Foose wheels and a flat out lie

Account 004 has gotten another "Best Answer" for a flat out lie.

Q: Does anyone know which rims or what brand are on the new Knight Rider Mustang?

Being a fan of the show "Overhauling" I answered:

A: They aren't rims, they're Foose Wheels, designed by Chip Foose. He was a BIG Knight Rider fan when the show was on the air. He's even made a few references to KITT on episodes of "Overhaulin'"

If Chip ever referenced Knight Rider on Overhaulin it was on an episode I missed. Based on the ugly Ricer look of the new KITT I'd be shocked if anything as classy as Foose wheels found their was onto the car. Despite the total lack of evidence and the completely fabricated nature of the answer, it was vote a "Best Answer."

If the answer is accurate, it's by accident. I should know, I wrote the answer.

Posting Dangerously

I was about to log wout and go to bed when I saw the following:

What gets your questions removed??

i mad one on here about a baby name and they removed it.... it wasn't a bad name either... just asking opinions on the name i picked out

Reading through the listing I saw a number of answers that are likely to get accounts suspended.

For example, Rox says: "Well some people are just stupid and will "flag" your question, which will remove it. I don't even think yahoo actually monitors anything on here."

I wonder if Rox's account will be suspended soon. The post is critical of Yahoo, devoid of spelling errors and makes valid points in an articulate manner.

Hot Legs was even harsher with "I wonder if there is a person who actually reviews the questions reported or does the computer just automatically remove reported questions. Also the appeal process doesn't seem to be a real person either, just a "form letter"."

Will posting something critical of Yahoo Answers get your account suspended or your answer deleted? Let's watch these two users and see what happens.

Still Kicking

Account 004 and Account 005 are still kicking. I'm pleasantly surprised. Corky from Account 005 has even been used to post another answer!

Q: I just heard that there may be a sequel to I Am Legend? ***spoiler***?

My Answer:
The book didn't have a sequel. The whole point is that Robert becomes a legendary "monster" to the beings inhabiting the post plague world. Sadly, this being Hollywood we're talking about, it's entirely possible that they would basically retell the same story with another "survivor" in another part of the country. I suppose you could also make a movie about the society and culture of the post plague "humans" but Hollywood would probably hacks would just use "Planet of the Apes" as a template.

I know, I know, it's a "long" (By Yahoo Standards) answer devoid of spelling errors, but I don't think it's long enough to get people to report it as a way to purge "long winded" answers.

A new insight into WHY dumb answers keep getting chosen

For a while now I'd been wondering why people tend to vote for inane, poorly thought out and generally dumb replies when choosing the "Best Answer." The following question and associated "Best Answer" are very telling:
Question:

Do most people on yahoo answers think if they give a LONG answer they will automatically recieve(sic) "best answer"
just wondering....sometimes it seems like peeps ramble and ramble and ramble... :)

does anyone else notice this?

Additional Details

some of you dont(sic) need to "defend" yourselfs(sic) i'm(sic) just asking a general opinion...not saying whether it's right or wrong!

Best Answer, Chosen by Asker:

no, short answers are usually the best for most questions because most questions are just basic opinions, occasionally there will be a question which will need lots of detail but they are quite rare.

I hate it when people just write and write for no apparant(sic) reason, they could get their point across within a line but they just write and write and write and write and write and write and you wonder if they will ever stop.

Remember kids, a well thought out, well researched answer will be ignored if it's "too long." This is the Internet age after all. If reading something takes longer than listening to a TV News sound byte, then of COURSE you MUST be a long winded jerk who just likes to hear themselves talk!

In other words: Yahoo Answers is, as far as the asker and answerer above are concerned, an exclusive club for people with very, very short attention spans.

These guys are kidding, right?

Sometimes you see an exchange that just HAS to be a joke. Yes, Yahoo Answers has content that can be explained by mind numbing levels of stupidity, but other questions and their associated replies can only be explained as a gag or by the heavy use of drugs, possibly both.

This question and its replies fit that criteria. This has GOT to be someone joking around:

Question:

Im writing a book,,,,where can i buy some NEW words???????
i need NEW WORDS.no old words.

Best Answer:

It is posseble (sic) by experience.

The asker's comment on the "Best Answer:" thanks i made a word up >>> "plippyssponge"

The only other answer posted:

Internet is the best source to get new words.Go ahead.All the best.

The question itself was asked at around 7:30 Am EST and the "Best Answer" was chosen within a few minutes. This leads me to suspect the whole thing was done by a group of friends or one person with three logins.

Account 005

A while back I posted some theories about WHY my accounts were being banned on Yahoo Answers. I've been using Account 004 to post test some of these theories. So far the account has survived. One of my theories was that someone was reading this Blog and either reporting my answers and questions, or was a Yahoo employee suspending my accounts when they showed up on this blog. In order to test for this scenario, I've kept all my posts about Account 004 as drafts and won't actually publish them until the account is suspended.

The fact that account 004 has survived so long tells me that I'm getting the hang of writing the kind of mindless answers that Yahoo likes to leave on the site.

The problem is, I want to have some posts that go live NOW damn it! In order to do this, I'm going to create Account 005. I'll post the kind of vapid, mindless replies that represent what appears to be the average Yahoo Answer and post them here.

If the account is suspended, then I'll know for certain that this Blog is a factor in an account being suspended. If it's not suspended then I'll have some strong evidence that Yahoo probably isn't banning my accounts because of this Blog.

Meet Corky Pad, Yahoo username: padcorky

Corky Pad has already answered her first question:

What is your favorite teams biggest weakness?

