Yahoo! Answers

On Yahoo! Answers, there are lots of ways to receive recognition for hard work, quality Answers, and interesting Questions—they take can take the shape of thumbs up, stars, or Best Answers– these are all controlled by you, the Answers community.

In addition to this, Yahoo! Answers also has something called the “Best of Answers” module. This rotating module featured on the Answers homepage showcases some of the quirky and interesting content that we come across on the Answers site. Typically this content is handpicked by a combination of Yahoo! Answers team members and editorial team members who surf the site looking for interesting questions that might pique your interest.

In addition to the “Best of Answers” module, every so often, a question from Answers is also featured on the Front Page of Yahoo—visible to literally millions of Yahoo! users in a single day.

We know that each day, each of you, come across potentially hundreds of interesting, quirky, and fantastic questions that YOU consider “the best of Answers”—so we want to see them!

What’s the catch, and what are the rules?

• Questions must have been asked and answered within the last 3 months – freshness matters!
• No questions containing profanity, obscenity, relating to sex, alcohol, etc.
• Questions must follow the Community Guidelines
• Answers should be thorough and complete and should NOT be plagiarized. Here’s an example of a good question and answer: Is eating the inside of an orange peel good for you?
  
• Question and answer should be relatively free from typos and grammatical errors

What do I get if my question is picked?

If we select your question and feature it on either the Yahoo! Front Page or in the “Best of Answers” module, we’ll award whoever suggested the question to us, 100 extra points on Answers.

Ok, so where do I submit my questions?

Think you have a winner on your hands? Submit your questions to us via email at: y_answrs_favorites@yahoo.com

If we select your question, we’ll send you an email notifying you that your question has been selected and you should see the bonus points in your account shortly.

We can’t wait to see what types of questions you send our way, so start searching the site, scouring your watchlist, and sharing your favorites with the team!

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Hey Guys,

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next paranoid nutcase. And, if you ask me, few conspiracy theories are as juicy as Area 51. That’s the infamous location believed to be near Roswell, New Mexico, (but is actually located closer to Las Vegas, Nevada) where many believe the U.S. government has proof that UFOs exist.

Like all good conspiracy theories, the lack of definitive evidence is beside the point. After all, if there was proof, there wouldn’t be a conspiracy, right? No, what’s cool about Area 51 are the theories and explanations. Heck, even the name “Area 51″ is bit steeped in secrecy.

According to HowStuffWorks.com, one theory surrounding the name “Area 51″ is more popular than the rest. The facility apparently borders the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a testing ground for atomic bombs. The NTS divided this land into a grid, numbered one to 30. The theory states that Area 51 (while not part of the actual grid), borders on Area 15. “Many say the site got the name Area 51 by transposing the 1 and 5 of its neighbor.” Side note: not everybody called it Area 51. Some higher-ups called it “Paradise Ranch” in an effort to make it sound more appealing to military employees who didn’t want to leave their families for weeks at a time.

The debate over Area 51 started back in 1947 after “something” crashed near Roswell. In the years since, news agencies like the Los Angeles Times and ABC have interviewed former employees about what really went down. One ex-engineer, Thornton “T.D.” Barnes, used to work on spy planes, one of which traveled at 2,000 mph. As it zoomed through the sky, the plane would cause light flashes. He believes that’s how the rumors of E.T. and ALF living at Area 51 got their start.

What do you guys think about Area 51 and aliens? Is the government hiding something? Personally, I have my doubts. I just don’t think the government would be able to keep a big secret for so long. Disagree? Feel free to write a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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As a part of the changes to the Answers homepage, we’re also rolling out a few changes to the search experience on Answers over the next few days. We’ve taken the feedback you’ve provided through the blogs, email accounts, Customer Care, as well as through the feedback links and the Suggestion Board and have incorporated your comments to improve the current search experience.

Through the new search experience, you’ll notice a new, re-designed layout on your search results page, making it easier to refine your search without having to leave the page.

The new answers search page

1- We’ve  taken all of the options which were previously available in Advanced Search and moved them to the left-hand-side of this page to make it easier to customize your search queries.

2 - The category dropdown has been re-structured to fit this new design.

3- For those of you who perform the same search regularly, we’ve also thought of you: : we’ve replaced the “Make this my default search option” with the “My Saved Search” feature.  “My Saved Search” allows you to save your favorite search so you can easily access the results from anywhere on Yahoo! Answers.  By checking this box Answers will store your most frequent searches.  You can then click on the “My Saved Search” link next to the “Search Answers” button to access your saved search from wherever you are on the site.

