Yahoo! Answers

Hey Guys,

She’s since gone on to that great scratching post in the sky, but for several years I was the proud and sometimes exasperated owner of a long-haired cat named Grimes. Great cat, Grimes. Unlike 97% of the felines I’ve met, she was exceptionally friendly and liked nothing more than sitting in my lap and purring while I read, or more likely, watched lame reality TV.

One of my favorite things about ol’ Grimey was her motor. I’ve never heard a cat purr so loudly. I looked around Yahoo! Answers and discovered there are a lot of questions from folks eager to know what, exactly, a purr sound is. So, I sharpened my claws and went in search of answers.

The Library of Congress explains that while nobody knows for sure why (or how) cats purr, “most scientists agree that the larynx (voice box), laryngeal muscles, and a neural oscillator are involved.” According to the LOC, kittens start purring when they are just a few days old. Some veterinarians believe that purring lets the kitten’s mom know that the newborn is OK.

Most folks believe that a cat only purrs when it is happy or content. Not so says PetPlace.com. Cats also purr when they are stressed or in pain. “Animal behaviorists believe that when cats purr under stressful circumstances, they are reassuring or comforting themselves, much as humans may sing to themselves or hum when they are nervous.”

There are a surprising number of studies and research papers on purring. Scientific American writes that “over the course of evolution, purring has probably offered some selective advantage to cats.” Additionally, researchers have found that cats purr with a frequency between 25 and 150 Hertz. “Sound frequencies in this range can improve bone density and promote healing.”

So, there you have it. Most experts believe cats purr more for self healing and to relieve stress than out of joy. But I still have a related question I’d like to pose to the community: Why in the world do dogs turn around three times before sitting down? If you have an answer (or even a good theory) please leave a comment and link below.

Thanks for reading,

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As of today, some of you will experience a slightly different page design when you visit the Category pages.

Over the next week, we will gradually increase the number of people who see this new Category page until it is the only version you will see on the site.  We’re doing this cautiously to ensure your overall experience on the site isn’t affected.

No prizes for the first ones to see it—but we are very interested to hear your feedback on the new page when you do see it. So please leave your feedback with a comment below or directly through our feedback page.

We will tell you more about the exciting new design once it is fully visible to everyone!

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Photo by irina slutsky

I recently returned from a trip to visit friends in Los Angeles. They had recently relocated from New York and, like most New Yorkers, hadn’t had any use for a car until their move. Now they spend what seems like most of their lives in their car. It was surprising to see how quickly they fell back into that “car culture” state-of-mind. Their vehicle not only gets them from here to there, but is also a proxy backpack, locker, kitchen table, entertainment outlet, and communication station.

It had been a while since I have spent that much time in a car. The most notable difference since I last owned a vehicle is the prevalence of cell phones. I never owned a car and a cell phone at the same time, so rules about talking or texting while driving were nonexistent. The last time I drove regularly, it seemed enough of a distraction to be flipping over a cassette tape. I can’t begin to imagine fielding phone calls and texts while trying to merge onto a busy Southern California freeway (in spite of the fact that hand-held devices and texting are now an infraction in the Golden State).  Because drivers have the ability to talk on the phone, check email, surf the Web, and text back and forth (all while cruising down the highway,) I have to admit that riding in a car seems scarier than ever before.

There is a new public service announcement (PSA) in England that’s generating a lot of buzz right now, which graphically demonstrates (too graphically, some might say) just how dangerous using a phone while driving can be. (Here’s a link to it, but be warned: It’s not for the squeamish.)  It depicts a young driver and her friends getting into a terrible car accident while texting, and the video leaves nothing to the imagination. The ad’s detractors feel that it’s just too violent and disturbing to be shown on television, while supporters argue that these frightening images are just what the public needs to really grasp the dangers of indulging in these distracting behaviors while on the road.

