Tag Archives: questions

Meet Woodman66: Spirit of Adventure in the Canadian Wilderness

Woodman66 at Kamloops

Woodman66 at Kamloops

Woodman66 has been on Answers.com since 2008! He has helped plenty of visitors to our site for almost five years now. He gives his expert advice in the categories of Home Electricity and Electrical Wiring, quite valuable for those brave Do It Yourselfers who make their own repairs and installations! He has truly earned his 2493 trust points. But that’s not all. Woodman66 also participates regularly in our AnswerThons, and he has many badges that highlight his knowledge and contributions. Though he lives in a remote area of British Columbia, Canada, he remains connected to our community. There is much to say about Woodman66, so read on to learn more.

What is your first name? My first name is David but most people just call me Dave.

What is your occupation? 

I am a journeyman electrician and I have been an electrical A class contractor for 41 years.

What is your Answers.com username and how did it come about? 

My user name is Woodman66. The wood part came from my last name, then, I am a man and I started answering questions when I was 66 years of age.

Where in the world do you hail from and what makes this place special?British Columbia                      

I live in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada. It’s a small town of 2500 people, with a surrounding area of 3500 people and not a traffic light in sight. I am one of the 3500 people living 5 kilometers from the town center.

What is special about living in your area?

There are no neighbors! My wife and I live on a 120 acre parcel that is located 5 kilometers from the town of Princeton, and what we have here is perfectly suited to our way of living.

Morning view from the deck of Woodman66's house.

Morning view from the deck of Woodman66′s house

Your location is remote, but you also seem to be connected to the world.

Yes, we have all of the amenities of the 21st century: wireless Internet and a TV signal by way of satellite.

What enticed you to join our community?

All my electrical life I have been asked questions regarding electrical installations or how electrical equipment operates. The Answers wiki format allows me to reach people that I don’t know and help them understand the often misunderstood world of electrical installations.

LEO SignIf you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

My zodiac sign is a Leo so there is no question as to what animal I would be. It was pre-ordained by the stars.

What is your favorite thing to do on Answers.com?

I distribute information to DIY electricians to try and keep them safe when doing their electrical installations. Most people will do it anyways, so I try to give them the best expert information that I can.

What life accomplishments are you proud of?

One of my accomplishments was to obtain my private pilot’s license when I turned 42. I have been flying ever since. 

That is a great accomplishment. Where do you fly?

I incorporate my flying into my work as an electrical contractor. In British Columbia, with all of the winding roads, it is easier to fly over the mountains than to drive between them. My wife and I have flown to Niagara Falls twice since 1984. I originally lived there and we go back to see relatives. I take small side trips to other local airports on weekends. Our trips to different airport restaurants are laughingly known as ‘going for a $100.00 hamburger and coffee.’

What is your favorite type of music?  

 I like the blues and the golden oldies.

What is your favorite song?

My favorite song is Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits.

Do you remember where you were when you first heard the song and what was going on around you?

Sultans of Swing came out in 1979. I first heard it on my drive home from work. I liked the lyrics because they told a story, and I especially like the guitar solo. At the same time, I remember the Canadian conversion from the imperial measurement system to the metric system was going on. To get used to the new temperature readings, we started out simply memorizing: 0 was freezing, 10 was cool, 20 was warm, 30 was hot and 40 was very hot. Funny how the Fahrenheit scale sounds so strange to us today. The other big thing that happened in 1979 was the Iranian hostage crisis. The Canadian Embassy was instrumental in saving the lives of six Americans that year. This is the story of the film, Argo. There is a lot more information about that historical event that the Canadian CBC has published. 

Do you view the glass ‘half full’ or ‘half empty’?  Why?

The glass is half full. Being an optimist, I like to think that things will always get better. Being negative will bring you and everyone around you down. That is not a good way of going through life.

What do you find most challenging as an Answers.com Supervisor? 

I really want to help people get projects done correctly and safely when it comes to electricity. It takes effort to deliver that correctly, though I wouldn’t call it a challenge as much as I would call it my mission on the site.

Triumph TR6

What are your special interests?

In the summertime my wife and I tour Canada in our 1975 Triumph TR6.

Your summer trips sound interesting. What was your favorite road trip?

Each road trip is an adventure in itself. When we tour, the only rule is of course, the top must be down. Meeting new people from other small towns and locating eating establishments that the locals recommend is part of the adventure.

Where will you go this summer?

Thermal Hot Springs in Radium

Thermal Hot Springs in Radium

We are planning to go to the Kootenays, in eastern British Columbia. Small towns like Radium and Fairmont all have thermal hot springs and after a few hours of wind blown driving, these towns will be the places where we spend the night. 

What is your favorite quote and why?

Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx

It is by Groucho Marx when asked if he would become a member of a club, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”  As for why this quote, you would have to know me personally.

Check out some of Woodman66’s Q&A on the site:

Should solid copper or stranded copper be used with the pressure terminals of a duplex receptacle?

What are the procedures to synchronize generators in parallel?

How do you wire an air compressor?

Is your baseboard heater using power when a single pole thermostat is set to low?

