Greetings!

Name the top 3 GA Researchers (by handle, of course) who have posted,
at this writing, the most number of answers or comments to GA.

Speculation welcome here.  What makes them quicker on the trigger than
the others? Do they have special searching skills the others don't
know about?  I am curious if this is like Jeopardy, where everyone who
happens to be online is waiting for new questions to come out and the
game is "who can answer/lock the question first?"

---

Clarification of Question by respree-ga on 02 Jul 2003 16:41 PDT

Hi Pink:

Thanks for the comment.  Actually, I'd like to know who is 'most'
active (paid or not), so the top 3 would include comments + answers. 
I'd say you're probably way up there.

I wasn't referring to your age, of course. =)

---

Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 02 Jul 2003 17:35 PDT

Technical point: Should the answer include requests for question clarification?

---

Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 02 Jul 2003 17:42 PDT

I'm reading over what I just posted, and I realize that it might be
confusing.  I'll rephrase it this way:  Should the top three
Researchers be measured by the total number of answers and comments,
or by the total number of answers, comments, and requests for question
clarification?

I should note that the measurements will actually relate to the number
of *questions* that a Researcher has answered, commented upon, and (if
you want to include them) requested to be clarified.  A Researcher
might post more than one comment or request for clarification on a
question, and yet the search results will only count that question
once.

---

Clarification of Question by respree-ga on 02 Jul 2003 17:48 PDT

Hi justaskscott:

Actually, I just intended this to be a fun little exercise (and was
curious anyway), but to answer your question, lets just say the number
of times a GAR has posted something.  I guess a simple search for the
GAR's handle would show the answer (number of occurences).  I do
admire, how you take each and every question seriously, though.

As a side note, I would agree that the 'most' doesn't necessarily mean
the 'best' (with all due respect to the person with the most).

Not trying to evaluate anyone here.  Its all in fun.

---

Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 02 Jul 2003 17:54 PDT

After all that, it turns out that you cannot search on Google Answers
for "request for question clarification by researcher-ga"!

Anyway, as you said, this is just for fun.  :-)

---

Clarification of Question by respree-ga on 02 Jul 2003 18:40 PDT

Gee, I didn't know that you couldn't do an "exact search" in GA.

I find it interesting that GA uses a different search engine (a bit
inferior, I might add) than its flagship product.

Learn something new every day...

---

Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 05 Jul 2003 17:59 PDT

<< I find it interesting that GA uses a different search engine (a bit
inferior, I might add) than its flagship product. >>

It isn't that Google Answers uses an inferior searching product. 

Every Question, Answer, RFC, and Comment is assigned its own number
when it is stored in the Answers database (although the only numbers
we are ever allowed to see are those attached to Questions).

Requests for Clarification aren't stored in the database with the text
"Request for Question Clarification by".

Questions generate billings, so they are stored in a unique way, and
you can find all the Questions asked by a given Customer using the
search text "Asked by: respree-ga"
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22Asked+by%3A+respree-ga%22

Answers generate credits, so they too are stored in a unique way, and
you can find all the Questions Answered by a given Researcher using
the search text "Answered by: pinkfreud-ga"
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22Answered+by%3A+pinkfreud-ga%22

RFCs and Comments generate neither debits or credits, and the way they
are stored is nearly identical, so if you search for "comment by:
pinkfreud-ga" you will get not only all the Questions on which Pink
has Commented, but also all the Questions on which Pink has issued an
RFC.
"Comment by: pinkfreud-ga"
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22Comment+by%3A+pinkfreud-ga%22

I hope that this explanation makes the process a little easier to
understand (it took a little experimenting on my part when I first
figured it out).

;-)

Hello Respree ~

Using your criteria, "say the number of times a GAR has posted
something", as of 7:50pm PDT, July 5, 2003, the top three Google
Answers Researchers are:

pinkfreud-ga 467 answers, 2058 comments (2525 postings)
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=ratings&user=8557989531679117785
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22comment+by+pinkfreud-ga%22&qtype=all

bobbie7-ga 786 answers, 761 comments (1547 postings)
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=ratings&user=3930590209168866045
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22comment+by+bobbie7-ga%22&qtype=all

justaskscott-ga 533 answers, 891 comments (1424 postings)
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=ratings&user=3822341574987929257
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22comment+by+justaskscott-ga%22&qtype=all

Hope this answers your question and thanks for the fun exercise.

