Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

The Oscars really sneak up on you some years – all of a sudden it’s late February and the cream of Hollywood are all out there in their lovely frocks smiling without crinkling their eyes and hoping their double sided tape does its job. This year there are some unfamiliar faces on the red carpet – and some of them have been surprise winners. I had never heard of Marion Cotillard and neither had a lot of other Answers users – but now that she’s an Oscar winning actress no doubt we’ll all be seeing more of her.

The Academy Awards would be nothing without the red carpet arrivals, and there were no disappointments this year with the usual array of both stunning and eyebrow raising frocks on show. And thank heavens for the frocks because it is a rather uninspiring event this year – no controversial nominations such as Brokeback Mountain, no dubious speeches from the likes of Michael Moore and not even any cute junior nominees like Abigail Breslin or Keisha Castle Hughes. I’m sad to say I’ve only seen one of the nominated best pictures – I will definitely have to give my video store membership a workout over the next few months!

It is fun looking around Answers for interesting facts on the Oscars – such as why they are even called Oscars, which person has won the most awards or who has been nominated at least once in each decade since the 1960’s. One person has even asked about winning Oscars if you are deceased – something that could have possibly happened had Heath Ledger been nominated again this year.

Keep an eye on Yahoo!7 for all the winner announcements and frock-tastic photos!

Clea

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Time for another featured user!

This week’s Answers superstar hails from Melbourne and has had many different roles in her life, including Competitive Ballroom Dancer, Beautician, Make up Artist and now full time Mum to two pre-school aged children. Dancesportdiva joined Answers back in December 2006, before the site was even a year old and is now a Level 4 user, with close to 3,000 points and a 29% Best Answer rate. Although the name suggests she’d be a whiz in the Dance category, Dancesportdiva’s Top Contributor badge comes from the Newborn and Baby category, where she can mostly be found answering questions and helping other Mums on the topics of how to predetermine the sex of your baby, what to eat when you’re pregnant, how to deal with baby hiccups and what books are good for children.Dancesportdiva started off in this category but she says she also loves answering questions about movies, beauty & style, health, food & drink and of course – dance!This user is doing so well because of her informative and helpful answers and also because she will only try to answer questions covering subjects she has experience in. This enables her to know she’s giving the right information and ups her chances of being chosen as best!
Dancesportdiva loves getting best answers and we love reading them! Well done!

Clea

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Da da da DA! Da da da! (That’s me humming the Indiana Jones theme song.)

The fourth Indiana Jones film is about to hit the big screen and is said to be just as exciting an adventure as the first three. Can you believe it has been 19 years since the last one was made? I remember talking about how great Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade would be in the car on the way to school – it really doesn’t seem that long ago. I also remember watching terrified a few years earlier during Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when they were underground and covered in bugs. That and many other Indiana Jones scenes have stayed in my memory. Remember the little kid? And the eyeball soup? Gross!

Did you know that the role made famous by actor Harrison Ford very nearly went to someone else? That person unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be had other commitments so “Indy” as we now know and love him was instead played by the gruff but lovable Harrison.

Lots of our favourite elements will be back in the movie. Indiana will have his trademark hat and whip, and no doubt there will be an attractive lady to rival those that have gone before. Will she be up to scratch? We’ll have to wait and see!

You can check out the preview at Yahoo!7 Movies and also read reviews once it hits cinemas.

Clea

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Hey folks, you should know by now that the Yamster frowns on answers like “Thanks for the two points”, and questions like “Ten points to the first who answers”. We consider these cases to be point-gaming, and they go against our Community Guidelines.

We’ve also discovered that some folks have doing other things to increase their points unfairly, for example, by creating more than one account and then voting themselves the Best Answer. This is also a no-no. We want everyone to be able to gain points fairly, by using Answers as it should be used. Also, some people have been targeting members by either giving them thumbs-down votes for no reason at all, or by repeatedly reporting them for abuse (even when there is no abuse to be reported), which isn’t something any of us want to see happening. In the end this kind of behaviour will get you nowhere too, as “dobbing in” a question that doesn’t violate the Community Guidelines it lowers your reputation as a reporter.