Meet Jam499: Great Mom, Sister and NASCAR fan!

Jam499 and her son!

Jam499 and her son!

Jam499 has been on Answers.com for less than a year, yet she is already a Gold Contributor with over 77,000 contributions. She is active in the Community Outreach Program as a WikiGuide and on Vandal Patrol as a Senior Generalist. Her favorite categories range from Grammar and Parts of Speech to rock bands like Guns N’ Roses and Pink Floyd – quite a combo. She is proud to be from Rhode Island and loves NASCAR.  Her tastes and interests are diverse, but the center of her universe is her son!  Read more and get to know Jam499.

What is your first name?  My first name is Jody.

What is your occupation?  

My youngest sister has developmental delays, and I work with her providing direct care. I also manage the staff and coordinate her day program.

What is your Answers.com username and how did it come about?  

My username is Jam499. I needed something that I would remember, so I went with my initials and the month and year of my son’s birth.

Where in the world do you hail from and what makes this place special?  

I live in Rhode Island and have for most of my life. I am proud to call “The Biggest Little State in the Union” home.

How did you discover Answers.com? 

I was researching a grammar topic, and I found the answer on Answers.com.

What enticed you to join our community? 

After finding the answer that I was looking for, I started poking my nose around some of the English Language categories. I was very impressed by the dedicated group of contributors and Supervisors, as well as the quality of the answers. I suppose it was the community itself that enticed me to join.

What is your favorite thing to do on Answers.com? 

I like doing all of it. I have a short attention span, so when I get bored, I move on to something else.

What life accomplishments are you proud of? 

My son.

What accomplishments on Answers.com are you proud of?  

The Mentoring Program was a wonderfully challenging experience for me. I had an amazing mentor in Wildrosebeef, and she stood by me through all the ups and downs. I am quite proud of being a Mentoring Program Graduate.

What is your favorite type of music?  

I love many genres of music, but rock really does it for me. My favorite bands are Tool and Pink Floyd.

You can only pick one:  banjo, butterfly, or babbling brook. Which would you choose and why? 

Definitely a butterfly. It’s my only tattoo, and I have a slight obsession with symmetry. If I were a butterfly, I could fly to the babbling brook and listen to the man playing his banjo.

What do you find most challenging as an Answers.com Supervisor? 

The biggest challenge is to not lose my cool when dealing with someone insistent on arguing with me.

What are your special interests, hobbies, or collections? 

I am a die-hard NASCAR fan. I enjoy spending my Sunday afternoons on the edge of my couch screaming at the television. I’ve had the great pleasure of going to numerous races in New Hampshire, as well. There isn’t anything quite like being up against the fence and watching those cars come off Turn 2, on the brink of disaster!

What is your inspiration in life?  

Coffee, coffee, and more coffee!

You have two pets. Tell us about some of their antics!

Shadow

Shadow

There’s no shortage of personality in my pets. I wouldn’t have it any other way either.

My dog’s name is Shadow. She’s a bit rambunctious, and her previous owner couldn’t handle her. She was a little over a year old when I took her in, and she’s four now. Since becoming a dog owner, I’ve noticed a serious drop in the sock population. The funniest thing I have ever seen is my dog tiptoeing across the kitchen floor to sneak up on the cat.Jam's cat

My cat’s name is Pretty Kitty. A family member asked me to watch her for the weekend, and I decided against giving her back. That was eight years ago. In addition to my cat hiding in cupboards and walking on top of doors, she steals my make-up brushes and hair ties. She has this amusing version of hide-and-seek/peek-a-boo that she plays. I crawl around on the floor and ask, “Where’s the Pretty Kitty?” and she jumps out of wherever she’s hiding and swats at me a few times. She knocks ornaments off the Christmas tree and blames the dog, and she somehow manages to deposit cat litter in the dog’s water bowl several times a day.

Check out some of Jam499′s Q&A:

What comes after a direct object?

How do you know if a linking verb is a predicate adjective or noun?

 

Meet Prioktan918: Master StoryTeller and Seeker of Knowledge

Prioktan918 is a storyteller by nature and many will enjoy his interview for the sheer pleasure of reading a well-told story. He has broad knowledge, eclectic taste, and he specializes in the Middle East. Thanks to his attention, we now have organized categories for Middle Eastern History and related topics. He calls his sense of humor horrible, yet he is quite amusing. Though he is currently busy studying law, he still finds time to devote to Answers.com and we are lucky to have him! Since January of 2012, he has more than 120,000 contributions, making him a Platinum Contributor. He has already passed through the Special Project Assistant (SPA) Program and he is a Mentoring Program Graduate. Read more and get to know this intellectual and imaginative young man who will one day be a great lawyer and most likely, more than that!

What is your first name?  Richard.

What is your occupation?

I used to be a paralegal working in defense of liability insurers and reinsurers. Currently, I am at law school, studying to become a lawyer.

What is your Answers.com username and how did it come about?

