Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

We see them on our movie and television screens, read about them in newspapers and magazines, see updates about their lives in twitter and all over the internet. Celebrities are light years away in the worlds they live but our accessibility to them and their lives makes us feel that we know them intimately.

We discuss them as though they’re our friends. Does Jennifer Aniston have commitment issues or has she just been unlucky in love? Should Madonna be allowed to adopt another child from Malawi? Do Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal make a good couple?

Of course we know many of their public personas aren’t real. We’ve heard how they tip off paparazzi when they’re trying to get publicity for their latest movie and I really hope we all know that the way they’re portrayed in magazines is extremely altered thanks to the wonders of photoshop.

We even know that many of them don’t want the attention. As Evangeline Lilly from Lost recently told Women’s Health magazine, we don’t know her so why should we care what’s she’s doing and who she’s dating? The intensely private star admires Angelina Jolie for her illusiveness: “No one knows that woman; she’s a complete ice queen, which is perfect… Why should she be any more? She doesn’t owe us anything.”

Not only that but some of them are pretty vocal about their dislike. We’ve seen celebrities like Julia Roberts yell at the paparazzi when they tried to photograph her dropping her children off at school and of course we all remember what happened to poor Diana.

But does any of that stop us from buying trashy magazines and discussing whether that photo of Miley Cyrus and her Dad was just a little bit creepy? No, of course not. Why?

In my opinion, we love the unreality of it! It’s like a grown up fantasy version of princess stories we heard growing up. These people lead these wealthy lives looking perfect in gorgeous clothes on a shiny red carpet. And we can go along for the ride by reading about them online or in twitter. It’s the ideal escape.

Why do you think we love reading about celebrities?

Caitlin
Community Manager

You’re asking or answering a question and you want to mention a great site as a reference. How do you make sure your link doesn’t violate the Answers Community Guidelines? We’ve been getting a lot of questions about including links in questions and answers. Here is a reminder on what is considered acceptable and what is an infraction of the Community Guidelines.

What is considered spam?
Spam is unsolicited email. The spam answer usually has little or no relevance to the question and contains either a link to a spam page or an email address. If you notice someone answering questions compulsively with a link to an unrelated site (usually a site offering money or selling products), report it! You’ve found a spammer.

What about links to a question I posted?
Some people end their answer with “Please answer my question: http://au.answers.yahoo.com/…” But the question they link to often has nothing to do with what you were asking . This kind of linking also violates the Community Guidelines as it is the same as spam-unsolicited links.

What kind of link is acceptable?
Know a website or book that might help the asker? You can! That’s why we included the ‘Sources’ box on the answer page. Just paste the URL into the ‘Sources’ box. You’ll be making your answer much more complete.

By posting the useful links in the ‘sources’ box and by reporting spam, you’re helping make Answers a better site.

Have more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!

A few weeks ago, a poll was conducted in the US asking which celebrity you’d choose as a babysitter for your kids. Comedienne Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia deRossi topped the poll as the most popular celebrity baby sitter, beating Brad & Ange, Oprah and even super mum Jennifer Garner. The Answers team wondered if Australians would choose differently… so we asked you guys, the Answers community, Which celebrity would you most feel comfortable leaving your kids with?

Although many of you said things like “I wouldn’t trust any of them with my kids. I don’t know them and I don’t leave the care of my kids with strangers.” (Nemo), as Kaihla mentioned: “It’s just a bit of fun. It’s not real. It’s hypothetical.” Exactly, you’re never going to drop little Timmy off at Britney Spears’ place and expect him to be fed, entertained and put to bed (not sure if even her own kids expect that).

So which celebrities did you think would be good at looking after your little monsters? It seems Aussie stars were particularly admired – Ellen & Portia (one half Aussie couple) were still a popular choice, closely followed by Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban, Hugh Jackman & Deborah Lee Furness and Cate Blanchett. Chimney said:

If I had kids (only 18) I would be more than happy to leave them with Ellen and Portia! I love those two! Not to add he/she would have fun from the minute they got there until the minute they didn’t want to leave because of how fun and hyperactive Ellen can be! I would be assured that my child would sleep great that night!

