I’ve looked through the remaining pages of my now-famous desk calendar, and there is one more sciency quiz left!
In the quizzes I’ve done so far, I’ve kept the comments completely open but asked that people submit only one answer per commenter per hour. There’s always lots of very entertaining banter and trash-talk when we do it that way, BUT:
1) someone always fails to read the rules and posts multiple answers in one comment;
2) people in other time zones always moan at me that all the answers were gone by the time they got there.
So, for the remaining quiz (and any others that I may come across or invent myself in the future), I’ll leave it up to my readers to decide on the format. I see two basic alternatives to the status quo:
a) increasing the shut-out time, or
b) switching on comment moderation for that post only, letting people answer as many questions as they can while the comments are hidden, and approving all comments after a 24 hour period so everyone can see all the answers at once.
The drawback to the former approach is that quizzes could drag on for days…
The drawback to the latter approach is that we’ll lose the real-time trash talk and banter…
but I’ll let you guys decide if it’s worth it.
The results of the following poll will be binding, unless someone suggests another alternative in the comments that I think is better than all the listed options, at which point I will shout “screw democracy!” and use that format. You have one week to submit your answer, and will not be allowed to moan once the decision is made 🙂
What format should we use for all future quizzes?
Yeah, I always forget to read the instructions. If I see puzzle, I have a knee-jerk reaction, and immediately answer whatever I can. Sorry. So for me, definitely answer as many as I can, comments hidden for 24 hours. I'm sure we'll find lots of reasons to yak away afterward.
I like the status quo – I hoover up the easy answers, then retire to bed and leave the hard ones for you people in the Colonies.
Glad you apparently think my input in your quizzes is worthwhile even though I am in the wrong colony in the wrong timezone. A longer time between answers (I voted for 12, but 24 is just as reasonable) will work in everyone's favour. And the longer these things drag on the better.
You have a point Nina. I'm always a million miles behind here – in fact there were no answers left to find last time. However the comments were great :)viv in nz
oh… but miss the banter…the Banter!!! THe main reason to get going Friday morning, since it is so much fun to write silly things (point)Clearly I moan and nag but in the end I am a happy camper as it is… well, if I could get a heads up on the quiz so I remember that is 😉 That said, if you decide to think about those poor people in the weird time zones (NZ for example) I don't blame you for maybe doing once a month with locking the comments – or whatever, I realise I sound selfish now.Off to get morning coffee and wake up
Like Chall – the banter is the AWESOME. I vote for keeping the format the same, but just posting it later, so those of us in the same time zone actually have some time to answer the Q's. Post at like 9:30am PST. Srsly, what is UP with you early birds?
btw – I have bragging rights :D(but I'm not sure about the "so,so right" career change 😉 narrowminded me duh.)
Chall, I'm pretty sure it's right and proper to brag about bragging rights! And besides, it's really a great story. 🙂
See! Everyone feels bad for us poor sheep in NZ! And we want banter just as much as you guys over in AmeriCanadia, baaah! Just imagine how much more fun you could make of us if we have a chance to participate too!
Nina, was that "baaah!" like a whine, or "baaah!" like a sheep?
Just a quick comment to thank everyone who's voted and/or commented so far! I'm staying out of the discussion for now, but I really appreciate people taking the time to participate.