It is Prioktan918. The “918” is a personal thing. “Prioktan” comes from an exchange between my brother and me when we were younger. My brother used to have this imaginary friend “Johnny” who lived on Pluto and I would sit down and ask him very critical questions of Johnny and his surroundings. After asking all these questions, I began to imagine a world on Pluto populated with numerous different people. They were all led by a singularly gifted woman named Prioktan who made a valiant last stand against the invading and colonizing forces of Earth in the 2600s. In the “Internet Age” when every useful username is used, Prioktan has just the set of characters to avoid causing problems in making a username or email address. It has proven relatively successful. Perhaps, eventually, more people will learn about Prioktan, if I ever finish writing her story.

Where in the world do you hail from and what makes this place special?

I come from everywhere, really. I lived the majority of my life in New York City and its environs, but I have also lived in Washington DC, London, Seville, Fez, and Tel Aviv: four continents, six cities, bloody nightmare. Each of those cities is special in its own way, but the general effect was to make me a Post-American, as my friends like to say. I am American, but I do not let that define my personality or outlook.

How did you discover Answers.com?

I was eating lunch at work one day and I figured that I could contribute to the overall good of the world by clarifying a few issues or answering a few questions. So, I registered and answered. What was nice was that as opposed to Wikipedia, I did not have to cite my information, meaning that I could address issues without painstakingly writing a research essay. So, I just kept at it, especially when it came to categories that I knew well, such as the Middle East, and that had few major contributors.

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?Ditto Pokemon

I was always enamored with the Pokémon “Ditto”, which is something like an animal. What I found interesting was that Ditto did not have a persona or identity, save when it stole one by copying another form. It was whatever it wished itself to be and had no remnant of itself when it copied. It creates this interesting question of whether a person’s will can truly exist outside of the manifest experience of living that life. I would find the experiment of being a Ditto to be a wonderful and exciting conundrum.

What is your favorite thing to do on Answers.com?

I enjoy answering a “why” question that seeks real analysis or exposes strongly held feelings. More often than not, people have serious questions that they cannot address with anyone in their life. This could be because communities are insular, or it could be because there is a stigma against asking certain questions of certain people. I feel that if I can clarify something that bothers or confuses someone, perhaps, that person might be able to pay it forward.

If you were inviting someone to join Answers.com, what reason(s) would you give that person to become a part of our community?

I am not a salesman. When I ask people to contribute, I ask them from the perspective that they have expertise in a subject and they should share it with those less knowledgeable. I have not been that successful as my friends are busier than I am.

What accomplishments on Answers.com are you proud of?

I am proud of having organized the Middle Eastern History Category, as well as submitting category requests for the Caliphate and Kurdistan categories that now exist. Prior to my arrival on Answers.com, the Middle East area was a mess; it is much tidier now.

What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?

A friend from the UK was visiting me in Morocco (while I lived in Fez), so I told him to meet me at the Casablanca train station. It was around midnight, and he had not slept for nearly 36 hours as a result of finishing finals. He arrived, barely lucid and completely exasperated. We boarded a 0:45 train to Tangier which takes about six hours. We packed into a train car (like in the Harry Potter movies) and because the hour was so late, we had the car to ourselves. I took watch and my friend went to sleep. At around 2:30, we were in the Sidi Qasem Junction where the train had to hold for about twenty minutes while the track was switched. A man then came  hobbling into our car and slurred out, “I…I…I…like…I don’t have a ticket. Is that OK?” I responded to him in French that I didn’t care and he should be fine. He proceeded to fall to the ground in a crumpled heap and clawed his way under the banquet. Just then a train conductor passed by the outside of the car and saw the drunken man’s legs peering out from under the banquet. He yanked the drunken man out from under the banquet, readjusted his grip so that he could haul the man upright, rotated the man 180 degrees and slammed him against the far side wall, before dragging the man out of the train altogether. The noise of the man colliding with the far side of the wall woke my good friend whose eyes widened immensely. I turned to him and said, “Welcome to Morocco, you should pay for your tickets here.”

What is your favorite type of music?  

I like music from the eastern Mediterranean, such as modern Greek (Paparizou and similar), modern Turkish (Tarkan and similar), Arab Pop (Ajram, Diab, and similar), and Israeli (Haza and similar).

Who is your favorite poet?  What is your favorite poem and why?

My favorite poem is Canción de Jinete (Song of the Rider) by Federico García Lorca. It’s the story of a patrolman who knows that he lacks the supplies to make it safely to Córdoba, which was his original destination. To me it represents the meaning of true heroism. In most films and literature, heroes die ceremonious deaths and are pined for, if they must die at all. In reality, many heroes give their lives without accolades, rotting namelessly in prison cells, dying without a hope that what little good they tried to achieve will progress to anything, and most importantly, they die without ceremony and without climactic cause. Lorca portrays this singular un-mourned loss in a way that makes us care about him, too. Additionally, it serves as a mirror to Lorca’s own life since he was killed by Fascist tyrants in 1936 for the crime of being gay. He was given no ceremony nor blessing in Spain for nearly forty years afterwards, dying as namelessly as the Rider.

What makes you unique?

I am absurdly honest and blunt.

