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Ok, this is actually astoundingly simple, just so long as you keep it simple. Ie=That is; eg=for example. That's it; that's all; there's nothing else to be explained. Just so long as you remember that ie=that is and eg=for example and assuming you know how to use the phrases "that is" and "for example" (ie, you passed the 4th grade), this is very simple.

Though I think that short little answer is all you need to know to understand how to use these terms, I'll explain the answer I chose for the poll. I chose "other" because the answer to the first one is "eg," as they are all examples of outdoorsy things in which you like to take part, but in the second sentence you're probably better off not using either of the terms. I suppose you could use "eg" because it is followed by examples of potential favorite ice cream flavors, but the question probably makes more sense without it at all. Since neither sentence is an example of "ie", I'll give my own example: "A lot of people like to vary their ice cream repertoire, but I always just stick to my favorite flavor--ie, chocolate--and pretty much never buy anything else."

That's a good question. This is one of those things that I always think about asking/googling when writing, but I end up saying 'screw it' and filling in whatever I feel like. Making up my own rules is fun, however not exactly helping my writing skillz. hehe

The_Falcon wrote:

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I always thought "i.e" is "That is" meaning a specific list of things that clarify whatever precedes and “e.g.” was a random list of examples

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 It depends on what you mean by this.  "That is" is basically just used to rephrase or to specify exactly what you mean (instead of giving examples of things you could mean).  So it can be used to introduce a list, but it has to be all-inclusive.  

So, for example, if you were to say "I have three favorite flavors of ice cream--ie, Chocolate, Green Tea and Stephen Colbert's American Dream," ie is correct.  If you were to say, "I have several flavors of ice cream that I like a lot--eg, Chocolate, Green Tea and Stephen Colbert's American Dream," ie would be incorrect.  The list doesn't rephrase and it doesn't specify exactly what the liked ice cream flavors are; it just gives a few examples.

I feel like a massive hypocrite by now making this a bit complicated after promising that it was simple in my first posts.  Anyway, "ie" is not correct for either of the examples in the poll.