Yahoo! Canada Answers Blog

Hey everyone,

Doing things twice instead of once is always a bit silly, so recently we decided it would be best to make the US blog (US) the main focus for everyone who speaks English and wants to keep up to date with everything going on in the world of Answers.

On the US Answers blog you’ll find everything from product updates to Answers news, celebrities and topical posts, competitions and of course Ask Mike (US), who blogs on curious, thought-provoking topics. You can leave your comments as well as Tweet and Liking posts on Facebook.

This means that for the foreseeable future the Canada Answers blog will point to the US Blog so for fresh news you’re better off heading there.  All our older  posts will remain here.

Thanks for all your feedback over the years,

C’mon, Join the fun. Enter the Yahoo! Messenger Faceoff Contest Today!

Do you love emoticons as much as our 500,000+ Yahoo! Messenger Facebook fans do? From now through March 18th, show us your best emoticon impression for a chance to have your face turned into a brand new Yahoo! Messenger emoticon to be added to the Yahoo! Messenger emoticon gallery.

Check out the Yahoo! Messenger Faceoff Contest on our Facebook fan page. Join the fun by simply submitting a photo of yourself imitating your favorite emoticon. Then encourage friends and family to vote for your submission in the Faceoff gallery or to submit their own photos if they think they can do better! After two rounds of voting, the winner with the most votes will have their face turned into a brand new emoticon for the world to use.

Go ahead – show the world your best smiley! If you’re too shy to submit a photo, visit the Faceoff gallery to vote for your favorites and support your friends.

Which emoticon are YOU?

- Yahoo! Messenger Team

Many of you show a lot of interest in the content that appears in the “Best of Answers” module and often ask how this is selected and what decisions go into what we choose to highlight. Today, we’d like to tell you more about this prominent module on the Yahoo! Answers homepage. Follow us behind the scenes!

Firstly, the module called “Best of Answers” actually features a number of different types of content; so let’s start with an overview of each of these types:

Best of Answers

The purpose of the “Best of Answers” module is to highlight the most interesting questions posted by you, the community. We can use this to feature either open or resolved questions. Of course, if we choose a resolved question then we include the first few lines of the best answer too.

For this module we really look for content that’s unique or unusual. The kind of content that makes us go “Whoa, I always wondered that!”

Special Feature

The Special Feature template is used to highlight questions that are being promoted by our team. Examples include Celebrity questions or official questions asked with our Team account (i.e. Safer Internet Day).

Featured Sponsor

As you’d expect from the name, these feature questions asked by one of our Sponsors or Knowledge Partners.

Featured Content

We use this space to surface posts from our blog or to our pages on Facebook or Twitter.

How can you make it onto the Best of Answers?

We check the site every day for interesting questions, but that’s not the only way we select what we feature. In fact, we encourage you to submit any content you think deserves to appear on the Yahoo! Answers homepage. Have you found an interesting or quirky question? Have you provided a fantastic answer and helped someone out? Send it to y_answrs_favorites@yahoo.com and it might be selected to appear on the Yahoo! Answers homepage!

To increase chances of being featured:

- The question, resolved or closed, should be of general interest, and ideally something that is not widely known

- The answer should not be easily found on the internet

- Try finding questions showing unique or experience-based knowledge

- Ensure that an avatar or a personal image is used

- Make sure the content is clear and well expressed

- And last but not least, the content needs to abide by our Community Guidelines and the Terms of Service.

We hope this overview will give you a better understanding of how we choose content to as the `Best of Answers`.

On February 8, 2011, Yahoo! will be joining forces with INSAFE, to celebrate Safer Internet Day and to help raise awareness about safety online.

Answer our special question: here

This year, efforts will address safety around “virtual lives” encompassing online gaming and social networking. The slogan for 2011 is, “It’s more than a game, it’s your life.” Staying online and being connected has become critical for today’s youngsters, and not being connected frequently means social exclusion.

GET INVOLVED

It’s easy to take part in this exciting one-day event!

• Learn more about online safety tips
• Share these online safety tips with your family and friends through Yahoo! Pulse, Facebook and Twitter
• Participate in the global Safer Internet Day Fair
• Share your own advice with the Answers community

Learn more about online safety tips

Think before you post. How you represent yourself online – the way you play games, the photos and texts you share, your avatar, and your profile – all add up to who you are. Invest in your online image.

Be a good sport when online. If you wouldn’t do it on the field, don’t do it online.

