Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

Yesterday wasn’t just Yahoo!’s birthday but also that of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as the famous children’s author and illustrator – Dr. Seuss!

Most of us would have grown up with books such as “Green Eggs and Ham“, “Are you my Mother?”, “The Cat and the Hat“, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish“, “Horton Hears a Who“, “Yertle the Turtle“, “The Lorax” and “Fox in Sox” to name but a few.

Born on the 2nd of March, 1904, Ted, as he was known to his friends and family, had written over 60 books by the time of his death in 1991 at the ripe old age of 87! He also wrote and published books under the pen names “Theo. LeSieg” and “Rosetta Stone”.

In honour of his birthday, we’d like to know the following:

• Which film written by Dr. Seuss won an academy award?

Did you have a favourite Dr. Seuss book growing up? Leave a comment below!

Kate
Community Manager

What a week, it’s great to see so many Australians and New Zealanders coming together to help those in need!

We’ve added a few more charities to our original post, including details of charities based in New Zealand and of a fund that’s been set up to support the Sanson-Rejouis family.

The most recent updates include details for the Salvation Army and UNHCR, as well as how to make a donation via Médecins Sans Frontières Australia. If there is a charity or organisation that we missed or you feel should be on the list, please leave a comment below or on the original post.

For the latest news, please be sure to Yahoo!7 News for full coverage of the events in Haiti.

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by Globovisión

Yesterday afternoon, the island nation of Haiti was struck by an earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, centred 10 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The quake caused wide scale damage and devastation, levelling schools and hospitals. Thousands are either dead, missing or trapped under debris; the death toll is currently estimated at over 100,000.

• How do earthquakes happen?

Amid the pain and suffering however, there are stories of amazing escapes and miracles emerging. It has been confirmed that a QLD couple, living in Haiti, have been reported as safe. But the risk of disease spreading is increasing with Haiti’s Prime Minister appealing to the world for urgent assistance. The Australian and New Zealand governments are currently working on aid plans, with aid agencies mobilising.

At times like this, it is important that the community join forces to offer support.

On Answers, we form a community of collective knowledge- but in the real world, together, we create a collective bound together by one thing: humanity, and the ability to endure. And in times like these, it’s important to remember that, and to help others persevere.

According to the Associated Press, “it was clear from a tour of the capital that tens of thousands of people had lost their homes and that many had perished. Many buildings in Haiti are flimsy and dangerous even under normal conditions.”

To learn more about how you can send your support to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti please follow the links below:

• CARITAS Australia (donate now)
• World Vision (donate now)
• Oxfam Australia (donate now)
• Médecins Sans Frontières (donate now)
• UNICEF Australia (donate now)
• Australian Red Cross (donate now)
• Plan Australia (donate now)
  
• Compassion Australia (donate now)
• CBM Australia (donate now)
• ADRA (donate now)
• Save the Children Australia (donate now)
• Rotary International
• Care Australia (donate now)
• Oxfam New Zealand (donate now)
• Save the Children New Zealand (donate now)
• Red Cross New Zealand (donate now)
• UNICEF New Zealand (donate now)
• The Salvation Army (donate now)
• UNHCR (donate now)

In addition, anyone in New Zealand who wishes to support the Sanson-Rejouis family in their efforts and recovery may contribute to the BNZ Bank Account: Haiti Earthquake Sanson Rejouis Family Fund. No. 02 0704 0074227 00.

View the Yahoo!7 News photos from the quake. WARNING: photos contain images that may not be suitable for children.

Kate
Community Manager

My goodness, what a morning.

We’re all shocked to hear about the passing of Michael Jackson, the ultimate King of Pop. For many of us born in the 70’s and 80’s, a Michael Jackson album was the first music we ever bought and most of us have special memories of his multitude of songs.

His 1982 hit Thriller became a world wide smash. It yielded seven top-10 singles and sold at least 27 million records worldwide. The year later, the moonwalk was released while performing Billy Jean in New York and we all spent hours trying to perfect this unique style.

We posted a great question on the Yahoo!7 homepage asking you What are your best memories of him and his music? There are so many great responses (keep them coming!) but I wanted to share a few with you.

HIS MOONWALK. I still remember all my friends trying to do it.. we’d fall down laughing when our teacher tried to do it, looked like he was constipated.. No one came quite as close to the King of Pop.
- Sydney =)

Billie Jean, 1983. His red suit, white socks and black loafers. I still think this song is his finest musical moment.
- R2R

My positive memory….he landed in Papua New Guinea in 1997 in search of fuel on while on his way to NZ from some place in Asia….I saw him from 20 mtrs away.. in less than 50 minutes more than 1000 fans gathered at the Jacksons Int Airport…
- Pontai

Running home around the corner from a friends place after dark at 8years old after just having watched his big sisters recording of the Thriller filmclip and freaking out,wondering if there were any grisly ghouls after me!
- Birds

So, So, many of them, where to begin. Which one? Everytime I stepped on stage (now retired professional dancer 27yrs) in OZ or OS! Having the privilege to perform to this icons works, but alas, seeing MJ @ Parramatta Stadium in 1987. Source(s): Yahoo of course! Thanks for your coverage on MJ.
- donna

For me, almost every one of his songs remind me of something in my childhood.  Blame it on the Boogie will always take me back to teenage discos and those hilarious dance moves, Bad reminds me of dancing around the living room with my brothers and I’ll always remember the feeling of hope and inspiration the first time I heard Heal the World.

What will you always remember about Michael Jackson?

RIP Michael Jackson and thanks for the wonderful memories.