Hugh Jackman and his wife Deb. They are Aussie and definitely seem like grounded parents. – Jmketsy

Others thought more about the values some celebrities seem to uphold:

Reese Witherspoon–I’ve read some interviews and agree with some of her values regarding children - Naomi

Tom Hanks. He is a family man who has been happily married for 22 years and has 4 kids. He hasn’t received any critisism for being mentally challenged or for child abuse or anything along those lines. -Hornet

Jennifer Garner. I actually have met her once. She is very down to earth and very smart. She also has kids of her own. So she would be my first pick. – BrooklynS

Quite a few people said Michael Jackson and Gary Glitter, although I’m pretty sure they were joking. Jen had other reservations:

Well I wouldn’t leave them with Madonna or Angelina- they might try and adopt them!

Fur_shizzel seems to be having a bad day with his/her kids: None, I wouldn’t do that to any celebrity, even the ones I don’t like! Oh dear!!

Caitlin
Community Manager

It’s humpday, it’s cold outside and it feels like ages since we’ve had a long weekend. I know, I know, we shouldn’t still be upset about missing out on an ANZAC Day long weekend but it really does feel like a long time since there’s been a chance for a Monday sleep in. Unfortunately we’ve still got a few weeks until the June Queen’s Birthday Holiday (although WA gets their long weekend a week before the rest of us).

So for the mid May humpday blues, here are some pick me ups!

Q: What’s the most uplifting and happy song to you?

A: Love Inc. Your A Superstar
Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks
Garth Brooks – Standing outside the fire
Sheryl Crow – if it makes you happy
Alanis Morisette – Ironic
Alicia Keys – No One
Amy McDonald – Mr. Rock n Roll
Cher – Just Like Jesse James
Letters to Cleo – I want you to want More

Q: What are some happy movies that make you smile?

A: I loved “Ever After” with Drew Barrymore
and “Never been Kissed” also with Drew.
I also liked “The Wedding Date” with Debra Messing & Dermot Mulroney.
And I liked “Enchanted” even though I’m a grown up! LOL
I hope these help! More

Q: What things do your kids do that makes you smile?

A: Well the random I love yous are the best by far.. or the goofy pictures he draws me to hang at my desk at work… But the most recent smiles I get from him, is how well he does with his new sister. Every night he has to tell her he loves her and kiss her (which usually wakes her up lol, but I have to deal with it haha) When she was 2 weeks old she had a stuffy nose and started screeming, my son ran into my room (it was about 3am) he jumped on my bed and asked what was wrong, I said I don’t know as I hadn’t figured it out yet, and said would you like me to sing her a lullaby? He sang to her as I calmed her and he didn’t go back to sleep until he knew she was ok. More

Q: What is the funniest joke you have ever heard?

A: A bus carrying only ugly people crashes into an oncoming truck, and everyone inside dies. They then get to meet their maker and because of the grief they have experienced; he decides to grant them one wish each, before they enter Paradise.
They’re all lined up, and God asks the first one what the wish is. “I want to be gorgeous,” and so God snaps His fingers, and it is done.
The second one in line hears this and says “I want to be gorgeous too.” Another snap of His fingers and the wish is granted.
This goes on for a while with each one asking to be gorgeous but when God is halfway down the line the last guy in the line starts laughing.
When there are only ten people left, this guy is rolling on the floor, laughing his head off. Finally, God reaches this last guy and asks him what his wish will be. The guy eventually calms down and says: “Make ‘em all ugly again”. More

Last month, 2008 Miss Universe Australia Laura Dundovic asked the community What are your tips for feeling great on the inside and looking good on the outside? She got some great responses, but one of our favourites was:

Nothing beats, the “smile”. Smiling helps keep yyou feeling good, but makes you look better on the outside too. A warning though, it is contagious. Smiling will eventually pass onto others making others feel good too. haha… As a bus ticket once told me, “If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours”

If you want to see Laura’s tips, check out the video below.

How about you? How do you get over the humpday blues?

Caitlin
Community Manager

Back in March, we launched the “Suggested Questions” module on the homepage. Suggested Questions are intended to provide our most active users with a list of questions we think match their area of expertise.

Since launch we have been taking on board your feedback about this feature and have now made some improvements to this that include:

• Resolved questions will be removed more effectively to leave you with only a selection of open Suggested Questions to answer;
• Questions will be matched to you much more quickly so you can always see the freshest and most relevant Suggested Questions;
• Improved the relevancy to ensure we deliver your questions only to the most appropriate answerers.