Take action and report bullying. By standing by and watching, laughing, or doing nothing when you see bullying happen, you become part of the problem. Don’t be a passive bystander.

Spread positivity when texting. Texting is core to staying connected and what you text is a reflection of you. Be thoughtful about what you text and confident that your texts portray you the right way. Remember messages can be misunderstood without body language to support your meaning.

Get out and connect with your world. It’s estimated that teens spend 7.5 hours a day watching some form of media. The Internet is fun, rich world, but don’t forget to unplug sometimes. Get out and connect with your friends in the real world.

Learn more about online safety. Yahoo! Safely is a global resource that provides parents, educators and teens with tips and advice on online safety. The site covers important topics such as managing digital reputations, avoiding cyber-bullying, and learning how to minimize risks on mobile devices, as well as provides guidance on how to safely use specific Yahoo! products, as well as a Yahoo! Answers Safety Guide.

Share these online safety tips for youth with your family and friends

Support Safer Internet Day by updating your Yahoo! Pulse status with:

“It’s more than a game, it’s your life: http://www.saferinternet.org”

Help drive awareness of online safety by sharing this blog post on Twitter and Facebook. It’s easy – just click `Like` or `Tweet` from the box at the bottom of this blog post to share it online.

Participate in the Safer Internet Day Fair

Join us in a “real” celebration of our virtual lives in the SID fair, by registering online or contacting your national awareness centre or SID committee. A video clip has been created in all official EU languages. Watch the clip and find further information about the activities being organised in your country through the Insafe website.

Share your own advice with the Answers community

Now over to you to share your own advice with the Answers community by sharing your tips on how to stay safe online in this week’s featured question:

What are your best tips to stay safe on the Internet?

The best answer will receive a bonus 50 points and an additional `top 5` best tips will receive 10 points each!

Here’s to staying safe online – not just on Safer Internet Day, but EVERYDAY!

Currently, as a pre-requisite to participate on Yahoo! Answers, we ask that you have a Yahoo! ID to sign-in to the Yahoo! network. This in turn is where your identity on both Yahoo! and Answers is managed from.

Now, as part of Yahoo’s moves to make the web a more social and open place we are opening up Answers to people with Google or Facebook IDs too.

We appreciate people don’t want to be overwhelmed by different logins for each site you want to participate in on the web and through a technology called OpenID we’re able to eliminate the need for multiple logins across different Web sites.

After you sign-in with your Google or Facebook ID you’ll be able to fully participate on Yahoo! Answers.

Check out this video to see how easy it is to sign-in with a Google or Facebook ID:

A few points to note:

• For existing Answers members you’ll still see all of your existing content when you login with your Yahoo! ID. However you also have the option to `bind` your Facebook/Gmail account with your Yahoo! account. If you choose to do this you’ll be able to see all of your Answers content when logged in with either your Gmail or Facebook account. Read this help page to find out how to do this*
• If you sign in with your Facebook ID you still control what is published to your Facebook feed from Answers through the checkbox on the ask/answer flow. Your activity on Answers will not automatically be published on your Facebook feed.
• OpenID isn’t available for the Mobile version of Answers just yet… we’re working on it though and we expect to make it available in the coming months
• All participants using Google or Facebook IDs will still be subject to our Yahoo! ToS and Answers Community Guidelines when contributing to the site.

For further information on Yahoo! Fast Pass check out the Yodel Anecdotal blog post: http://ycorpblog.com/2011/01/18/id-sign-in/

To celebrate the start of 2011, the community shared their inspirations by answering this question: What will you do to make 2011 special? and submitted their most inspirational photos to our Flickr group ‘Inspiration 2011.’

Now it’s time to show the best answer and a few other contributions that we really loved. Keep reading and see what the community is planning to do to make this year special!

Best Answer

The most inspirational answer came from Lise M who not only touched us with her answer, but also shows that despite her circumstances, she still has a plan and has a lot to look forward to this year.

I’m doing a 365 photo diary for my children and grandchildren. I have a terminal illness and so far have lived much longer than anyone expected. Now I want to document everyday of this new decade in pictures. I take at least one picture of something about my life every day, and then write about that day. Lord willing I will make it all the way through this New Year – if not, I will be with my Savior and that’s okay too. Happy 2011 everyone!

Great Contributions

We had over 2,000 answers and though we can only pick ONE best answer, we felt these answers were just as great. Definitely worth reading!