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

Assuming that the wish-giver was not intentionally duplicitous and would grant the wishes as intended, as opposed to the common trope in literature where the wish granting agent grants the wish in a way that the wisher does not wish to receive the wish:

  • World Peace – A realistic peace that allows people to actually embrace each other and realize their rights and freedoms to self-determination. This does not require that people cease to argue, but it does demand a mental shift across the world that violence and hatred are not viable ways to do this.
  • Super-Teleport – I would like to be able to teleport myself, and anything I carry, to any point in the universe at any point in time. Additionally I would be able to teleport into works of both fiction and non-fiction with any “story” content in which I could acquire attributes of that world or even take over characters and play the story out differently. Any death caused by being outside of normal time would just revert me back to where I made the original jump from with the memories of everything that happened – like waking from a nightmare.
  • Investment in Space Colonization – I would like governments around the world to invest in building a space elevator and start building space colonies to reduce the strain on our planet as well as colonizing the moon and Mars. I wouldn’t wish that these things already existed but that there was the will the world-over to see these missions through.

Do you view the glass ‘half full’ or ‘half empty’?  Why?

I don’t waste my time with the glass. I evaluate the problem, pick the best viable solution and execute it by rationally evaluating all component parts and actors. Optimism and pessimism both distort a person’s ability to think critically.

What do you find most challenging as an Answers.com Supervisor?

It is most challenging to deal with irrational or problematic contributors who I need to reprimand for their conduct.

What do you find most challenging as an Answers.com contributor?

It can be a challenge to understand what the questions are that are being asked when people form their questions vaguely.

What is your favorite quote and why?

Tao PeopleContext: In 1890 in southern Tanganyika (current Tanzania), the German commander Hermann von Wissman was fighting against the Yao People, ruled by Chief Macemba. When Wissman demanded subordination by Macemba, the African ruler replied by way of a letter written in Kiswahili:

Translation of the Quote: I have listened to your words but can find no reason why I should obey you—I would rather die first… I look for some reason why I should obey you and find not the smallest. If it should be friendship that you desire, then I am ready for it, today and always; but not to be your slave, that I cannot be. If it should be war you desire, then I am ready, but never to be your slave. I do not fall at your feet, for you are God’s creature just as I am. I am sultan here in my land. You are sultan there in yours. Yet listen, I do not say to you that you should obey me; for I know that you are a free man. As for me, I will not come to you, and if you are strong enough, then come and fetch me. ~ Macemba

Reason: It’s my favorite quote because it shows Macemba’s willingness not to capitulate merely because defeat is inevitable. A person should be willing to defend everything they hold dear instead of forfeiting it for mere survival. A mind without a heart would make us no different than computers or animals.

Where is one place in the world you would love to visit and why?

I would like to visit Iran and Iraq to see where my family came from.

Do you have any special talents?

I can speak in a voice resembling Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks completely naturally. (It is not my natural voice, though; that would be a curse, not a talent.)

What is one quirky or interesting random fact about you that most people may not know?

I have a horrible sense of humor. Some people get it, but most do not.

Meet Luvhistory: Lover of Nature and History!

Luvhistory

Luvhistory

Luvhistory is a midwestern gal. She majored in history in college – perhaps the reason for her username. Luvhistory is also a lover of nature and you can find many of her contributions on the site in the Endangered, Vulnerable and Threatened Species and Animal Life categories. Her descriptions of nature are sensitive and beautiful, as you will discover in the interview. She is not only knowledgeable, but she is also an active member of our community with over 104,000 contributions. Read more and get to know Luvhistory. Continue reading →

Meet Mehtamatics: Wisdom and quality of life rolled into one!

MehtamaticsIt’s an honor to have Mehtamatics on our site. His total contributions exceed 113,00 and of those, 75,000 are original answers. Our community of members certainly appreciates and values Mehtamatics: he has over 4,000 Trust Points! His favorite category is Mathematics and he provides excellent answers to math-related questions. Originally from India, today he resides to the southwest of London, where he enjoys both nature and city life in this privileged location! He is a bit of a philosopher, in addition to being an excellent mathematician. Read more and get to know this thoughtful and interesting member of Answers.com. Continue reading →

Meet Garethfx: Proud Welshman and Trusted Supervisor

Meet Garethfx: a proud Welshman from the Cardiff area. He knows his history, loves his family and has quite a creative bent. He is also a valued Supervisor on the site who strives to give clear and accurate answers as a service to the community. For that he has earned over 2000 trust points. He is most active in the Rugby category, one of his favorite sports. Read on and get to know Gareth! Continue reading →

Meet C.Hainsaw: He’s out of this world!

Meet C.Hainsaw. He’s one of the most cherished and longstanding members of our Community. In trust points alone he’s over the 2600 mark. Overall, C.Hainsaw has almost 248,000 contributions! His knowledge is broad which qualifies him to supervise many categories, especially those related to the US Military, Law and Legal Issues, and Jobs and Education. He participates enthusiastically in our contests and programs, and has won many awards. Among them, he was the top Mentor for the Most Outstanding Performance Overall in the 2011 WAmmy and he won the Best How-To in the 2010 WAmmy. Read more to learn about this wise and thoughtful member of Answers.com who is also, by the way, passionate about his family! Continue reading →

Meet Nicola: A purrfect role model from Scotland!

