Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

Photo by James Bowe

Throughout the month of March and into April, we will be celebrating the Food & Drink category on Yahoo!7 Answers with a menu of Autumn food created by you!

Unlike the rest of Yahoo! Answers globally who are currently preparing to embrace Spring the days here in Australia are getting steadily shorter and the weather is growing colder, so we will be focussing on foods suitable for eating during the season of Autumn. With your help, the menu will feature dishes for an entree (starter), main and dessert.

What do I need to do?

We’re glad you asked! By 12 noon AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Tuesday, the 16th of March (that’s next week, 4 days away), we’d like you to submit open questions to us about a recipe you’d like to know for an entree, main dish or a dessert. They should be for dishes suitable for Autumn fare.

You can submit them by leaving a comment here with your link or by sending an email to us at y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au.

Make sure your questions are open for the duration of a week. If you want to extend the duration of your question, simply click on the “Expiration Date” available in the action bar below your question via the “Edit” dropdown.

What next?

Stay tuned to our blog!

If your question is selected, it could appear for a full week in the Best of Answers module on our Answers front page and receive 50 bonus points to your Answers account. If at the end of the opening period of your question, you carefully select a better quality response, we will offer 20 extra points.

Be sure to keep an eye on this blog for further details as they emerge.

We look forward to your questions!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by gerreeeeee

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Will you design my Valentine? contest! Whether you posted a pictured via the flickr pool, commented on the blog post or answered the question we asked, it was great to see the community getting involved!

Each winner received an extra 100 points for their loving contributions to Answers.

The winner of the flickr component of the contest is Gerreeeeee, you can see his entry above. Congratulations!

The best poems, sayings or messages from the blog

Why are the clouds in the sky above? the moon shine bright at night?
Why does the ocean breeze taste like salt, the sun give radiant light?
Where always is an answer, there always is a reason.
The leaves need to begin to fall to continue with the season.
All things were made for another… in perfect harmony…
I believe that is why you are here, because (name), my reason, you were made for me.
I LOVE YOU

Happy Valentines Day — Lou

Roses are red violets are blue,
The sun is hot and so are you.

Roses are red violets are blue,
You love me and I love you too!

Love is sweet like cany but friendship is like a rock,
It only brakes when you throw it away, so lets be a bit of both but lets mostly be sweet and have a happy ever after. — Rose

My best valentines ever will be this one because on the 16th I get to find out the sex of my baby (I’m 5 months pregnant). — Samie

This is my best valentine as I get spoiled by 2 boys; I can share my love with the world for my fiance and our adorable son — Sarah

Best answer from the question “What does Valentines Day mean to you?”

Valentines Day is not as big of an event here in Australia as it is in the USA. It is growing and shops are dripping with gift ideas anyway!!
I like the idea of Valentines Day being about celebrating love for someone- unfortunately it seems to have become a little (A LOT) more commercial than that.

It falls on the Sunday here for us, and we both have the day off- we have no plans and that is just so we can relax and spend the day together.
The past couple of years we have made Valentines Day fun by only buying $5 presents! They are of course very cheap and cheesy but its fun and makes it more about the small and sentimental value of things not about the over the top hype of it all. We know how much we care about each other and don’t need one particular day to prove it. I know I would rather get a bunch of flowers or a present on a random day of the year for no particular reason than to get a gift just because its Feb 14th. — Jade!

Thank you to everyone who entered, we hope you had a great Valentines day!

Kate
Community Manager

Just a quick reminder that the Will you design my Valentine? contest ends at 12:30pm AEST (Sydney and Melbourne time).

This is in just under 3 hours time.

Good luck and get your entries in!

Kate
Community Manager

We’ve made the decision to extend the Will you design my Valentine? contest until Monday. This will give some of you time over the weekend to get your entries in!

All entries are now due on Monday the 15th of February by 12 noon AEST (Sydney/Melbourne time).

What’s the theme?