Still not seeing Suggested questions? Remember you need you to be active on a topic for a certain time before we can build up enough information on your areas of expertise before we can start offering you suggested questions.

We hope these changes will improve you experience with Suggested Questions. Remember that you can modify your profile settings if you want to see a different number of Suggested Questions. And that only you will see the questions related to your activity, not the wider community.

Please continue to share your constructive feedback with us and we will keep working on making this feature more relevant and faster in delivering you the questions you want to see.

Wow what a week. Water cooler conversations and news bulletins alike have been bouncing from discussions about paid maternity leave to the treatment of women by Rugby League players, from predictions about the upcoming job losses to the very high profile demotion of Matthew Johns.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about whether Matthew Johns should have been stood down by Channel 9 and Melbourne Storm. A question we featured on the Yahoo!7 Frontpage yesterday got an astounding 700 answers (and counting)! We hope the writer Mumkaren didn’t have get a notification for everyone of those answers… that would be one full inbox! She asked Do you think Matthew Johns should have been sacked for something that happened 7 years ago?

There are some pretty heated opinions on there, here are just a few:

NO!!! It was consensual, not illegal and had nothing to do with Channel 9 or Melbourne Storm. I’d like to see statistics showing how many people have had group sex – I bet you it would be a large percentage. – Altezza

If Johns has a daughter, and this happened to her, what do you think he would do to the guys who did it? – Anonymous

Apparently this was investigated by NZ police and he was not charged. Why does someone get to come back 7 years later and upheave his life. I think it was a publicity stunt on her part and she will probably be well paid for her story. – HJ

This was a 19 year old girl. One who could very easily be taken advantage of. And the police investigation? Hmmm 6 witnesses vs 1. What do you think the police can do? Turns into a “he sad she said” situation. – Karl

The thing is, this type of behaviour brings up wider implications that we’re not unfamiliar with. Remember the Brett Stewart incident? He is still waiting to face court in a few weeks for allegations of sexually assaulting a minor. Yet he was only banned for 4 weeks from the NRL, even though the reason he was inebriated on the night in question was because of a Manly Sea Eagles booze up.

As dogsoldier1962 asked the Answers community, have the NRL backed themselves into a corner? Should the NRL go back over all the incidents that have happened like the Bulldogs in Coffs Harbour, the 3 Broncos players from late last year and even Brett Stewart and start tearing up their contracts?

What is even more scary is what does this behaviour say about the football culture? Why have there been so many scandals like this? Lou asks, why are NRL players prone to pack sex? Is it a rite of passage? There’s certainly a lot of discussion in Answers about it and the NRL has a lot to think about. Furthermore, we have a lot to think about whether these are the type of people we want as role models, particularly in a media capacity like Matthew Johns.

So what happens to Matthew Johns now? Do you think he should ever have a TV career again or has he ruined his public reputation permanently?

Caitlin
Community Manager

The team at Yahoo! Answers has just learned about the recent closure of MSN QnA.  No doubt there are many disappointed community members who have lots to share and nowhere to go.  So, we would like to extend a warm invitation to ex-QnAers to join our community.

We have a thriving community on Yahoo!7 Answers with users from all over the world asking and answering each other’s questions. We welcome new points of view and experiences that will add to our ever-growing database of knowledge.  I encourage you to both ask and answer questions on the site and hopefully to build meaningful connections with like-minded people.

If you have questions about Yahoo! Answers please don’t hesitate to leave a message below this post.

We look forward to seeing you on Yahoo!7 Answers.

Alana – Product Manager
Caitlin - Community Manager

We all love being able to ask questions and get answers about any topic and share knowledge and experiences with a simple click. Whether you’re answering questions or just browsing, there a many ways to contribute to improving the content on Answers.

How can I rate great questions?
Like some of the questions out there? Why not star them? Giving a star to good questions helps Answers promote the best content on the site. When a question gets a star, it gets nominated to appear in the “Popular” list on the Answers home page. The list showcases what users find the most interesting. To ‘un-star’ a question, simply click the star icon.

How can I rate bad questions or answers?
Sometimes, you see answers you either really like or feel they are not helpful at all. Once you reach Level 2, you have the power to rate answers by clicking thumbs up or thumbs down in the action bar below . When you thumbs-down an answer we will hide it. Click Show to display it again. Use the Report Abuse link to report abusive questions and answers.