By Mr. Green:

I’m planning on looking to the new year with a better outlook. Last year was OK, but I want this year to be better. I plan on being more outgoing, meeting more new people by joining interest groups and just enjoying life. I think I haven’t taken enough time to smell the roses. So I plan on being less serious this year, and hopefully making new and better friendships. But I have to get over my fears and just do it! Here’s to another year!

By Jackie Huggins:
I will live life as I have been with the same good lifestyle and strive for the same happiness I have in life. I will start school in a few weeks, which is long overdue, and I will get the best grades I possibly can. I will love my three kids until they’re sick of me and I will try to be a better wife. I’m sure that would be the only change I would make! Life is so very great so I will be happy with what I was given.

By Kenny D:

This summer we have a month long vacation planned to visit Stuttgart, Germany and Vienna, Austria. We will visit our daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law in Stuttgart for the last 20 days in June, and then travel by rented car to Vienna, Austria and spend the last 7 days of our vacation in Vienna. We will be staying at the Grand Hotel in Vienna and have tickets to attend the Vienna Mozart Orchestra concert at the Vienna State Opera on the night before we fly home on July 7. Our daughter married a German national while she was stationed at Ramstein Air Base and she decided to stay in Germany when she separated from the Air Force. Our last visit was 4 years ago and at that time they was living in Kaiserslautern, but have since moved to Stuttgart after the birth of our granddaughter Emily.

By Tabby:

I aspire to do more for wildlife charities so the beautiful animals and birds in our world are safer from vandals. Then people can have beautiful places to exercise and enjoy the wildlife. I want to make notelets with my photographs of wildlife and sell them to help raise funds, and knit animal hats for kids to buy at Fayre’s. Also to learn more about animals and help on a practical level, too.

By Pink Sherbet Photography:

Paying off ALL our credit card debt by December 2011 so we can buy our first home in 2012 when my husband retires from the military after 24 years of service! Starting with the highest interest cards first, making extra large payments on those and minimum on the others. Once the highest interest card is paid in full, I start on the next highest, making my way down the list. Pinching every penny this year, clipping and using coupons and putting every extra dollar I can toward paying off the debt in 12 months!

By Veronica Barrera:

I’m a girl who loves writing, music, painting, drawing, and taking photos. For a long time I’ve wanted to put these favorites to work but because I’m my own worst critic, I never got around to it. This year is going to be different.

This year:
-I plan to do a painting/drawing
-write some stories and enter them in contests
-get back on the violin and piano
-write a song
-make a series of photography portfolios

This year, 2011, I plan to show off my creative side! Here’s to an awesome and prosperous year! Happy 2011

By rossislx:

Having been through many challenging years as a single Dad I have gotten to a new level, what the biggest accomplishment is my children are all (almost) adults. My youngest is a senior in High School and will be moving on. I am deeply satisfied with their achievements and the direction they are going. It’s been approximately 12 years single parenting. As those of you who know, it’s a huge challenge and effort raise kids. I have had to put aside much of the “me” throughout these years, therefore I am extremely excited about the new prospects that will be available when the time comes. I have a lot of unwinding to do. I have high hopes for finding my life and the things I enjoyed for so many years prior to my role in my family. I am hoping that things will spring back and the old adventurous and enthusiastic guy returns, So I am really excited about being a part of my boys transition into college and feeling rested more focused and less distracted.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

2011 has just begun and this is traditionally the time when everyone sets resolutions that they want to fulfill in the coming year. Whether you want to climb a serious mountain, finally try out grandma’s cake recipe that has been lying around for ages, or plan to do something good for your local community, now’s your moment. Think about what you are planning and if you’re inspired, why not share your aspirations by answering this question:

What will you do to make 2011 special?

Pictures paint a thousand words, as the expression goes, so that’s why we created the Flickr group “Inspiration 2011”. Here you can look at what other people have been thinking of or share photos that represent your inspiration and the goal you want to achieve in 2011.

Here’s to a happy 2011!

It’s Bonus time: Get Double Points for Your Answers Now!

For a strictly limited period, you can earn an extra 2 points for every question you answer.

‘Tis the time of year for saying “thank you”, giving gifts and rewarding hard work. Our way of saying “thank you” to you, the Yahoo! Answers community – for your hard work this year – comes in the form of this special bonus. Yes, it’s DOUBLE POINTS for every question you answer– four instead of two.

Why are we doing this?

We know you enjoy earning points on Yahoo! Answers, especially to move up through the levels. But we also know it can feel like slow progress at times, like a marathon… So, for a short while, we’re giving you the chance to sprint! With double points up for grabs, it’s a golden opportunity for you to make some big gains and go for the next level.

