Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

Dealing with small children can be very difficult. They are full of emotion, they find it hard to listen to reason, they break your favourite things and they get sick all the time.

Over recent years parents have been able to take heed by watching the reality show Supernanny, where childcare expert Jo Frost steps into people’s homes and helps parents connect better with their children, giving them simple methods and procedures to ensure children are disciplined without feeling unloved.

This week the Supernanny herself has joined Yahoo!7 Answers, but with a question about teenagers – perhaps an area she isn’t so experienced in. Jo is a keen supporter of anti drugs campaigns and while she is aware that parents who keep lines of communication open with their kids give them a better chance of making the right decisions when it comes to alcohol and drugs, but what she wants to know is what the warning signs that a teen is turning to substance abuse generally are.

Guiding teens through to adulthood is a challenging time for parents, and if they’re not too careful you’ll end up back where they started – with offspring who are emotional, refuse to listen to reason, break things and are constantly sick!

Clea

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If you’re like most internet users, you often head straight to your computer to find out something you want to know, be it what time the next bus leaves, who just won the Brownlow medal or where to download the latest Fergie music video.

The Yahoo!7 Search and Alpha Search functions help thousands of people find what they’re looking for everyday, but us Yahoos decided it’s time to have some fun with it by putting together a site that keeps track of the most popular searches each week.

Thus Yahoo!7 Pulse was born, bringing together all the hottest online search terms in one fun location. You probably won’t be surprised to know that “Big Day Out” was right up there this week, but it may interest you to know that Pasta Salad recipes is also very popular at the moment. In the world of celebrities Pamela Anderson’s latest husband Rick Salomon has been getting a lot of attention lately – in fact searches for his name jumped more than 2,000 percent in one week. Obviously he has found a successful way to boost his popularity!

The Pulse site also has its very own celebrity, the very lovely Lizzy Lovette, an already popular radio personality who will be bringing you weekly updates on what’s totally hot in the world of Search.

So check it out… and have a great weekend!

Clea

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 A number of questions I frequently see on Answers start with the words “Who invented…?” and I can never resist clicking through to see who it was, and what the reason behind their invention actually was.

It is amazing to think that just a couple of hundred years ago nobody got about on a bicycle because nobody had come up with the concept! And that for a long time it was just the Hawaiians who were getting their kicks by catching waves on long wooden boards. Even the pencil had to be thought of and put into production… and then someone had to invent the sharpener!

It’s not just products that are invented. Words like “smog” didn’t used to be in the dictionary, and concepts like the toothfairy were originally initiated centuries ago and handed down through the ages.

There are so many inventions in the world today that we just can’t remember living without, like the mobile phone… and there are plenty that have made the world a more fun place – like whoopee cushion! Australia is definitely on the map when it comes to great inventions too, with Aussie Rules football firmly a way of life in most parts of the country and a whole swag of great other initiatives that have found their way into our cupboards and offices and have even changed medical science.

I am eagerly anticipating the invention of the teleporter. Who says it can’t be done? We could all be breakfasting in Tuscany, popping into the office and then taking an evening stroll along the Champs Elysee before going to Mum and Dad’s for dinner!

Clea

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The next federal election is just around the corner! Well, ok, the announcement of when the next federal election will be is just around the corner. The Prime Minister John Howard is expected to announce any day that we will collectively be heading to the polls once more, sending politicians around the country into serious campaigning mode.

Yahoo!7 is doing its job to keep voters in touch with what’s happening during the election with a brand new site that has all the latest news and even includes blogs from political writers and politicians themselves. The Yahoo!7 Election site is packed full of policy information, current poll results and interesting commentary… and best of all… with questions from Yahoo!7 Answers users. That’s right, if you post a question in the Election category it will appear on the Election page – giving you even more opportunity for great quality answers.

There have already been some great questions popping up, covering all sorts of issues, including who to vote for, what to do if you’re away on polling day and even people’s reasons for voting in the first place. It is great to see people interested in the way our country was run in the past and how it will be run in the future.

So if there’s anything you want to know about a current political issue, or even some election related trivia, you can find out with the help of Yahoo!7.

Clea

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Time to hit the road again…Australia may be distant from other countries but the possibilities for domestic travel are just endless. You can go white water rafting in Coffs Harbour, hiking through the Daintree, driving along the Great Ocean Road or wine tasting in South Australia’s Clare Valley. There is always opportunity for adventure, wildlife spotting or simply relaxing and watching the world go by.

Channel 7’s Mike Whitney is lucky enough to have experienced almost every corner of NSW for the popular program Sydney Weekender, but he joins Yahoo!7 Answers this week with a more specific question about travelling – “Where’s a great place in Australia to take kids for the summer holidays?”

