The "Yahoo! Answers" Notoriety Strikes Back: The Search for "Yozakura Quartet"

Here's another rant on the ever-useful and intelligent site called Yahoo! Answers....

While I'm wasting, erm, spending my free time surfing the Net in my suking internet shop
here in Pasig, an upcoming anime series titled Yozakura Quartet tickled my fancy and decided to look forward to its release by October (the Japan premiere is on October 2 to be aired on TBS). Another download spree for the bum otaku sensei :p

Now, since it's still a long wait, I decided to search for a possible scanlated copy of the
manga. It's a deviation from my usual routine of just watching an anime but not reading the
manga. or watching the anime first before stumbling upon a manga volume to read. Well, I
also want to read something in my spare time, and I want to peek at the possible story line
in advance.

The "googling" did not help - there's no site in sight for scanlated downlaods, and I'm just
not that patient in reading all those repeating or nonsense search results. But what catched
my attention is a result pointing me to the famous Yahoo! Answers site. As everyone
connected to me via Multiply knows, I aready ranted about the quality of the answers given
by users - especially those who are considered 'top contributors'. (See my blog Blog Entry Does Yahoo! Answers REALLY Answer (Correctly)? dated June 2, 2008). Even if I still hated that site until now, I still decided to check on that entry just for kicks, especially that it's related to Yozakura Quartet.

As I expect, I just got myself lots of (imaginary) sweatdrops, pain pricks, and an upset stomach.

The resolved question posted by Kyle Dreamin' is this: (from http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080503000336AANHIVD)

Where can i read Yozakura Quartet online?

I want to find out where i can read Yozakura Quartet online, or at least download it. Yozakura Quartet is a manga by Suzuhito Yasuda.

• 4 months ago

Additional Details

4 months ago

I want to find out where i can read Yozakura Quartet online, or at least download it.

Edit : i think my question must be wrongly described. "Yozakura Quartet" is not a novel. It's a manga (japanese comic).

Well, it seems that we both have the same predicament. Now, brace yourself for the BEST answer, provided by Rita T., a supposed TOP CONTRIBUTOR. Here's her repsonse:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

The Gutenberg Project has tens of thousands of books available for free download in pdf

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/main_page....

If, by chance, there is something you can't find there... then one of my English professors gave me this site, which is basically the same thing and was put together by the University of Pennsylvania:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/lis...

All copyrighted material is illegal to download. Here are some sites that have non-copywrited material for reading:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/bro...
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/...
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/
http://www.baen.com/library/
http://www.ebooks3.com/
http://www.hismercy.ca/content/hm_ebooks...
http://www.bookyards.com/
http://www.redbirdstudio.com/e_books/...
http://www.free-online-novels.com/...
http://www.bibliomania.com/1/frameset.ht...
http://www.starry.com/novel/authors.htm....
http://www.bygosh.com/features.htm...
http://www.bygosh.com/thebestnovels.htm....
http://www.bookspot.com/ask/
http://www.bookspot.com/

But I would try the Gutenberg Project first. I think their collection is more extensive.

• 4 months ago

My gulay! Her answer is deceptively intelligent, but what pissed me is this simple thing: SHE DID NOT REALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION. And worse, someone named coycholla gave a rejoinder:

Sorry, but the short answer is "you can't." Books published since 1923 are protected by copyright which won't allow them to be made available for free online. (Otherwise why would anyone buy the book? Publishers would go out of business). I'd suggest stopping by the library or bookstore tomorrow and get your hands on the paper.

• 4 months ago

Source(s):

"The Online Books Page," U. of Pennyslvania, http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/okb...

There goes the two "smart" beings who tried - but actually FAILED - to ANSWER a very SIMPLE question.

Now, here is my comment on the answers they gave (originally broken into 3 posts since the limit is 300 characters only):

I'm impressed by the "scholarly" answers you gave, especially the one who's supposedly a "top contributor". But, as I read it, THE QUESTION WAS NOT ACTUALLY ANSWERED! Manga (considered as the Japanese equivalent of a comic book) is actually DIFFERENT from a novel or an ordinary book. I actually checked most of the links myself and I expected that I won't find a single MANGA there.

Some fan sites upload scanlated (that is, scanned and translated) manga titles. However, I have yet to see one with Yozakura Quartet (I'm searching for one myself). If you really want to read it, you might need to buy it either online, in a bookstore, or an anime specialty store.

I would have loved to include this part, but I decided to delete it because it might offend the two "smarty pants":

"But I would try the Gutenberg Project first. I think their collection is more extensive." Extensive you say? I didn't find "Yozakura Quartet" or even "Naruto" there! Next time, please read the question very carefully before answering!

For everyone's information, I actually TRIED to search Yozakura Quartet using those links, but, as I expected, nothing happened. Well, so much for her English professor's churva :p

I just hope that one day those who use Yahoo! Answers will give intelligent answers - not really the scholarly ones, but just those that, um, makes sense. And I hope they READ the question first before answering.....

Moe....?

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On Fr. James Reuter's "The Only Hope for the Philippines" and Other Forwarded Messages

A former colleague in the Institute of Mathematics in UP forwarded this essay titled The Only Hope for the Philippines by Fr. James Reuter. I'm moved - and utterly convinced - by what Fr. Reuter supposedly wrote here so I decided to post it .

However, before I started pasting the text in my blog, I read in the comments section in one of the blogs that also posted the same essay that Fr. James Reuter DID NOT write the said essay! The person commented further that "It is not his [Fr. Reuter's] writing style though whoever wrote it tried to emulate it. Unfortunately, he/she did not succeed. It keeps resurfacing every so often. Once again--the article was not written by Father Reuter." The owner of the blog acknowledged it and said that it was just a forwarded message.

I then remember something I received from a Church colleague, about the supposed message that was "voted the best e-mail of this year". Yup, I am really convinced that we should not whine and grumble with things that we have while others do NOT have anything at all. However, seeing an obviously FAKED picture with it really doused the good feeling. Now, where's that forwarded Pope John Paul II x Mama Mary's EDITED picture....?

While it is good to forward hear-warming, moving, even though-provoking messages to everyone we know once in a while - we REALLY need some inspiration to relieve us from so much desperation we're experiencing right now - but FAKING something like that is actually inexcusable for me. It will just be lumped with those supposed forwarded inspirational prayers ending with "forward this prayer churva to 7,000 people, OR ELSE..." (God will not like offering and forwarding prayers through COERCION...).

I don't know how will Fr. Reuter feel when he learns about this, but isn't it disturbing that someone has to make up an article like this, claim that it's written by some known personality, and forward it to many people? Doing those kinds of bogus stuff defeats the purpose of meaningful messages and prayers. I don't know the actual motivation in doing these things, but the bottom line is that it's just... bad.

It feel really awkward after reading something supposedly positive and inspiring if I learn that it's either made up or is just forwarded to force you to send it to someone else for good luck. Even if the message threatens me that I'll earn the wrath of God if I don't forward it, I'll just either ignore it or press the delete button. They're just a waste of reading time and e-mail space for me.

So, when you open your e-mails and read a supposed prayer that will give you either good luck or a curse, God will not punish you from putting it in the Trash bin. Also, when you receive an article supposedly written by this and that, try to verify it first before forwarding it. If you're not sure of the autenthicity of the article, well read it if it's a good read it. Otherwise, there's the delete button....

P.S. About the essay, the messages actually reached the Inquirer.net's Mailbag! It was posted there on October 31, 2007. See http://globalnation.inquirer.net/mailbag/mailbag/view_article.php?article_id=97890