We want you to submit EITHER your sweetest Valentine or, the best anti-Valentine you can come up with.

What do I need to do?

There are several ways to enter:

• Download the Yamster or decorate your Avatar. You’re not limited to using just the Yamster or your Avatar, but please remember, no photographs of people or body parts will be permitted.  When you’re done, upload it to the Answers Flickr pool – found here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/yahoo7answersvalentines/.
• Post your  favourite love poems, sonnets, or, anti-Valentine’s day card messages as comments below.
• We’ve posted an open question here where you can share your plans for February 14th with us.

We’ll review all submissions and will select winners based on creativity, and dedication, so be sure to put your heart into it! Winners will be posted by the end of the day on Friday, February 12th and will receive bonus points on Yahoo!7 Answers.

REMEMBER, your Valentine or anti-Valentine, must still follow the Yahoo!7 Answers Community Guidelines and the Yahoo!7 Terms of Service, so don’t: rant, use hate speech, use suggestive language, be offensive, or say anything that might not be appropriate for anyone under the age of 13. If you wouldn’t show it to your grandma, don’t post it here.

Good luck!

Kate
Community Manager

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and, depending on your relationship status, you’re either: booking a romantic dinner for two, or, picking out your favourite all-black ensemble for the dreaded day.

This year, why not celebrate Valentine’s Day with Yahoo!7 Answers by creating the ultimate Answers Valentine! But here’s the twist: we know that for many of you, Valentine’s Day isn’t all roses and chocolates, so here’s the challenge.

We want you to submit EITHER your sweetest Valentine or, the best anti-Valentine you can come up with.

REMEMBER, your Valentine must still follow the Yahoo!7 Answers Community Guidelines and the Yahoo!7 Terms of Service, so don’t: rant, use hate speech, use suggestive language, be offensive, or say anything that might not be appropriate for anyone under the age of 13. If you wouldn’t show it to your grandma, don’t post it here.

Since we know Valentine’s day is often a crafty holiday, we’ve again, partnered with our friends over at Flickr to create an Answers Flickr pool where you can upload your Valentine.

If you choose to upload an image, please do not upload photographs of yourself: instead, please download the Yamster –  Sites like Picnick have again, provided holiday scenes and smooches appropriate for Valentine’s day, but feel free to search the web for more!

You’re not limited to using just the Yamster, but please remember, no photographs of people or body parts will be permitted.

Not feeling crafty? Don’t worry– we’ve posted an open question here where you can share your plans for February 14th with us. If you’re feeling creative, post your  favourite love poems, sonnets, or, anti-Valentine’s day card messages below.

Whatever you decide to do, don’t delay, as all submissions are due by February 15^th at 12 Noon. We’ll review all submissions and will select winners based on creativity, and dedication, so be sure to put your heart into it! Winners will be posted by the end of the day on Monday, February 15th and will receive bonus points on Yahoo!7 Answers.

UPDATE: We’ve decided to extend the competition until Monday afternoon at 12 noon!

Good luck!

Kate
Community Manager

On behalf of the Yahoo!7 Answers Team, I would like to offer our congratulations to Bellatrix Lestrange on winning our Christmas costume contest!

You can check out her winning entry, above

Kate
Community Manager

If you’re feeling festive this season, download the Yamster avatar and dress him up for Christmas! Feel free to add hats, clothing, or whatever you’d like – just be sure to keep it friendly, clean, and compliant with the Answers Community Guidelines.

Sites like Picnik (which is built directly into Yahoo’s own Flickr) offer a full arsenal of Christmas items like snow, decorations, and gingerbread. Be sure to check them out here.

Or, you can use something like Microsoft Paint, Photoshop, SumoPaint, or any other paint program on the market to edit or enhance an image.

Not a fan of the Yamster? That’s ok too! You’re welcome to dress up your own personal Avatar in their finest Christmas looks for the competition.

