College Bowl was an American tradition for more than 50 years: two teams of four players each, who are read a toss-up question which anyone could answer alternating with a bonus question which only the team which got the toss-up question could answer. It was officially cancelled in 2008, due to a variety of factors. A strange new format dominates its successors: pyramidal quiz bowl.
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posted by curuinor
on Mar 11, 2011 -
61 comments
If you can't Ask MetaFilter, try asking
What Would Rob Do? In his
podcast, "NPR's Rob Sachs talks about life's sticky situations and how turn them into an opportunity for adventure, growth, or at the very least, laughter." Like
how to propose, or if that doesn't work, what to do when you
run into your ex (Mp3) (turns out being calm and collected beats out feigning not to have made eye contact), how to
talk to strangers (Mp3),
sing a lullaby (by interviewing Rob Springfield), or how to,
you know, avoid, um, Verbal Ticks. Each podcast episode is an interview with one kind of expert or another. Some posts also go on the
Monkey See blog as well as a
facebook fan page.
posted by pithy comment
on Sep 11, 2009 -
3 comments
Dial-a-Stranger: When you don't know who to turn to... Turn to who you don't know. The creation of Zachary Kent and Mercedes Martinez. It's not at all like AskMeFi.
posted by cjorgensen
on Dec 25, 2008 -
4 comments
Do you have Asperger's Syndrome? Answer these questions and find out. I'm skeptical about this, but I find it fascinating. For years, I've suspected I'm an Aspie, and, as it turns out, I answered the questions exactly the way the researchers predict an Aspie would answer them. My "normal" wife answers them they way "normal" people do. I am almost incapable of understanding the "normal" answer. To me, the Aspie answer is obviously correct.
Here is a great discussion about the research.
Here is the original research paper (MS Word file).
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posted by grumblebee
on Nov 5, 2008 -
179 comments
Stack Overflow is now out of beta. Designed as a question and answer forum for programmers, it's been made to fill the gap currently filled by sites like the much hated and oft mispronounced
Expertsexchange. If you're sick of having to
scroll to the bottom, and you write code, then this could be for you. The site has been made by a team headed by
Jeff Atwood and
Joel Spolsky. These are two uber-bloggers who've made a name for themselves talking about how to code. Of course, for haters of Stack Overflow, there are already a
couple of
sites to pamper to your anger. Finally, if you're wondering what a
stack overflow is, then wikipedia has the answer.
posted by seanyboy
on Sep 15, 2008 -
51 comments
The new age of ignorance. A panel of well known (UK) scientists and artists are
asked some basic questions about science.
Except the questions weren't that basic (since when is the
Second Law of Thermodynamics considered basic knowledge?) so the results weren't surprising... although some of the answers were amusing ("The sky is blue because the sea reflects on it.").
The worrying thing is that the questions could have been much simpler ("How many planets are there in the Solar System?") and I suspect the results would have been much the same. Meanwhile,
ignorance marches on.
posted by bobbyelliott
on Jul 1, 2007 -
127 comments
Doxory. Often in life we are faced with a choice of 2.0 possible courses of action. Should I do X or Y? Now you can harness the wisdom of the web crowds to resolve those painful dilemmas for you!
posted by chrismear
on Mar 18, 2007 -
27 comments
An Impartial Interrogation One of the things I miss about my eighteen years in the US Senate are the stories of the old Southern Democrats. I didn't always vote with them, but I loved their technique of responding to an opponent's questions with a humorous story. Once when Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina had to handle a tough question from Mike Mansfield, he said, "You know, Mr. Leader, that question reminds me of the old Baptist preacher who was telling a class of Sunday school boys the creation story. 'God created Adam and Eve and from this union came two sons, Cain and Abel and thus the human race developed.' A boy in the class then asked, 'Reverend, where did Cain and Abel get their wives?' After frowning for a moment, the preacher replied, 'Young man--it's impertinent questions like that that's hurtin' religion.'"
posted by nofundy
on Jan 19, 2007 -
17 comments
On September 9th 2006, 112 of the world's writers, artists, activists, and social entrepeneurs (
nominees here) will gather for a
Table of Free Voices in Berlin, Germany, discussing questions about the important issues of today. Who provides those questions?
You.
posted by divabat
on Jul 24, 2006 -
6 comments
Pourquoi? "Les petites enigmes de tous les jours" - Interesting site akin to AskMe, "en Français."
posted by AllesKlar
on Dec 12, 2005 -
21 comments
justcurio.us AskMeFi for the curious masses. Not nearly as helpful, but can be amusing.
posted by o2b
on Jul 19, 2005 -
19 comments
Ask and ye shall receive - Another forum in which to ask questions. It appears to operate somewhat like Ask Metafilter. I think I'll stick with AskMe, but perhaps I will try some of my questions that never really got answered over at Wondir. (via Boing Boing)
posted by caddis
on Apr 18, 2005 -
26 comments
Science Times: 25th Anniversary The first issue of Science Times[weekly section of
N.Y. Times] appeared 25 years ago, on Nov. 14, 1978. Its guiding principle ever since has been that science is not a collection of answers, but a way of asking questions, an enterprise driven by curiosity. To celebrate the anniversary, we pose 25 of the most provocative questions facing science. As always, answers are provisional. [free reg req'd]
posted by Postroad
on Nov 11, 2003 -
2 comments
Got a health question? Go Ask Alice! Fielding questions ranging from the common cold to way out there sexual dysfunctions, Go Ask Alice!--Columbia University's "Q&A Internet Service"--handles even the most
bizarre sounding questions with honesty, humor, and good advice. I visit this site about once a week, and have learned quite a bit.
posted by WolfDaddy
on Nov 29, 2002 -
8 comments