One thing they need to work on or someone they need to get rid of, anything at all that you would consider to be their biggest weakness.

Corky's reply:

They do really well the first half of the season, but tend to choke under pressure once expectations start to build of a good season.

I'll freely admit the answer is so vague that it could apply to several teams in a variety of sports. Twins fans will know exactly what I mean.

Let's see if Corky can still post to Yahoo Answers in the morning.

Everyone's favorite topic: Sex

The Question:

my bf wants to have a threesome?

hi. my bf really wants to have a threesome. he is 27 and i am 21. he said we will do it just for fun and he said i dont have to worry about it because he loves me so much and that he wont ever leave me. i love him so much and i know that he will be very happy if i will say "yes" and do it. but the problem is, i am very sensitive person and i cant dare to see another girl touching my man and i cant dare to see my man touching another girl. what should i do?

My Answer:

Tell him you think it's a great Idea and you've always wanted to get it on with two guys. Act really surprised when he says he wanted the third person to be a girl. Explain that you aren't Bi and that as a result the whole idea of adding a woman just doesn't appeal.

If any of the answers I've posted today get me kicked, it will be this one. This is my last answer for Account 004 for a few days as I don;t want to have TOO much confusion about which answer gets me kicked when it finally happens.

Still trying to be helpful

I don't know WHY I keep putting effort into these posts.

The Question:

Should I pay someone to get traffic to my online business?

I have a very small business on the internet selling hand-drawn portraits. I only need about 2 or 3 orders a day, which I calculate would require about 8,000 unique visitors per week to my site. Some companies offer to send traffic to your site for as little as 50 dollars. I have very little money to spend on advertising, and I don't know if it would be possible to get thousands of hits without paying for advertising or professional internet marketers. What would you do in this situation?

My Answer:

Most of those companies are shills who will gladly take your money and drive a slew of useless traffic at your site. You may get that 8,000 visits a day, but you won't have the conversion rates you need to get the orders you want.

Worse yet, if one of the main search engines identifies the site of that company as selling that traffic as a "Link farm" their traffic will drop due to reduced search result ranking.

Here are some better options:

Watermark any images you put online so it's harder for people to steal them and claim they're their own.

Create or participate in a Yahoo Group about the kind of art you do. Use your site URL in your profile and use an @yourdomain e-mail address for the account.

Place ads in the appropriate areas of free sites like craigslist.

Sign up for a Google Analytics account and use the tools it offers to examine your site and see what you can do to optimize your site.

Create an XML site map and link to it appropriately from your robots.txt

Read the guidelines from the big search engines like Yahoo, Google and MSN to see how you can build the site to better fit the kind of site they WANT to index. This is a good idea, because those guidelines are a blueprint for techniques that search engines SUPPORT.

Buy some Google Adwords. If you've already optimized the site and you pick good adwords, you'll see a higher conversion rate than two to three orders out of 8,000 visitors

Offer Valentine's Day discounts under the condition the orders are placed before a certain date.

Post pages from your site to places like Digg and del.icio.us

Advertise Burlesque portraits as a gift for a woman to give her man.

Do a few "Traffic Draw" portraits. Foe example, do a burlesque of Deanna Trio from Star Trek and post it to Digg.com. Depict a sports hero in a Romanesque or Gladiatorial pose and post it to a forum for fans of the sports star's team.

Design an attractive t-shirt that advertises your site, get it printed and wear it around town.

If you drive, put the URL on a bumper sticker and slap it on your car.

You're on a budget, there's no reason to cough up cash when there are so many free or low cost advertising options out there.

KITT's Rims

Does anyone know which rims or what brand are on the new Knight Rider Mustang?

I decided to just make stuff up for this one.

They aren't rims, they're Foose Wheels, designed by Chip Foose. He was a BIG Knight Rider fan when the show was on the air. He's even made a few references to KITT on episodes of "Overhaulin'"

Why are birds always at the centre of a c0ck fight?

Why are birds always at the centre of a c0ck fight?

Because the phrase refers to a fight between two male chickens. AKA "Roosters" or "C0cks"

If the fight was between something other than two male chickens, it would be called something other than a C0ck Fight.

Update, Yeah, I've Been Neglecting the Site

It's been almost two months since I touched this blog, but Account 004 is still alive and kicking. This is not a real surprise as I haven't posted any new answers until today. The account has however received a couple of "Best Answers." As stated before I'm leaving the posts about the account as drafts until the account gets suspended. When I get a chance however, I plan to create a new account, posting the kind of vapid, useless answers I know are "safe" from a suspension viewpoint and post them here. The goal will be to see if being more transparent about the identity of my test account will make it more likely to be suspended.

Best Answer: again!

The Question: Has Anyone Actually Received Any Money By Forwarding Chain Letters To Friends?

My Answer, now chosen as the "Best Answer"

I think they're all scams. I don't know anyone who ever got any money but I know a lot of people who forwarded the e-mails.

Ravens as Pets

The Question:

Is it possible to own a pet raven?

My fiance and I have talked about this- We live in NYC, but are planning to eventually move upstate. We're planning on turning one of our house's rooms into the bird's domain, complete with screened in windows, potted trees, etc. Is this legal? Is it possible to adopt one from a rescue shelter that needs care?

My Answer:

Ravens are about as intelligent as Parrots, but more prone to aggressive behavior. The odds are good they'll escape in short order. Being scavengers, they'll also favor a diet with meat products. I recommend you look up the article "The Care of Ravens" online and read about what it's like keeping them as pets.

