Who are asking these Research Questions? Research questions are being asked by mobile NowNow users and some other partners like Askville. That is why most questions asked are easy to answer by using a search engine. Finding information via the mobile web is cumbersome so our service allows users to simply email a question to us and we will email your answers back to the user. How can I try the service out? Currently we are in a closed beta period to test the service. We do not have a target date for when we will be opening the service up for everyone to use. How do you get a "great answer" vote? Users of our service will periodically vote for an answer that they considered "great". Although this is a subjective process we offer several tips: - since most of our users asking questions are mobile users you must provide the answer in the summary text box and/or the detail text box. DO NOT provide just a website link as your answer. - try to provide as much detail as possible. The more comprehensive your answer the more likely you will get a "great answer" vote. - there is a 10000 character limit to your answer. Anything above that limit will be ignored. - mobile users are reading these answers in an email message so make sure you format your answer so that its easy to read in an email message. - it is okay to give your opinion so long as you explain your answer clearly and state that it is your opinion. - always provide phone numbers and addresses when you are providing local information about stores, restaurants, businesses. How is NowNow related to Askville? Askville is another startup that has been created by Amazon. Askville is a place where you can share and discuss knowledge with other people by asking and answering questions on any topic. It's a fun place to meet others with similar interests to you and a place where you can share what you know. To improve the user experience, selected Askville questions will receive a number of answers from NowNow, which will show up on Mechanical Turk as NowNow questions. Can I earn a Great Answer vote from Askville questions I've answered through Mechanical Turk? Yes. To get a Great Answer vote from an Askville question, you must earn a Best Answer vote on that question on Askville. Each Askville question will get up to 5 answers. For you to get a Great Answer vote to count toward the weekly mturk.nownow bonus you must get the Best Answer vote amongst all the answers that were submitted to that question on Askville. Will answers that I submit through Askville count towards the weekly mturk.nownow bonus? To prevent fraud/gaming any question you answer on Askville will not count toward the weekly mturk.nownow bonus, even if you earn a Best Answer vote on Askville. Instead of earning a cash bonus you will earn Quest coins, which you will be able to use when Questville launches in 2007. The only way to earn great votes that count towards the bonus is by submitting answers through mturk. Can I ask a question on Askville and answer it on Mechanical Turk and give myself the Best Answer vote? No. We have taken certain measures to prevent this from happening. Anyone who even attempts to conduct fraud/gaming on Mechanical Turk, Askville, or NowNow will be permanently banned from the weekly bonus and possibly banned from all 3 sites. Can I participate on Askville and will my questions show up on Mechanical Turk? Yes. Askville is a free service (although we are currently in an invite-only model) that will be open to the public very soon. Every question that is asked on Askville will get answers from the Mechanical Turk community. What are Quest coins and Experience Points? Every time you answer a question on Askville you will earn or potentially lose experience points in the topics that were associated with that question. Askville uses experience points to determine how knowledgeable a user is in a given topic. Experience points are broken up into various levels. To reach a certain level you need to have earned a certain number of experience points in that topic. You also earn or lose Quest coins for every question you answer. The higher your level is on a particular topic the more Quest coins you will earn for each answer (e.g. if you're a level 5 answerer on the topic music and you get a Best Answer vote you will earn 65 Quest coins versus just 15 Quest coins if you were level 0). You will be able to use your Quest coins when we launch Questville in 2007. If I answer Askville questions on Mechanical Turk will I keep my Quest coins and Experience Points? Yes. Every Askville question you answer from Mechanical Turk will generate Quest coins and Experience Points. When you log into Askville you will find how many Quest coins and experience points you’ve earned in your account. How long does it usually take to earn a Great Answer vote from Askville questions I've answered through Mechanical Turk? Askville questions will get voted on within 10 days from the question being asked. If you want to speed up the process of voting you can log into Askville and vote on other answers to expedite the voting algorithm/process. What are examples of poor answers? Q: what is the traffic across the 520 bridge in Seattle A: here is a website link that shows you the current traffic conditions in seattle. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/ Q: what are the top 3 sports stories today A: click on this link which will show you a list of the top sports stories today. www.espn.com Q: looking for a good french restaurant in Seattle A: Campagne is a great french restaurant. Click on the link to get phone number and address - http://www.campagnerestaurant.com/cafe_info.html What are examples of great answers? Q: what is the traffic across the 520 bridge in Seattle A: west bound is average, east bound is really good for this time of day. WSDOT has the following times listed: Bellevue to Seattle via 520: 22 minutes Seattle to Bellevue via 520: 16 minutes http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/traveltimes/ Q: what are the top 3 sports stories today A: D.A. Says Duke Lacrosse Probe to Continue AP Tue Apr 11, 5:08 PM ET Sent 92 times DURHAM, N.C. - Standing before a mostly black audience, the district attorney in charge of the Duke University rape investigation said Tuesday he does not need DNA to bring charges and vowed, "This case is not going away." Army coach Maggie Dixon mourned at L.A. funeral USATODAY.com - Wed Apr 12, 7:06 AM ET Sent 73 times Basketball coach Maggie Dixon, who suddenly died last week at 28 after leading Army's women's team to its first NCAA Tournament berth, was mourned Tuesday by her cadet squad, former teammates and brother, Pittsburgh men's coach Jamie Dixon. Dixon died in New York on April 6 after suffering heart arrhythmia. Football star Ward ends tearful trip to S.Korea Reuters - Tue Apr 11, 7:04 AM ET Sent 34 times SEOUL (Reuters) - Korean-American football star Hines Ward wound up a trip to South Korea that saw him play catch with the president and shed tears in public by saying on Tuesday he wants to help mixed-race children in the country. Source: [http://news.yahoo.com/mp/1687] Q: looking for a good spanish restaurant in Seattle A: Andaluca 407 Olive Way Seattle, WA 98101-1108 (206) 382-6999 Cross Street: Fourth Avenue I've been to Andaluca three times in the past couple months and I cannot get enough. I'll probably go back tomorrow night too! The food is amazing and the atmosphere is great. The seafood stew is wonderful. I lived in northern Spain for a year and my host mother would always make seafood stew for special occasions. Let me tell you, Andaluca's stew tastes EXACTLY like her's does, a full blooded Spanish housewife's. :) I've also had the steak and it was wonderful with a great sauce over it and creamy mashed potatoes. Do yourself a favor and make your reservation today, you won't regret it http://seattle.citysearch.com/review/10767369