In the spirit of this new found optimism in the political process, we have a question on Yahoo! Answers from US actor Kevin Bacon: which political figure from the past 20 years would you like to interview, what would you ask them and why?

Bacon is starring in the new film Frost/Nixon, based on a clash between political and journalistic heavyweights, but in comparison to its setting – an era of corruption and subterfuge – his question finds us with our political glass half full not empty.

So who would you like to interview? A President? A Prime Minister? An activist or simply someone from the shadows who was a fly on the wall to history? Kevin Bacon wants to know…

– Yahoo! Answers team

• Kevin Bacon’s question on Answers
• Barack Obama’s question on Answers
• Read more Politics & Government questions

Here at Yahoo! Answers we use badges to designate the different types of members participating in the Yahoo! Answers community. As you might see them about, we though it would only be fair to offer an explanation of the different types and their meaning:

• An Official badge indicates that the identity of a community member asking or answering questions on Yahoo! Answers has been verified by a member of the Yahoo! Answers Team. This helps us distinguish our celebrity, professional, and sponsor participants within the Yahoo! Answers community.
• The Staff badge displays when members of the Yahoo! Answers Team or other Yahoo! staff members officially ask and answer questions on Yahoo! Answers.
• The Top Contributor badge is used to recognize a member of the Answers community who has shown that they are knowledgeable in a particular category. The top contributor badge is dynamic, which means that you earn it or lose it depending on your recent participation in a particular category. To learn more about Top Contributors, please review Top Contributor help.
• A Knowledge Partner is an official expert sharing their knowledge on Answers.

Now, let us show you a couple of examples:

• Staff: that’s us, the UK & Ireland Answers team.
• Official: this is Seann William Scott’s profile.
• Knowledge Partner: this is Enquire’s profile.

Obviously Top Contributor’s badges come and go, so it’s a little pointless linking to one of them, so all that leaves us to do is to wish you good luck to become the next Top Contributor in your favorite category!

– Yahoo! Answers team