Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

I am a sad victim of the cold sore virus and am forever looking for a way to stop them before they take hold. One of the best methods is getting hold of the strongest cream you can and having it handy at all times – but sometimes that nasty little virus rears it’s ugly head when you are nowhere near an open chemist, so that’s not an option. It’s great to have a couple of home remedies up my sleeve for when this happens, and while I do use ice to try to stop the swelling, I only recently learned that a paste made from baking soda can also be effective in drying out the sore. Thanks to Answers of course!

Answers is full of handy tips from users on how to use household items to get rid of fleas, help a sore throat or reduce the pain of a hangover. Some people would rather go without chemicals and drugs where possible to treat disorders like anxiety or medical conditions such as morning sickness, and there is plenty of advice to be found. Reading through the many suggestions, it seems one product comes up more often than any others – vinegar! One user posted 64 different uses for this simple pantry staple, including everything from deterring ants to clearing up warts.

Questions requesting home remedies for hair issues come up very frequently – from dry scalp to oily hair, from getting it to grow faster to making it shiny… it is certainly amazing to read what you can do with a simple jar of mayonnaise!

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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To me it seems that if you asked everyone what their top ten hobbies are photography would be on pretty much every list. It’s so easy to do, it doesn’t have to cost the earth and it’s nice to capture your memories to look back on.

Since the invention of digital cameras allowed us to just snap and snap and snap and then delete whichever pictures we don’t like, since more and more homes have computers to display their photos on, and since sites like flickr made it possible to share your pictures with the world it seems everyone is an amateur photographer, documenting every possible moment, from a nicely prepared meal to a crowd at a popular night club.

But while we all love taking photos, there is a big different between happy snaps and professional looking portraits. And while many enjoy it as a hobby, making a decent living at it isn’t so easy. There are so many techniques to learn about and even the terminology itself is a list a mile long. It takes a while to understand why photos don’t always turn out the way you think they will (red eye!) and how to correct mistakes like overexposure and to get to know the best way to work with difficult subjects such as children and animals.

My question is – never mind taking a photo – how do I make sure I look good in it!?!

Clea

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Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy for all, of loving and giving and time spent together. However, it usually ends up being a time of shopping, stressing and time spent arguing, rushing around and generally feeling out of control.

There are decorations to be put up, myriad gifts to be bought, meals to be planned and prepared and a bunch of end of year functions to attend. Between trying to get all your work done before the holiday period and figuring out how you can afford to get everyone a gift without taking out a second mortgage on the house the sense of peace and goodwill to all men tends to get lost!

If you’re not be the type of person to do the shopping any time before December 20^th, check out this article from Women’s Health magazine, which has some handy tips for how to stay cool over Christmas.

And if you are the type who has all the shopping done by October, doesn’t gain a kilo despite all the champagne and candy canes and who never fights with family on Christmas Day then share your secret with Women’s Health editor Felicity Percival – who is asking this week what you do to keep holiday stress at bay.

I’m definitely a last minute shopper, but if you take a good friend along with you and accept the fact that it’s going to be hectic you can at least laugh about the crazy holiday season that we subject ourselves to each year!

Clea

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Some say a change is as good as a holiday.

If that’s the case then much of Australia is on holiday at the moment after an historic weekend in Australian politics saw a new government elected after 11 years of Liberal domination. Saying “Prime Minister Rudd” will take some getting used to after more than a decade of “Prime Minister Howard”!

The weekend certainly finally saw the answer to that one big question – “Who will win the election?” but raised several more as everyone began getting their heads around the idea of a Labor government in power. For example, users on Answers are interested in which electorates switched parties, which policies Rudd is planning to introduce now that he is leader and also whether or not our relationship with the US will change in any way in the immediate future.

However the results, and the resulting questions weren’t all focused around Labor. The (now former) Treasurer and perennial bridesmaid Peter Costello announced he would not be contesting the party leadership shortly after the results started coming in, and the casualties weren’t only from the Liberal party, with the Greens and Democrats also suffering losses. It now remains to be seen who will takeover the Liberal leadership from the frontrunners Tony Abbott, Brendan Nelson, Joe Hockey and Malcolm Turnbull.

It was definitely an exciting weekend in the world of politics, but I think that whether people are happy with the result or not most of us are just glad it’s finally over!

Clea

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Photo by Joe Gatling

Ah the mini break. The US is having one this weekend for Thanksgiving (four days off a month before Christmas – lucky them) and I too am taking an extra day and heading off to Melbourne to catch up with friends and bask in the delights of Australia’s cosmopolitan hotspot.