Xnicola is a star at Answers.com! Just one look at her bio page and it is clear: Senior Supervisor, Mentoring Program Mentor, Copy Editor for WikiReviewers, Imperial WikiGuide for Community Outreach, Senior Site Guardian for Vandal Patrol and TIP Supervisor. The long list of accomplishments makes her an expert on the site and a great role model. It’s not surprising that she is also a Category Supervisor for Literature and Language. She is currently finishing a Masters Degree in the English language. If you have ever received a greeting from Xnicola on the site, you know that she is a warm and welcoming person, too! Read more to learn more about this outstanding young lady from Scotland. Continue reading →

Sister, friend, lover of krokets and Makker: Meet Ireen22

The Netherlands

The Netherlands

It’s hard to stop bragging about our contributor from the Netherlands, Ireen22! She is outstanding as a person, accomplished in many areas, including equestrian sports and photography, and she’s a real star on Answers.com! Irene gives all she has to her missions, having completed 50 for WikiAnswers Influential Teens (WIT) and 50 for Special Project Assistant (SPA). She holds badges as a Category Supervisor, a WikiReviewer, a Noble WikiGuide, a Vandal Patrol Generalist and she has more than 38,000 contributions. She never forgets her friends on the site and she views life with an open mind and heart. Read more to learn about this very special young woman from the Netherlands. Continue reading →

Skullcandy88: Just our cup of tea!

There’s almost nothing that he hasn’t done on the site: Category Supervisor, Senior Vandal Patrol, Special Project Assistant, Community Outreach, Mentoring Program Graduate and more than 68,000 contributions. He prides himself on using proper grammar and he loves tea. This intelligent young man from England is one of our top Supervisors who oversees a wide range of categories. He is truly a source of inspiration and knowledge. Check out his bio to learn all about Skullcandy88 and maybe, if we ask, he will share the secret to a perfect cup of tea! Continue reading →

Judy Olmsted: a woman to be reckoned with!

It is a real pleasure to introduce Judy Olmsted, our first TIP graduate, who now excels at splitting alternates, re-categorization and, of course, answering questions on the site, among other features! Though Judy joined our online community recently, she has already become a bronze contributor with her over 2800 contributions in the Health, Human Anatomy and Biology categories. A former teacher, she is much loved by her students who voted her the Teacher of the Year three times – not to mention her own college who awarded her the honor of Educator of the Year! We are lucky to have Judy on our team, and soon she will be an Answers.com Supervisor, too! Read more and get to know her and her sense of humor… Continue reading →

Meet Rhyfor: A Christmas Miracle!

Rhyfor is a Christmas miracle and we couldn’t resist featuring him this week in the Contributor Corner as we come to the end of 2012! Based in Scotland, he is a top Supervisor who has earned many badges: Senior Supervisor, Mentoring Program Mentor, Category Supervisor for the iPhone, the iPad 2 and Technology, SPA Active Alumni, WikiGuide for Community Outreach, Bug Catcher, Senior Generalist for Vandal Patrol and Gold Contributor with over 89.000 contributions! He is a valuable contributor on our site and we are pleased to present him to our community. Read more to get to know him and learn about his miracle! Continue reading →

A Plethora of Incredibleness on Answers.com

There is a plethora of evidence to support the fact that Plethora is an amazing Answers.com Supervisor and contributor. With over 15,000 contributions – including 750 awesome answers – Plethora is the kind of contributor that makes us want to sing in the rain, catch fireflies through fields of clover…paint pictures of monarch butterflies on the sides of our cars! Okay…we really just want to share how wonderful she is. Enjoy reading this plethora of incredibleness!

What is your Answers.com user name and the history behind it?

My Answers.com user name is Plethora. Years ago I saw a nice butterfly pic on the Internet and, when I saved it, its default file name was plethora. That is when I started using Plethora as my pen name. I also named my daughter Plethora.

Are you a Floating or Category Supervisor?

I am a Category Supervisor of the Filipino Language and Culture category.

What is your first name?

Mark Melody Joy

What is your age?

I am 27-years-old.

Would you care to tell us about your family?

I am the second child. I have one sister and one brother, but my parents separated and now have families of their own. On my father’s side, I have two more sisters and on my mom’s, two siblings. I am married and blessed with a 5-year-old smart girl.

Do you have any pets?

Right now, no. But before I used to keep kittens, cats…when I would see them on the road, I would bring them home. :)

Where do you live, how long have you lived there and why do you like the area?

I am staying now in Bangkok, Thailand since January 1st of this year. I am working as a teacher. I must like the area (LOL); if not, I would be buying a plane ticket for the next flight back to the Philippines (kidding)! Seriously, there is not a lot of difference here from the Philippines. So it has not been hard to adjust to the place or the weather.

Where did you grow up and do you have any special memories of your childhood?

I grew up in the Philippines! My hometown is in Laguna. Hmmm. I cannot think of any special childhood memory. :(

What educational information would you like to share?

I took BS Info Technology. I am undergraduate in college, and then I took and was able to finish a Caregiver Vocational Course.

