Yahoo! Answers Relies on the Kindness -- and Knowledgeability -- of Strangers

Two weeks in Pittsburgh. Is this some kind of joke? Is this because Google set up a new office in town recently? Is this because it is 7-degrees outside as I type this?

Yahoo! Answers Relies on the Kindness?and Knowledgeability?of Strangers The point system (http://answers.yahoo.com/info/scoring_system) rewards both the quality of answers and the frequency of participation. All participants start with 100 points and can build up their scores without ever answering a question just by asking questions and voting on answers. However, achieving ?best answer? ratings can add 10 points, the highest lump sum of points available. Accrual of points leads to seven answer levels?white (0?249), yellow (250?999), blue (1,000?2,499), green (2,500?4,999), purple (5,000?9,9999), brown (10,000?24,999), and black (25,000-plus)?with different ?thank you? status awards attached. The awards range from a simple thank you note, to eligibility as a ?featured user? on a community editorial page or even on the home page masthead, to something so astounding it remains unannounced (?Be the first to find out!?). The higher the level one attains, the more opportunity Yahoo! promises to ask, answer, comment, and rate. (?Second prize is 2 weeks in Pittsburgh.?)

At a number of different junctions in my online life, I played critical roles in leadership. There was the Village Chat Server, the Village Compass Bundle, the USS Swim Boards, the Better-Swim-List, the SC buy-out and the Eureka Squared! discussion with Netscape, to mention a few.

Because of the knock above -- and I can take a joke -- I'll pass on the Yahoo! Answers network.