Yahoo! Singapore Answers blog

We’re always working on improving Answers and creating new features to make sure that you get the most out of Yahoo! Answers. And we have something new to announce! If you have not noticed it already, there is a “Suggested Questions” module on the Yahoo! Answers homepage. Some of you have mentioned that it can be time consuming to find questions that match your interests. You’ve also said that one of the things you love about Yahoo! Answers is when an expert in the field finds your question and gives you an amazing answers. So we looked for a smart way to present questions to the most relevant answerers.

With this new feature, Yahoo! Answers users will be able to see questions that are better suited to their interests and areas of expertise, rather than just those most recently posted. And, while it will only appear for some of our most active members, we think it can positively impact our whole community by helping to improve both the quality and speed of answers on the site.

The suggestions are based on your most recent activity on Yahoo! Answers. For example, if you recently answered many questions related to a specific make or model of mobile phone, it is most likely that you will get more suggested questions related to this subject matter. It’s that easy. You’ll find Suggested Questions displayed on the homepage of Yahoo! Answers as well as on the confirmation page after you have asked or answered a question. If you are not seeing the module, don’t worry. For now, only Yahoo! Answers users with a significant amount of activity around a topic will receive suggested questions. But the more active you are on Yahoo! Answers, the easier it will be for us to know what you are passionate and knowledgeable about. Once this is known, it will enable us to present you with questions that best match your interests too.

As always, we want to give you as much control as possible, so you can modify your profile settings if you want to receive a different number of Suggested Questions. Alternatively, if you prefer to only see the most recent questions, you can opt-out of Suggested Questions completely (if you change your mind, you can re-activate this feature). Just edit your profile and untick the “Suggest me questions based upon my activity” option. Don’t forget that we need you to be active on a topic for a certain time to start offering you suggested questions. Of course these questions are private, only you will see the questions related to your activity. Do check out the Yahoo! Answers homepage and enjoy the new shortcut to share your knowledge.

Back in October, Yahoo! redesigned the core profile pages, giving them a fresh new look and feel, and additional functionality. These new profiles allow you to manage your image and establish connections with your friends and family, as well share information on what you’re up to on third-party sites like YouTube and Twitter.  All of this can be done right from your new profile on Yahoo! at http://profiles.yahoo.com

So how does this relate to Yahoo! Answers?  Currently, the image that displays for each user in Answers is brought in from each user’s 360 profile. In the coming weeks, Answers will start using profiles to display your image rather than 360.

Many of you use other Yahoo! services on a regular basis and we want to make it easier for you to manage your display image across all of our services.  By doing this, you’ll be able to update your profile image in one place and it will represent you wherever you go on the Yahoo! network.

We understand some of you opt to use a different image on Answers than what you use on other Yahoo! services. To confirm the image that we will soon be displaying on Answers we recommend that you go to http://profiles.yahoo.com now and activate your new profile. Once you’re there, you’ll be asked to confirm some information that you’ve previously shared with Yahoo! and select the image you’d like to share with the Answers community.

If you have never used other Yahoo! services and do not activate your profile, your image will show up as the “Grey Face”.

For those of you who display an avatar on Answers – don’t worry. This won’t change. Both avatars and nicknames will continue to remain the same on Answers.

We want to make the transition to your new profiles on Yahoo! as straight forward as possible for you. So go to http://profiles.yahoo.com now and let us know what you think of it!

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

I’ve always been fascinated by animals. When I was a child, I’d insist on visiting the zoos in the different countries we’ve traveled to (I know, spoiled brat). And now that I’m older, I still enjoy a trip to the zoo, but I mostly watch the animals from the comfort of my home, in front of the television (I know, couch potato. Ha!).

Animals are a fascinating lot. In Darwin’s theory of natural selection (and eventually of evolution), he believes that each species will continue to morph slightly in the fight for survival. This strong instinct for survival can be found in all of us, be it humans or animals. But while humans fight for survival with our intelligence and tools, animals fight with their “natural” skills. Besides their sharp teeth, tough hides and even the speed of flight, they are also very good at camouflaging themselves! And this perfect camouflage will determine whether they are the hunter or the prey.

(Photo thanks to wwarby)

Did you know for example why zebras have stripes? Firstly it is to blend with the tall grass around it (don’t worry, the lions are colour blind, so it doesn’t matter that the stripes are black and white). Secondly, when you have a whole herd of striped zebras hanging around the same spot, it’s hard to differentiate one from another.

Many of us also know that Steve Irwin (famous host of an animal television show) died from a stingray attack. But how many of you know that stingrays are actually not aggressive, but would rather bury themselves in the sand to hide from predators?

If you are interested to know more about the different animals in the world, feel free to pay a visit to the zoology category on Answers. See you there!