November 2011
8 posts
7 tags
Daylight Savings Time ended!
The good news: one more hour of sleep! The bad news: the days get dark earlier. The morning of Sunday November 6th marks the end of Daylight Savings Time! Unless you live where DST is not observed, this is the day when we have to remind ourselves to set our clocks back 1 hour. Countries around the world observe this time shift, and it always inspires many questions. Why do we do it? Does it really...
6 tags
Ask Named Finalist in Forrester Awards
We have great news to share with you – Ask.com was a finalist in the Forrester Groundswell Awards! Although we didn’t take home the big prize we’re still pumped about our finalist spot in the business to consumer mobile application category. Check out Forrester’s blog post about it here.
Back in June, we launched a fun trivia game called Skip the Line at Six Flags theme parks to let people play...
11 tags
Experiments: When, How & Surprising Results:...
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of presenting at the O’Reilly Web2Expo in NYC (thanks @brady!). My talk was entitled “How to Create a Location Aware Group Chat App in 6 weeks” and was based the experience of building Ask Around for SXSW 2011. I have to admit, the title was a bit misleading. While I certainly shared details about how we discovered the concept, organized the...
October 2011
5 posts
7 tags
Trick or Treat?
“Trick or treat! Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat.”
How did trick-or-treating start, anyhow?
The custom of Trick-or-treating has origins in the medieval practice of ‘souling’, when the poor would go door to door on November 1st, called Hallowmas or All Hallows Eve, to ask for food and prayers for the dead on the following day, All Souls Day.
The more recent...
13 tags
Wow, What A Week!
Hey friends,
From where I’m sitting, this has been quite a memorable week. Same for you? We at Ask have the finger on the nation’s pulse, since everything that happens tends to show up as questions on our site. It’s really kind of cool to look at the world through questions.
Well, first we started the week off with the latest gay celebrity to come out, Zachary Quinto....
8 tags
Share the Q&A Community on Facebook & Twitter
Now that the Q&A Community is open to everyone, you can now share questions on Facebook and Twitter. Whether it’s a burning question that you think one of your friends or family can answer or it’s so darned interesting, you just have to share it. No matter the reason, you can now expand your community experience!
All you have to do is navigate to the question you want to share, click “Tweet”...
9 tags
When Consumers Talk, Brands Should Listen
Recent news headlines have made it clear that consumers aren’t shy when it comes to voicing their opinions about changes to a favorite brand’s product or service offering. Social media has made it easy for anyone with a smartphone or an internet connection to express their opinions and find an audience for their point of view. It’s more important now than ever for brands to ensure they’re...
7 tags
Ask.com Q&A Community is off to a great start!
I wanted to share with you some exciting updates about our Ask.com Q&A Community. As you may know, Ask.com Q&A Community is now open to all Ask.com visitors; this means all visitors can receive answers from both the web and from real people. After opening the Ask.com live user community to everyone in September, the visitors of Ask.com have responded amazingly. The user registration from...
September 2011
9 posts
9 tags
Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Last night at sundown was the official beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei (the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar), and is celebrated in countries all around the world. Traditions for the Jewish New Year include attending synagogue and hearing the shofar, baking challah bread, and eating apples dipped in honey (in order...
9 tags
Ask and Go.
Today, Ask partner Nuance launched the new version of its Dragon Go! application, the app that recognizes what users say and delivers direct access to the best sites on the mobile web. This next version of Dragon Go! expands direct access to more answers, movies, music and more; layering voice recognition on top of rich content, expert answers and services from leading partners like Ask.com,...
Happy First Day of Fall!
Fall is upon us. The Autumnal Equinox is September 23rd in the northern hemisphere this year. It’s the day when night and day are nearly the same length and the Sun crosses over the Earth’s equator on its way south marking the beginning of fall.
The change of seasons makes us very curious indeed. Here are some of the most popular questions we get on the topic.
Why do leaves change...
12 tags
Representing Ask.com at the Mayor's Reception
Ask.com was honored to be one of the local businesses representing innovation at Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s reception for the Women and Economy Summit at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference Friday night. Mayor Jean Quan and a committee of distinguished Oakland women leaders in exports, innovation, and education hosted more than 400 international delegates to the Asian Pacific...
17 tags
TechCrunch Disrupt Starts Off With A Bang!
We kicked off TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco today with some great participation in the Ask.com Trivia Lounge and a down-to-the-wire finish for the $500 Apple gift card giveaway.
Players rack up points and compete to win prizes by correctly answering trivia questions related to the current and past Disrupt conferences, speakers at the show, and general industry trivia. They can earn points...
12 tags
Heading Back to School
Summer is coming to a close, and it’s the time of year when yellow buses are making their rounds, and students are heading back to classes after the long summer break. People all over are getting themselves and their children ready for school, from shopping for school supplies and getting immunizations, to finding resources to help with homework and advice for getting involved in making the...
Remembering 9/11
It’s an event that changed our world, and here at Ask.com, we would be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to recognize the tenth anniversary of the events of 9/11.
As a place where people come to find answers, we strive to be impartial and objective. But we remember where we were at the time. We all remember the shock, the fear, the anger, and the solidarity.
We remember those who lost their...
7 tags
Ask.com "Pimp My Pod"
It’s difficult for anyone to be creatively inspired and productive when you’re sitting in a sea of cubicles all in the same monotone color scheme surrounded by white walls and brown office doors.
Sure, you can paint some of those walls to add some color, but who wouldn’t want to create their own environment that you and your cube mates could call “home”. Inspired by another program at...
9 tags
Got a question? Get an Answer from the Ask...
Let’s face it. Some questions aren’t meant to be answered by a machine. That’s why you’ll see some changes to Ask.com today that involve you, our valued community of experts on all sorts of topics. Ask opened up its community portion of the site, previously in limited beta, to everyone – yup, all 63 million of you – so you can get answers from real people to subjective questions.
In addition,...
August 2011
4 posts
11 tags
Vote for the Q&A Panel at SXSW 2012!
SXSW 2012 may seem far away, but March 2012 will be here before you know it! The PanelPicker voting for SXSW 2012 is now open and we’d love for you to vote for our panel spotlighting an Insiders’ Guide to the Q&A space. This panel features some of the most influential leaders in the Q&A space. Joining me in the discussion are some of the leading minds in the Q&A space: Ro Cho of...
Ask.com for Android is Here!
Hey Android smartphone users…
As you may have read in TechCrunch this morning, Ask.com’s popular Q&A app – 1 million downloads strong since we launched on iOS late last year – is now available on Android. It’s the only app that’ll get you fast answers pulled from both the web and a real community of users. The app is designed to deliver credible info quickly from a variety of...
9 tags
Were You Bitten During Shark Week?
Are you sad that Shark Week is over? You’re probably not alone since Discovery Channel’s Shark Week was one of the top viewed programs last week. Shark Week first aired on July 27, 1987 and now airs in over 72 countries every year.
Just because Shark Week has ended, doesn’t mean you can’t keep learning about this misunderstood predator of the sea. Here are some questions Ask.com users are...