You can find out more about making the most of `My Saved Search` by checking out this help article.

As with all of the changes we’re making at the moment we’d love to hear your feedback.  Leave us a comment here on the blog or on the feedback thread on the Suggestion board.

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Hey Guys,

Most new cameras have something called “red eye reduction” for flash photos. It’s a feature that keeps folks looking like regular human beings and less like they’ve been possessed by Lucifer. But what causes red eye in the first place? And how do new cameras keep eyes looking normal?

The aptly named “HowStuffWorks.com” explains why people get red eyes in flash photos. The red eyes get their color “from light that reflects off of the retinas.” So, “what you see is the red color from the blood vessels nourishing the eye.” If not for the blood vessels, the light would bounce back as white.

A blog entry from Strange Questions goes into a bit more detail. Apparently red eye is more frequent among people with “light blue eyes, light skin, and light hair.” Additionally, compact cameras are more likely to cause red eye. The smaller the camera, the closer the lens is to the flash. And the closer the lens is to the flash, the more likely you are to get red eyes.

Fortunately, many cameras have “red eye reduction” that helps people look a bit more normal in flash photos. HowStuffWorks.com explains that in order to make this feature work, the camera fires off two flashes. The first flash, which goes off right before the photo is snapped, causes the pupils to contract. That reduces red eye. The second flash goes off when the shutter opens.

There are other ways you can limit red eye. If the flash is detachable, try holding it away from the lens. Another method, according to HowStuffWorks, is to try aiming the flash at the ceiling and rely on reflected light. Thanks to digital cameras, you can always snap another photo if these methods don’t work.

Got any of your tips for taking better photos? By all means, leave a comment below. I just got a new camera and it has more settings than my TV has channels. I could use all the help I can get.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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The next time you log into Yahoo! Answers you may notice things look a little bit different. We’re rolling out a new homepage and navigation over the next few days. Don’t worry: if you don’t see the new changes just yet, you will soon.

We’ve made quite a few changes to the homepage, so to make navigation a bit easier, we’ve broken things down for you by section, so let’s get started.

New Answers Homepage

1- New Navigation

You may have noticed that atop the Answers banner, there are four new, navigation tabs: Home, Browse Categories, My Activity, and About. Each of these tabs (as well as the green Answers banner) will stay with you throughout your experience on the site, making it easier for you to get to the places on Answers you care about most.

New Navigation

Home: This brings you back to the main page of Answers, where you can see the Best of Answers rotating module, the link to the Answers Blog (which is now on the right hand side, as well as the most recent questions posted on the site.

Browse categories: more about this below

My activity: From here, you can go directly to your Answers profile, view your network, your network activity, and even edit your preferences.

About: Learn all about Answers, revisit the Community Guidelines, check out the leaderboard, Suggestion Board,  and visit the Answers Blog.

2 – Browsing categories

New Category Browse

On the old Answers homepage all of the categories were permanently displayed on the left hand column, hogging up homepage space that could have been used for valuable questions. We’ve decided to tuck the categories away under the top hide-away menu where you can easily access them any time, or, if you want to view them all at once, just click on the browse category tab to be taken to the “All Categories” page. From here, you’ll be able to peruse all of the questions that are: open, resolved or in voting on the site.

3- An updated look and feel

Over the past few years we’ve heard from quite a few of you that you love the Answers green but it’s just a little too green. So we’ve taken your feedback to heart and have toned down the green just a bit and have replaced the white background with a light blue that is a little easier on the eyes. Our smilies (4) have also received a facelift and look a bit more polished throughout the site.

Additionally, you’ll notice that the page feels a bit wider—one thing we heard from you when we introduced the new category pages several months back was that you liked the extra space. This extra space allows us to display even more questions on the homepage, making it easier for you to jump right in.

But wait, there’s more!

This release doesn’t just include cosmetic changes—we also included quite a few backend bug fixes, as well as a few feature requests, like updating the category leaderboards much more regularly. Starting today, category leaderboards will update on a daily basis instead of weekly.

Please note they will NOT be real-time, but will update at the end of each day (PST).  This means at 2pm PST on Thursday, your points total will show as it was at 23:59 PST on Wednesday.

Tell us what you think

Once you’ve given the new homepage a test drive, tell us what you think! We’ve started two threads on the Suggestion Board for the new homepage—one for questions and one for comments – and we’ll be checking them regularly.  Additionally, you’re always welcome to use the “Tell us what you think” link found at the bottom of every Yahoo! Answers page.

You’re also welcome to leave your comments here, on the blog.

Thanks, and we hope you like it!

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