Frequently Asked Questions
We receive many questions at "AmIAnnoying.com" This page is our attempt at answering many of the frequently asked questions we receive. This FAQ was last updated on June 27, 2003.
WHAT QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED IN THE FAQ?
9 - WHAT IS ANNOYING/NOT ANNOYING
9a. Do you realize that you are a bunch of opinionated pricks?
9b. You guys are sexists, racists, liberals, conservatives, biased, etc?
9c. What you claim is annoying is not annoying and vise-versa?
9d. Are annoying people, bad people?
9e. Do you hate smokers/vegetarians?
9f. Why are vegetarians annoying?
9g. Why are smokers annoying?
9h. Why are people who have anxiety/depression/bi-polar disorder annoying?
9i. Why are tattoos/piercings annoying?
9j. Why are breast implants annoying?
9k. Why are religious activists annoying?
9l. Why are psychics annoying?
9m. Why are school drop outs annoying?
9n. Why are gays sometimes labeled annoying, and other times not annoying?
9o. Why is being on the worst dress list-annoying/best dressed-not annoying?
9p. Why are left handed people not annoying?
9q. Why are sexiest/beautiful people not annoying?
9r. Why are stand-up people with issues annoying?
9s. (Insert Name) is dead, how can (Insert Name) be annoying?
9t. Why do you ask us if Osama Bin Laden, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, and Adolph Hitler are annoying? Isn't it obvious?
After visiting AmIHotorNot.com, then revisiting, and revisiting, we became addicted. Soon we realized that a site like that for celebrities could be an interesting twist on the 'Am I Hot or Not?' craze. Instead of voting for beauty, the visitor (you) will vote for annoyance. To be unique, we create a résumé for every person or group featured on the site, giving the visitor some background information before voting.
We started work on the site in October 2000 but did not make it publicly available until Mid November 2000. Our official launch date was December 1, 2000.
No. They are now called "Hot or Not?"
No! This is a public opinion poll in which anyone who can access the site may vote. In a scientific study, you do not volunteer, but are specifically selected to participate. That selection sample would be drawn randomly from the entire universe of those fitting the criteria studied. The questions would be asked without interviewer bias.
The threshold currently is a 200 vote minimum.
Yes, if you care that much about a celebrity. In order to curtail abuse and make the site more enjoyable for our visitors, we have implemented a 5 vote limit per visit per celebrity. Using a web bot or other means to manipulate voting is prohibited.
Use of software, a hack or other means to dump multiple votes. Anyone who uses this will lose their privilege to access the site.
Yes. E-mail us, stop excessive voting, and we will give you a second chance.
Am I Annoying is a great resource for celebrity trivia. You can go to the forum and hang out with other annoying people. We have an Index of Annoying People so that you can easily search the site. We've grouped together many celebrities on our site into interesting categories. We also have two quizzes where you can answer some questions and find out how annoying you are! Feel free to print out pages of this site and use it as toilet paper!
Sorry, this is not really a dumb question. Your E-mail will ONLY be used to respond to you.
We do not add you to the mailing list unless you request it. We do NOT share your e-mail address.
If you have a criticism, be specific. Also, if your life is so great, enjoy it. You should not waste your time with trite sarcasm.
Yeah and the cliche store called, and wants their cliches, back. Wisecracks are fine, but be creative.
No. Let's be realistic: chances are the celebrity really doesn't want to hear what you have to say. Our site is a polling site, not a celebrity interactive site.
Being perfect is annoying, however we have yet to find anyone who is. The amount of money someone makes or doesn't make is usually irrelevant.
4a. DO THE ID#S HAVE ANY MEANING?
(for example http://www.amiannoying.com/view.aspx?ID=1500)
Yes, they are sequential. The IDs starting at #1 going to the total # of celebrities on the web site.
Most of the time the answer is no, they are just sequential. However, we do try for landmarks in ID's that end in 50 or 00. Sometimes the numbers are significant (1492 is Christopher Columbus, 666 is Ozzy Osbourne, 1234 is the Count, etc.). For many of the 1700 and 1800 series and all of the 1900 series, we tried to use them as a year of significance in the celebrity's life. Many times we miss an opportunity to match a number with a good celebrity.
See: Who is the very first celebrity to appear on this site?
We very loosely moderate the forum. Although we prefer that people keep to the subject, it is up to the users of the forum to police it. Some of our forum members think 'reply to topic' means 'change topic.'
