Once again, it’s time for our annual Answers Halloween Costume Contest. Last year, we had awesome winners and we can’t wait to see what you come up with this year!

Download the Yamster avatar and dress him up for Halloween!

Picnik which is built directly into Yahoo’s own Flickr, offers a plethora of accessories that you can use to deck out Yamster. You can also use something like Microsoft Paint, Photoshop, SumoPaint, or any other paint program on the market to edit or enhance an image.

Once you’re through dressing up your Yamster, save the image (right click and “save as”) and upload it to your Flickr account. Then, add the image to the Answers Halloween pool—found here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/yahooanswershalloween2010/.

In order to see all the fun dressed-up Yamsters, please make sure to join the Answers Halloween 2010 group.

Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. PST on Monday, November 1st. Winner(s) will be posted on the Yahoo! Answers Blog and will receive 200 bonus points on Yahoo! Answers.

Rules:

• Yamsters must be submitted to Flickr by 5 p.m. PST on November 1st

• All images must be in compliance with Yahoo’s TOS, Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines, Flickr’s Community Guidelines, and must not contain mature or adult content

• Submitted images may only be that of the Yamster—no actual photographs will be accepted or considered

• No real value is given to this prize: winner(s) will receive 200 bonus points on Yahoo! Answers

• Join the Answers Halloween 2010 group in order to see everyone’s entries

Memorial Day is a time to honor all the brave men and women who lost their lives in times of military conflict. What’s less known is how the holiday started. That is largely thanks to one man, General John Logan.

General Logan led an extraordinary life, by even the loftiest standards. At different points in his career, he was a United States congressman, a senator, and even a candidate for the office of vice president. But, he will likely be most remembered for his efforts to bring about a holiday that would honor fallen soldiers.

Originally, Logan called the holiday “Decoration Day.” He was inspired to create it as a way to help bring the country back together after the Civil War led to so many divisions. General Logan held the first Decoration Day on May 30, 1868. He chose that date for two reasons: First, there were no Civil War battle anniversaries on that day, and second, flowers would likely be blooming across the country.

Memorial Day has since become an official federal holiday, although some might argue that the day’s focus has shifted from honoring fallen soldiers to picnics and barbeques. Of course, there’s no reason we can’t have both. The National Moment of Remembrance hopes to bring the original intention of the holiday back into focus. For one minute, at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, people are asked to stop what they’re doing and silently think about the sacrifices that have been made in the name of the country.

How do you guys plan to celebrate Memorial Day? What traditions mean the most to you? Do you have any inspired ways to honor the men and women of the military on Memorial Day? Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

Photo by Fox Fairy

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s “Will you design my Valentine?” competition. We had 400 answers to our question, over a hundred comments on our blog post, and several entries to our Flickr pool. While you’re all winners in our book, we unfortunately had to pick just a few from the hundreds of submissions.

Each winner received an extra 100 points for their loving contributions to Answers.

Check out the the sweethearts and sweet tarts below.

Best Answer to the featured question: Without looking it up, why do we celebrate Valentine’s day? And, what are your plans for Valentine’s day?

Without looking it up, I thought it was St. Valentine’s feast day, but I’m not sure why the connection to love.

Valentine’s Day is very very special to me because three years ago on Yahoo! 360 on Valentine’s Day I met the Love of My Life. It was a pretty amazing day for that to happen, and he’s a pretty amazing man. We met in person for the first time a few months later and our relationship has continued to grow stronger since that time. In fact, we’re planning on getting married this year.

This year we had hoped to be able to celebrate our 3rd anniversary together, but unfortunately it was not possible. We’ll probably be celebrating Valentine’s Day a month later with a lovely dinner out, some dancing, and lots of love.

The actual day we’ll be online on YM and talking as much as possible. It’s the way we stay in touch every day that has allowed our love and commitment to stay so strong. We even have online dates, watching a movie or visiting an interesting site together. Most of all we have fun.
Source(s):
My lovely life. — Christy

Special congratulations to  ^haPpily\(^.^)/ DiSturbed^ for her winning photo, featured above!

Sweetest love notes and poetry from the blog:

“Roses are red violets are blue yet I am consumed by thoughts of you.” — doodieman

“Love is something that can be unspoken or sweet,
I can be hidden and secret,
Love is a mystery that has no clue,
It is an answer to every riddle,
And it holds the key to what I want most.

