A Message from the Editors
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Welcome to the Earth Edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which we will be calling h2g2 for short. And to confuse you. Which we suspect we already have.
21 years ago, almost to the year, the inimitable Douglas Adams lay drunk in a field, thinking about the galaxy, and how you might find your way around it. His solution, the 'Guide', was an ingenious device that offered advice about almost any place, object, entity or event you might care to name - all at the convenience of your fingertips.
This vision is now approaching reality - on the internet. Douglas has promised us his help, but we also need the help of someone else - you.
To create a comprehensive Guide to the cathedral of human knowledge requires more than just the hard work of the dazzlingly intelligent and stunningly attractive people who work here at h2g2. It will also require contributions and knowledge from every corner of the Earth, and from every kind of mind we can find.
With your help, h2g2 will grow into a vast bank of knowledge, at times informative, intelligent, witty, and imaginative - in equal measure. You may search h2g2 for information already - we have seeded it with a variety of intriguing and insightful entries. If you cannot find an article on the subject you seek, then take that as your signal to make your own mark on h2g2, and to contribute and collaborate. If you find an article vexing, or at odds with your own local copy of the truth, then write a new article, and submit it to us here at h2g2. We firmly encourage you to develop and write in your own voice and style, and not to write how you think we might want you to.
Over time, h2g2 will become even more useful, and the services we offer will grow. We know that you will already be able to find a home here, read and discuss Guide Entries with friends online, write your own personal home pages, submit Guide Entries, and keep a personal journal to remain in contact with your friends and family - wherever they are.
As we mentioned, we can't do this without your help - and we value your opinions. We already have a discussion forum set up for New Users, where you can share your initial exploration of h2g2, and the internet in general, with others like yourself. Or perhaps you are more experienced, and have ideas of your own that you would like us to consider - in which case, head straight for the Feedback forum, which we will be watching closely.
The march of technology has allowed us all to start this project together on the internet, and, as the barriers are pushed back even further, the Guide will doubtless manifest itself as the Guide of Douglas Adams' original vision - a handheld device, able to tap into vast resources of information, culture, and life. The knowledge we are all gathering here on this web site will one day all be accessible through such a device - a truly portable h2g2; a truly portable Guide.
We hope you will join us. To read and explore h2g2, simply follow the links on this page. If you want to contribute, simply click on the 'register' button on the left-hand side of any h2g2 page. All we require is your email address - and nothing else! We will not sell or give away your email address, or bombard you with junk email, so please - register now, and start discussing the possibilities of the Guide with others like - and unlike - yourself.
If you require more information, simply hit the "Don't Panic" button, which is at the top of every page of h2g2.
Thank you - and welcome.
21 years ago, almost to the year, the inimitable Douglas Adams lay drunk in a field, thinking about the galaxy, and how you might find your way around it. His solution, the 'Guide', was an ingenious device that offered advice about almost any place, object, entity or event you might care to name - all at the convenience of your fingertips.
This vision is now approaching reality - on the internet. Douglas has promised us his help, but we also need the help of someone else - you.
To create a comprehensive Guide to the cathedral of human knowledge requires more than just the hard work of the dazzlingly intelligent and stunningly attractive people who work here at h2g2. It will also require contributions and knowledge from every corner of the Earth, and from every kind of mind we can find.
With your help, h2g2 will grow into a vast bank of knowledge, at times informative, intelligent, witty, and imaginative - in equal measure. You may search h2g2 for information already - we have seeded it with a variety of intriguing and insightful entries. If you cannot find an article on the subject you seek, then take that as your signal to make your own mark on h2g2, and to contribute and collaborate. If you find an article vexing, or at odds with your own local copy of the truth, then write a new article, and submit it to us here at h2g2. We firmly encourage you to develop and write in your own voice and style, and not to write how you think we might want you to.
Over time, h2g2 will become even more useful, and the services we offer will grow. We know that you will already be able to find a home here, read and discuss Guide Entries with friends online, write your own personal home pages, submit Guide Entries, and keep a personal journal to remain in contact with your friends and family - wherever they are.
As we mentioned, we can't do this without your help - and we value your opinions. We already have a discussion forum set up for New Users, where you can share your initial exploration of h2g2, and the internet in general, with others like yourself. Or perhaps you are more experienced, and have ideas of your own that you would like us to consider - in which case, head straight for the Feedback forum, which we will be watching closely.
The march of technology has allowed us all to start this project together on the internet, and, as the barriers are pushed back even further, the Guide will doubtless manifest itself as the Guide of Douglas Adams' original vision - a handheld device, able to tap into vast resources of information, culture, and life. The knowledge we are all gathering here on this web site will one day all be accessible through such a device - a truly portable h2g2; a truly portable Guide.
We hope you will join us. To read and explore h2g2, simply follow the links on this page. If you want to contribute, simply click on the 'register' button on the left-hand side of any h2g2 page. All we require is your email address - and nothing else! We will not sell or give away your email address, or bombard you with junk email, so please - register now, and start discussing the possibilities of the Guide with others like - and unlike - yourself.
If you require more information, simply hit the "Don't Panic" button, which is at the top of every page of h2g2.
Thank you - and welcome.
