h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

well yes, sort of but he had a partcular and quite odd objection. Looking back at this there are more than one quote from him that would fit, but this one stands out. It was heavily featured in an exhibition i saw in Stoke-On-Trent city museum, about ten years ago, which is why when I saw the senecca quote i made the link.

Where do the civil servants fit in?

yes I suppose lil did point in hat directio sort of, but seneca does refer to the roman not the plane. if i am being haeh tell me and i will change things - i am here to learn!

sorry I will type that again! Yes lil did sort of point in that direction but I am refering to Senecca the Roman, as far as I am aware there is no plane of that name. Sorry, but if you think I am being harsh let me know - I am here to learn!

and those points i gave to jwf should hace gone to GT, can you share as you were developing the same idea, or shall i just admit being dozy? goodnight for now. drt

>> ..tell me and i will change things - i am here to learn! <<

Well you do what you want young feller, but I know who gave me the idea.
It was because I'd never heard of a plane called a Seneca. And, if there
is one (damned google ban!) it is likely named for the American Indian
tribe (like the Cherokee, etc.) and not for the much quoted Roman.

~jwf~







-----------
American Indian Tribe should be worth a point or two...

ok just typed a long response, went back to check something and lost it! Lets see if I can recap, jwf I will bow to your greater wisdom-seriously I *am* here to learn and you have been doing this longer than me. so if bonus points are available, then lil shall have one. BTW I have not been called young for ages! Ta!

oh yes, the AmIndian tribe was interesting to me so you should probably have +6 for that as well. I hope I am not being too liberal, someone stop me!

The only Seneca quotes I have dragged from the deep recesses of my brain are:

'To err is human'

and

'The sun shines even on the wicked'

I cannot see either of those connecting with the Spitfire designer.....




GT

ok. i apologise deeply for the obscurity, but please bear with me. the etymological root of the word spitfire may help identify the quote.

(sorry for the lack of caps again, punctuation is a pain on ipod)

Probing a little here....

Spitfire......Are you referring to the other meaning?

A person with a fierce temper????




GT

Spot on! Now I think that gets you a dgi point. now find the quotes and connect!

To do that drt, I would have to Google, and that is forbidden!!!!!!

Sorry, I have gone as far as I can.........



GT

ok, fairy nuff! I will check sources and post a full explanation, with quotes, in a day or two, but all the basics have been covered so there should be points to give out. thank you all for helping my debut!drt

GT

- it's been fun!

DRT,

As an elf, this occasionally happens when the minions in your thread throw up some factoid that is outside of what you've prepared for the question - the google/wiki ban doesn't apply to you, only us!

It ain't perfect but this is the role of the : fact-checking. In a fix you have the control of the thread, therefore debate hinges upon something no-one can prove (i.e is there a plane called Seneca? - although I wondering in jwf is thinking of cessnas... ) I think it's reasonable that you are allowed to check - and award any points owing, accordingly.

Re: 'bonus points' - this is the issue that DGIs were intended to settle. Anything said that 'decreases the general ignorance' about the solution can be considered by you for reward. Provided it is neither the correct answer(s) or klaxoned* but nudges the conversation forward in the right direction. i.e don't give em out willy-nilly, but they serve as a functional valve to address just this sort of pressure of how treat answers which seem to fall in the indistinct middle categories.

I don't know how other people do it but I have a little scoring metric I use to make sense of threads. pencil +paper: I start by listing the categories, then I re-read the thread noting down the names of who was in which category (and the post number so it is clear which remark was the one of value); it's at the re-read, that where those in-forum notes come in useful. I keep a digital version of this metric as a file on my desktop then I just copy across the information and upload it here: F7180006?thread=4942693

Hope that helps.

Clive



*I omitted to mention the QI because it likewise is a bonus people postings can contain them together, unlike correct and klaxoned (the pre-determined forfeits for obviousness) which are rather binary in nature. People can say for example something Quite Interesting about the Inuit uses of blubber and then ask 'is it about seals?' which would be DGI.

thank you for your comments again Clive, you help throughout this has been appreciated and I have learned a lot, from you and the other contributors, although you probably deserve some sort of "who helped the newby most" bonus. I have limited sleep and limited Internet access at the mo, but will finish this tomorrow I hope. thank you all!

Right, time to put this to bed, and shortly afterawards myself! Sorry it has taken so long to finalise, but I have been w*rking and sleeping without much recourse to the internet this week. Also I have been a bit scared that you will all turn round and say that the question was a bit weak, so for the last time, please go easy, I have been a newbie, however I will not use that excuse again!

The civil service connection is thst it was the War Office (or a private company attached to the war office procurement division) that came up with the name Spitfire, because they needed something beginning with 'S', as the plane was to be made by Supermarine.

R.J. Mitchell hated the name and hence his quote:- "it is just the sort of bloody stupid name they would choose - so militiaristic!"

The other quote is indeed from Seneccaa the Roman Poet / Historian and Philosopher:- "To those who spit fire and hatred, I say it is no use, even unto war"

I will post points shortly, but I should point out that there was an aircraft called the Senneca, of which I was compltely unaware, so the points lil deserves shall be hers'.

I do accept Clive's points outline as above, but I think it would be dishounarable to rescind points once awarded. I understand Bob Stafford is the arbiter so I will let him decide if I have been over generous. (hope that is allright Bob)

I have two more questions on the boil at the moment, I hope they will be better than this one, and I hope that one day I beat one of you extremely clever people to the points!

You've only to try 'Living in the Past', drt....

It is not generating too much interest at the moment...

Maybe it is too 'hard'...???



GT

points

post 17 Clive, Mitchell = Spitfire. DGI +1
Lil Post 21: Senecca the aircraft QI+6
Toybox: right idea about quotes. DGI +1
JWF and Ekky 99, +6 each for info about the design development.
GT +1 DGI for he did not like the name
and also GT +1 DGI for the post about the tymology of Spitfire.

Anyone I have miissed I wiil be happy to correct! Thanks again all.

Phew! I can finally look it up.

"The Piper Aircraft Corporation which maintained its headquarters in Lock Haven from 1937 until its closing in 1984, is well known for its “Cub” and for a series of aircraft bearing Indian names such as Aztec, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Navajo, and Pawnee. Piper Aircraft Corporation grew to become the world’s leading producer of general aviation aircraft."

Yes the Seneca is one of the them.
The list above is missing several other Indian tribal models.


~jwf~