What are some of your past and/or present occupations?

My first two jobs I was a customer assistant in computer cafes. Later I worked in a supermarket for promotions only, as a customer service representative at a call center and a Quality Control Agent in another call center (where I was promoted to an Escalation Agent). My present job is a K1 teacher.

What are your key areas of knowledge, interests or expertise?

I believe I am quite good with computers. Here’s a story. When I got my first job in a computer cafe, I knew nothing about computers. I had no interest in them. I intentionally didn’t review for the entrance exam at a university, because my sister wanted me to take BS in Computer Science, and as expected I failed the exam. I also never attended my computer class in high school. But when I got my first job, I had no choice but to use and like computers. And so I learned on my own. The cafe had so many books about computer programming. Within two years of working there, I started computer tutorials, Web page design, making animations and programming. I am also into writing poems, drawing and painting.

Do you have any collections or hobbies?

When I was in high school, I collected Hanson Brother posters, cassette tapes and CDs. Now, what I am keeping are some hard copies of my poems and my drawings.

What do you like to do for recreation?

I just go on the Internet and play Flood It! But it is not as good as signing into Answers.com! It’s the best kind of recreation ever…when you sit on your laptop and answer questions, merge questions, split, ask questions and learn from facts and answers!

Do you have any special talents you’d like to share?

Nothing really special. I can sing, play guitar, dance, draw and write…but I’ll only rate myself a 5 in all of those talents!

What accomplishments are you proud of?

Becoming a part of PenMen Writings, an international poetry site.

What are your special goals or dreams?

I want to buy a house. I want to be home with my family…(sighs).

How would you describe yourself or personality?

I am a quiet type of person. I’m more of a listener. I am a dreamer, a perfectionist but not perfect, hehe.

What brought you to Answers.com?

In my last call center job, we used ReferenceAnswers for references. That’s when I found out about WikiAnswers. And then a friend, an office mate, noticed me answering questions so she suggested that I sign up. Later she recommended me as Floating Supervisor and that was that…I became addicted! Unfortunately when the IT staff noticed that I spent most of my time on WikiAnswers, they blocked the site. Tsk tsk tsk. :-(

What keeps you coming back to Answers.com?

At first I found it amazing when I discovered good answers to my questions and reading the opinions from different community members. But when I became a Category Supervisor, that’s when I realized that it is more of the concern that you feel for the site. You will feel that responsibility even though you’re not obliged to do so. It is like the feeling of being a mother knowing your responsibility to raise your child, and honestly, it feels bad when I get busy and don’t have time to visit the site.

What is your favorite Answers.com activity?

Merging – because of the many Tagalog questions in the category that I am Supervising. Some Filipinos must not realize that there is a Tagalog version of WikiAnswers for their Tagalog questions. I also love deleting bad answers. :D

Learning to share

Share on Facebook!Here’s a quick tip from the Quick Tip Department. Have you ever wanted to get your questions out there not just to the WikiAnswers community, and not just to your Facebook and Twitter friends, but to all three groups?

Share on Twitter!Try using the new Facebook and Twitter buttons on question pages. It’s a great way to broaden your audience. Share unanswered questions to get them answered faster by people you know. Share answered questions to show off your talent for answering, or just to share laughs about something funny you read. (You can start with our funniest questions.)

Have fun, and get the word out there!

Announcing a new way of looking at contributions

Shiny new answers. Perfectionistic edits. Categorization after categorization after categorization. Contributions are the pulse of our Q&A community. We record them, search them, filter them, revert them, reward for them and – sometimes – block for them.

There are dozens of ways to contribute on WikiAnswers, and until recently, they were all bundled together into one big contribution total, which looked like this box here.

(This is my stats box, by the way. And I like that number, 22,353. It’s not like Steven Keyman or HisPowr4U, but it’s still something to be proud of.)

What if you could see the breakdown of your contributions, and where you stand within the community in each grouping? Yeah, that’s what we thought, too. So the boys in the back room did some magic, and today we are rolling out a new contribution system that will let you shine in five new ways:

  • Answers: first answers
  • Edits: edits to questions, answers, alternates, related questions and related links
  • Organization: categorization, flags, features, merges, splits, protects and more…
  • Questions: questions asked
  • Community: messages, discussion posts and bio page edits

Read on to find out where you’ll see the changes.

Bio pages: more transparency

Visit your bio page to see your current stats. Check out the new features:

  • If you’re in this month’s top 100 for a specific contribution type, you’ll see a little starburst next to it. Click on the starburst to see the top 100 list.
  • Hover over a contribution title (e.g., “Organization”) to see what type of action is included in that group.
  • Click “Total” to see all of the user’s contributions.

Category pages: getting to the heart of matters

It takes a lot to keep a category clean, organized and full of good answers. And it takes a lot of curious people to fill it with the questions that keep our minds buzzing.

We now recognize all types of category contributions on a monthly basis, so whether you’re an intrepid new contributor rising through the ranks or a community leader watching from the sidelines hoping to recruit a supervisor, this page has it all.

