I've never submitted a question before, so I thought I would check out
what its like on the other side of the fense (i.e. how the interface
is set up, what the options are, etc).

I suppose my question is...what do you like most about being a researcher?

---

Clarification of Question by djbaker-ga on 08 Jun 2005 08:18 PDT

Please post your answer as both an RFC and an answer (i want to see
how fast the notification is when there is an RFC on a question).

Thanks,
djbaker-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 08 Jun 2005 08:28 PDT

Well, here's an RFC just so you can see what an RFC is like.

I love Google Answers to pieces, but it's hard to articulate why.  It
clearly has some elements of an addiction, but don't worry...I can
quit anytime I want to.

paf

---

Clarification of Question by djbaker-ga on 08 Jun 2005 08:30 PDT

Feel free to submit that as an answer :)

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 08 Jun 2005 09:02 PDT

Thanks, but someone who's not as lazy as me (it is summertime!) and
can find the words to answer your question should have the honor of
doing so.

paf

Hi DJ!

I guess that all you're missing is an Answer so that you can ask for a
CR to see how that works.  Please don't test the CRH feature ;=)

Maybe we can see if it has any effect on my ratings level too, though
I doubt that it will with 636 Answers (an unknown number of those are
rated and like Pafalafa, I'm too lazy to count).

What do I like the best?  The extraordinary range of questions &
answers.  I wish that Google would take one of the most-interesting
Answers each week and publish it as a syndicated column (with search
tips, of course!).

The most-amusing part is seeing something that you think is
unanswerable -- and another researcher teases out an Answer.  Often
it's something that could well be contentious and someone finds an
interesting and amusing way to answer the question.  A favorite
example of the latter is:

"What is the Secret of Women" (RobertSkelton-GA, May 28, 2002)
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=18407

Google search strategy:
"RobertSkelton" + women as a search on the answers.google.com domain

Even if this Answer is perfectly clear, don't forget to ask for a clarification.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Thanks for the answer!

I thought you might like a comment, too. :) And for the record, one of
the things that I like most about it is the association with the other
researchers. It's also great for helping to satisfy our "nerdy"
(that's a compliment) tendencies. It's fun to be associated with a
great company like Google. There are lots of interesting things to
read on here. It's fun and challenging to research and write
informative and creative answers. Hmmmmm, I agree with
pafalafa-ga--it's difficult to articulate why, but this IS a great
place.

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

Yeah, I am in agreement with you both about this being a great place. 
I think its so interesting to see what other researchers do and the
questions they take.  It always amazes me when I see a question and
kind of laugh at the idea of being able to answer it and then 2 hours
later I see another researcher was able to take it on.

Thanks for you comment.  I was interested in learning the mechnics of
the system so I would have a better idea what the people I am helping
are looking at.

Best,
djbaker-ga

dj...

It may interest you to know that, a long time ago, skermit-ga
asked this question for the very same purpose:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=114194

He then proceeded to take screenshots of the user's screens
and created a handy user's guide, here:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html

The interface has changed a little since that time, I believe,
but it still remains a useful guide.

sublime1-ga