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

*puts down from the and wanders over to the door, there is no chance of reaching the handle, but the gap underneath is just big enough to squeeze through, a giant hamper is looming on the other side, scrambles up the woven side and onto the lid, spots a hand hole used for lifting the gargantuan hamper and slips through to investigate the exotic food*

mini

*deftly jumping through the gap betbeen the necks of two bottles of the discovers all manner of foods wrapped so they can be sniffed at, but not spoiled by the passing of 's. Discovering a package of falafel the attempts to move it, but fails this is of course the drawback of being such a tiny creature. Assuming that either nobody else will want the falafel, or that there will be more if it is needed, nibbles through a corner of the packaging, making a hole just big enough to remove one of the falafel balls, this carefully carries back through the gap in the bottles and through the hand hold of the hamper, carefully scrambling back out onto the lid of the hamper the settles down to her meal.*

mini

Did someone say ?

Yes perlease

*flaps into the contestant's lounge, having found himself in a small, confined space that seemed suspiciously like an ancient lamp*

I'm looking forward to the next few challenges, even though I know I'll be much worse at some than others.

It has been great to read various contest entries. When I finish RL panto in a few days, I should be able to read more.

So, fellow Stretcherinos (), what do we think about voting? Should we be voting for each others' Entries (or, heaven forbid, our own)? Or is it better that we leave the voting to the proletariat?

Ouch! Still smarting from my comments.

I think we should take part in the voting too - the more people get involved the better. I know I'd already decided where my vote was going before reading the judges comments!

And no, I don't think voting for oneself is really playing fair.

I think voting for ourselves would be despicable . I don't see why we shouldn't vote for each other, as long as it's on the basis of merit.

How many true proles are there ?

You've both pretty much summed up my thoughts on the subject. I suppose the reason I asked is that, if there are few outside voters (proles or otherwise..!) then voting for a competitor could effectively mean eliminating oneself (particularly later on when there are fewer of us left). Whether that would be a bad thing or a noble act of self-sacrifice is open to interpretation... Or am I over-thinking this?

can we be apathetic and choose not to vote at all?

*scratches head wondering what to write for this weeks challenge*

mini

If we vote, the temptation to vote tactically is always present. I'm pretty certain I wouldn't submit to said temptation, but I think it's better if we abstain.

The Stretcher's about stretching your writing talents, not your commitments to fairness.

I think would be helpful if as many of you vote as you can. I'll explain as briefly as I can, because I have a lot of work I'm supposed to be getting on with.

The rankings we come up with are based on a 50-50 split between the judges and the public. Essentially, each piece is given a 'score' out of two; one point comes from the judges, and one from the public.

In an extreme case, if there were only one vote from the public, that vote would effectively be one full point, which would put any of you instantly top of the table. That's democracy in action for you. The more people vote, the less weight each individual vote has, and the more balanced the rankings become.

So far, you guys have been the epitome of sportsmanship and good grace. As long as everyone votes for the piece they genuinely feel is best, and I think you can trust one another to do that if early indications are anything to go by, it's not going to be a problem.

Danny B said:

'...if there are few outside voters... then voting for a competitor could effectively mean eliminating oneself'

This is a very interesting one, and I have to admit (rather sadly) that I've spent a bit of time playing with the model and seeing what happens.

What I've found, essentially, is that it depends on the scenario. If you're not getting a lot of votes, then voting for someone else can actually be beneficial, because it slightly reduces the value of votes for everyone else! If you're getting lots of votes, it's not so good for you, because all the votes you've collected have slightly less value. And the more people that vote altogether, the less pronounced the effect is.

But you're not going to know which is the case, because you'll never know how many people are voting/have voted for you.

In short - don't worry about it too much

"There probably are no voters, so stop worrying and enjoy the competition"

Yes, relax and have fun. We have a long way to go

*headhurts* Strategy, no less.

Will not vote. Do not have time to vote. Please excuse lack of voting.

*Goes off in corner with large book entitled 'Non-Zero-Sum Game Theory'*

The concept is too abstract for me to understand, I have to admit.

I don't think that in one of those various TV competitions the contestants are expected to vote, or vote voluntarily; at least, I've never heard of it.

I'll happily vote from approximately round 2 onwards (or whenever I'm out), though.

Yeah but if you rule out the 14 of us, and our friends and family, and the judges....I'm not convinced there's a whole lot of other actual voters!

Are we supposed to be keeping a journal? I've had a quick flick through the rules and can't see any reference to it, but I know 1 or 2 of you have, so I was thinking about the possibility of maybe starting one. Or not.

I'm certainly keen on contestants voting, though I appreciate that people have other commitments and may not have time to wrote, read. comment and vote on everything as well. It's entirely up to you guys.

You can certainly write a journal if you want to, Bea. I think the only mention we made of it was that we didn't want people to write 'vote for me!' journals, but the more discussion and general abuse of the judges' opinions the better