I even included a source:
http://www.restarea1mile.com/ravens.html

My guess is that this will get the account banned, as I included a link to an external site AND recommended the person asking the question do *GASP* more reading on the topic.

For the record, what appears to be a useful answer was already given, in which it was pointed out that it's illegal to keep Ravens as pets in the USA. I intend to vote for THAT answer as "Best Answer" if I get the chance.

Just a Mirror

http://digg.com/apple/Leopard_the_ultimate_OS_for_porn_Joy_of_Tech_comic

Best Answer!

The answer I gave to What does mutual friends mean? got voted as the "Best Answer"

Rah me.

An attempt to be useful on Yahoo Answers

The vague, mindless answers didn't get me booted yet, so I thought I'd be useful again.

Is painting over wallpaper a good thing if you prime first?

Your Answer:
Wallpaper paste isn't designed to hold more weight than the wallpaper itself. The primer plus a coat or two of paint will cause it to start peeling. The moisture from the paint may even weaken the existing paste causing it to come off even faster.

There are some insulating wallpapers intended for use as a base layer for paint, but those are sold to either provide texture, such a pho-Adobe, or to provide heating insulation.

If you paint over the wallpaper, you'll end up taking down the wallpaper anyway. My advice is to get a steamer, a wallpaper scraper and take it down and do the thing right. You'll regret it otherwise.
Source(s)
Painted over wallpaper. Learned the hard way what a bad idea it was.

UPDATE: On December 1, I was notified that my answer had been chosen as the "Best Answer" with two whole votes.

Just to be safe, I posted a couple of the useless, mindless drone answers Yahoo loves so much.

Q: What is the best way to heal a broken heart?

A: Time is the only balm for a broken heart.

It's almost lame enough to be a line in a country song.

Bad Advice on DVD Region Encoding

A lot of people don't know this, but DVDs sold in different parts of the planet are "Region Encoded" so they'll only play back on players sold for that region. For example, a DVD bought in America will NOT play in a DVD Player sold in Europe.

A DVD that can be played in ANY DVD player is known as a "Region 0", "Multi Region" or "Region Free" DVD. Players that can play a DVD from any country are also known as "Region Free" or "Region 0."

It doesn't matter if the DVD you bought in America plays on your Panasonic 345 in the USA, it won't play on your cousin's European Panasonic 345 because it has a different region encoding. Video games are frequently region encoded as well, which is why Wii and Playstation owners in the USA have to hack their game consoles to play games that are only available in Japan. You need a "region 1" game to play it in a US game console.

Some DVD players can be hacked, either with hardware or software, to make them Region 0 players. For example, I have a boot DVD for my Playstaion 2 that will let me select which region it will be until I reboot it. This way I can, for example play Region 2 DVDs.

This brings me to a Yahoo Question asked by James R:

Is windows Media Player Multi Regional?

I was wondering if Windows Media player can play DVD's from different regions. As im wanting to buy some Region 1 DVD's but the 2 DVD players we have in the house are not multi regional.

This is a fair question. Most people never encounter problems with region encoding as most people jut buy DVDs at their local Wal-Mart or Target. Such stores pretty much always carry only DVDS and games encoded for the region they're in.

Mchiang's "Best Answer" chosen by the asker, however, is a pile of uniformed nonsense, perhaps deliberate misinformation.

yes. i can play dvd from europe, us, and asia. it depends on the codec installed in your computer.

if you cant play your dvd in your media player, all you need to do is to find the appropriate codec for that region

This answer is, of course total nonsense. Windows Media player respects the region of the hardware DVD player that's installed. If the DVD drive in your PC is Region 1, then Windows will only play Region 1 DVDs.

James R has a few options. First, he can do some research on how to make his existing DVD players "Multi Region" or "Region Free." Many DVD players have an easter egg built into them where a key combination entered on the remote control will unlock them, permenantely or temporarily. Some DVD players, such as those in computers, will let you change their region up to four times before permenantly locking to whatever region was selected last. He could buy a second DVD Drive, set it to the desired region and just remember to insert the DVD into the correct drive to play it.

James R could also see if there's a firmware update for his computer's DVD Drive or even his stand alone players that will make them region free. This is a bit riskier as the hacked firmwares could "brick" the player.

Finally, he could just buy a Region Free DVD player. He'll need to buy one online and probably order form Japan or Germany, but models that can play any region DVD, MPEG , AVI and other formats can be had very inexpensively.

Mchiang's nonsense about installing a Codec equates region encoding with different file formats, a misinformed and costly mistake. There's no magical Codec that will let a Region 2 player play a Region 1 DVD. A Codec is merely a set of information about a particular file format. iT'S not a firmware upgrade or hack program to modify a DVD player's region encoding. Mchiang either doesn't know what he's talking about, or he doesn't know what words to use to describe the issue.

Another Round of Dull Answers

Today I continue posting more dull, lifeless answers in an attempt to get a feeling for what Yahoo Answers is looking for.

Here's a typically vapid, pointless "question" someone posted.

This is Bill Cosby. Kids, what do you best know me from? Is it the film Ghost Dad?

For example, William Shatner is best known for a film he did in Esperanto. I also heard a rumor he did this tv series that took place in space.

What would you say you best know me from?

Of course someone else already said "The Cosby Show" and even though I know the "Safe" answer is to repeat the obvious I decided to go for something that's at least a LITTLE different. I replied with:

"Bill Cosby: Himself" and "Leonard Part 6"

I now, I know, by Yahoo Answers standards it's an edgy response but sometimes you just have to live dangerously, you know?

Some of my other recent answers:

Q: Has Anyone Actually Received Any Money By Forwarding Chain Letters To Friends?
A: I think they're all scams. I don't know anyone who ever got any money but I know a lot of people who forwarded the e-mails.

