Yahoo! Philippines Answers blog

Photo by Stitch

Especially here in the Philippines!  Why do I say this?  Well, in a recent news article that I read, the Nielsen Media Research reported that around 80 percent of the Philippines population go to shopping centers and around 36 million visit shopping plazas once or twice a month.  This in spite of the fact that 40 percent of the country’s 90 million people live on less than 100 pesos a day.

The article continues with the report that we have the 3 of the world’s 10 largest malls, 2 of them in Manila, and going to the mall is such a regular activity that “malling” has become a commonly used verb in our vocabulary.

I’m sure you’ll all agree that malling is almost like part of our bloodstream.  Even here in Answers, I see some mall rats asking and answering questions related to malls and malling.  Pikoi06 asked the community if it’s true that the 3rd largest mall in the world is in the Philippines.  Trojan answered him comprehensively by sharing that the SM Mall of Asia is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the third largest shopping mall in the world in terms of gross floor size.  In short, it’s huge!  It’s so big they actually rent out golf carts to shoppers for their convenience.

One of the things I noticed is that most of the questions about malls centered on favorites.  Of course it’s a very subjective topic yet it’s exciting to find out what someone’s favorite mall is and why.  BokBok asked this to the community and we had a number of people naming various malls and sharing why that was their fave.  Personally, I really like Glorietta and Greenbelt because it’s very accessible and everything that you need seems to be there.

Vbcarina, who was planning a trip to the Philippines, asked what malls do teenagers usually go to for shopping and princess gave her some tips on some bargain places to get great buys.  Bruce4peralta on the other hand asked what the community thinks is the best shopping mall in the land.  Vibrant_girl got the best answer, and it’s not just one mall because she explained how various malls have different specialties so there’s really a list of “best” malls (that’s how mall-crazy Pinoys are, hehehe).

It’s the weekend already so I’m guessing most of you have made some plans, maybe dine out with the family, gimmick with your friends, date with your significant other, maybe watch a movie, or maybe you plan to do a little shopping since it’s payday today.  Whatever the activity, my guess is this will be done in one of the malls.  If that’s the case, maybe we’ll bump into each other because I’m planning to drop by the mall too, hehehe!  Happy weekend everyone and happy malling!

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Photo by Amsk

Hi everyone, join me in welcoming the Yahoo! Philippines Editor here in Yahoo! Answers!  Some of you know this already but 2 weeks ago, she started asking the community different questions that are usually related to a news article or story featured in the Yahoo! Philippines home page.

The first question our editor asked was “Is it ok to use smileys and text lingo like “tnx” in a thank you letter after an interview?“  and 27 Answers users shared their answers.  Congrats to Kat for explaining why, although text lingo is a common part of our day-to-day conversations, it’s really not a good idea to use it when applying for a job.

Last week, she asked the question “Do you believe changing the Constitution to institute federalism will help the development of the Philippines?“, this time in relation to the news about Malacañang’s support for the amendment of the Charter to support changing our form of government from a republic to a federal one.  To our surprise and delight, 118 community members shared their opinions on the topic!  It was pretty overwhelming especially because a number of you gave really comprehensive and well-thought of answers.  However, there can only be one best answer and the person chosen was mjlocad, who gave a concise, informative and compelling explanation behind his answer.

That’s just the first two, expect our Yahoo! Philippines Editor to be regularly asking questions to the community on topics about what’s happening in and around our country.  You’ll see these questions in the Featured Module of the Yahoo! Philippines home page and I’ll be featuring them as well in the Best of Answers.  So watch out for our Editor’s questions and feel free to do what you do best here in Answers - answering questions.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

One of the things I enjoyed watching in TV before was TechTV, a 24-hour cable based channel which featured shows about computers, technology and the Internet (obviously, I’m a geek, hehehe). This now defunct channel used to have a very popular show called Call for Help, which offered technical advice and tips to users with computer and other tech-related problems. In a way, it was like Answers on TV.

One of Call for Help’s lead host before was Chris Pirillo, a well known technology personality well known for founding and maintaining Lockergnome, a technical support forum and Gnomedex, an annual technical conference. He currently live streams from his home-office and creates online videos daily from talking about software, computers, iPhone apps, and other technology-related events.

Last week, Chris featured in his site a top ten list on ways to get good answers from Yahoo! Answers shared to him by an Answers user nicknamed ScottyG. The list is very informative and helpful that I decided to share it to everyone in the community as well.

• It may sound strange, but do not make the title too descriptive. If the title is too descriptive, many people will not even open the question to take a look at it. Almost all of my most answered questions have titles which are not overly descriptive.
• Spelling goes a long way. It is much easier to read a correctly spelled question than one with spelling and grammatical errors.
• Do not include huge chunks of conversation in your question. Keep it informative but informal.
• I recommend using bullet points and a summary of the question. This is an easy-to-read format.
• Look for answers with good ’sources’. Remember, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone so it is not always true.
• Do not use the ‘add details’ option to have a chat with answerers. Many questions end up with a flood of added details.
• Don’t put ‘a quick 10 points’ in the question or title. If you do this, you will get a lot of short, rushed comments rather than longer, detailed answers.
• Do not post the same post many times in a short period of time. The Yahoo community WILL ignore your question if you do this!
• Do not put ‘title says it all’ in the question. Questions can seem quite ambiguous on the Internet, so further details will be needed.
• As soon as you have the answer, pick the best answer straight away. If you are a courteous user, your questions will be answered much faster.