For starters, we only showcase public figures. We look for an interesting photo and dig up the dirt on what makes them annoying and not annoying.
Absolutely! Be sure to check the index page before suggesting a person or group. You can e-mail your suggestion to Team Annoy or better yet post it in the Annoyatorium. Many suggested celebrities are already on the site.
Certainly, we encourage that. Be sure to check the index to make sure the celebrity has not already been done. Keep to facts, come up with both annoying and not annoying facts. Post the resume in the DO IT YOURSELF section of the Annoyatorium or e-mail it to Team Annoy.
Not any more. We tried to maintain a 50:50 ratio of men to women. After we added our 1450th celebrity, we had exactly 700 men and 700 women and 50 groups. At 3,151 we had 1,500 men, 1,500 women and 151 groups. We found that a much greater majority of resumes submitted by users of this site are of males. We would appreciate more resumes of female celebrities.
It's pretty much a free for all. Fictional/cartoon characters aside, nobody with celebrity status is exempt from the site. Even the writers' favorite celebrities are listed within.
We have a page of the 50 most recently added celebrities. You may wish to bookmark that page.
Yes, we have set up collections, that are available on the site collection.
We primarily use the Internet, media (e.g. T.V.) and printed materials. Some of our best sources are Absolute Trivia, Abstract.Com, All-Star Celebrity.com, Askmen, BBC Online, Biography.com, Bomis, CIA World Factbook, Copernic, CNN Showbuzz, Cracksmokers, Dot Music, Entertainment Weekly, Fametracker.com, Female Celebrity Smoking list, FHM, Film 100, Google, Howard Stern Show, Internet Movie Database, Invent.org, ixquick.com, Lonely Planet Online, Mark's Friggin Website, Megastar, Mr. Showbiz, National Enquirer, New York Post, NME, People Magazine, Starbuzz.com, Yahoo Music and Zap2it.com.
We make every attempt to verify our sources. If we find that something on the site is falsely stated, we will immediately remove it from the celebrity's bio. If you find that something on the site is false or inaccurate, please let us know. We do try to use reliable sources, but we cannot assure 100% accuracy. Many celebrities give misleading information, depending on what is fashionable at the time.
BOTTOM LINE: WE DO NOT MAKE ANYTHING UP.
Just about all our research is second hand information. We have been to a ton of websites, read many magazines and seen loads of interviews. Unfortunately, we do not cross reference every individual item for every individual celebrity.
If brought to our attention we will make the change, from "is" to "was."
No. We are not a research service. We do not maintain a research archive nor keep a list of sources.
Please tell us what we missed and give us (if possible) a source for your information. Also, if we made any spelling or grammatical errors or have misinformation, please e-mail us at Team Annoy. Yes, we do miss good information on celebrities and certainly would like to include it. But also remember: we are NOT writing full biographies on each celebrity.
We certain understand your concerns. Many internet sites have directly linked to photos on our site which causes unnecessary hits and ties up traffic for our visitors. In an effort to stop that we have coded the site to refuse remote sites from doing this. Unfortunately Norton's firewall makes our site think your computer is a remote location.
All information and photos are added internally, so we maintain total control on the content. We have decided that nipple and overt crotch shots of women would not appear on the site as for some strange reason, some people find it offensive. We also strive to keep profanity and obscenities down to a bare minimum.
Although we have nothing against porn sites (in fact, we like 'em), we feel this site should be a bit cleaner. We don't want unsuspecting people to get canned from their jobs downloading pornographic pictures from this site.
Finding a photo is almost as important to us as writing the résumés. Some of our sources include Ixquick, AltaVista Image Finder, Copernic, Yahoo, Dancing Monica, Google, etc.
Although we may crop or scale an image to fit in the layout, we don't remove web addresses, credits, or copyright information. We are grateful for having these photos and respect the sources from which they come.
Their legal representatives asked us to remove them. Although we are protected under free speech, parody and free press guidelines, we are not interested in testing copyright laws. We are a harmless site and do not wish to step on anyone's toes.
Please do not e-mail us photos. Let us know about a funny celebrity photo that you think might be appropriate for the site by sending the link to Team Annoy.
In most cases we do not own the rights to the photos, thus we can not give you permission to use them. We use those photos under parody fair use rules.
Yes. Thanks! (oh . . . except for Bruce; he is a clueless putz!)