Serenata

Thanks all for your participation.  That was fun.  Pinkfreud, looks
like you've got the record!  Keep up the good work all.

I suggest that this question should be answered by one of GA's
superstars, such as my good friends bobbie7-ga (who has chalked up a
mind-boggling 774 answers), juggler-ga (with an awesome 658 answers],
justaskscott-ga (an amazing 526 answers), or easterangel-ga (a
remarkable 517 answers).

I have a total of 2378 citations on GA, including answers, comments,
and incidental mentions of my username. However, only 463 of these are
answers. I just like to talk a lot for free. In fact, I'm doing it
right now.

Regarding the matter of what makes some Researchers "quick on the
trigger," I think it's a combination of good reflexes, shrewd
thinking, a fast Internet connection, and luck. But locking a question
isn't the same thing as answering it. Many times I've successfully
answered a question after another Researcher let it go (and,
conversely, I've released things that were easy for others to answer).
If nifty trigger-fingers were the main factor, I would expect that the
most successful GARs would be adolescent videogamers. As it is, the
most prolific among us are mostly thirtysomething and up. Way up, in
my case. ;-)

My apologies if I've omitted anybody from the superstar 500+ list. I
got it off the top of my head, and that's not always the most reliable
place to get things these days.

~Pink

As one of the people mentioned by pinkfreud -- who herself is
eminently qualified to answer -- I nominate bobbie7.

I should note, however, that Researchers with fewer answers may be
just as quick on the trigger finger but more selective, or may not
have as much time per day to answer, or may even have a slow Internet
connection.  Moreover, I think that the best criterion for evaluating
a Researcher is quality, rather than quantity.

As it happens, bobbie7 (among others) gets high marks for both
quantity and quality of answers, so she could answer your question
well.

Hello respress

I'd like to add another factor which can affect the number of
questions answered, namely geographical location. Since I am in the
UK, and many questions come from USA, I find a lot have appeared and
been answered while I have been asleep. However, I do at times mop up
questions which, for one reason or another, have been unanswered for
12 hours or more.

I'm certainly not among those with the highest number of answers under
their belt. I do a full time job and have other freelance work as
well.  At present, these take priority over Google Answers, because
they provide me with a defined and better income.  Also, I tend to be
fairly picky in what I answer.  On the whole, I avoid questions
requiring marathon search sessions unless I am fascinated by the topic
or by the difficulty of the chase, and I generally tend to favour
questions that interest me. I see Google Answers as a way of keeping
my general search skills honed and as a way of getting paid to find
out about things that interest me. The price offered is only one
factor. A high price might induce me to answer a question which does
not interest me, and, conversely, a topic that catches my imagination
will also induce me to answer even if the price offered does not match
the time invested in the answer.

I think that researchers have a variety of search skills, which are
useful in different situations. I would not wish to compete with
Scriptor on genealogy questions, but then I personally find them so
very boring that I would not WISH to compete either! (although I
really do admire Scriptor for the outstanding work that he does on
them and for his dogged persistence).  Another area I avoid much of
the time is that of business/marketing, although I will occasionally
tackle a pharma question.  Again, that is because many such questions
bore me out of my mind.  On the other hand, I feel very at home
searching biomedical databases and translating some of what I find
into more lay terms, so try to catch the ones about latest research on
some disease, drug interactions, etc. I also enjoy questions where I
have to follow the sort of thought trails used to unravel cryptic
crosswords, questions where I can exercise my linguistic abilities,
and questions about unusual topics.

Here are a few numbers for you:

bobbie7-ga 775 answers, 751 comments

http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=ratings&user=3930590209168866045
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22comment+by+bobbie7-ga%22&qtype=all

justaskscott-ga 526 answers, 884 comments

http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=ratings&user=3822341574987929257
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22comment+by+justaskscott-ga%22&qtype=all

pinkfreud-ga 463 answers, 2028 comments 

http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=ratings&user=8557989531679117785
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=%22comment+by+pinkfreud-ga%22&qtype=all

You guys are making me feel like a slacker.

I don't know if this'll hit it, but I searched researcher names on
GA's own search feature and looked at the number of results. I think
Pink takes the lead with over 2,000 search results... I haven't seen
anyone else with more.