Category: Weekend Web
WEEKEND WEB: Yahoo! Answers Your Questions
I’ve recently noticed a trend in Google search results. When I go hunting for something on Google, I expect to find a prominent link to Wikipedia if it’s a general concept, person, place, or historical event. If I search for an actor or movie, IMDb generally tops the list of links. But lately, in searching for help on more obscure inquiries like what song is in a commercial or what happened at the end of Batman Begins, I’ve found that another site has crept to the top of many search results…
Yahoo! Answers
The concept behind Yahoo! Answers seems simple. You ask a question and Yahoo! members respond to it. You can then pick the “best answer” if/when a good one is offered. But that’s not where the power of Yahoo! Answers lies.
Since all questions and answers are saved, categorized, and listed in Google, practically every question you can think of ends up on there over time with a wealth of answers, both good and bad, to choose from. So Yahoo! Answers is set up to become the ultimate place to visit for answers to life’s simple questions.
A few random example illustrating its robustness:
- How do I calculate a hypotenuse? (92 results)
- When is Mickey Mouse’s birthday? (6 results)
- How do I make good mac and cheese? (4,603 results)
- Who shot JR? (585 results)
As you can see, just about anything asked has already been answered, often in abundance. It seems to me that Yahoo! has a very powerful tool on their hands that, if tied in with some kind of portable and easy-to-use service or device, could eventually offer the world’s wealth of quick answers to anyone at any time.
So go try it yourself and post a comment on whether or not your questions were answered.
TweetWEEKEND WEB: twittervision and flickrvision
This weekend I offer up two links that could potentially steal hours of your life at a time…
twittervision & flickrvision
twittervision & flickrvision will show you mapped versions of updates posted to Twitter and Flickr, respectively. On twittervision, you will see where a tweet is posted from, who posted it, and what it says (obviously). On flickrvision, you will see the same information but a photo posted to Flickr rather than a text tweet.
There are local versions of these sites as well, like this Florida-specific version of twittervision.
The pace of the sites is fairly slow, featuring each tweet or photo for a few seconds before moving on. I’d like to see a future revision that allows multiple updates to show up simultaneously for a more complete overview of what’s going on in the world.
Regardless, I could sit and watch these all day. There’s something inherently interesting about seeing random messages and pictures show up attached to where they were sent from.
TweetWEEKEND WEB: The Keith Sweat McNuggets Lovers Club
If you’re a fan of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets like I am, then you likely also think the relatively-new McDonald’s commercial featuring Keith Sweat singing about the little, crispy chicken morsels is absolutely hilarious.
Here’s the extended 60-second version:
For even more McNugget-lovin’, check out The Keith Sweat McNuggets Lovers Club where you can hear another song about those tasty McD’s treats and profess your love for them too.
And if you haven’t see McDonald’s NuggNuts.com, do yourself a favor and head there now. This is easily the fast food chain’s strangest marketing campaign in a while, but every time I see one of their new commercials, I have a craving to run down the street and get some nuggets.
TweetWEEKEND WEB: Lucas Francis Studios – Theme Park and Movie Prototypes and Merchandise
Here is a Web site guaranteed to entertain you for at least a few seconds this weekend:
Lucas Francis Studios – lucasfrancisstudio.com
If you’re a fan of sci-fi movies or Disneyland, there’s a good chance that you’ll want one something that Lucas Francis Studios created the prototype for. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
This was a prototype made using the Polar Lights model kit and through many hours of trial and error Lucas Francis Studios managed to make this work with ease. This was a cool concept designed for the Universal parks but never picked up due to the demise of the Back to the Future ride and overall costs of production. To my knowledge we are the only company to ever make a floating Delorean prototype.
Link (They also created a hoverboard prototype)
A couple of Haunted Mansion prototypes that I would have loved to have seen hit the market (click the images to find out more):
Ever wanted to build your own army of T-800 endoskeletons from Terminator 2? These life-sized replicas should do the trick:
Sideshow Collectibles
and Lucas Francis Studios are proud to present the Fully Licensed Terminator 2 Endoskeleton.Created by Stan Winston Studio, the Endoskeleton is one of the most recognizable characters ever created for film. This 1-1 scale replica was molded from screen used original Endoskeleton parts and stands over six feet tall. The Endoskeleton has been offered before, but never with the level of detail created by Lucas Francis Studio. This replica was cast from new masters, new molds and uses new techniques.
More Terminator 2 products and prototypes were made including an Endoskeleton arm (which I own the smaller version of) and a T-1000 set with plenty of liquid metal excitement.
Any fan of Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs has wondered why Dark Helmet’s collection of action figures was never released. It looks like John Francis Studios made their own Dark Helmet prototype figure:
“No, sir – I didn’t see you playing with your dolls again!”
There are many more interesting prototypes to be found throughout the site, including a Disneyland 3D sculpted puzzle, Frank the Pug from Men in Black, and a Rocketeer rocket pack.
TweetNew Daily Posts
To ensure that I actually post to this blog at least once a day (except on Sundays), I’ve created a schedule of themed posts that I hope you’ll enjoy: Monday Media (also Monday Music and Monday Movie), Tuesday Tech, Wednesday Whine, Thursday Theme Park, Friday Flashback, and Weekend Web.
Find out more about each of these categories by clicking here.
Tweet