Once you’re through dressing up your Yamster or Avatar, save the image (right click and “save as”) and upload it to your Flickr account. Then, add the image to the Answers Christmas pool — found here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/yahoo7answerschristmas/.

Submissions must be received by 11am AEDST on Sunday, December 27th (4pm PST on Saturday, December 26th). Winner(s) will be posted on the Yahoo!7 Answers Blog and will receive 100 bonus points on Yahoo!7 Answers.

The Rules

• Avatars and/or Yamsters must be submitted to Flickr by 11am AEDST on Sunday, December 27th (4pm PST on Saturday, December 26th).
• All images must be in compliance with Yahoo!7’s TOS, Yahoo!7 Answers Community Guidelines, Flickr’s Community Guidelines, and, must not contain mature or adult content.
• Submitted images may only be that of Avatar or of the Yamster – no actual photographs will be accepted or considered.
• No real value is given to this prize: winner(s) will receive 100 bonus points on Yahoo!7 Answers.

Good luck everyone!

Kate
Community Manager

Need an early Christmas present? With all this doom and gloom, we need a bit of cheering up, and fortunately Yahoo!7 has just the solution. Win 1 of 4 ultimate prize packs including a Blue-ray home theatre system, 46-inch Sony Bravia LCD TV and a new-look 120 gigabyte Playstation 3.

So what do you have to do to win this fabulous prize? Simply click here and follow the steps to set Yahoo!7 as your homepage. When you’ve confirmed that it is your homepage, enter your details and you’ll be in the draw to win television magic.*

Imagine how good Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman or Eric Bana would look on a 46-inch television in your home! You’ll never head to a stadium again, watch all your favourite sports such as rugby league and soccer from the comfort of your lounge room in stunning colour and surround sound.

The 46″ (117cm) Z5500 Series BRAVIA LCD TV is truly an action-inspired LCD TV with innovative technologies and clever features incorporated that works synergistically together, elevating your viewing experience to a whole new level. Other benefits include Live Colour Creation and Bravia Engine 3, as well as an abundance of connectivity options.

Not sure what this all means? Check out Answers for the solution!

• What is the difference between LCD and Plasma TV’s?
• What are the differences between the different Bravia Series?
• Can I set up my PC to run on a Sony Bravia?

To enter, click here and follow the steps to win!

Kate
Community Manager

* Terms and Conditions

A big thank you to everyone who submitted a Halloween Yamster or Avatar image during the weekend outage, we loved them.

It was extremely hard to choose between them, so we decided to award all entrants 100 points each – so congratulations to both Lucien and QCY!

And without further ado, here are the winning entries:

Lucien

QCY

Thanks again for your patience during the outage

Kate
Community Manager

It’s hard to believe but space travel is a real possibility for a few lucky (and very wealthy) people. In the year that there was a total solar eclipse and the 40th anniversary of the first man on the moon, Virgin Galactic’s founder, Richard Branson will conduct a world first when he crews his aerospace vehicle, the Virgin Mothership Eve at the air show EAA Airventure Oshkosh 2009.

Space is one of those fascinating yet enigmatic topics. How does weightlessness work and what does it feel like? How were solar systems formed? Why are stars and planets round? Why is the sun yellow? The more you think about outer space, the more questions form in your mind and in many instances, we just don’t know the answers.

Well for the 200 people who have coughed up their US$20,000 deposit for the sub orbital spaceflight on Virgin Galactic, some of these questions will soon be answered. They will hurtle through the edges of the atmosphere at more than three times the speed of sound and they will experience a type of virtual weightlessness as gravity starts pulling them back to earth.

To celebrate, Yahoo!7 Travel have an out of this world trip to Space Mountain for two flying on Virgin Atlantic from Sydney to Hong Kong return with three nights at the funky W Hong Kong and round trip transfers. Click here to enter the competition.

We’d also like to know, if you had the chance, would you like to take a trip to space in your lifetime? Why or why not?

Caitlin
Community Manager