I figure the above answer is safe, as there are a LOT of posts debunking things like the Yahoo Lottery scam that's been floating round for ages.

Q: how can i ask my mom for the pill without her thinking i want to have sex?

im 13 and i'd like to get the pill, just in case! and since most of my friends are boys my mom already suspects i do things with them, yes its true most of them are older but my mom thinks i do more than i actually do...how can i ask her inoccently without her thinking i want to have sex or i'm a **** who wants the pill so i can go round sleeping with everyone if i can get the pill?

A: I don't think any doctors will prescribe it to you that young unless there's some sort of medical problem. Ask your doctor for some advice. She'll probably tell you you're too young anyway.

I'm playing a few cards here. First, I'm being vaguely conservative by stating a 13 year old is "too young" for the pill. Never mind the fact that most 13 year olds are already menstruating and there's a sizable percentage that is already sexually active at that age. I also make an appeal to seeking a doctor's advice without speculating about any actual medical issues beyond the vague phrase "unless there's some sort of medical problem." Finally I stick to what appears to be a Yahoo Answers golden rule, I'm not actually providing any useful information.

I'll leave things sit for now and see what happens.

Racist Posts

In my October 8, 2007 post Why Aren't the Racists Suspended? I linked to the questions, answers and profile of a rather racist and inflammatory individual on Yahoo Answers. The account appears to have been suspended and the questions deleted.

My first thought was "Perhaps they DO deal with those complaints." I decided to do some digging. I easily found a new question (less than an hour old when I found it) where some inflammatory little jerk asked:

Why can't black women on the maury show find there baby father?

85% of the time a black women(usually fat) is usually the on Maury show can't find her baby daddy.You never see one of us Indian/Asian women on there.They slept with like 7 0r 8 men.How can someone that represents %6 percent of America be so bad?

Well, that question doesn't prove anything because it's too NEW. It's entirely possible that no one has even had a CHANCE to report it, let alone for the mods to delete it. I decided to go hunting for older samples of racist content. My goal was to see what kind of racist content could be found by searching for "resolved" questions, onces for which a "best answer" had already been chosen.

At first, I was pleasantly surprised. At first, I found very little. The first thing I found was some "white pride" propaganda. I found this noteworthy because I've had accounts suspended for far less than the list of "observations" posted by Prashant. My issue with the post was not that it was still there, but that it's existence revealed a disturbing double standard. While the account that posted the question has apparently been suspended, the question and it's answer remain. Why was this spared when the account was suspended but my answer explaining the meaning of the SPCA acronym was deleted?

The Fourth Account

Dear God, I've created my fourth account and have YET to find out why any of the previous ones were suspended. Allow me to introduce keaton.alex, the newest pseudonym I've used to find out just how innocent an answer I can post before getting banned. In accordance with my plan detailed in Banned again, but a pattern begins to emerge this post will remain a "Draft" until the account is suspended, at which point I'll publish them in a batch.

For some reason when I signed up, I was given the Yahoo Singapore terms of service and my language was listed as "English - Singapore". I'll be generous and write that off as an error in figuring out my IP address. The amusing thing is, I'm not using any kind of a proxy, so I'm not even trying to hide where I am.

My first answer was, as planned, short and only marginally informative at best. The question asked was:

What is the best type of wood to burn in an indoor fireplace?

My answer was:

I've seen "Wood Stove Pellets" at home improvement stores. That might burn well, but I think you're supposed to have a stove made to burn them.

My answer is vague, poorly informed and a bit backward, all characteristics of things I've seen listed as the "Best Answer." The reality is some wood burning stoves are specifically designed to take wood stove pellets, and you should stick to the pellets if you have such a stove.

Next, a bright bulb asked: How do you make friends?

I replied, in as Yahoo Answers friendly a manner as I could muster:

By smiling and being nice. :)

Notice the insipid "smiley" at the end?

Finally, I decided to push my luck and answer a third question on my first day:

Q: What does mutual friends mean?

A: It means a person is already a friend to both of you.

Let's see if the account is still able to post to Yahoo Answers in a few days.

Interestingly enough, a good hour and a half after creating the account, I still can't get into Yahoo Mail. I get the error message:

Sorry for the inconvenience.

You've stumbled upon a temporary problem we're having with Yahoo! Mail. Usually this problem gets resolved quickly, without you doing a thing. In fact it may be taken care of now.

• Try pressing the Reload or Refresh button on your browser, or logging out and then back into your Yahoo! account. Hopefully that will take care of things.

If that doesn't fix the problem, please be patient while we sort it out and try again shortly. The fact that you're reading this page means we've been automatically notified of the issue, and chances are we're working on it now.

• If you think you've been more than patient and tried the tricks above, feel free to contact Customer Care about Error Code 1.

Thanks,

The Yahoo! Mail Team

I tried logging off and logging back in to no avail.

I wonder, have they flagged my IP address? I've created four Yahoo accounts from this computer in a fairly short time frame, so it's possible some bit of code designed to catch Spammers has tripped. I'll wait and see.

Does Yahoo Answers hate Hispanics?

I stumbled across an interesting question. It's "resolved" and neither the account that asked the question nor the account that got "Best Answer" have been suspended. Take a look at the sort of thing Yahoo Answers allows.

Question:
Is anyone else getting tired of these ad on TV done in Spanish?
I saw an ad a couple of weeks ago on TV for The National Gaurd done in Spanish. This past weekend I saw one done in Spanish for the NFL.

