no.stupid.answers

Supervisors and everyday contributors frequently ask, “What’s the deal on signing answers?”  As you know, WikiAnswers is a Q&A community (and a darn good one!), where answers are grown collaboratively.  Unlike other Q&A sites (no names mentioned), we are based on the ‘wiki’ concept, which means that anyone from anywhere has the ability to edit and modify existing posts.  There is no ‘ownership’ of answers (unless the question is asking for opinions), so signing answers is indeed discouraged. 

What we are aiming for is one really great answer for each question (where possible and feasible) that is collaboratively created by the community over time.  And ideally, we want one answer with a neutral point of view. Bottom line…feel free to delete any personal comments, notes, contact info and what not from answers - including any references to “Hope this helps!” 

Hope this helps! 
 Example Wrong:

 Example Right:

Top Guru (and CEO) at Answers Corp, Bob Rosenschein, was featured in the “CEO Views” column at AltSearchEngines.com yesterday. His post was about his vision of the “ultimate Answers Engine,” combining the powers of Answers.com, the world’s greatest encyclodictionalmanacapedia, and WikiAnswers, Q&A the Wiki way.

Here’s an excerpt:

“The world of information has evolved from telephones to radios to televisions to the internet… Information has never been more available or expansive. But we find ourselves wading through facts and figures and volumes of webpages overloaded with content… It can be overwhelming, and search engines have certainly come to the rescue for narrowing the web. But if we want to narrow it further – enough to get that one answer we’re seeking in any given search – then hasn’t the time come for an answer machine?

Our goal at Answers Corp is build the web’s ultimate answer engine. The typical search engine is great for getting back thousands of results for deep search. When you want fast info and quick answers to questions, wouldn’t it serve you better to visit an answer engine? That’s what we are building with our two main products, Answers.com and WikiAnswers. Both sites are designed to give you straightforward content, packed with information from either reference sources or the wider human Q&A community.”

Sounds great, Bob… Read the full blog post. And don’t forget to vote for Answers.com in AltSearchEngine’s Search Engine of the Year contest…

What an important question to display on a WikiAnswers Wednesday:

Do you think that Brandon E is so hot?

He probably is… considering he’s sitting in his office with the door closed, wearing three wool sweaters and cupping his hands over the heater, which is at full blast. The question is, is Brandon E so hot enough?

And now presenting today’s WikiAnswers Wednesday question:

Who is Kirsten Dunst the second?

Kirsten Dunst really hit a high point in her career with the Spider-man movies. When she realized how popular she was, she went in and got herself a little clone, à la Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers films.

Science these days, huh? It’s pretty incredible:

(photo source)

It’s a scenario we all find ourselves in: Night out at the bar and a song comes on and you can’t remember who sings it and it absolutely kills you until you figure it out…

A bunch of us Answers.commies (or is that WikiAnswerers?) were out at a bar tonight, where an amateur band was performing the song “Save Tonight”. One of the group turned to us comrades and asked who sings it. One reply was “Barenaked Ladies.” Another suggested, “that black guy who is looking everywhere in the video,” which led me to mention Lenny Kravitz, which got me shot down pretty quickly.

Anyway, someone had one of thems fancy mobile telephones and for the first time ever, I got to use Mobile Answers in a real live situation - the kind of anecdote marketing employees dream of. A friend typed in the address and I typed “Save Tonight” and there it was: Eagle-Eye Cherry!

Another Mobile Answers success story. Now there’s the stuff marketing dreams are made of.

(Have you got any Mobile Answers stories to share?)

Today’s post is dedicated to man’s real best friend: cookies! (Sorry, Rover).

We’ve been seeing quite a few cookie-themed questions on WikiAnswers lately so I thought perhaps it was time to satisfy some curiosity - or is that cravings?

Share some cookie love:

• What is the manufacturing process for chocolate chip cookies?
• How much mass is in a chocolate chip?
• What weighs more a cookie or it’s crumbs?
• What is the origin of the Chinese almond cookie?
• How common is a reverse cookie on an Oreo?

My blogger-buddy Charles Knight over at AltSearchEngines.com has included Answers.com in the running for his Search Engine of the Year 2007 contest. Answers.com was Search Engine of the Month in September.

Love Answers.com and WikiAnswers? Help show support by voting for us! List Answers.com in a comment at the contest entry and also a little bit (or a lot) about why we’re the world’s greatest encyclodictionalmanacapedia.