At our end, we’re getting a bit more aggressive about tracking such unfair behaviour that goes against our Community Guidelines. Answers is a great place to share knowledge – and the points system is meant to encourage good content, not bad behaviour.

So, let’s make Answers a great place for asking, answering and voting. Make the Yamster proud!

Clea

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Photo by jayspost

A Canadian friend of mine referred to a police van as a paddy wagon the other day and it had never occurred to me that this wasn’t an Australian colloquial term. I went seeking out the origin of the “slang” description and there it was on Answers that the name comes from a time when Irish immigrants often became unruly and had to be carted away by the police.

Later when reading a magazine and seeing the use of (sic) after a spelling mistake my curiosity was piqued again, so it was back to Answers to find out why this follows a badly spelt quote in publication.

It’s strangely habit forming, as I’m sure you’re aware, that once you’ve started using Answers lots of questions keep coming to mind. Like why is it called a KitKat? And who decided on the name for soap operas? And why is some olive oil known as “extra virgin”? All these questions can be answered – and quite often they already have been, so it’s worth doing a search to see if the correct response is already there.

Although it may sometimes annoy your friends that you constantly say “let’s ask on Answers!” (until they get used to using it themselves) it is very handy at trivia nights and when making conversation at parties to be able to explain that St Elmo’s Fire is an electroluminescent coronal discharge caused by the ionisation of air during thunderstorms and that the reason brides throw their bouquets is that it’s meant to distracts other fair maidens from tearing shreds off her dress for luck so the bride herself can make a quick getaway.

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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There’s a saying that if you can make friends with a plumber, an electrician, a doctor, a mechanic and a lawyer you’ll save a lot of money in your lifetime. One of the great things about Answers is that it connects you to all these types of people and one more – who is this week’s featured user.

Goonhilda is a top contributor in the Personal Finance category, has amassed close to five thousand points and has made it to level four since joining the Answers community around three months ago. A resident of Shepparton in Central Victoria, she is a self confessed “tight arse” who describes herself as a bargain queen, is intent on paying off her house within five years and loves it when other people get excited about their money.

Personal Finance is Goonhilda’s favourite hobby and she keeps up to date on the topic by reading anything she can get her hands on about the topic. The knowledge she has gathered has enabled her to help other users with their financial difficulties and questions, be they about how to invest their savings, putting a little bit of extra cash away each week, saving to reach specific goals or paying off a car loan when times get tough. Goonhilda always offers constructive advice and ideas to other users and they are all so grateful that she has helped them get out of their financial pickle!

In her own words –

“I think Yahoo!7 Answers is great. I like the question and answer format, and I enjoy the opportunity it provides for intellectual stimulation. It’s great mental exercise. I also love giving answers and advice to people who really seem to need it. Money can be a scary thing for some people, and I hope I make it not as scary. Sometimes all people need is a little information or someone to crunch some number for them. Sometimes a little humour helps people put things in perspective.”

Goonhilda’s one complaint comes via her “very spoilt pet rabbit” who lives indoors and has never been outside, and is disappointed there isn’t a category for rabbits! Sorry about that Mr Bunnikins – we’ll see what we can do.

And thanks Goonhilda for your great contributions – keep it up!

Clea

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Tomorrow will mark a momentous day for Australian history, with an official apology to be issued by the new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the nation’s indigenous population for the actions that led to an entire generation of people being labelled “stolen”.

I don’t want to write a political comment piece as this is not the forum for it, and let’s face it, there is more than enough opinion on the issue of saying sorry out there on Answers and beyond! So I thought I’d look around for some question relating to Aboriginal culture and not delve into the matter of whether or not this apology is akin to putting a bandaid on an axe wound.