I live in Kentucky, not California. It's bad enough that when I get a voice mail on my phone I'm told to "Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Spanish" now I've got to listen to it on my TV.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
i know how you feel. call your state reps and complain. i do. and for the first on that answered, we do have an official language and its English. it's in the 14th amendment. we are to speak the language it was written in. and that's English, so boyyyyaaaaaaaa

Now take a look at an answer that got a Yahoo Answers account suspended.

See the pattern?

Being a borderline racist gets you points, being informative gets you banned.

Same old, same old

I received an e-mail on Account 002 from Yahoo's alleged Customer Service department. It was the same cookie cutter, "We're not telling you anything" reply I always get. I'm not surprised, and I now have such low expectations of Yahoo Answers that I'm not even disappointed.

At this stage I'd be shocked if I got something even remotely informative or intelligent from Yahoo Answers.

Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:06:14 -0700
To: "Anon Annoyed"
Subject: Yahoo! Answers (KMM58397440V74758L0KM)
From: "Yahoo! Answers"

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Answers.

We appreciate your inquiry about your suspension from Yahoo! Answers
and/or the deactivation of your Yahoo! ID. We reviewed your case, and
decided that your account is not eligible for reinstatement.

Once an account is disabled for a violation of the Terms of Service,
the
subscriber to the account will lose the ability to log in and access
the
account and its contents (including email and content stored with any
other Yahoo! service). The account also will not be reactivated.

Should you choose to create a new Yahoo! account, we invite you to read

the Yahoo! Terms of Service and Yahoo! Community Guidelines to help
ensure your new account is not deactivated.

Yahoo! Terms of Service:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Yahoo! Community Guidelines:

http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines.php

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Answers.

Regards,

Jasmine

Yahoo! Customer Care

40451616

For assistance with all Yahoo! services please visit:

http://help.yahoo.com/




Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

I'm really confused by this suspension. I answered three questions.
In
all three instances I was polite, accurate and to the point. I didn't
use any "naughty" words or graphic phrases.

What did any of those posts contain that violated Yahoo Answers
Community Guidelines?

I sent another futile, pointless reply. It's becoming something of a time delayed game of Ping Pong. If I'm lucky there's some kind of counter where they'll give an actual answer if you ping them enough.

Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:48:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Anon Annoyed"
Subject: Re: Yahoo! Answers (KMM58397440V74758L0KM)
To: "Yahoo! Answers"
WHY
WAS
I
SUSPENDED?????

What did I do?????

The last gasp of Lagon Dupri

Naturally, I HAD to make my usual, futile attempt to get an answer out of Yahoo Answers.

Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:38:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Lagon Dupri"
Subject: Why was I suspended?
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
What did I write to get suspended?

Why was my account suspended? What did I do that violated the terms of service?
I answered two questions. Was this political? Did one of my answers offend someone's political beliefs?

Banned again, but a pattern begins to emerge

My third test account, lagon.dupri, has been "Suspended" from Yahoo Answers.

Date: 10 Oct 2007 06:25:08 -0700
From: "Yahoo! Answers "
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by cc.yahoo-inc.com. Learn more
Subject: Yahoo! Answers Suspension Notice
To: lagon.dupri@yahoo.com

Hello Lagon D(lagon.dupri)

You have posted content to Yahoo! Answers in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. As a result, your account has been suspended.

If you feel you were not in violation, please contact our Customer Care and tell us why.

Regards,
Yahoo! Customer Care

I'd answered a mere two questions before my most recent suspension. Since this suspension followed my last post so closely, it's probably safe to assume that it was the Cold War related comment that got me suspended. I can think of a few possible explanations:

1. I was banned because of the political content. Given the rather dry, politically moderate nature of my comment, this only makes sense if Yahoo Answers is actively discouraging political discussion that doesn't lean towards the extreme left or extreme right.

2. A group of Yahoo Answers users got together and "reported' my comment, which resulted in a suspension without any review by a human moderator. This makes the most sense if the person who posted the question decided to use it to cheat on their homework and wanted to remove the online evidence before turning it in. I consider this option rather unlikely.

3. Yahoo Answers has found this Blog and is Suspending my accounts based on the information I'm posting. This would be a petty, punitive attempt to silence their critics.

4. My answer was too "wordy" or "Complicated" for the what Yahoo Answers considers appropriate. In other words they've started kicking all the "eggheads."

Please feel free to comment below if you have any ideas about why this most recent account was suspended.

Naturally I'm not going to stop here. My curiosity is piqued and I won't let this go until I know WHY these accounts keep being deleted. To this end, I'm going to try to eliminate each of the possibilities above.

The most obvious step is to remain silent about the activities of a given account until such time as it's suspended. I'll write up the same posts, but I'll leave them as drafts until the Yahoo account is suspended.

Next, I'll stop checking the old accounts from the same computer. Hell, I'll actually delete some of the old accounts, as there's no real reason to keep them hanging around. Yahoo Answers "Customer Care" has yet to respond with anything useful or informative so there's no real reason to keep the old accounts around.

Finally, I'm only going to post the same mindless, unimaginative, two sentence or less answers favored by the other posters to Yahoo Answers.

Don't worry though, this Blog isn't about to go silent. I'm still going to post about some of the idiotic, mindless questions and answers that survive Yahoo's obtuse moderation process.

Still kicking

Surprisingly enough, Account 003 is still active. Let's see if answering another question will get me banned.

(Update: The account has been suspended.)

Q: why didn't the u.s. & the soviet union go to direct war?

My Answer:
Who says we didn't?

First, everyone was looking for peace and prosperity after WWI and WWII and the Great Depression.