"AM I ANNOYING?" thrives on being controversial. We do not claim to be a vanilla journalistic site. Having an opinion means that you are biased. Before writing us remember what Ben Franklin said, make sure your fingernails are clean before you point at me.
You are right. We are not the final arbiters of annoying and not annoying. We just make suggestions. The only thing that counts is your vote. You are not expected to agree with everything we suggest.
No. Who annoys you more than the people you know and love.
Do not confuse the word ANNOY with "hate" or "uncool." Someone's coolness or love can be annoying. Your mother loves you, but is probably the most annoying person you know. Annoyance is the measurement of your own tolerance level to what is inflicting on you.
If you're food fell in shit would you eat it? Vegetables grow in dirt and manure (shit).
Many are arrogant and need to "enlighten" those that aren't vegetarians.
Most preach to others and try to persuade meat eaters to change their eating habits.
Many claim their "diet is better than your diet."
Most have no foundation for their so-called claimed medical knowledge.
They must have specially prepared meals when eating out.
They eat things that were also alive and sometimes still alive.
They give themselves a name because they eat a certain type of food.
Many ignore drawbacks of the diet (lack of protein, variety).
Many care more about animals than humans.
They refuse to accept the fact that vegetation harvests do kill free range animals.
Many vegetarians smoke - where is the health benefit in that?
It is abnormal not to eat meat, we are animals and are part of the food chain.
Smoke is an irritant.
Their smoking causes bad breath.
They inflict second-hand smoke.
Many claim they can stop at any time.
They drop everything to get a pack of cigarettes.
They are willing to pay 70% tax.
They are willing to stand in the snow to smoke.
They sometimes smoke next to "No Smoking Signs."
Many have trouble going to "No Smoking" places.
Some can't go more than an hour without their smoke fix.
Some smoke smelly cigars.
Some refuse to admit they are addicted.
Some need to be part of the cigar trend.
Their cigarettes stain their teeth.
Some quit for years and then return.
Some start smoking as early as 12 years old or younger.
Many flick their lit cigarettes out their car window, usually hitting other cars or pedestrians with them.
There are usually more cigarette butts lying on the ground than in the ashtray next to it.
They do it, even though the warning on the pack says it WILL kill you.
Some refuse to accept responsibility for their decision and sue tobacco companies.
(smokingsides is a great website)
They are no fun to be around.
Many prescription manufacturers have made fortunes on pushing medications that are barely more effective than placebos.
They use it as an excuse to avoid responsibility or being productive.
They enjoy self pity.
They take normal emotions and instead of coping, dwell on them.
They claim it is a disease, and people who disagree are ignorant.
They focus on negative things.
Placebos seem to work as well as prescription drugs.
Being depressed only adds problems, it is a destructive waste of life.
People who have genuine reasons to be depressed face it straight on and get over it. People who claim depression search for deep seated psychological reasons.
They are self-mutilation.
They may look good today - but what will they look like in 40 years?.
They scream out "Notice Me!"
Some people can't stop at one.
Some people try to cover much of their body.
They pay guys to take a needle and draw on their bodies.
When the skin sags, the colors fade.
They cost a fortune to remove.
It is forbidden by the bible (Leviticus 19:28).
(www.vanishingtattoo.com is a great site for information)
They feel horrible.
They are not real.
They usually look ridiculous.
They are expensive.
They are attention grabbers.
They may cause cancer.
They can explode.
They are hypocrites.
They ask for money from us, when God should provide for them.
They rip off good people who try to be true to their faith.
They tell people how to live their lives.
They scare people with horrendous eternal punishment if they are not obeyed.
A goodly number of them skimmed money that should be going to charity.
Many of them are ex-cons, sex offenders and jailbirds.
They are totally fake.
They lack scrupples.
They are con artists who play with the emotions of the weak minded.
They make believe they talk to dead people.
Not one psychic has ever gone on record with a very specific major prediction days before it happened. Yet they will dig up some very unspecific prediction and attempt to make it fit.
Not one psychic has been authenticated by debunkers such as James Randi.
Many of their "powers" have been exposed as parlor tricks.
They rarely give bad news and if they do, they spin it as something better is in store.
They claim magical powers, which they can't even fully understand.
They say very general things and allow their clients to make it fit.
They always have excuses ready.
They claim they can't profit from their gift, then why do they charge or accept payment for it.
They claim they can't profit from their gift, yet they bilk their clients out of money.
They claim they can't profit from their gift, yet that is their only means of support.
