Yahoo! Answers

“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 Answers users who are so wonderful we have to share them with you all as a Featured User. So meet Victor: author and expert contributor with a 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 to 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.”

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We’re happy to introduce our next Featured User: Blading Kid—a community member who has managed to get to Level 6 in a relatively short amount of time by answering questions primarily in the Friends section. Blading Kid has racked up a total of 1,550 answers so far, honing in on unanswered questions from people who are looking for advice and support from their peers. From Blading Kid’s own words:

So why am I answering questions in the Family & Relations: Friends category? Well, I happen to have a profound interest in human relations and human nature. This interest propelled me to educate myself on such topics, primarily the non-family, non-dating part of human relations.

Yahoo! Answers offered me a chance to use what I’ve learned and apply it in real-life situations to help others (and also to show off my knowledge. ;-p). The convenient format and environment of Yahoo! Answers also attracted me. Besides, I find it enjoyable!

I typically always hang out in the Friends section, because that section happens to be the category that I’m best at. Also, the fact that most questions are from peers of my age or younger also attracted me.

When not on Yahoo! Answers, Blading Kid spends time on various hobbies. Currently, Blading Kid is passionate about inline skating:

As for my hobbies, I love chess! Or at least I used to…I began playing chess in late 2004 after being taught by a fellow chess player at my school’s chess club. Soon I was absorbed by the game and won the title of Kentucky State Seventh-Grade Chess Champion the following year. I continued to play chess in various small tournaments and won countless first-, second-, and third-place trophies and over $1,000 in cash prizes over the next four years. For example, I won the 2008 North Florida High School chess championship, and came in second in the East Florida H.S. Chess Championship and was invited to Invitational Superstars. But my interest in chess soon began to wane as I became more and more immersed in aggressive inline skating, which is my current hobby, and where my Yahoo! Answers nickname, “Blading Kid,” was born. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to chess again. Time will tell.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, Blading Kid!

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“I first got into Yahoo Answers by accident.  A friend used it & she said it was really good – one day curiosity got the better of me, and I’m still here.”

- Spellbound: 30,127 points, Level 7, 65% Best Answer

Every so often we like to profile some of the amazing answerers we see on the site like Tunisian Belle and Calimecita. Today we are happy to put the spotlight on Spellbound: our resident history expert. Russia is his real passion but he is able to answer questions on many subjects. But don’t just take our word for it–here are some of his Best Answers:

• Did Joseph Stalin command the army during the Second World War?
• Why did the Art capitol move from Paris post-War?
• What was the significance of the Soviet satellite nations?

Spellbound in his own words…

“I’ve always enjoyed history, probably that comes from being taken round castles in North Wales as a child, but I also think that the past is alive, because the consequences of actions taken hundreds of years ago can have a direct impact on our lives – Magna Carta being an obvious example.

I am, by education, a Russologist, specialising in the late Soviet period.  I find the USSR fascinating.  It was such a mysterious place, as Churchill said of it “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”.

Other than the Soviet period, I love the medieval English period.  It was such a theatrical period, with larger than life characters, such as Simon De Montefort and Owen Glydwr.

The most misunderstood period of history is probably the Roman period.  In school Roman history is taught as though it were a homogenous, unchanging entity, whereas it was a fluid, dynamic ever changing creation, so much so, that the late Roman period bears little relation to the Rome of Julius Caeser and Augustus.

My favourite question is probably “Why did Germany surrender in 1918?”

The reason I like this question is that it is a clear question, the questioner sounds as though they are interested in the topic – it’s not just for homework help, and although the question may be a simple one, to answer the question well requires a detailed, well thought out answer.

Favorite answer? I have so many, but I think Brother Ranulf always provides food for thought, I thought the questions were really interesting and his answers are really well researched and thought out.”

Some Best Answers by Brother Ranulf, chosen by Spellbound:

• What happened to unchivalrous knights?
• How were monk’s animals and possessions protected in a Viking raid?
• After the Norman Conquest in 1066, what buildings were destroyed and what was built?

Know someone who’s “wowed” you on Answers? Think somebody deserves to be celebrated as next Featured User on the Answers Blog? We want to hear from you!

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Carpincho (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), by Calimecita

To continue our Featured User blog posts, we’re delighted this week to highlight an amazing member of our community, Cecilia, aka Calimecita.

Cecilia/Calimecita was born in Argentina, and although she’s always lived there, her Welsh and Scottish ancestors triggered her interest in the English language she learned as a child. Yahoo! Answers has been a great place to practice her English skills. In this series of posts, she’ll tell you about her country, her remarkable job as a mammalogist and of course her passion for Yahoo! Answers!

Ready to enter Cali-world?

Mar del Plata, by Calimecita

“The small town where I live–City Bell–is near La Plata, one of the major Argentine cities. City Bell is a peaceful suburban place, with detached houses and large gardens, where everyone keeps pets and people still greet their neighbors when they pass each other on the street.