Some of the growing animosity was vented through Proxy Wars. Technically, the USA was at war with Communist North Korea in the Korean War, but in reality the Soviet Union and Communist China provided the financing and raw materials.

As time went on hostilities grew, but by the time animosity had grown to the point where DIRECT war was likely, both sides had enough Nuclear Weapons to destroy the Earth several times over. The fear was that if war started, it would become Nuclear and both sides would lob everything they had in an attempt to ensure the other didn't survive.

This doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction" was the biggest barrier to outright war.

Side battles vented hostilities. The Space Race for example allowed both governments to "battle" each other without lobbing bombs. Vietnam was a bloody and violent proxy war.

There was also the philosophical problem. Both sides believed their own system was superior. While a military victory would provide relief from the government in question, it would NOT provide a total win in the face of the FORM of Government.

The fall of the Soviet Union was seen by many as the Death of Communism. The remaining Communist governments, like China, are slowly adopting a free market system. The economic defeat of Communism means it has little to no ongoing power.

This question has a high likelihood of getting me banned. It involves politics and I'm trying to remain level headed and fair. As this raving lunatic post reveals, being a member of a lunatic fringe is the way to ensure your questions remain intact on Yahoo Answers.

Yahoo Answers - Banning a Pregnant Woman

Bogger "A Cowboy's Wife" had a nasty encounter with Yahoo Answers.

Yesterday, I answered all kinds of questions. This morning I wake up to about 15 emails saying all my answers are violating the rules. Then about 2 hours later, I get an email saying I am suspended. WHAT THE HECK??? I go and read the rules but was unable to pinpoint my violations.

I recommend checking out her Blog. She too got no information on WHY she was suspended and wrote the process of seeking more information "was like talking to a robot." While she doesn't give any examples of the kinds of answers she was giving, my experiences with Yahoo Answers leads me to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Why Aren't the Racists Suspended?

Here's a racist question asked by a random person on Yahoo Answers. I'm listing it here as an example of the sort of thing Yahoo Answers allows to remain. I doubt they'll delete the question, but you never know...

Tara J asked:
How much aftershave will the average indian drink today?

What a charming bit of racism.

The Racist behind the question, Tara J, has been a Yahoo Answers member since October 07, 2007, or about a day as of when I wrote this post. She has 69 points and is at Level 1.

The classless little Git also asked "Why are the North American indians such a waste of skin?"

Of course the little brat has dished out at least one equally racist answer. Another classless Aryan Pride Poster Child asked "I don't want to sound racist but...? How come women with black avatars give the rudest answers?"

Tara J's reply was: "what you say is so true.i know a few fatassed loud mouthed n-word b!tchs on this site"

That last "question" has been up for 15 hours as of my writing of this post. Apparently racism is AOK on Yahoo Answers, but telling people what ASPCA means is verboten.

Perhaps I should create a new account and just post the lyrics to Prussian Blue songs and Neo-Nazi propaganda. That sort of content seems to be accepted by the Yahoo Answers mods.

Yet Another Login

I'm trying again. This will make the THIRD Yahoo Account I've created for using Yahoo Answers, and I have yet to receive any information from Yahoo on WHY the first two were suspended.

The fact that one of the service e-mails reminded me to read the Terms of Service carefully if I created another account tells me that Yahoo isn't banning me for creating new accounts.

First, I'll answer a question in EXACTLY the same way I've seen "Best Answer" rated questions be answered.

The question is:

My brother has pain in the genetic reigeon during urination. This is a symptom of some disease. How to cure it

He complaints of pain and a burning sensation while urinating.
this is probably a symptom of some disease which can be sexually transmitted.
Is there any Natural cure.
he has stopped complaining of this since a month and this lasted for around a week or so.
Is it ok right now(the pain has stopped).

Here's my unimaginative, useless reply, crafted to resemble the responses that Yahoo Answers tends to leave on the question.

He needs to get to a doctor Right Away. There's not enough information to diagnose the problem in your post but he needs to see a doctor.

Let's see if THAT gets me banned. I'm not looking for a "Best Answer" here, I just want to find out what it is that keeps getting me banned. After posting this lone, pathetic "answer" I'm going to leave the account alone for a few days just to see what happens.

New Query to Yahoo Answers Mods

I've sent the following e-mail about my recent suspension:

Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 08:39:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Anon Annoyed"
Subject: Confused by Suspension
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
I'm really confused by this suspension. I answered three questions. In all three instances I was polite, accurate and to the point. I didn't use any "naughty" words or graphic phrases.

What did any of those posts contain that violated Yahoo Answers Community Guidelines?

Let's see if they bother to respond. Personally, I'd be surprised if they do, but I'll give them a chance to explain themselves.

Banned Again

I just got the following from Yahoo Answers:

Date: 06 Oct 2007 20:55:02 -0700
From: "Yahoo! Answers " Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by cc.yahoo-inc.com. Learn more
Subject: Yahoo! Answers Suspension Notice
To: bulkhater01@yahoo.com

Hello Anon A(bulkhater01)

You have posted content to Yahoo! Answers in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. As a result, your account has been suspended.

If you feel you were not in violation, please contact our Customer Care and tell us why.

Regards,
Yahoo! Customer Care

Let's take a look at this. I Answered THREE questions with this account.

First, I revealed the meaning of the ASPCA acronym

Next, I discouraged Software Piracy

Finally, Instead of the vague "You should go to a doctor" comments made by other people, I described possible causes of a seeping "bump" a woman claimed to have, avoiding most "icky" terms in the process.

