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

How about a facility to reserve future researcher numbers ?
e.g. If I was born yesterday , I might want to reserve the number 171100 .

Many moons ago (actually just over a year but don't I sound like an old fart now?) at the first community meet up, a chap called Yoz, who was the then community type entity of h2g2 was asked about the relationship between the researcher numbers and the order in which the researchers joined up, as there didn't seem to be much in the way of an order. He replied that the first thousand, I think, were reserved for current and future employees of h2g2, and that the rest were dished out in batches. So that they seemed to run in sets.
The reason he gave was that h2g2 were trying to avoid the sort of thing that was happening on other community sites at the time, with the people with the lower numbers trying to lord it over the newbies with the higher numbers. So at the start of h2g2 there really wasn't much way of knowing who'd been there the longest. This seemed to help the community spirit that has grown up within h2g2, everybodu helping each other and all that. Like this Guru scheme here, with people more than happy to volunteer there time to answer other peoples questions.
Now that the community is up and running it seems that the researcher numbers are dished out in a more systematic way than before, and nobody really minds. It doesn't matter how low or high a researcher's number is, we are all seen as a part of the community.

That probably reads like stereo instructions and possibly doesn't seem to bear much relevance to the question. But, the number a researcher is given doesn't really mean all that much. The name they take on, and the actions they have in the cummunity, in my opinion at least, bear more weight.

But I do understand what you mean though. Douglas Adams has U42. Mark Moxon has U13 (because nobody else seemed to want it, according to him). Peta has U24 (because U42 was already gone and she likes to be a little different)

So, some user numbers can be in demand, but using your example, how many people born yesterday would want the number 171100? Would there become a trade in user numbers? It is actually possible at the moment to put a new user on an old user number. You just have to get the current user of the number to agree, get them to give you the log in name and password and then you log in, change the email address, login name and password to your choosing, and hey presto! You've aquired a new number.

It could really end up as a can of worms.

But that's just my thoughts on this. To tell the truth though, I'd love the number 270974 Or even one of a few other I could think off. Remembering all those rude words we used to write on calculaters back in school I wonder if h2g2 have put anything in place to stop those numbers? Mind you, they were only a few numbers long, and are probably on the researved list for h2g2 staff

I'll definatley pass this idea onto the staff though. It's something that really should be thought about

I fail to see the attraction. Am I very weird or something? It's the nickname that's important to me...

Well all the numbers I would like seem to be people I can't even talk to .
So I'll just have to get used to my own number won't I ?
*Starts planning something special for 15th November 2002 *