Remember: give an answer thumbs down if you feel it is not helpful for the asker. Report an answer if it violates the Community Guidelines.

How can I comment on an answer?
When a Best Answer is chosen, you have the option of adding comments and rating the best answer after the question is resolved. Every time someone gives a thumbs up to your best answer, you automatically get an extra point. The maximum bonus points a Best Answer can accumulate is 50.

Have more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Being a Mum is a tough job and they deserve some thanks. You only have to look in the Pregnancy and Parenting section of Answers to see the proliferation of mums getting advice on everything from how to ensure the baby is healthy in pregnancy to how to teach adult children about responsibilities. There are Mums from all around the world on Answers 24/7 asking questions about how to be the best mother they can be.

Sometimes we forget the sacrifice our Mums have made for us, so fortunately there’s one day a year that we can specifically say ‘Thank you Mum’. What do you want to thank your mum for on Mother’s Day this year?

While it’s always nice to thank Mum with a gift, if you’re feeling the pinch of the recession, a shopping spree is out of the question. Doesn’t mean you have to scrimp on showing your Mum how much you appreciate her though. 

Many mums say the best gift they’ve ever received has been something their child has made for them. For kids, sentimental ideas like this one from Syd are a particular favourite:

You could create a coupon book of extra chores you will do around the house and/or gym to help her out. It sounds cheesy, but mums love that kind of thing…and really appreciate the extra help too!

For us adults, this is a nice idea from chicagokat72:

Write her a letter and thank her for being your Mum and for everything she’s ever done for you. Make sure it’s a letter though – not some pre-made card, written by someone else.
I’m a Mum and hearing my daughter’s feelings – with a thank you every now and then mean more to me than anything she could ever buy me.

For many of us, part of the ritual of thanking Mum is all about the perfect Breakfast in Bed, and you can’t go past this recipe by smdiner:

Traditional Eggs Benedict

1 teaspoon vinegar; 4 eggs; 4 thin slices bacon; 2 English muffins.
Hollandaise sauce: 3 egg yolks; 1 tablespoon hot water; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 stick melted and hot
unsalted butter; salt and pepper; paprika; chopped parsley

In a large skillet, bring 2 inches of water and the vinegar to a boil. Crack one egg into a glass. Reduce water to a simmer and pour egg into water in one quick motion. Quickly add remaining eggs. Let eggs cook for 4-5 minutes. The white should be firm but the yellow should be runny. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. In a non-stick skillet heat the bacon until warm. Toast the English muffins until golden.

For the sauce: Place yolks, water and lemon juice into blender. Blend for 1 minute. With blender running, pour butter through open hole of blender lid. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

To assemble eggs benedict: Top each muffin with bacon and a poached egg. Pour warm sauce over and garnish with paprika and chopped parsley.

Alternatives: Vegetarian: Substitute wilted spinach and a grilled tomato for the ham.

YUM! Here are some more ideas if your mum is looking for a more low calorie option, or if you’ve got kids making the breakfast in bed.

What are some other budget friendly ways to thank Mum?

Caitlin
Community Manager

We may as well stop dreaming – The Best Job in the World has already been snapped up. It’s not a fire-fighter, an astronaut or a pro-footballer. Apparently the best job in the world is a six-month Hamilton Island caretaker contract getting paid a whopping $150,000. 34-year-old Brit Ben Southall is one lucky man!

It got me thinking though about other great jobs. Growing up, my dream job was a doctor which remained my goal until high school when I realised that to be a doctor, one had to be good at (and even enjoy) science. Since neither applied to me, that career plan was quickly quashed. Considering the intense training doctors are required to do, you’d want to be pretty passionate about medicine as an occupation.

It’s much easier to imagine what the best job in the world could be when you’re a child and your life is stretched out in front of you with endless possibilities. As an adult though, finances and practicalities all restrict our pursuit of that dream. And for many of us, we haven’t even worked out what our ideal job actually is.

Well Ben Southall’s got what he thinks it the Best Job in the World. Although spending six months on beautiful Hamilton Island would be pretty amazing, I’m pretty sure there are more jobs out there that could be considered the Best Job in the World.

So what do you think is the Best Job in the World and are you doing it? If not, why not?

Caitlin
Community Manager