They claim they can't profit from their gift, yet they don't seek out a psychic colleague to make each other rich.
They use a lot of fine print like "for entertainment purposes only"; to keep themselves from being sued and out of jail."
Some have gone bankrupt, gotten divorce and had unforseen bad things happen to them.
Because they don't complete a simple goal that each of us is required to do.
We personally don't care about anyone's sexual preference; it is how they handle it. Homosexuality is labeled annoying when the person is flamboyant, hiding in closet, making a political statement, etc.
Actually, most of these lists are made by either women or gay men (Mr. Blackwell is admittedly gay). So why do we allow it to hold any weight on our site? Admittedly, our answer is going to be a weak one, since we tend to disagree with the experts. If a woman barely wears an outfit she is almost always regulated to worst dress and if they wear a cover up business suit she gets a best dressed award (according to Mr. Blackwell). So here is our cop-out answer, we decided we would leave it up to the experts and not use our own good sense.
(See: What you claim is annoying is not annoying and vise-versa.)
When do you hear a left-handed person complain about his handicap of living in a right-handed world? In fact, most left handed people turn their natural disadvantage into an advantage in sports. That's our answer. . . oh . . . and 2/3 of our staff are left handed (sorry Keith).
Because even if they are annoying, who cares. Who can be annoyed by beauty? (except for maybe fat people . . . )
They use their celebrity status to unfairly push their issues. Most celebrities should not mix with politics.
When someone has passed away, we can consider their entire life as a whole. It is like reviewing a movie after you have seen it completely. You may also consider the celebrity's legacy and how it has effected others.
This has become a sensitive topic and we are aware of that, but we can't just forget these guys exist/existed. In no way are we listing these people to offend or upset people. Plus, we listed several things on their résumés that many people don't know. Use it as a learning experience.
Yes, we were mentioned on October 19th, 2001. Many people came to our site to see his girlfriend: Beth Ostrosky.
Here are a few others:
Interviewed on Drew and Trina (WROX-Austin Texas) (October 2002)
Interviewed on National Public Radio - Whad'Ya Know (January 11, 2003)
Interviewed on The Morning Magazine with Mark Larsen on NewsTalk am 1040 in Tampa, Florida (January 12, 2003)
99X Atlanta
Opie and Anthony
Don and Mike
Q93, KQID-FM in Alexandria, LA
Mix 94.5 / WLRW-FM in Champaign, IL
92.3 WIL Country Music in Saint Louis, MO
98PXY in Rochester, NY
102 The Edge in Toronto, ON
Q107 - WMQT in Marquette, MI (May 30, 2001)
WRRC 92.7/66.9 in Poughkeepsie NY
K95.5 in Oklahoma (September 2, 2002)
WGN-TV Chicago - Site of the Day (January 8, 2003)
Yes, we were in the August 24/31, 2001 issue on page 140 and January 17, 2003 on page 10.
Here are a few others:
FHM (August 2002, page 63)
Newsweek (2001, January 23, 2003 page 23)
South West Airlines Spirit Magazine (December, 2002 back page )
Yahoo Internet Life (July 2002, page 16)
Web User (April 4, 2002, page 33)
In Touch (December 16, 2002, page 22)
Yes, here are some:
Tech-TV (2002)
CNN (January 8, 2003)
MTV (Campus Invasion 2002)
11 O'Clock news on Detroit's ABC Affiliate, Channel 7, WXYZ-TV (January 2003)
WGN-TV Chicago - Site of the Day (January 8, 2003)
WB-11 News and Goodday New York (January 10, 2003)
Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC (March 8, 2003, March 13, 2003 and March 14, 2003
Yes, here are some:
The Manchester Guardian (2001)
Canada's National Press (December 2002)
New York Post (January 10, 2003)
New York Newsday (March 10, 2003)
Arizona Republic (January 2003)
Mississippi Clarion News (January 9, 2003)
New India Press (January 2003)
Australian Age (June 4, 2002)
Montreal Mirror (June 7, 2001)
Troy State University Newspaper (January 10, 2003)
Yes, here are some:
Reuters (January 7, 2003)
AOL Home Page (January 8, 2003)
NBC (January 8, 2003)
CNN (January 9, 2003)
Zap 2 It TV Listings (January 10, 2003)
Hot or Not
SPECIAL THANKS
Team Annoy would like to thank all those for their writing contributions on Am I Annoying.com.