Love is something that makes my heart skip a beat,
I know loved you since we first met,
Love is what I want to give to you.”  — Minivera

Random bits of humor:

“Roses are red,Violets are blue,
how about you stop letting
the trolls run Answers for you?”–  Once Again,Hoof Hearted

Valentines with a little sass:

Since My Valentine Got A Computer

“Since my Valentine got a computer
My love life has taken a hit.
Nothing I say is important
Unless it’s a byte or a bit.

Before she got her new laptop,
Everything was just fine;
Now she says we can’t talk
Unless we both go online.

“But honey,” I said, “I’m attached to you;
Love is what I feel.”
“That keyword isn’t relevant,”
She said, with eyes of steel.

She clicked the keyboard furiously;
The screen was all she could see,
And then to my horror and shame,
She started describing me:

“Your motherboard needs upgrading;
Your OS needs help, too.
And you definitely need a big heatsink
To cool your CPU.”

“Don’t flame me, my sweet,” I pleaded.
“Not on Valentine’s Day.”
“Fix the bugs, and I’ll see,” she said,
While looking at me with dismay.

“What ever you want, my darling;
Whatever you need; you call it.
I’ll upload or download anything,
And then I’ll go install it.”

(Her hostile CD keeps replaying,
And though I don’t want to fight her,
Is this what I want for a Valentine?
I’ve been burned; can I rewrite her?)

“Are you all hard drive now,” I asked
“Is there no software in you?
Don’t you remember the good times?
Let our memories see us through.”

“LOL,” she said to me, chuckling.
“You’re nothing but adware.
“I’ve got four gigs of memory;
I’ve got no problem there.”

“Please, honey, we can save it,” I said.
“Our love means more than that.”
“That’s not in my cache; we’re going to crash,”
She said, as she turned me down flat.

(This woman has really changed;
Do I really want to chase her?
More and more I’m thinking
It might be nice to erase her.)

“Aw, honey, don’t talk like that,” I said.
“Can’t we just plug and play?
I hereby accept default,
And I’m yours, my love, come what may.

My goal is to make you happy;
I want to be your portal,
But your sudden, distant coldness
Would test the strongest mortal.

If we need a brand new interface,
So we can FTP,
I’m your go along, get along guy,
And I want you to stay with me.”

“If you want to get into my favorites,” she said,
And you want to get past my encryption,
If you want to get through my firewall,
Here is my only prescription.”

“First, put up your own Web site,
And e-mail me when it’s done.
I’ll check your page rank with Google,
And tell you if you’re the one.”

My life has become a real trial,
Since my Valentine got a computer.
If I want her to care about me again,
I guess I’ll have to reboot her.

By Joanna Fuchs” — Vanessa

“for those valentine dreaders:
roses are red, violets are blue, love stinks, and so do you” — emogal_999

“What is the point of Valentine’s Day?
It truly makes me shudder.
Couples conversing, too sappy and sweet,
Giving wet kisses to one another.

What is the point of Valentine’s Day?
I think it’s all just a scam.
Wal-Mart sells pink fluff and chocolate hearts
To men who would usually get Spam.

What is the point of Valentine’s Day?
Why do we remember it so?
Nobody died on February 14th.
At least, not that I know!” — Curious

Thanks again to everyone who participated, and we hope you have a fantastic Valentine’s Day! Be sure to check out our latest question and let us know– on Valentine’s Day, can your date count as your gift?

Photo by pfala

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!

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!

Photo by istorija

It’s the time of the year when the stores become flooded with shoppers and families begin to gather to start celebrating the holidays. While many of us are lucky to have friends and family near to celebrate with, it’s important to remember that there are many who are less fortunate.

This holiday season, ask yourself how you can not only spread goodness to the ones you love, but throughout your community:

• Can you donate a toy to Toys For Tots or similar local toy drive?
• Do you have a few extra cans of food in your cupboard that you won’t eat? Why not drop them off at a local food bank ?
• Do you have a few extra hours to spare? Try volunteering at a local community center, soup kitchen, children’s center, or hospital.
• Donate blood– 1 pint of blood can save up to 3 lives. Learn more
• Lend a hand to a local animal shelter (or donate blankets, towels, or pet food)

Sites like “Volunteer Match” are great resources in pairing up volunteers with their interests—and, making them fun.

And, if you want to share your goodness with the world, you can share your “purple acts of kindness” with the world by posting them on http://kindness.yahoo.com –  here, you’ll also find links to the Global Giving project and the DonorsChoose project.

So with all of these resources at your fingertips, what gift do you plan on giving your community this holiday season?