Has it started already? When does it end?

It’s live now from December 6^st and will last for a limited period of time. Want to know when it will end? Well, we’re going to keep that a secret for now…

However, if you follow us on Twitter we’ll give regular updates of how long is left…

We’ll also notify you here, on the blog, as soon as it closes. In the meantime, make the most of it!

How do I get started?

It couldn’t be easier to get involved. Just sign-in (or sign-up if you’ve not visited before) and start answering questions. The browse categories page is a great place to start.

Tell us what you think about our Double Point bonus

We think offering double points is something you will appreciate… we hope it’s not like one of those terrible Christmas presents you just want to put back under the tree. But do let us know what you really think – we won’t be offended, promise.

Also, do let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

You and your baby dozing off together:  The image is adorable, but co-sleeping, or sharing your bed with an infant, is often frowned upon in Western cultures.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warn parents not to put their infants to sleep in adult beds, arguing that the practice puts babies at risk of strangulation and suffocation. According to the CPSC, at least 515 infant deaths between January 1990 and December 1997 were linked to children sleeping in adult beds.

Despite the risks, many new studies showcase the advantages to co-sleeping, and the practice seems to be a rising trend. In his book on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, pediatrician William Sears cites co-sleeping as a proactive measure that parents can take to reduce the risk of death in infants. Sears stresses that co-sleeping babies learn to imitate healthy breathing patterns and spend less time in a state of deep sleep, in which the risk of apneas increases. In Japan co-sleeping is the cultural norm, and rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are among the lowest in the world. Harvard psychiatrist Michael Commons and Notre Dame anthropologist James McKenna state that babies who sleep alone are more susceptible to stress disorders.

Three years ago, users on Yahoo! Answers France initiated a question about where babies should spend the night (hyperlink http://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080316081500AA0tiRr), and the question remains popular on Yahoo! Answers globally. Especially heartwarming, I thought, is the latest discussion in Australia, dating back three months. I also found great advice from our Malaysian Answers community.

As with most controversial topics, there are convincing studies to support either side of the debate.  The important thing is to find the right decision for you and not to be intimated by advice of those who hold opposing viewpoints.  Remember, co-sleeping is not for everyone, and all experts agree that anyone sharing a bed with an infant should apply the following safety tips:

•   Never smoke in the room where your infant sleeps.
•   Do not take any drugs or alcohol that can affect your sleep.
•   Do not share an adult bed with more than one child at a time.
•   Never leave your infant alone in an adult bed.

If you are a parent who has shared the bed with your infant and you want to transition him or her to the crib, there is a great discussion on Answers India that can guide you on this process.

Lastly, I thought it would be fun to take a poll and see what those of you reading the blog have decided.

In the spirit of the holidays and the closing of the year, we thought we’d celebrate the 10 most popular questions — the ones that got the most answers from you, our awesome community. So we put together this Year in Review… and there will be even more quirky and fun end-of-the-year blog posts coming up in the next few weeks!

Yahoo! Answers readers ask a lot of questions about celebrities and sports, and this year was no exception. Big sports events such as soccer’s World Cup and the U.S. Open tennis tournament were especially popular subjects.

If you could ask David Beckham one question, what would you ask him and why?

Who would you choose to be in your World Cup team of the tournament?

What is the most thrilling part of tennis to you? (asked by Andy Roddick)

What tips can you give me for this year’s US Open? (asked by Andy Roddick)

We know how stylish the Answers community is, as “Beauty and Style” was the sixth-most-popular category this year. Some of our featured knowledge partners asked some interesting questions, including Pantene’s questions on hair.

What’s the best way to keep your hair healthy and shiny?

How do you pick the right hair care products for you?

It’s also no secret that we like holidays. We enjoyed reading what your plans were for Valentine’s Day, your Halloween traditions, and your most memorable vacations.

Without looking it up, why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day? And, what are your plans for February 14th?

Do you have a Halloween tradition you did as a kid that you now do with your child?

What was your best memory in a foreign city? Why was it so memorable?

Many Answers users are also passionate about other properties, such as Yahoo! Groups, and the Answers team received great feedback to relay to the Yahoo! Groups team on what users wanted to see.

If you could introduce one new feature onto Yahoo! Groups, what would it be?

Thanks to everyone who participated in answering these questions and for continuing to be a part of Yahoo! Answer’s thriving community! Now that you’ve seen 2010’s top 10 questions, what questions do you want to see on Answers for 2011? Leave your suggestions below!