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Top Q&A Sites Reviewed
prostoalex writes "MIT Technology Review runs a real-world test of top question and answer sites — AnswerBag, Amazon Askville, MSN Live Q&A, Wondir, Yahoo! Answers and Yedda. The sites are rated on the features and originality as well as availability of answers to the journalist's three questions: 'First, I searched each site's archive for existing answers to the question "Is there any truth to the five-second rule?" (I meant the rule about not eating food after it's been on the floor for more than five seconds, not the basketball rule about holding.) Second, I posted the same two original questions at each site: "Why did the Mormons settle in Utah?" and "What is the best way to make a grilled cheese sandwich?" The first question called for factual, historical answers, while the second simply invited people to share their favorite sandwich-making methods and recipes." The results might be surprising to some readers. While it's generally believed that small startups are better at building efficient solutions, the leaders of the MIT Technology Review are all sites built by Internet giants — Yahoo! Answers, MSN Live Q&A and Amazon Askville all ranked above the competing sites."
I actually had not been to Helium in several months, because although I too liked the idea, the content there was dominated by foreign writers looking to make a quick $.35, which probably went a long way in their native land. The problem with that was that they were flooding the site with very poor content.
I was pleasantly surprised to follow your link and see that things have changed quite dramatically. I actually may send the basic computer security article to some people as a first line of answer their questions (seeing as I'm IT to everyone who even remotely knows me).
How does Yahoo compare to Experts-Exchange ? I used to like that site a lot, and I still use it, but their semi-recent redesign (filthy inline ads, sidebar ads, popup ads, light blue on slightly lighter blue text, ads between comments) has sent me searching for something better. But, I have to admit that the quality of the answers I get on Experts-Exchange is still superb.
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From their terms: "You grant Helium, and its affiliates, a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, non-exclusive right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, display, create derivative works from and/or sell and/or distribute content posted to Helium."
That Q almost caused me to flunk my last semester in college, and I'm a high honors grad. It's the shock you get when you realize there isn't any meaning at all. Nothing you can do truly matters or has "purpose". I know you were kidding, but this is the most depressing, madness-instilling question anyone can think of. If you're a deep enough thinker you can end up with a life of crime, ditch your career to sing in bars..etc.
Life is "wholesome" with friends, family, God, and so on... yet it is purely accidental and therefore pointless. There are many ways to live it, but you'd best leave a noble passage so that when you finally exit, there are people who will come to your funeral the way they will go to Gerald Ford's. People who will lay flowers and say that you will be missed.
Happy Holidays.
The comparison in the article is kind of silly. It bothers me a little bit that just because something has the letters MIT on it it is perceived as being more interesting or important. If this had been a state school I doubt it ever would have been posted. Even the good engineering state schools dont get much coverage. When was the last time you saw a link to a student newspaper article appear on slashdot from Berkeley, UIUC, or Georgia Tech? Those schools only make it on here when there is "real" news for nerds happening there.