Missing the forest for the trees? Click the Hall of Fame link to return to the sitewide leaderboards…

Check it out by visiting your favorite category homepage, or see Animal Life for an example.

Leaderboards: being #1 never looked so good

It seemed like a shame to upgrade the contribution system and then send it down the red carpet on the arm of an old leaderboard. A little like being presented at the Inaugural Ball in an Armani suit… and ratty Converse All-Stars from 1977. So we gave the leaderboards a makeover, and there are oh, so many sweet new ways to be #1. See for yourself:

Click the arrows to see the top 100.

You’re probably wondering…

Testimonials

“This feature ROCKS!” – Ganderton

“I want to cuddle it.” – Eliesheva

“It will make me want to answer more, and that’s a good thing.” – Kmac

“I don’t know how I lived without it before.” – Brave3

“That’s hawt.” – Anonymous

“Split contributions makes me want to be a cheerleader again! Go SCs!” – Crystal

“It looks so pretty and shiny that I could stare at it all day!” – Stupid Little Genius

“The engineers have surpassed themselves… Possibly the best feature I have seen with my time on site.” – Mike 2

“I’m so excited about split contribs that my OCD is going to go into hyperdrive!” – An8thg

What do you think of the new contributions system? Add your own testimonial in the comments section below!

Math + Teacher + Guy = MathTeacherGuy on Answers.com!

What do you get when you add a worldwide community of intelligent, awesome contributors to a nifty wiki Q&A platform? Answers.com of course! And one of these rockin’ digits happens to be our Featured Contributor of the Week. He’s MathTeacherGuy – a Floating Supervisor and Bronze Contributor who divides his time on the site between categories such as Math, History and Education, among others. He has an impressive formula for answering interesting (and often difficult) questions and the power to come up with great a solution for keeping things fair and balanced. To sum it up, MathTeacherGuy always equals greatness!

What is your Answers.com user name and the history behind it?

I use the name MathTeacherGuy because my last regular job was teaching math (middle school and high school).

What is your first name?

Gerald

What is your age?

54

Would you care to tell us about your family?

I am married and have a daughter in college. My wife is a nurse and my daughter is a film studies major.

Do you have any pets?

We had a dog, but she is gone now, and we are thinking about getting another.

Where do you live, how long have you lived there and why do you like the area?

I have lived in the Silicon Valley/South Bay area for more than 30 years. I like this area very much, except that it seems awfully crowded now.

Where did you grow up and do you have any special memories of your childhood?

I grew up in and around Seattle, Washington. Sometimes I miss it, but then I remember the months upon months of gray, damp weather.

What educational information would you like to share?

I have attended college in my teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. I have an Associate’s degree in Electronics Engineering, a Bachelor’s degree in Management, a Master’s in Business Administration and a teaching credential in Mathematics.

What are some of your past and/or present occupations?

Electronics technician, electronics manufacturing engineer, new products program manager, web tools program manager, tutor, teacher.

What are your key area(s) of knowledge, interests or expertise?

It seems like I have done quite a lot of different things. I have lots of different interests. Usually I focus intensely on one thing for awhile and then move on to a new interest.

Do you have any collections or hobbies?

Photography is my biggest hobby. One unusual thing that I do as a hobby is photograph grave markers and publish them on a genealogy site. Sometimes I also transcribe archived records for another genealogy site.

What do you like to do for recreation?

I bicycle and hike in the hills.

What are a few random facts about yourself?

I’m about 90% bald. I could lose 20 pounds. I was only a few days too young for the Vietnam-era draft. I was a paperboy in the late 60s, and I used to read the whole paper, every day.

Do you have any special talents you’d like to share?

I enjoy digital photography and wish that I could use it on WikiAnswers. I guess I could link answers that need a drawing or photo to my Flickr web site. Definitely not singing, or dancing. I can’t play a musical instrument. I do work on the sound and light team at church.

What accomplishments are you proud of?

I helped start operations at two Silicon Valley companies, both of which had successful initial public offerings and both employed lots of people. This gives me a great feeling of satisfaction that I contributed something of value.

What are your special goals or dreams?

Most of my special goals and dreams are far beyond the realms of reasonable probability. I would like to see a lot more of the world.

How would you describe yourself or personality?

Sometimes I am Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh); sometimes I am Wally (from Dilbert); sometimes I am Yoda (from Star Wars).

What brought you to Answers.com?

I like a chance to help people out.

What keeps you coming back to Answers.com?

I enjoy a challenging question and the chance to answer it in a way that suits me. I like fair and balanced answers to complex questions.

What is your favorite Answers.com activity?

Surfing for a really good question that is thought-provoking and causes me to do a few minutes of research to check my own accuracy; that’s the best.

Remember to change your filters…

Many options for filtering the Recent Site Activity page. The talented product folks at Answers.com recently added more filters to WikiAnswers’ Recent Site Activity page.

Remember, it’s always good advice to change your filters often… or something like that. Now you can mix it up by checking out all kinds of actions, including what questions have recently been featured, protected or autoflagged, what links have been recently added, or what questions an individual has featured, protected, reverted, and more.

These are also on the Recent Category Activity pages, and on User Contribution and Question History pages.