Caitlin
Community Manager

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

This week, while we citizens continue to lose our jobs, our savings, and our patience; the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (aka the G-20) will convene in London to try to figure out some solutions to our global economic crisis.

The G-20 is a group of the top economic leaders from 20 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the U.K., the U.S.A., and The E.U.  If you add them all together, the G-20 economies comprise 85% of global gross national product, 80% of world trade, and two-thirds of the world population. The G-20 likes to meet every year or so to discuss global markets, economic policies, trade, and the like. Obviously, this year they have a lot to talk about.

So, I guess we can all relax now that we know that our best economic and government leaders are on the case, right? We can just wait around while they think up a solution, right? I hope so. But, one could argue, after all, that it was banking and lending institutions that got us into this mess in the first place.

Just before last year’s G-20 summit in Washington, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, “We must rethink the financial system from scratch, as at Bretton Woods.” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said we must agree to a “new, international financial architecture for the years ahead.” And perhaps they’re right. Maybe we should stop relying on misguided bankers and financial pundits to solve our problems. Maybe instead, our heads of state should look to Yahoo!7 Answers.

Should we let the banks and investment funds fail? Should we continue to prop them up with tax dollars? Should we buy more? Consume less? Should we be more green and less profitable, or should we say to heck with the environment and start dumping all of our toxic waste into the ocean? Maybe we should just ditch the whole system and return to the woods where we could learn to hunt and survive on nuts and berries! Maybe not.

So, we’ve asked a question on Answers for you, the Answers community:

How can our governments work together to overcome the global economic crisis?

Since this is truly an international problem, we’re asking this question on all of our international Answers Blogs, sites, too. The Best Answers will be featured in a coming blog post. So, let’s give our economic leaders something to think about! We look forward to all of your opinions and ideas.

We had our pub trivia evening last night and it was a great event enjoyed by all. We indulged in the tasty delights of the Rag & Famish kitchen (and a few refreshing bevies) before getting stuck into the real fun of the night – trivia.

We felt compelled to obey the instructions on our limited edition beer coasters and put away our iPhones & blackberries for the evening, focusing only on our intellect for the Answers.

We got off to a good start – we knew the name of Martin Crane’s dog in Frasier and we worked out that a picture of a woman with a lion tattoo on the back of her neck was Mena Suvari from American Beauty. We totally rocked the questions about 90s fads, such as what was the Japanese toy that looked like an egg? and what was the furry toy that you train to do things such as speak English?

However there were a few topics that we were particularly lacking in expertise. Did you know that Russell Crowe’s character in Gladiators was called Maximus Decimus Meridius? We didn’t! We also didn’t know that the Volga River is the longest in Europe (who said the Danube??!) and we didn’t know that the city in the famous expression ‘See this city and then die’ was referring to Naples.

Despite these mistakes, we came a respectable fourth. We had a great time distributing our coasters and meeting the community members. Everyone who attended received some of our limited edition coasters and a lovely Yahoo! hat.

We got some great feedback but for those of you who couldn’t make it, what would you have liked to ask us or tell us to help make your Answers experience better? We’ll send some Yahoo!7 Answers coasters to the best 3 suggestions!

Caitlin
Community Manager

As you’re a Yahoo!7 Answers regular, you’re probably one of those people who love learning new things and testing your random knowledge. So if you’re anything like us, you love a good old pub trivia night. What could be better? Jugs of beers, companionship and some curly questions like who was the first man on Mount Everest’s peak? and who came up with the arrangement of numbers and symbols on a computer keyboard?

So if you’re in Sydney, we’re inviting you to come and play pub trivia with us, the Yahoo!7 Answers team. We will be at the Rag & Famish hotel in North Sydney next Tuesday night 24th March to see if we’ve learnt anything from years of working at Answers.

As an additional bonus, we’ll be giving away our limited edition Yahoo!7 Answers beer coasters as well.

So come and join our team or bring some mates and compete against us. Imagine the kudos of beating the Answers team!  We’ll be in purple Yahoo! caps, not unlike these ones our avatars are wearing!

Details: 7:30pm Tuesday 24th March 2009
Rag & Famish Hotel
199 Miller Street
North Sydney NSW 2060

Hope to see you there!

Caitlin & Alana

What a week. It’s been fairly dour these past few days, with discussions about Australia’s lowering employment rate, wild weather and even the sporting arena has been filled with controversy and speculation.

Many of us are hanging out for the tax stimulus payments to pay of various bills or buy that new washing machine, although some still seem unsure whether they qualify. Unemployment is up to 5.2% and there is huge debate over whether the government is doing a good enough job.

In the north of Australia, residents of Queensland were in the grip of Cyclone Hamish, wondering whether it would reach shore. Although in the end it weakened, it caused a fair amount of concern about how bad it could really get.

Considering the league hasn’t even started yet, it’s been a pretty big week in the world of NRL. There was plenty of controversy and fervent discussion over Brett Stewart’s suspension and whether he deserved it.

Dean W is on the compassionate side:

I feel for this guy in this case. I have been that pissed before. You wake up and ask the question “what happened last night?” Not being able to remember what happened is the worst feeling ever. This is still no excuse for his actions. In that kind of drunken state you are capable of anything and for that reason alone I believe he is guilty of TRYING to rape the girl. For the record 17 is legal. Not morally ethical but legal non the less.

Whereas Michelle J doesn’t think there should be any excuses.

Yes he should definitely be suspended until these issues are sorted out by the courts. These guy’s need to learn to account for their behaviour both on and off the field.

Well after this week, it’s probably time for some R&R! What’s your favourite way of relaxing to forget about your troubles?

Caitlin
Community Manager