“I work at the Natural History Museum of La Plata, a neoclassical building with impressive collections, especially those of fossils, archaeological materials, and mammals. “The museum building has several structural problems, from plumbing to security to electricity, and it’s too crowded for comfort, but I still love the place.

Sea Lion by Calimecita

“I’m a biologist. Specifically I’m a mammalogist, so I study mammals. I’m currently in the last stages of my doctoral thesis thanks to a scholarship from the local university, so hopefully next year I’ll be Doctor Cali!

“I study the digging specializations of the tuco-tucos, a family of subterranean rodents that are native to South America. They’re small stocky things that look a lot like the pocket gophers from the US and the Old World mole rats, because they’re convergent, which means they occupy similar adaptive niches and have several common features that evolved in response to similar selective pressures.

“Basically, what I do is compare them with other species to gather data about their morphological similarities and differences. This, together with other sources of information including fossils, helps to understand their evolutionary history.

“There’s no fixed routine at work; sometimes I’m reading and writing, analyzing the data, etc. To obtain my data, I examine and measure their bones and muscles, which are quite different from ours. Tuco-tucos are specialized diggers, and they have very strong forelimbs with long claws and powerful muscles. If we had arms like that, we’d all look like super-super-heroes and we’d be able to dig our own homes!“Workwise, I also teach in the Vertebrates course at the local Faculty where I am a graduate teaching assistant, and a basic Ecology course.”

In the next post we’ll look at her interests and hobbies, and learn what she likes the most on Yahoo! Answers.

Five of her great Answers:

• What is a zoologist?
• Do all mammals have hair?
• Do you think science will ever bring back the Woolly Mammoth from extinction?
• Do elephants have toenails?
• What is the difference between a moth and butterfly?

Know someone who’s wowed you on Answers? Think somebody deserves to be celebrated as next Featured User on the Answers Blog? We want to hear from you!Leave a comment below with a link to the user’s profile or best answer or email the Answers team y_answrs_editors@yahoo.com

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This week, we’re delighted to have you meet Answers user and resident theater expert AmyJane. In the first of two blog posts, we’d like to introduce her to you and showcase her amazing tips on succeeding in acting.

A resident of Edmonton, Canada, AmyJane adores reading, movies, and—of course—theater. She enjoys Answers because she loves sharing her expertise in the field, and expanding her knowledge through researching people’s questions.

She has been acting for over 10 years in various high school, community, college and professional productions, as well as working as an entry-level theater technician (light and sound board operation, stage management and backstage crew). In the last couple years, she diversified her theater resumé by working as a director, film extra, producer, voice-over actor and teacher.

She holds diplomas in Theater Performance and continues to attend workshops to learn more about and improve her craft. “I find that many people don’t realize how much work goes into the job of being an actor, they just want to be famous – but being famous is not a job,” she insists.

So enough of us—over to AmyJane. Here’s her lowdown on taking to the stage

How do I get into acting?
“If you are looking to start an acting career, than there are a few harsh realities that you will have to accept right off the bat. Acting may be fun, but it is not easy. Don’t do this because you think it’s an easy ticket to fame or fortune. It isn’t.
“Not many people can make a living off of just acting work, because for every 20 auditions you get you may get one callback, and for every ten callbacks you may get one job. It is an industry with cutthroat competition! You’ll need dedication, talent, a tough skin, passion, luck and industry connections to get the work – with no guarantees of financial success.”
“Now if all these facts are fine with you, than good – you’re on the right track. But you’ll still need a lot more than just headshots and an address to a studio for casting calls. It’s best to start an acting career, the same way you’d start a career as a doctor or lawyer, or anything else – with an education.”

Do I need qualifications?
“Most post-secondary schools have scholarships or grants (money you don’t have to pay back); you’ll have to contact the individual school you’re interested in for more information. Ask for the financial aid department and somebody there should be able to help you. You can also look into scholarships and grants given by your high school or community.

“The government may also have money for schooling available to you (but I don’t suggest getting a student loan for acting, as you’ll most likely have a very hard time paying it back). You should start saving your money ASAP and begin looking into free money as soon as possible, so that you make sure you have enough time to work on all the requirements (essays, references, etc).”

How important is experience?
“While you’re taking the weekend workshops, six-week intensives, or eight semesters of school, you’ll also want to get experience. Take anything and everything that comes your way. In the beginning no role is too small. Try acting in different mediums – stage and film – even if you’re passionate about one in particular. You’ll learn more from being in productions than classes (at least that was my experience), but this is only true if you have a solid foundation of the skills and techniques that you get with good training.”

In part two, read AmyJane’s responses to:

How do I audition?
How long does it take to “make it”?
How do I pay the bills?
Why should I try to become an actor?

Know someone who’s “wowed” you on Answers? Think somebody deserves to be celebrated as the next Featured User on the Answers Blog? We want to hear from you!

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