This is the type of thing you just have to play around with yourself, so check it out!

And a word of advice from product mistress Pickleshy: Don’t forget to press the GO button to submit the filter.

New 'Recent Site Activity' filters.

WikiAnswers: now with over 10 million questions!

Here’s a fun fact: In the little over two years since WikiAnswers.com was acquired, the number of questions on the site has increased 35-fold. On March 6th – last Friday – the site was asked its 10 millionth question.

10 million questions on WikiAnswers!

Here’s another fun fact: The 10 millionth question was – drum roll please -

How long is the flight from Newark to Sydney?

That ought to awaken the travel bug in you!

Some other fun facts:

  • According to comScore, WikiAnswers.com US unique visitors reached nearly 19 million in January 2009, compared to 729 thousand in December 2006.
  • During this time period, WikiAnswers.com’s market share increased from 4% to nearly 35%, vs. Yahoo! Answers, based on US unique visitors.
  • There are over 500 volunteer Supervisors and millions of contributors from around the world asking, answering and editing across the site’s 4,712 categories.

As quoted by Bruce D. Smith, who leads the Community Development team: “We aim to make WikiAnswers.com the best place for users to find answers to all their questions.”

So that’s the challenge put forth to you: What are your questions? Have they been asked at WikiAnswers.com yet? And how long before 15 million, 100 million, a billion questions?

What makes Q&A sites popular?

Search Engine News asked this question yesterday: What Makes Question and Answer Sites Popular?

As they went about answering their own question, seems like WikiAnswers was able to offer a little insight:

Why are question and answer sites so popular? Someone actually asked that question on WikiAnswers. The answer given suggested it was human nature. “Some people like to share with others what they know. Some people like to learn by reading the questions and answers.”

Here’s the original Q&A: Why do people like question-and-answer sites?

What can you add?

An interview with the unstoppable Doditov.

My favorite part about the WikiAnswers contributors community is the sheer enthusiasm that runs across the different kinds of community members. This is the kind of enthusiasm and energy reserved for high school cheerleaders, except without all the bleach and squeaking.

This week we’re proud to present Doditov, one such wonderfully dedicated WikiAnswers Mentor and Supervisor, who has been around since November last year. A florist for her day job and nearing 60,000 contributions in under a year, Doditov is a Q&A force that just cannot be stopped – just the way we like it!

How did you originally hear about WikiAnswers?

I have had Answers.com at my default search engine for ages, and one day this box popped up with my material… but there was this added section about questions.  I looked, answered and was hooked.  Since I’m a suspicious person, I didn’t log in for ages it seems, but when I did, I got a message from Crystal almost immediately.

What motivates you to volunteer your time to the WikiAnswers community?

I’m one of those trivia people and all this knowledge was going to waste.  I have a passion to “get things right” and WikiAnswers gives me the opportunity to share what I know.  Of course, grammar, spelling, and proper classification are just part of the job.

For me, it’s more about being Marian the Librarian.  I “get in the zone” and can usually reclassify a question in about 10 seconds.  That how I worked Unanswerable.  Hmm… I miss Unanswerable!  It was a challenge to figure out what was actually being asked!!!

What are your areas of expertise?

<looks around, decides the question really DOES mean me>

I’m the cataloging queen.  I super odds and ends and boy are they odd.  Who else do you know would do knitting, crocheting, beading, skating, short stories, and CIGARETTE LIGHTERS???  Since the categories are smallish, I get to indulge my passion of tidying up.

What is your favorite WikiAnswers feature?

Our orange men!  Now if I could only teach him to knit!  Or play Diablo… he’d be sooo cool to have as a hireling.

What is the funniest question/funniest experience as a Supervisor on WikiAnswers?

My favorite question AND answer is this one:

Why does my wife’s new broomstick only fly in left hand circles she has tried changing her grip and seating but to no avail please help she is getting dizzy?

When I looked at the history, I nearly fell off the bed!  <did I mention that my best work is done propped up in the bed with my laptop?>  Mark and Golden had a wonderful time I’m sure, and the result is absolutely wonderful.  I’m considering a project in which we all start with a writing premise and share it into a novel.  Just think of it…the Great Wiki Novel!  With the inventive people we have, I’m sure it would be a work for the ages.

What does your username, Doditov, mean?

I was taking a Hebrew class and after class my instructor and I were discussing what names looked like in direct transliteration.  I mentioned that my actual name came through the French and wondered what it would be if we translated it into Hebrew.  He thought for a second and announced that it would be ‘Dodi Tov’.  It struck my fancy and when I needed a unique screen name, I chose that one.  It’s short, and is actually my real name yet no one would ever find me unless they chose to realllly hunt.

Share a random fact about yourself.

A random fact… I’m a sloppy romantic.  Even though I haven’t been married for 24 years, I still am shopping for Mr. Right.  Once upon a time when Crystal did an interview, I told her that I was picky but looking.  She replied that this is WikiANSWERS not WikiDate.  Hmm… Maybe a new website? <giggles>

Do you want to be interviewed for the Contributor corner? Just leave a comment below and we’ll get to work.