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

Another grey, wet morning and we are threatened with high winds. Fits my mood at the moment.

When H is home he patiently explains all the errors to me, but needless to say I can't remember what he has told me . But basically it boils down to lack of memory.

The server's or yours?

Ben, that is a legit M$ site. You must have M$ auto-update activated on your machine.

True of both, GD. I do rather like the idea of being able to plug a memory stick into my brain! Or a smart card like the weeny ones for my Tungsten, the sons wouldn't like it though as I would be able to keep a better track of the tenners they borrow.

My third hard drive should arrive today or tomorrow, with a second memory stick, for the computer I hastily add

Thanks, GD. Yes I have. I'll let it do what it wants next time it asks me to, then.

B

I sorta type with most fingers, quite quick, but I have to look at the keyboard. I found a cheap program that teaches touch typing, but can't learn enough to switch to the correct style inbetween lessons. Must try harder.

Glad everybody enjoyed the meet-up. Maybe Munch & I will make the summer meet. Flying, if you book early enough, is cheeper than driving! and there are a couple of good, clean reasonable hotels that folk have learnt of over the years.

What's the touch typing programme, Toc?

Touch typing is such a useful skill that I might get it for the Stepson. (As if he'd use it....)

B

This post has been removed.

My touch typing is a skill learnt from a cheap programme and honed to perfection on h2g2. Well almost to perfection as you can see from my posts.. Ok pretty darned near to perfection anyway.

Welcome Noggin - I used to have a book when I was a child entitled "the Saga of Noggin the Nog" It was very good I take it you are based on that character? I think it was a spin off from a TV series that I never saw because we didn't have one..

*pant, pant, wheeze*

I was actually thinking about Tango at the meet-up, about whether he'd ever attend one. But I suspect not, because he might end up getting lynched by people he's Tangoed. That said, I did meet a researcher at a previous meet-up who was much nicer in person than online

Ben, what did Stepson think of the meet? Oh - and yes, Egon *is* tall, isn't he!

Movie marathons? Hmmm... never thought about that before... I'm not sure I'd survive a night of Ingmar Bergman movies (unless they
were his early ones)

A moderated post?(1855) B4, what have you been up to?

So it *was* a faked packet of cigs then, GD? I kept looking at it, thinking something like 'crazy Brits' and shaking my head!

*sighs* I see we still get the error messages...

Hi Noggin! Hmmm... that name rings a bell, but I can't remember why

Well, since my only formal education is executive secretary I type with both hands, all fingers and without looking - at very high speed.

Phew!

*collapses in sofa*

GD's cigarette packet had an apparently official government health warning saying "Social Smoking Doesn't Count" on it. Priceless!

The Stepson enjoyed the meet, but seems quite happy to stay out of hootoo. His call, I cannot force him to come here.

I am not going to mix nice post and nasty post, so the next one will contain my reply to Oetzi.

Ben

>> Some of us enjoy the BBC and this site.

Agreed. And one of the very nice things about the BBC is that it caters for such a wide variety of people and interests. The BBC provides childrens programmes for children, Open University programmes for students, different music stations for classical music buffs, for young people and middle aged rockers. It provides all sorts of services to all sorts of demographic sub-groups, including different foreign language programming in different parts of the world.


>> Some of us like an open and welcoming site.

Of course. No arguments there, Oetzi.

I would however add the rider that some of us like to find areas on that site which are intellectually challenging, civilised and where the posts are physically easy to read and there is a high standard of courtesy.

Other parts of the site focus on the discussion of religious or spiritual issues, and still other parts discuss issues of survival and self-harm.

There are threads devoted to poetry, and threads where deeply personal issues are discussed.

Each of these threads is open and welcoming if the participants are approached in the right way.


>> And some of us put the site before our petty egos.

Woah!

A lot of the salonistas have been here since 1999. I have been here since 2000. We have seen the site through more dramas and problems than you can imagine. You are making massive assumptions about who and what we are, and what our motives are.

If you make assumptions and start criticising people based on those assumptions, then it is not surprising that people bite back.

There is NO-ONE on this thread who I recognise as putting their petty ego before the site. Not a one.


>> You lot just happen to be here.

Yep!

We do, don't we.

This is a big ole site, and part of a big ole suite of web communities, which in turn are part of what claims to be the UK's number one Internet destination.

Let us bide, Oetzi. This site is *huge*. Stop harrassing us.

One of the nice things about h2g2 is that there is such a huge variety of conversations and conventions within it.

There are threads where the threddiquette is that every post should be a song title and the artist; there are threads where every post is a haiku; there are threads where every post is a question, and so on. I have already mentioned the threads on religious and spiritual subjects, on poetry and on personal issues.

So - I maintain my social analogy. If you are in the pub you will behave differently from how you behave at funeral, where you will behave differently from how you would behave at the races, where you will behave differently from how you would behave in your sister-in-law's front room.

We all have the right to create pages and start conversations on this site, and on other BBCi sites. Lil, through her own hard work, has created a series of conversations with a particular flavour. The BBC has endorsed her right to do so.


>> The site is the priority not Lil or any other researcher.

That one leaves me speechless.

I don't even know where to start.