I hope everyone gets to see and read this list. What do you think of this list? I’m guessing there are more than 10 ways to get really good answers from the community. If you have any tips in mind that wasn’t mentioned above, feel free to share it to us by leaving a comment. Again, I’m sure we’ll all benefit from this knowledge-sharing activity.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Photo by Amsk

One of the challenges we all face everyday is the daily commute.  Commuting is defined as the process of traveling between one’s place of residence and regular place of work or school.  This means whether we drive a car or take public transport like the MRT, LRT, bus, jeep, tricycle, or pedicab, commuting is an unavoidable aspect of our day-to-day activities.  For me, I take the bus to work and the journey takes about an hour, thankfully it’s just one ride.  What I do during that one hour is take a nap.  I guess I’ve become an expert already in taking naps in bus rides because when I was in college, I take the bus to school and the ride takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes (I live in Parañaque and school is up north!).  During that time, I would usually take a nap (unless there’s an exam, in that case I would be cramming a review, hehehe).

If you observe the people around you while you’re commuting, we all have different habits while we wait for our stop.  Some people have their earphones plugged and listening to music, others will carry a newspaper or a book and just read, some will either be texting with their cellphones or play with their PSPs or other gaming devices.  What about you?  What do you usually do when commuting to work or school?

Speaking of commuting, I noticed that one of the many questions people ask in Answers is directions, like what’s the best way to commute to a specific place.  This is really cool because I have personally benefited numerous times from people who know of a better way teaching me how to get to a place (usually it’s from my dad, hehehe).  You’ll see questions like how to commute to Ermita, Manila, how to get to the World Trade Center if you’re coming from SM North Edsa, or what ride to take to get to Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, or how to get to Festival Supermall in Alabang, how to commute to the Department of Foreign Affairs from Laguna, or how to go to Enchanted Kingdom if coming from Manila.  The list goes on and on.

So many questions and so many places, it’s a good thing there’s someone in the community who knows and is willing to help.  And even if I’m not the person asking, I’m actually glad I read the answers because who knows when I’ll need to go to one of these places.  When that happens, I’ll be thanking Answers in the future for showing me the way, literally.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Photo by debaird

All eyes will be on Beijing, China this August 8, 2008 when the XXIX Summer Olympic Games opens and for the next 16 days, we will be spectators to the best of the best athletes from around the globe who will compete in various sports events in the spirit of peace and unity.

The Olympic spirit, as symbolized by the Olympic flame, is shining brighter than ever, and it can be felt even here in Answers.  Many people have been asking Olympics-related questions and one of the things I’m sure Pinoys want to know is will we have a delegation in the 2008 Summer Olympics.  Dennis asked this to the community 3 months ago and Japs gave him the best answer – yes, although at that time, the finally tally wasn’t finished yet.  We know now that 15 athletes from our country will be participating in the Games.

Rain asked the question why the Olympic Torch didn’t pass by the Philippines considering the event takes place in Asia and Charles explained that the route of the torch followed the “Silk Road” which symbolized China’s ancient links to the rest of the world, and apparently the Philippines is not part of it.  Devillish Gurl wanted to know who will broadcast the Olympic Games in our country and Kasia was able to answer that – the broadcast rights of the 2008 Olympics was awarded to Solar Entertainment, beating the state-run NBN TV Network.

Narciso_vigo2000 asked the Pinoy community if we think this will be the year we get our 1st Olympic gold medal and Michael N said our chances of winning one are as good as ever, and most likely we’ll get it in boxing.  Let’s all hope and pray that our athletes bring home the gold this year, if not, than any medal will still be commendable.  Their participation alone in the Olympic Games makes them winners.  This is what the Olympic Games is all about, and we can clearly see this in the Olympic Creed:

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

To get the latest news on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, make sure to drop by our special Olympics section in Yahoo! Philippines News.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

We have been listening to your feedback and have been working hard this summer to keep improving Answers.  Check out these new stuff in Answers that I’m sure will make asking and answering a better experience for all of us.  One of the updates that was just implemented and you may have noticed already is that we changed the Ask and Answer pages to incorporate tips to help you get the most out of Answers.

Now, when you ask or answer a question, you will see a yellow speech bubble giving you some tips:

If there is any spelling mistake (I’m sure this happens to all of us, we all type too fast sometimes), you will be warned and, with help of the Spell Checker, be able to correct all mistakes.

Ignore, Change and click Done when ready.  This will make your questions and answers look better (and by that I mean readable, hehehe).

We will also warn you if your caps lock is on… you know, in the Internet world, writing in capitals is often perceived as shouting and regarded as bad netiquette.

For the experts amongst you who feel as though you don’t need any help, don’t worry because if you think the tips will just annoy you they can easily be closed.  You only need to click on the “x” on the top right of the speech bubble and they are gone.

These are just a few of the tips we have for you.  So what do you think?  Check it out now and go see for yourself!  Don’t forget to leave a comment and share to me and everyone else your thoughts on these updates.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!