What could any of those answers POSSIBLY have done to justify the suspension of the account? I'll admit I was a bit rude with the first account which may have been why I was suspended, but I was polite, accurate and succinct with all three of my answers.

Before I was willing to write this off as the act of an overly aggressive moderator with insufficient accountability. The most recent bout is far too arbitrary and irrational for even that excuse.

Either Yahoo Answers is penalizing people randomly, or someone at Yahoo found this Blog and is using Yahoo Account suspensions to "Punish" me for daring to speak out about their incompetent moderation. Lacking propper nut job paranoia, I'm inclined to suspect that the Yahoo Moderators are just stupid and incompetent. Perhaps they saw scary words like "cyst" and figured I MUST be posting something disgusting.

Dangerous Ground

I'm venturing into dangerous territory now. I'm answering a medical question with bad news.

Weird bump on breast?

I have this strange bump on my nipple, right above it. It's been there for a long time, but i've ignored it. Lately, I've mashed it, and nasty liquidy stuff came out of it, and after it started bleeding. It's not out of my nipple though. Just the bump. I have no idea what it is though. You can squish under my nipple a little bit and feel this bump under it as well. It's like connected to that bump under my skin. I'm really afraid, does anyone have any idea what it could be? Thanks!

My reply is the most detailed one the question has received so far.

There are several options. The most likely is you have an infection. I would recommend getting to a doctor to have it looked at. The fact that it's been there a while means it's unlikely to be resolved just by lancing and draining it.

Inflections like this can also be the result of a growth in the breast tissue. Surrounding tissue is irritated and weakened by a growth which in turn causes infected sores like the one you describe.

It could also be a ruptured cyst.

While this could be a minor infection, it could also be a symptom of something life threatening. Please get to a doctor ASAP.

If any of my existing questions are going to get me banned, this is the most likely candidate. I used some graphic language, I said something "sad" and I used words that a third grader may not know.

You've got to be kidding me.

Here's an example of the kinds of absurd things you find on Yahoo Answers:

What do you think the Mana which moses ate in the desert for 40 years and kept in the Ark of the Covenant was?

was this some mystical substance which we no longer have any access to? or was it something which we still have around us today? ive heard many theories ranging from algee which grew "sponteniously" on cave walls, to gold which had been alchemically turned to nonreactive powder and made into bread. Ive heard people say it might be the same Ambrosia which the greeks refered too, and ive heard people claim its just pure goodness manifested by God to maintain his chosen people. im really just undecided at this point, what do you think?

Let's take a good look at this "question." This person is rambling about all sorts of absurd "explanations" for what the Bible describes as a Miracle, and those "Explanations" include Gold magically transmuted by Alchemy. The comical "explanations" are harder to swallow than simply saying "It was a miracle."

If this question isn't a joke, then the woman asking it is a first class, top notch loony. My guess is for it being a gag question, based on what she chose as the "Best Answer."

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Bug poop. To this day, there are insects in the desert that exude a syrupy glop that, in a pinch, might be regarded as edible.

The idea that this is a poorly conceived gag question is further enforced by the Asker's comments on WHY she chose it as the "Best Answer."

Thanks for giving the only constructive answer! shame on you others, im not looking for snapply opinions.

That's right folks, this chick asked for a mystical explanation for a miracle, and chose the answer of "Bug Poop" as the best.

Welcome to Yahoo Answers.

More on why the first account was deleted

I did a little hunting. In my previous posts I mentioned having answered a question about a woman who I thought sounded like her retina was detaching. A Google Search allowed me to find the question.

Has anyone experienced floating lights in the peripherals of their eyes?

from time to time, a light will float from 3 oclock to 6 oclock in my right eye, or from 12 to 3. less often the same things happen in my right eye from 12 to 9 and 9 to 6. Also, i sometimes see hundreds of tiny dots floating around in bright spaces. has anyone else had similar experiences? am i crazy?

Google's cache turned up the page and allowed me to recover my answer:

Your retinas are starting to detach. There are usually some minor symptoms early on, but a complete detachment (resulting in blindness in the eye) can literally happen at any second. If could take a few years, it could happen in 30 seconds.

You have two choices:

1. Get to an eye doctor STAT

2. HOPE you don't go completely blind.

Since the retinas are already detaching, Option 2 is just plain stupid, since it's only a matter of time before they detach without treatment.

If you check out the live site, my answer has been deleted.

What was the "Best Answer" chosen by the asker?

No your not crazy.... you should go to the opthamologist and have them check you for retinal detachment. If possible have them take a retinal photograph of your eye to document it better. Occasionally you will get "floaters" where particles just kind of swim in your vitreous humor(gel like substance inside your eye) If possible look online to see if you can find a copy of a Amsler grid. This is a self test for visual distortion. Good luck.

Isn't that interesting. I got deleted for suggesting a trip to the doctor and detaching retinas, but this broad gets picked as the "Best Answer."

My current suspicion is that the "Detaching Retina" comment wasn't what got me banned in the first place. Unless the "Best Answer" was the result of a woman and her friends reporting me to get me deleted and then stealing my answer, I doubt this question was related. The odds of anyone going to that much trouble for one measly "Best Answer" are slim at best.

What then got my first account deleted?

Trying to Discourage Piracy

For my next Answer, I decided to go for something squeaky clean, trying to discourage software piracy. A WAREZ Kiddie Wanna-Be asked:

Game Downloads without cd-rip?

I was just wondering if anyone knows where I can download the game "Hidden and Dangerous 2" without it being a cd-rip.

I replied with:

You can download the DEMO from a lot of places. If you want the full version though you need to buy it. "Downloading the Full version is called piracy and is not only illegal but financially harms the people who made the game.

