Questions and (If You’re Lucky) Answers
July 20th, 2006Sometimes it feels good to give advice. Sometimes I just like answering questions. If that sounds like you then you’ll love the two websites I’m talking about today. The first is an automated approach, the second is human-driven.
Remember the game 20 Questions? Some brilliant people have created an automated version of the popular guessing game. It learns from the people that play so it gets better and better all the time. Each time it is stumped it learns a new item because it asks you what you were thinking. It seems amazing sometimes when it comes up with what you are thinking out of seemingly nowhere. Take the following exchange I had for example. The item I was thinking of was a spider web. Note that the questions are presented in reverse order as each new question goes above the previous ones, so start reading at the bottom.
Q17. I am guessing that it is a spider web?
16. Can you buy it? No.
15. Does it move? No.
14. Does it come in many varieties? Yes.
13. Is it a body part? No.
12. Have you seen one in real life? Yes.
11. Does it serve a purpose? Yes.
10. Is it fluffy? No.
9. Can it change size? Yes.
8. Is it man made? No.
7. Can you order it at a restaurant? No.
6. Does it eat cheese? No.
5. Can you control it? No.
4. Is it a metal? No.
3. Is it colorful? No.
2. Is it used for entertainment? No.
1. It is classified as Other.
The second question and answer site, dearinter.net, is almost useful, but not really. It’s kind of like a game, but you could ask serious questions. The premise is that you are able to ask the Internet a question and get responses back. I asked it a question, and you can answer it, because, in case you didn’t realize it yet, you are part of the Internet. If you are in the mood for rapid-fire opinion offering you can use the answer-o-matic and it will present all of the questions to you that the site has and let you answer them for as long as you like. I recommend you log in so that your answers are saved in your profile and you won’t get asked the same question twice. It’s also a good idea in case you want to ask the Internet a question yourself!
I suggest you try one or both of these sites. The one asks you questions and the other lets you ask questions. Post your results in the comments, I’d love to see what you come up with.
July 21st, 2006 at 10:59 am
This one was just creepy… I can’t believe it got it right. Again, out of NOWHERE!
Q30. I am guessing that it is the flux capacitor?
29. I guessed that it was Knight Rider? Wrong.
28. Are you still popular? No.
27. Do you have long hair? No.
26. Are you a movie? No.
25. Are you short? No.
24. Are you a woman? No.
23. I guessed that it was KITT? Wrong.
22. Are you in movies? No.
21. Are you about family life? No.
20. I guessed that it was The Terminator? Wrong.
19. I guessed that it was Ghostbusters? Wrong.
18. Are you a scary movie? No.
17. Are you a doctor? No.
16. Are you a comedy? No.
15. Are you someone’s mother on TV? No.
14. Do you take place in America? Yes.
13. Are you science fiction? Yes.
12. Do you have a sequel? Yes.
11. Are you a fantasy? Yes.
10. Were you popular in the 80’s? Yes.
9. Are you about teenagers? No.
8. Does someone die in you? No.
7. Did you have a good ending? Yes.
6. Are you a producer? No.
5. Are you rated G? No.
4. Did you win awards? No.
3. Are you still running? No.
2. Were you popular in the 90’s? No.
1. It is classified as Thing.