Using cell phones while driving presents a very clear and obvious danger — just look at the terrible mass-transit accidents that occurred recently in California and Massachusetts, which were caused by drivers who were reportedly texting on their phones. And though our intentions to set our phones aside while driving might be honorable and good, it’s just too easy to get sucked into our communication devices. That little ringtone goes off and we think, “What if it’s an emergency?” And so we peek, only to be drawn in to whatever momentary drama is calling our attention away.

Many states have enacted various laws banning texting while driving, and requiring cell phone users to use hands-free headsets while driving, but are they enough? Do we need to outlaw using phones in cars altogether? Our hands may be free, but our minds are still occupied with the person or information on the other end. Of course, when radios were first put into cars, there were fears that they would be too distracting for drivers, but can you imagine a car without one these days? Perhaps we will adjust to managing these new distractions on the road.

How do you drivers out there manage the temptation to use your phones while driving? And what do you think of this controversial PSA? Do you think it goes too far in depicting the dangers of texting while driving, or do you think this is exactly what people need to see to change their behavior?

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Recently we’ve had feedback that a few glitches on the site have been impacting the overall experience for many of you, which we apologize for.

So, like an automobile that occasionally needs to be sent to the mechanic for some re-tuning, we had to send Answers to the repair shop for a little bit of maintenance.

We’ve now taken it off the blocks, and here are the fixes you’ll see from this latest release:

• Many of you were not regularly receiving immediate email notifications when your network posted a question. We appreciate how vital it is to get your questions to your Answers network promptly, and we have now fixed this to ensure that everyone receives the emails on time.

• One bug that has been a frustration to many of you for a while now is that people whom you’ve added to your “Blocked users” list are still be able to post answers to your questions. This will no longer happen. Blocked users will no longer be able to answer your questions—we’re sure some of you will be delighted to know this!

• When questions were in voting status, we’d noticed the total number of votes were not adding up correctly. After sending the Yamster to a quick math refresher course, we now have the correct totals back on display again.

• A couple of months ago, we introduced inactive hyperlinks for Level 1 users. To continue to protect the community against potentially malicious links, we’ve made some improvements to this functionality to ensure that the right to post hyperlinks is earned by trust only.

Finally, we’ve also laid the groundwork for some more radical changes to certain parts of the site design…so watch this space!

Keep your feedback coming, and we’ll continue to work on keeping the site well-oiled.

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Hey Guys,

Few people are blessed with the ability to play professional football. And even fewer are given the chance to be a general manager of an NFL team. Thank goodness for fantasy football, where anybody can manage a squad of gridiron gladiators. It’s one of the few pastimes that both statistical nerds and wannabe jocks can agree on.

With the football season about to start (and my league draft this weekend), I set out to identify who created fantasy football. According to various sources across the Web, a gentleman named Wilfred Winkenbach deserves the credit. Mr. Winkenbach originally used the fantasy concept for the game of golf, but it wasn’t long before he transferred the concept to baseball and then football.

As this article points out, “the football idea came to him on a wet October evening in 1962, when he discussed his idea with the Oakland Raiders PR man Bill Tunnell and the Oakland Tribune sports journalist, Scotty Stirling.” I assume the men had no idea what kind of multi-billion dollar industry they were creating.

In its initial incarnation, the rules were quite different than what they are today. For example, in the first fantasy football draft, “teams were able to draft 20 players: four offensive ends, four halfbacks, two fullbacks, two quarterbacks, two kick/punt returners, two field goal kickers, two defensive backs/linebackers and two defensive linemen.” And, according to CoEd magazine, the very first player picked in the very first fantasy football draft was none other than the great George Blanda. Think of him as the Adrian Peterson of his day.

An article from SFGate.com explains that the game wasn’t always called “fantasy football.” At first, Winkenbach named it the “Greater Oakland Pigskin Prognosticators League” (GOPPL). Each year, the loser of the league was forced to display a giant dunce cap in their home until the next season. Fear of embarrassment really is a great motivator.

Do you guys plan to participate in a fantasy football league? If so, got any tips on who to draft and who to avoid? Please leave a comment below — I don’t want to end up with a dunce cap on my coffee table.

Thanks for reading,

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