The Aboriginal people arrived possibly millions of years ago to Australia and lived off the land for centuries, creating their own religion based on the mythical “Dreamtime” and forming their own rituals and ceremonies around their beliefs. Those stories and legends have been passed down through time and still fascinate schoolchildren, adults and visiting tourists today.

One of the elements that fascinates me most about the Aboriginal culture is the didgeridoo, which can create a haunting sound that fills even the largest space. The only difficulty is getting it to sound like more than an outbreak of bad manners! I am certainly not very proficient at doing so! I also love to learn about Aboriginal place names and they way they often roll off the tongue in such a lovely way. Being from Western Australia it is easy to forget how ancient the names of suburbs and towns like Karrynup, Pinjarra, Karrakatta and Wanneroo really are.

Keep an eye on Yahoo!7 News for all the latest about the PM’s announcement tomorrow.

Clea

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After putting a couple of Australian animal questions in the Best of Answers module this morning I got to thinking about how may animals are special to this part of the world.

Australia is the native home to so many amazing native animals with unique features. For example the echidna is one of the only two mammals that lays eggs, setting it apart from species like the porcupine and hedgehog. Kangaroos have amazing gestational abilities, even being able to halt their joey’s development in the pouch.

I am always excited to have foreign guests and to see their reaction to possums in my backyard or to the sound of kookaburras laughing in the trees. (One of my friends stopped, listened and said “I think I can hear monkeys!”). People from other countries are often naïve about our wildlife – some thinking that there are spiders lurking around every corner – waiting to make a flying leap for the jugular. Others wrongly assume that just because something looks cute and furry doesn’t mean it won’t lash out if provoked. Even the toothless emu and the cute looking platypus can inflict a lot of pain to a human.

There is so much to learn about Australian animals – for one thing koalas aren’t bears, and did you know that a sulphur crested cockatoo can outlive many humans? It’s a wonder they aren’t running the country!

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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Three seasons and poor old Jake, Kate, Sawyer, Claire and all their friends are still stuck on that mystery island after their plane crashed. They’ve been chased by scary animals, shot at, kidnapped and beaten up… and deprived of access to fashionable new outfits.But the hype about this incredible drama series is yet to die down – and on the eve of the premier of the fourth season in Australia Answers is bubbling with questions about what could possibly be about to happen. One of the big topics of speculation is that Charlie isn’t actually dead – so many characters have “moved on” throughout the series, but Charlie’s likeability and longevity have made it hard to let go! This interview with the actor who plays Charlie may confirm some viewers’ worst fears.

Lost is definitely a hard series to follow if you miss episodes, because so much happens in every instalment. This user wanted a quick recap of Season three – I don’t know if that’s possible! There are so many twists and turn in the plot that even the producers sometimes have to ask the viewers what they think is going on!

So what’s in store for Season 4? It starts tonight on Channel 7 (9:30 to be precise) and hopefully at least some of the questions asked in the finale of the last season will be answered! No doubt this thrilling show will have an amazing climax – we just have to be patient to find out what it’s going to be!

Clea

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When it comes to money, while we all use it, it seems like you need to have a degree to understand it. Finance has been a big topic of discussion lately, with the stockmarket taking a dive and interest rates rising to a level higher than they have been in years. The Yahoo!7 Finance Team has joined the discussion on Answers – wanting to know how the change in interest rates will affect you, particularly if you are a homeowner.

Interest rates and mortgages aren’t the only topic of discussion when it comes to the old “cashola”. Some of the most popular questions in the Personal Finance category on Answers relate to saving money, investing it or making it last as long as possible. There’s just always too much month left at the end of the money! There are also lots of questions from people who want to make a ridiculously large amount in a ridiculously short period of time … but be wary of the Answers you see! If something seems too good to be true if probably is! Don’t forget to report something you suspect might be spam if you come across it.

Fortunately for those of us who are financially challenged and equally naïve to the inner workings of cash flow there are some really well informed users out there who are just standing by to help on anything from credit ratings to bankruptcy!

Clea

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