There’s nothing like a short trip, the flight is over before you know it, the language is the same and the people drive on the same side of the road. I’ve been able to do a lot of research on my destination too using Answers, learning about how much money I will need to board a tram, which areas offer the most affordable accommodation and figuring out where exactly to go shopping!

There are so many things to do in that part of the world, many of them revolving around food and wine, but still plenty of cultural and sightseeing experiences on offer. I wish I had a little more time to spend – I’d be heading out of the city to check out some of the other sights that greater Victoria has to offer… there are so many and it’s the perfect time of year to go.

But don’t worry, I’ll be back Monday, post election, to keep bringing you the best of Answers.

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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Yet again Answers brings you an update to improve your experience!

Have you ever had a violation notice and had no idea what you actually did wrong? Some users get confused why their “Do you like my avatar?” or “Fill in the blank – I’m feeling __________?” questions get removed, not realising that what they’ve posted is deemed chatting or isn’t actually asking a question under the Yahoo!7 Answers Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.

So from now on if you do receive a violation notice it will include the reason why your question or answer was removed, whether our Customer Care agents deemed it to be spam, not comprehensible or even if it’s judged to be adult content.

And if you really disagree with the violation notice, don’t forget that you can appeal to Customer Care and potentially have your points returned to you!

Yahoo!7 Answers Team

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The feeling of walking out of that final exam and knowing that high school is behind you forever is definitely memorable. Twelve long years finally over, and now the rest of your life sits in front of you – with endless possibilities.

But first things first – time to celebrate. Australian teenagers do it in… ahem… “style”, by heading to several key destinations around the country, including Western Australia’s Rottnest Island, Byron Bay and most significantly to the Gold Coast, to live it up. There are loads of questions on Answers around this time of year about the topic of schoolies – some users just wondering what it’s like, others wondering if they dare send their child off to party unsupervised for an entire week! The hazards of this massive annual event are numerous – police have their hands full to stop the fighting, predatory “toolies” abound and for those who have just come of legal drinking age – well it can get messy. Plus all that sun can result in nasty burns, ruining the week for some. Girls get bitchy, boys brawl and not everyone is lucky in love.

Many have called over the years for the mass congregation of excited teenagers to be banned, saying it puts them all at risk and ruins the holidays of anyone else who has foolishly booked their annual vacation on the same week. But if you look on the bright side it’s a massive boost for local businesses… and who doesn’t look back on their own action packed schoolies experience and laugh? It’s a once in a life time opportunity that precedes life in the real world – and wouldn’t we all go back to that best summer holiday ever if we had the chance?

Clea

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There are 8,862 questions about elephants on Yahoo!7 Answers, on all aspects of their existence, from the saying that they never forget to the length of their tusks. It is amazing to learn that these tusks are actually just extra long teeth that never stop growing throughout their lives.

Elephants really are fascinating creatures. They can swim across lakes and oceans, but they can’t jump in the air. They eat and drink several times the body weight of a human every single day and they have the longest gestational period of any mammal on the planet. They will willingly transport humans and have even been used at war throughout the ages.

There are two distinct types of this amazing animal, found in Asia and Africa. Unfortunately neither has been able to escape the threat of extinction over the years, with so many factors contributing to their gradual decline in numbers. It is terrible to think that these amazing creatures may go the same way as their close relative, the woolly mammoth, to become the yet another creature that existed in days gone by.

If you get the chance, see what other elephant questions you can find on Answers! I’d love to see them!

Clea

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Hi there,

The Yahoo!7 Answers engineers are scheduled to perform regular maintenance on Monday, November 19, starting at 4am. We expect the work to last about 5 and a half hours and there will be a total outage of Yahoo!7 Answers during this time.

Sorry for any inconvenience! We’ll keep you posted if there are any changes to the schedule.

Yahoo!7 Answers Team

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It’s not often you get an opportunity to submit your ideas to a member of Parliament… well that’s if you don’t regularly visit Yahoo!7 Answers!

A number of politicians have featured recently on the site, the latest being Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey. His portfolio has come under intense speculation lately with the introduction of the new Australian Workplace Relation laws, which have been happily welcomed by some and strongly opposed to by others.

Joe Hockey’s question relates to your workplace – he wonders what flexible and family arrangements your employer has introduced. If the answer is nothing, then he wants to know what you would suggest they do to improve the way you manage your work/life balance.

What a great opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas with someone who is accountable to us all as the voting public.

Clea

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