Having fought continuously over the last four years on the issues of researchers rights, freedom of speech, moderation, the publication of borderline entries, and the restrictions of the Edited Guide, I have my credentials for putting the well-being of the site first. I am not the only one here who has done those things.

*deep breath in*

*deep breath out*

*deep breath in*

*deep breath out*

I think that the simplest thing to say is that Lil is not damaging the site, and that the staff see her as contributing to the site, and leave it at that.

I am doing you the courtesy of responding to your post politely and point by point. However I am reminded of the words of the WWI cartoon, Oetzi: "If you knows of a better 'ole, go to it."

This is a big site, and this is a small part of it. Go exploring, you will find a lot of other interesting people out there. Have fun.

Ben

Nasty Posts Ben?

Do you realise how many disabled people use h2g2?

Is everyone as fluent, able and healthy as you and others on here?

So you want a little fun poking at me, think again.

You lot obviously like picking on Track.

Your obviously an able girl Ben.
You are indeed fortunate.

>> Nasty Posts Ben?

Oh - that is not nasty - I do do nasty, but I don't do it in the Atelier, and that most certainly was not it.


>> Do you realise how many disabled people use h2g2?

Yes.


>> Is everyone as fluent, able and healthy as you and others on here?

No.

(Several are more fluent, able and healthy in fact, but we'll let that pass).


>> So you want a little fun poking at me, think again.

Not fun. I am trying to point out that this site has spaces where people can discuss anything they want in whatever way in which they want, from dating in txtspk to philosophy in technical terms.

This is the demographics issue again. The BBC caters for a wide number of sub-groups.

The Atelier is one of those sub-groups, and we are as entitled to be who and what we are *as a group* as any of the other groups on this site.

None of us go into the txtspk conversations and tell them to spell correctly, and none of us go into the religious debates and tell the Christians that they are a bunch of muderous b*****ds.

Live and let live, Oetzi. Let us be who and what we are, with the rider that while you are here, you adhere to Lil's rules as we all do. She is the hostess, and the BBC have confirmed that the is entitled to call the shots in her particular miniscule sub-section of the site.

Be who you are, but be polite. If you want to express other parts of your personality, do it, (as we all do), in other parts of the site.


>> You lot obviously like picking on Track.

I am on record as saying that the quality of the commuinication is the responsibility of the person sending the message, not the person receiving it.

I have only said it once so far, I think.

Ben

Just worked my way backwards as far as BB's photo, skipping the bits I'd rather not read and what I can remember goes as thus;
Noggin the Nog! Yay! Bit of an Oliver Postgate fan myself and would highly recommend his autobiography. If nothing else it comes with a CD containing Noggin the Nog clips.
The Meet. Booo! Very annoyed I couldn't go but instead got to see Lost in Translation (a superb film and, according to my mate who has been to Japan, accurate) and Donnie Darko (weird, but interesting and I shall have to watch again to decide exactly how I feel about it) and get all fannish over Dr. Who. Again.
Typing. Writing a thesis was very good for practising that and I use almost half my fingers now, if not very well.
Arguing. Going to stop that please. I like to come here for the easy to read, well thought out, interesting conversations as a nice distraction from my day, when I can. Not to fight through the virtual equivalent of a Best Of Speaker's Corner marathon. Politeness costs nothing.
Weather. Saw snow on my way in, as I was snug on a train. Definately the best way.

Anyhoo, back to the coal face.

Munchkin, just passing.

Otezi - Ben is fortunate that she has no trouble reading and writing, but some of us do - have you seen my spelling?

But they do tend to go together don't they? trouble reading and writing, so if something is badly written someone who has trouble reading would find it difficult to undedstand it. That's probably likely to be the person who has trouble writting things down.

We like to be inclusive, that's actually the reason for his conversation, we like to talk in a way that the majority of people can understand. So a lot of us post things in the most understandable way that we can manage, because that means that as many people as possible are able to read them. Because we want lots of people to be able to read our posts.

I can only speak for myself and the salonistas I have met, and none of them are getting any pleasure out of making posts like these. They are difficult to make. We are here for what I think the reason you are - we enjoy each others company, and we've enjoyed many of the contributions that you've made to the discussion.

If I have accidently said things that make you feel picked on then I apoligse unreservedly.

PS if you enjoy a good rumpus, and debate then why not pop over to the Forum - that page was set up for people to argue rationally with each other. This page was set up for civil conversation - and we're not all Guardian readers

I think I'll start a thread on the issue of making online communcation understandable - and we'd appreciate the contribution you could make there to that debate.

Yes Z I see the logic in that, but that is not the issue.

The issue is elitism and nepotism.
This is a public BBC site.

It is not a vehicle for private groups. It is chartered by the UK government for open global access.

The staff are not empowered to over-ride the charter. The users are not empowered to exclude contributors.

If you lot continue to run you own private agenda the consequences are not favourable for h2g2. That is not a difficult concept to understand.

I take great exception to the implication that I am racist or discriminate against the disabled as stated in your post 2052, Oetzi.

I only wish I had an ego to get petty about.

*emerges from years of hibernation on the Atelier floor*

*Matina and Chloe approach DD with feather dusters*

It's lovely to see you DD . Only the other day we were discussing your film career. Are there any plans to make any more?