Yahoo! Answers

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As the New Year approaches many start making New Year’s resolutions. According to Psychology Today, the most common New Year’s Resolutions are:

• Losing weight
• Exercising more
• Quitting smoking
• Managing debt
• Saving money
• Getting a better job or education
• Reducing stress
• Taking a trip
• Volunteering

But did you know that less than 25% of people who make resolutions actually stick to them? But don’t fret! Leading experts say that the best way to meet your goals is to have a plan.

We searched the community for tips on how to stick to your resolution and found this Best Answer from Answers community member, Graham S

Make sure your resolutions aren’t vague and fuzzy desires, but clearly defined measurable goals with a target date. These can be broken down into sub goals, with shorter target dates if it is helpful. The next thing to do is to make those goals and targets visible! Write them on your hallway calendar – January 20th, be able to do 5 chinups, January 30th, have lost 3kg, February 20th, be able to do 10 Chinups etc.

Seeing your next goal date every day will help you to continue on the path towards it and the feeling of victory achieved by achieving the things that you set out to do will motivate you to keep challenging yourself! [Read the rest of his answer here]

Feel like sharing your New Years Resolutions? Tell us yours, and, how you plan on keeping them, by leaving a comment below!

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Photo by Dr. Hemmert

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our Answers family, to yours! We hope you have a wonderful and restful holiday with those near and dear to you.

And, when you’re through opening presents, watching basketball, and eating don’t forget to stop by Yahoo! Answers to ask the questions that aren’t in the instruction manual for all those gifts you received Christmas morning.

- The Yahoo! Answers Team

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Hey Guys,

I believe that human beings are, for the most part, logical. But if I wanted to take the opposite point of view and needed compelling evidence to support my case, I would point to the popularity of the gift card.

Now, think about the gift card for a minute. It’s an incredibly popular gift that is completely inconvenient. You could give cash to someone to spend on anything they like. Instead, you give them a card that limits their choices to one store. It’s crazy, I tells ya!

I searched around for who to credit (or blame?) for the gift card, but was stymied by a lack of information. However, I did find some interesting stats on the popular present that I thought I’d share.

Ever wonder why companies push so hard to sell gift cards? Well, for one, many people who are given the cards never redeem them. That means the retailer makes a huge profit and keeps its merchandise. In fact, according to Consumer Affairs, a whopping $8 billion worth of gift cards went unredeemed in 2006.

So, why then are they so popular? I can think of a few reasons. One, they’re perfect for lazy people. Say you got suckered into some Secret Santa thing at work and you don’t want to spend any effort looking for the perfect $10 gift for Bill from accounting — just get him a gift card and you’re done with it. Another reason, there’s just something unseemly about giving somebody cash. For whatever reason, it’s more polite to give a gift card. Logical? Absolutely not.

What do you guys think about gift cards? Like ‘em? Hate ‘em? Couldn’t care less either way? Oh, and in honor of the holidays, one more question — what’s the worst gift you ever received? Leave a comment below and I’ll see you in 2010.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Did you know that on average, 10% of questions are in tie-breaker status at any given time on Yahoo! Answers? And, at any given moment, there are literally millions of questions open on Answers?

For many members, it’s easy to get swept up in the “Ask” and “Answer” flow as you watch the steady stream of answers that come in when you ask a great question. But then the tough part comes: picking a Best Answer! How do you choose?

If you’re looking for a few tips on how to pick your next Best Answer, here are a few taken straight from our community:

• “To put it simply, I go with the one that is the most useful or the least useless. I do notice the number of thumbs-ups and downs the answer gets, and I use that and the level/BA percentage of an answerer to determine whether or not I should trust the answerer, but the main deciding factor is what I think of the answer itself. A concise but comprehensive explanation beats a long drawn-out half off topic lecture.” – Luigi
• However, “According to the specification of the question I read carefully and I compare it to the other questions, I make sure their answers make sense and have more clear explanations. Not always the thumbs up are right and this person can be wrong, So I read & understand before I give my best answer…8)” – “Evo_Raptor”
• “[…] If there are two equally good answers, I choose the one with better grammar, punctuation, and spelling.” – *Sombra*
• “I pick Best Answer by re-reading through all the answers again from my question. Then pick the one that was the most helpful, informative, and the answerer was polite while giving me the information I needed.” – Future Pet Vet
• “Whoever has clearly spent the most time answering the question and not just put silly 1 word answers or sarcastic comments. Also, if i believe the answer is 100% true.” – Craig and Charlie

Even with tips like these, picking a best answer can be tough—and for many Answers community members, it becomes so tough, questions go unresolved and end up in tie-breaker status.

But for those of you who enjoy helping the undecided pick a Best Answer, be sure to check out the Answers TieBusters group—a group dedicated to clearing the backlog of undecided questions found on Answers: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Yah00AnswersTieBusters/

All in all, remember: If you asked a question, choose a Best Answer! Otherwise your question may end up in Answers limbo, and you may never give someone the joy of earning a Best Answer!

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Photo by Peter Hilton

It’s down to the wire: there are only a few more days until Christmas.  As Wednesday, December 16^th, the National Retail Federation said the average shopper has just 46.7% of their holiday shopping done.

With so few days left, the holiday panic begins to set in for many as shoppers begin realize there are a few people left their list who they still haven’t purchased (or made) gifts for. Since we know the Answers community is full of brilliant gift givers (and receivers!) we’ve pulled together a list of the toughest people to buy gifts for, and have posted a series of questions for each.

Now, using the collective wisdom of the Answers community, (that’s you!) feel free to stop by each question and share your own expertise, or, pick up a tip or two from a fellow community member. We’ll leave the questions up until Christmas—by then, the lists (and ideas!) will grow.

Feel free to suggest gift ideas for:

• The person who has everything
• Your office mate and/or boss
• Your neighbor
• Your mother-in-law
• Your significant other

Good luck, and happy shopping! Whatever you decide to buy, be sure to come back here and tell us how it worked out!

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