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

Here is something I found whilst searching for something completely different. I'm not sure the author is still about, I will put and entry on his personal space and see. If he is not about I might give his piece a little tweak (no double entendre intended).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A444043

Good find Hobbes!

A lovely piece (so to speak) which ironically is bit too long! Some of the repetitious description of the lavatory layout could very happilly be cut. And a couple or three spelling/typo errors, very easily corrected. The strange 'unmoungst' springs to mind.
Hope you make contact and get approval. It would be great for #4/3 or even issue #5 if you can manage.

~jwf~

Yeah, you wait, you guys.
The H2G2 loo has cameras.
I do find the bit about short overweight guys to be a bit much.
Can't we find an entry about tuned genital piercings? Y'know that thing about a menage a trois producing a chord?

The writer of the SPS piece has not been back to his (he is a he I presume) home area since september 2000 and there is no option to "discuss this entry" on his home page. Does this mean he is not posting to H2G2 anymore?

Hi all

Haven't actually read the SPS job yet. Just a thought concerning procedure.

Why not establish a standard 'time of no reply' - a kind of statute of limitations for us to adjudge an author to be 'absent' and therefore justifiably not required to give permission to use the piece.

After the allotted period, we could make a new entry, copy the old one and edit it together (maybe in the AWW? If that worked well, it would make AWW a bit more like PR, with some of that discussion aspect - kindofa APR. ). Then give it a suitable intro and, what's that uncle of yours' name again?

A week seems fair enough. Whadday reckon?

In any case, it's not as if we're doing anything terribly serious. Just editing something and saying, "Look, everyone, we think this is a good read."

Seeya
Spiff

*Just stumbling in because the thread popped up on my space*

As a general rule, one week is somewhat short - the researcher could be on holidays. Three months is reasonably more than the longest holiday period for normal mortals...

As to SPS:
Perhaps combine it with 'Mono-Urinophobia' at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F744125?thread?70476

Hi Bossel,

3 months sounds like a long time to me. At worst, someone may be disappointed that someone edited their stuff, but in principle we won't make it 'worse' in any way. The worst consequence, in my view, is that they are not around to see their piece in The Post.

I know we have to base our rules on those of the guide, but I just don't think we need to wait so long for this kind of thing. Any other thoughts?

Spiff *definitely getting off to the footy!*

Ok, I agree that three months is ok for doing nasty things to a thread, and we're talking about good work here. Anyway, one week is too short. Oops, the link above doesn't work. Its: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F74125?thread=70476

Misnomer, Boss. All windrows are deformed from birth.

Okay, how about one week and 32 seconds?

What's the deal with editting?

We make sure it's in english, we make sure it has a good number,
we make a reasonable attempt to contact the owner, and we schlep it into the Post.

We make this too formal and the PR hyenas will be down here doing what they do best.

I don't see this as a lasting institution. Let's do what we can while we can.




sorry I wasn't on earlier. My server took a small vacation.

How about I write a new version in a shorter snappier way and credit the author :

based upon an original idea by xyz

How about 2 weeks plus or minus 42 seconds? Just to give the author a realistic chance to throw in their tuppence? Yepp, it's good work and nobody should become angry about the editing&stuff, even if they weren't present at the time.

who's gonna hold the stopwatch?

Quick reactions:
Yay, Spiff. Go for it.
Bossel, I know you are busy with PR and AWW reviews but if you'd like to have the AGG/GAG Homepage Password and feel free to help out more regularly please e-mail from my homepage.
All the above, same to Hobbes.

As for tonsil, who seems to be having a bad day, and said:
>> I don't see this as a lasting institution. Let's do what we can while we can.<< I am reminded of the philosopher Erazim Kohak who pointed out that it is by our caring for a thing, rather than our need or desire for it, that we realize its intrinsic worth.

Yes, indeed, 'what we can, while we can' seems a good motto.
Shall we get T-shirts? And if size does matter...

~jwf~

Am I supposed to be doing something I've forgotten?

We've got a small monsoon going on here. It's taken all day to get here and I'm weather sensitive. The pressure was flattening. Now I'm just claustrophobic, but at least the kid washed the dog before it started.

What was it I'vve forgotrrennnn....

???????????

jwf, thanks for the offer, but as you said, I'm already quite busy elsewhere on the place.

I think SPS was the topic, right?

Bossel, and I hope you don't mind if we keep your name on our roster of Contributors and Supporters. Admittedly it gives us an air of credibility to have you there.

tonsil, yes you were working on the third article for #3 due Monday.
=X was working on getting gaston's timely Christmas Story ready for this week's last pre-Xmas issue, with the intention of postponing 'Musical Chairs'. (We had a quorum! Honest.)
Hobbes and Spiff are working on SPS and ..oh damn I can't get there from here.
And I'm just waiting to hear from all of you so I can let Shazz have #3 and tell her where #4 is in case Christams week finds us all too busy. 'What we can, when we can!'

~jwf~

Okay. So I have to go find something else?
You didn't like any of the stuff I dug up?
What do I have to do, write something?
See, this has completely passed out of my head.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A239069
How about this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A484346
or this?

I'm going to bed. i can't find anything.