Yahoo! Answers

Growing up and growing old, two things that are inevitable for everyone and with the media obsessed with all things young it’s hard not to get a little depressed when seeing a new wrinkle on your face, or a softer belly.  So when Yahoo!’s in house Sketchy comedy series spoofed Fun’s “We are Young”, it became a viral hit.

The video lampoons what it’s like to be 10 years out of college, overweight, married, health problems, drinking problems and unemployed.  Fun’s original song is all about being young and carefree and hopeful of your future.  When you’re young, your primary concern is about having fun, having no responsibilities because you have parents to take care of practical details, and just thinking about what you want to be when you grow up.

So, when you finally leave that bubble of youth exuberance and realize all the clichés that you heard really are true, “time flies”, and “growing up is never easy”,  how do you cope with crushing reality?  Well, as the song parody says “I guess I’ll do elliptical. Maybe I can finally do that yoga class. But I probably won’t. HGTV. Going to stay at home. Watch Modern Family.”

When does “world is your oyster” mentality disappear and real life’s challenges, burdens and broken dreams begin?   Are you where you want to be?  Please leave a comment below.

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Hey Guys,

You know how when you’re at a party and you crack your knuckles, there’s always that one guy who says you’re going to get arthritis? Is he right? Does cracking your knuckles really cause joint problems?

Nope. Cracking your knuckles is perfectly safe. When you crack your knuckles what you’re really doing is popping the joint in and out of its socket. The knuckle is held in place with a lubricant called synovial fluid. When you crack ‘em, the bones pull apart away a bit and the pressure that surrounds the fluid reduced. Bubbles form and then pop. That’s the sound you’re hearing and experts call it cavitation.

It usually takes about half an hour before you can crack again. That’s because it takes a while for “the gas to redissolve into the joint fluid. During this period of time, your knuckles won’t crack,” according to HowStuffWorks.

As for whether or not you’re hurting yourself, fear not. A doctor from The Johns Hopkins University explains that any risks associated with knuckle cracking are minor. “There is no evidence that cracking knuckles causes any damage such as arthritis in the joints.” However, one study did find that people who cracked their knuckles often did have reduced grip strength.

If, like me, you’re addicted to knuckle cracking, you might find this article from Scientific American a good read. Here’s the gist: A kid was told that the habit would lead to problems. Over 50 years, he did an experiment in which he cracked the knuckles on his left hand often. He cracked his right hand rarely. “There was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent differences between the two hands,” he concluded

In other words, crack away.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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As always, we believe in keeping Yahoo! Answers healthy and free from abuse. And this positive change is no exception.

We all know you enjoy earning points and moving up through the levels. But we are also aware of people taking advantage of the unrestricted limits to spam and publish low quality answers, such as “Thanks for the 2 points” or “I don’t know.”

Starting today we have modified our limits for Level 5, 6 and 7 users. This will help us protect the community from spam and help those who want good, serious answers.

Instead of the generous unlimited questions, answers and comments, we have now changed it to 20 questions, 80 answers and 40 comments. Please see the table below:

We believe these limits will still allow you to full enjoy Yahoo! Answers. If you’re hitting the limits, we suggest that you be more selective and focus on those questions/answers you have more to share about.

We aim to increase content quality and this change is just the beginning of many. Please know that we are always working towards a better experience for you, the community. We welcome your feedback below.

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**Secret Revealed**

Have you ever worn out a magnetic card? You can ask your bank for a new one but it usually takes a few days. In the meantime, you can put a piece of clear tape or use some receipt paper from the cashier to cover the magnetic stripe while the card is swiped.

Usually, the cashier will do this for you, but if not then you can ask them to try it. Some may even use a plastic bag, but any thin barrier may work. Be sure it’s very thin so it doesn’t get jammed in the card reader.

Many people know about this little trick; the real secret is why it works…

As a magnetic card gets used, the magnetically charged particles get smeared. This smearing repeated many times creates  magnetic noise which distorts the data when read. The magnetic strength of the noise is low enough that a small barrier can block or reduce it enough to get a proper reading from the card.

For a bit of anecdotal evidence, I worked retail back in college and I used this trick hundreds of times — it worked nearly every time.

Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.

Thanks for reading,

Sources: creditcards.com, wired magazine (Nov 2011)

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Boy meets girl and falls head over heels – that’s the start of most romantic comedies. Those first exciting moments of chemistry and attraction that make your heart flutter, eventually develop into love, and as the playground song says “then comes marriage”. The girl gets her prince charming and they go on to live a happy romantic fairytale.

Real life however isn’t like the movies and eventually, your happy ever after ends either in a break up or death. However, is it possible that being in love can lead to dying of a broken heart?

Marriage statistics and divorce rates are always in the media, and whenever there is a relationship that lasts it garners headlines.  Yahoo! Shine printed a story about a husband and wife that died 16 hours apart after 76 years of marriage. There are several stories similar to this one, where couples who are married for 50+ years die within hours or days apart.

The pain of having a relationship end is very real and well documented. A study in 2005 in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that when a loved one dies, stress hormones are increased which increases blood pressure and can trigger a heart attack. Falling in love is not only an emotional, mental, and physical sensation it also is a physiological response that can literally break your heart.

Dying of a broken heart is a very real occurrence and isn’t rare. But, what makes a couple’s love so deep that they literally honor their vows of “till death do us part?” Please leave a comment below.

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