I spent many a happy summer in Western Australia’s Margaret River area, enjoying the beaches and exploring the amazing caves that are a hit tourist attraction with all ages. No doubt you have some great experiences of your own that you can share.

Some of Mike’s favourite Australian travel experiences can be found by visiting the new Yahoo!7 My Australia website – where there are all kinds of hints and tips to help you plan your next holiday!

Clea

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As any Bart Simpson fan can tell you, “a burp is not an answer.” Neither is idk. If your only response to someone’s plea for help is “I don’t know” (and with an abbreviation no less), then please refrain from chiming in. It’s not only annoying to other people, it could be considered point gaming, which is in violation of the Community Guidelines. A popular variation of idk occurs when the responder has nothing to contribute and just expresses the wish to know the answer as well. Still useless and still a violation.

Another “non-answer” is a rant that offers no advice or solutions. Let’s say you are going to make fondue tonight, and you’re looking for the best cheese to use. You get: “I hate cheese. Cheese is evil.” That’s really no help at all. Now, “Cheese is disgusting but use Gruyere.” — that’s something you can use.

Is it OK to just answer with a yes or no? Yes. If it makes sense in the context of the question, that is. Of course, it’s better if you can elaborate a little and let others know the reasoning behind your answer.

One last thing – if you discover a violation and “call out” the abusive post or member, you become part of the problem. It may be tempting to leave an insult or “reported”; however, it’s not an answer and it’s against the Community Guidelines. Take the high road on this one – just report it and leave it at that.

Bart Simpson may come up with some smart-aleck answers, but at least they’re answers. The reality is that people come to Yahoo!7 Answers looking for…well, answers. So please keep that in mind the next time you find your cursor hovering over that big blue button. We’d all really appreciate it.

Clea

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Photo by skudsI am always quite the popular team member at the local pub quiz night… something I attribute to the ludicrous amounts of time I spend on Yahoo!7 Answers. My friends look to me when the question is asked which country has produced the most nobel prize winners, what kind of reed Lisa Simpson uses for her saxophone or what the name of the first Beatles Album was because I am the most likely to have read it somewhere during the course of my work!

The trivia category is a great place to visit to have a look for all the things you never realised you didn’t know.

Why are lighthouses round?

What was New York originally known as?

Who decides what pubs are named?

Why do we blow out candles on a birthday cake?

Keep an eye in the trivia section of Yahoo!7 Answers and you’ll be an absolute know it all before you can say “What’s the longest place name on Earth?”

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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This week’s featured user, Kelly R, has only been helping the Answers community since July this year but has already made it to level 5 and has amassed nearly 8,000 points! From the 1200 answers she has given 34% of them have been voted as best – a brilliant effort.

A Gold Coast resident and mother of 2, Kelly’s fields of expertise are in the Health categories Diseases & Conditions and Pain & Pain Management . Kelly has qualifications in medical reception and pharmacology so she is able to help people out when they have medical questions relating to issues such as stomach viruses or simply getting to sleep at night. While Kelly doesn’t claim to be a doctor she definitely has a great deal of medical knowledge and advice to pass on.Kelly’s other passion is cooking, so she can often be spotted in the Cooking and Recipes section, where she currently holds a Top Contributor badge. Her expertise spans from simple hints and tips to recipes for sweets, ethnic food dishes – you name it! Kelly has great ideas for what to do with different ingredients, and they aren’t always to do with eating!Kelly has the right attitude when it comes to Answers – she just loves helping people but doesn’t always expect them to take her advice. Her policy is to be polite – which is what we all appreciate !

Congratulations Kelly, your informative responses and great attitude make Yahoo!7 Answers a better place to be!

Yahoo!7 Answers Team

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You are doing great!

It has been a couple of weeks since we released the new beta of community moderation and the early results are very, very promising. You, the Answers community, are removing the most abusive questions and answers within minutes! Plus the average time to remove abuse is getting faster and faster each day. Accuracy rates are equally impressive and also improving daily. We manually review each report and have found that abuses removed through the new system have a better than 98% accuracy rate. We’ve kept the system in a conservative mode for now (to see how it performs) by focusing on the most abusive or blatant violations and it is working.

Of course, there are many improvements to be made. We are progressively tuning the system to make things better, reviewing thousands of abuse reports to determine if our algorithms are effective at identifying the most trusted reporters. Some of you have asked about the exact way we measure a trusted reporter, but we can’t release this information. It would be like Yahoo!7 Mail telling people how they determine spam email from good email. Suffice to say, if you report well and participate responsibly in the community, you become trusted and have more impact in the community.

We will be updating you regularly on the progress of community moderation, especially as we expand the system based on the early success.

Congrats and thanks to all of you who are taking an active role to keep Answers healthy and growing!

The Yahoo!7 Answers Team

P.S. Community moderation also helps to reduce spam! So report it whenever you see it and help to improve Answers.

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