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

Hi, Bossel,

I have just finished reading your entry and - before that - reading your post to the GMC egroup so that I found this little treasure, here.

I guess you are - like me - a native German and not English, right?!? Anyway, I know that we can speak German. And anyway (again), I answer - and I answer in English, so that the international community can read (and, if likely, answer to) this post. And I do take the risk of being derided (I had to look up this word in my dictionary, by the way, and hope that this is used correctly, here).

Referring to your GMC egroup post that is most probably not known by many researchers, I would like to ask you, why you didn't want to have this entry in the PR system?!? I think it should be! Maybe, you should add some positive remarks and experiences or put sentences in a positive way!?!

My summary and personal experience:
Language might be a problem and can lead to frustration instead of motivation.
I have personally received humorous comments and answers about "my" German English. I asked, for example, if anybody knew the composer of a certain piece of music. The answer was: "I do not know Elgar (the composer) personally ". I like that kind of correction! To me, it is an expression of humor, motivation and interest.

Finally, I strongly recommend to use smileys! This is a good way, at least for non-native-English, to give comments - even critical ones - and kind of obey the "Share and Enjoy"-motto.

HollePolle
»--.

my short answer is my motto: See What Happens

The long answer is: yes, german. And I am thankful if being corrected for any mistakes because I want to improve language skills. And better so if I mistake the meaning of 'privates' /here/ than in real life.

Sorry, I didn't catch the 'Elgar' thing

And work is in progress on having this entry linked to from the Peer Review, the H2G2 Writing Workshop or whatever place is suitable
Submission to peer review will be impossible, I fear, since the entry expresses opinion rather than fact, and last not least, since an hour ago or so, it contains smileys

Bossel

You seem to be blaming the "Peers" for not reviewing the articles posted. I must admit, I tend to go there very rarely. I'm so busy with forums and GMC and people standing behind me pestering me to get off line. So - how can it be made more popular?

Have tied a knot in my handkerchief to look at more in the PR page.

However - *now I am sub-ed* I will be forced to read more out-of-the-way entries.

yes, the 'peers' is /all/ of us. In my log-file during the 'View at Peer Review' project, I took notice of a need to think about being egoistic/egocentric. That's exactly what my (umm, what is it?) super-ego saw: me, centered around /my/ entry, nothing else. After all, it was /me/ out in the open and all that...

So - how do we improve the situation?

hmm, just at this moment, the Peer Review Page seems to be put head over heals by some people. I did /think of/ of launching an avalanche, or putting it all head over heals, but some people seem to be doing this right now!

heels. = part of foot
heal = to cure or recover (usually of a wound)

go to bed bossel, long day tomorrow

ooooooh, thank*s a lot! Ok, head over heels was what I wanted to say, and just another thing I've learned. I'm gonna blame it on the three Weizenbock which I consumed this evening But going to bed --- noooo!, definitely, no!

Extremely useful article Bossel... thanks for taking the time to write it!

I'm glad you're getting the recognition you deserve.

Oh thank you ever so much, Ma'am, Mr. President! Isn't that too much honour for a decent researcher?
(bows respectfully)

Bossel, this is excellent.
I will be passing the url around, and hopefully stir up a few more volunteers.
Like TC, I also have a *neck-breather*, someone who shares my computer but not my love on H2G2.
Otherwise I'd make him do an hour's Peer Review every night for the honour of using my computer & keeping me off it...
There are ~so~ many ACEs, yet so few meet & greet, it's what I spend the majority of my online time doing; and answering my threads, but I will make pact with you, Bossel.
Every time I am online, I will go read and comment upon one entry,
more if I have the time.
The last one I commented on, "Alexander the Great" I remarked that his beloved horse had been omitted, this was not commented upon by the author. Not that I mind, it was just something I thought should have been mentioned, even if only one sentence. *I* know the name of Alexander's horse, and I have never researched Alexander the Great...maybe the author went to do more research?

So the avalanche is getting started . I think that is what makes up the community!

The 'Alexander the Great' entry seems to be a mystery. The entry itself 'has been deleted', although it was recommended and received loads of applause. The researcher is still around. Don't know what happened there.

It was deleted??????
Oh, my......
I wonder why???
I hope it wasn't what I said...
*trying to remember the author*

The author is Trillian http://www.h2g2.com/U156342, taken from these threads: http://www.h2g2.com/F55712?thread=87628&post=712258 http://www.h2g2.com/F57066?thread=88015&post=716806

Right, has anyone asked her why she deleted the entry?

I didn't find any conversation about that (but didn't search that deep), nor did I ask her. The only thing I could think of would be some copyright issue. Gonna ask her right away...

Giving this a *kick*

OK. I have a problem with the scouts not liking things to be bumped back up the peer review thread list. Remember the Karneval entry? It finally came out (OK, I think Rupert got in the way) but by that time Karneval was but a distant hangov... memory. It's the same with anything relevant to particular times... how do we, mere lowly humble researchers, get things put on the front page in a timely way? The article on McCarthyism is a case in point (I think). It is about paranoia and mass hysteria, and as such is topical (sadly). I feel that it would be good to get it on the front page asap, but how can we get it noticed?

After some more thinking about it, I notice that my proposal to reward researchers for posting *anything* means quite the same as 'pushing' a thread to the top. So... yes! do it!

I should be taking it as a given fact that researchers are looking at the first page of PR only, and if so, then it's only positive if threads are presented in a carousel fashion there

The point about Scouts not liking it is this: once you're subscribed to a thread (or have posted to it), you're expecting something 'essential' when the thread pops up on your space. It's somewhat annoying to realise that it only was a wakeup call. I can't speak for the other Scouts here but I have a list of all PR threads, with remarks like 'pick it' or 'needs some more work'. It is this list, not the first page of PR, where I'm choosing my incredibly huge amount of three picks a month.

On the other side, if the auther hirself pushes the thread then it's only a positive sign that they haven't resigned yet, still are pursuing the matter and demanding 'food'. See the 'vicious circle' in the article above. Alas, it hurts to have no other means for relief available than pointing out that there are far more recommendable entries than Scouts' picks.

So the bottom line is: Go ahead and stir it up!

>>"I feel that it would be good to get it on the front page asap, but how can we get it noticed?"

I'd say, rather than kicking the tread, go and kick a Scout in the you-know-where . Or perhaps both