For extra punch I put in a Download URL for the demo as my "Source."

Then, just to be a good little Yahoo Answers Community Member, I reported the question. After all, the guy asking it is looking for advice on how to commit software piracy.

The New Account

So, I decided to create a new Yahoo Answers Account. Let's see how long I last now. I started off with a simple one:

blahblahb95 Asked

The place on animal planet where they take animals when they are ready to be adopted,what is it called?

My answer was:

It's usually a version of the SPCA.

SPCA stands for:

Society for the
Prevention of
Cruelty to
Animals

There's frequently a prefix that indicates it's a particular branch of the SPCA. For example the MSPCA is the:

Massachusetts
Society for the
Prevention of
Cruelty to
Animals

ASPCA is the:

American
Society for the
Prevention of
Cruelty to
Animals

This strikes me as an even keeled answer. Simple, factual and to the point. No editorializing. For example I don't point out that the *SPCA shelters that aren't No-Kill have an average euthanasia rate of 10% to 20%, while PETA has a close to 80% kill rate for most cats and dogs.

That's right, PETA kills 80% of the cats and dogs it "rescues" while even the worst *SPCA shelter rarely kills more than 20%.

OMG! A Reply From Yahoo Answers!

It's not MUCH of a reply. There's still no information on WHY my account was deleted or WHAT I allegedly wrote to get my account deleted. All they do is tell me that they "reviewed" my suspension and decided I wasn't eligible for reinstatement.

I think it's disgusting that some power tripping little twerp decided to delete my Yahoo Answers account and has NO accountability or even the need to tell me what my allegedly infringing post WAS.

Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:25:54 -0700
To: "Bulk Hater"
Subject: Yahoo! Answers (KMM58190552V23140L0KM)
From: "Yahoo! Answers" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert


Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Answers.

We appreciate your inquiry about your suspension from Yahoo! Answers
and/or the deactivation of your Yahoo! ID. We reviewed your case, and
decided that your account is not eligible for reinstatement.

Once an account is disabled for a violation of the Terms of Service,
the
subscriber to the account will lose the ability to log in and access
the
account and its contents (including email and content stored with any
other Yahoo! service). The account also will not be reactivated.

Should you choose to create a new Yahoo! account, we invite you to read

the Yahoo! Terms of Service and Yahoo! Community Guidelines to help
ensure your new account is not deactivated.

Yahoo! Terms of Service:

- http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Yahoo! Community Guidelines:

- http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines.php

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Answers.

Regards,

Nick

Yahoo! Customer Care

40323436

For assistance with all Yahoo! services please visit:

http://help.yahoo.com/




Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

I'm confused, why was I suspended?

What did I do wrong?

I don't think I'm asking for much, just an explanation as to WHY I was banned from Yahoo Answers. At this point I'm not even interested in fighting it, I just want to know what piss-poor excuse some self important Moderator used to justify banning someone from Yahoo Answers.

More attempts to contact Yahoo Answers

Having heard NOTHING from Yahoo Answers about my "suspended" account I sent the following messages:

Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 17:01:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Bulk Hater" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Still no answers
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
I still haven't heard from anyone. WHY was I suspended? What did I do wrong?

Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 08:03:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Bulk Hater" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Suspended and I don't knwo why
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
I don't know why my account was suspended. I've sent a few messages to the account listed in the suspension notice and have not received a reply.

I do not know why my account was suspended or what I could have done to get suspended. I find it to be a poor reflection on Yahoo that a user can be suspended an never given ANY information as to why. It almost seems easier to just delete this account and create a new one than to resolve anything with Yahoo.

Is ANYONE going to tell me why my account was suspended?

Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 08:06:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Bulk Hater" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Fwd: Yahoo! Answers Suspension Notice
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
I do not believe I did anything justifying a suspension. The e-mail informing me of the suspension gave me NO information as to why I was suspended.

I've made a number of contact attempts to find out WHY I was suspended and have yet to receive a reply to any of them.

Am I at least going to be told what I supposedly did to GET suspended?

What do YOU think the odds are I'll get a response?

Yahoo Answers Sucks

On October 4 I created a Yahoo Answers Account and spent a little time answering all the questions I could. I used up my quota for the first day and moved on. When I next checked my e-mail I found the following message:

Date: 04 Oct 2007 13:10:02 -0700
From: "Yahoo! Answers " Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by cc.yahoo-inc.com. Learn more
Subject: Yahoo! Answers Suspension Notice
To: bulkhater@yahoo.com

Hello THe Grand Bastard(bulkhater)

You have posted content to Yahoo! Answers in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. As a result, your account has been suspended.

If you feel you were not in violation, please contact our Customer Care and tell us why.

Regards,
Yahoo! Customer Care

I started wondering what the heck had happened. I wracked my brain for an explanation and sent the following:

Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 14:05:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Bulk Hater" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Why was I suspended???
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
I'm confused, why was I suspended?

What did I do wrong?

I waited a while and got no response, so I sent another message.

Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 14:16:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Bulk Hater" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Still confused
To: answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com
Was I suspended because of my Screen Name? I'll change it if that was the problem.

Was I suspended for telling that woman that the flashes in her vision could be a detaching retina? Because I had a friend who had a detached retina and needed emergency surgery and that was one of the symptoms she had.

Did I really get suspended just because I gave an answer that
wasn't a "feel good, everything will be fine" response?

Still no response. I was getting really upset with the lack of a response from Yahoo Answers. If you're going to "suspend" an account at least have the decency to tell someone WHY you're doing it.