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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F48874?thread=117434&skip=0&show=20 Having been greeted with astounding apathy I must say. If you've read the artcile please take the time to comment on it.

Hmm, then how about your comments about http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A487253, may I ask...

Cheerfully provided, sorry for the delay in replying.
Hint taken, you're absolutely right- I should be reviewing other peoples entries if I expect them to review mine. At present for every entry I put up for PR I review two others someone else has written, but that's not much really, I suppose I should do more. When I see people like you who do loads I feel guilty, but because I haven't been here that long I always feel unjustified in saying if somethings guide-worthy in case it blatently isn't.

You're right about the reactions too. I 've seen responses which just get stroppy or who give up completely. The one about teachers springs to mind, when he basically said well you do it then.

You're definately right about feeling as if no response is 'an expression of disregard or disdain'. For the first few entries I put up I took it personally when no one replied at first, but then realise that they all get seen eventually.

I tend now to bring the conversation to the top with completely irrelavent comments. Everyone knows I'm doing it but then everyone else seems to do it aswell. The problem is there are always so many conversations going on in PR which is good but a little depressing if you're conversation 146.

I didn't intend to force you into reviewing... it's all voluntary around here, nobody is obliged to do anything, and no need to feel guilty! I just happen to find kind of entertainment value in sifting through peer review. Well, I can't deny some feeling of compassion with researchers who are waiting in that vulnerable position. My point in referring the above article to you was to show what I realise as 'background' knowledge, in order to make you aware of the time scales involved. Peer Review has improved a lot since December (when I wrote the piece), right at the moment the bottom of PR is as of April 24. That is to say that it's at most /five/ weeks that any thread has been written to. Last December the situation was something like the Writing Workshop now :-( There aren't too many people crawling through it, and I must say it isn't too much fun either - simply because you'd have to cross-check time and time again whether the thread is still 'active' and doesn't belong to an article which was recommended long ago, or put up for Peer Review in the meantime. People are different, and that's what makes it (a) complicated and (b) interesting. You mentioned the 'Teacher' example, another one is the 'Intelligence' thread which seemed to go out of control with emotions high. "For the first few entries I put up I took it personally when no one replied at first, but then realise that they all get seen eventually." - That's exactly the message which I wanted to convey in writing the piece! :-) "I tend now to bring the conversation to the top with completely irrelavent comments." - (a) Do it, and (b) Don't do it ... if it's your piece then do it. This shows that you are interested in getting things further, and acting to replies (it's always up to you to amend the entry or to refuse, but refusal /is/ an action). If it's somebody else's article that is under discussion then I would say 'Don't'. People realise that you're doing it out of compassion, and are likely to sink down in their vicious circle. Rather than that, think of any useful comment and post it there. That's my point of view now, but it's still under review since everybody is /learning/. However, I've broken this Do/Don't rule, but only after there was nothing left to comment on a top notch entry, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F65440?thread=107345. [Umm, Heaven knows why the referenced entry is hidden at the moment, but the thread is there] The 'Intelligence' thread has sparked lots of discussion over at the /Feedback page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F615?thread=120041. Finally, I've got a thread somewhere deep down under, but one get's a little hard-boiled as time goes by. I know it isn't disdain :-)

I read through the ENTIRE backlog of the intelligence thread and the feedback thread, and to be honest I'm shocked at how aggressive it became. h2g2 is supposed to be a fun community venture. That doesn't mean we don't take our work seriousely, but the community spirit is what it's all about.
Yes I meant bringing my own entries to the top, not anyone elses.

I have difficulty reading other peoples entries although I do make pathetic token efforts.
I have issues spelling on a computer, aswell as grammer and the like, so offering criticism at that seems hypocritical. The contributions I noramlly make are 'I like this entry' which of course are totally worthless but always true.

s Bossel for no reason at all except I'm feeling happy.

>>"I read through the ENTIRE backlog of the intelligence thread and the feedback thread, and to be honest I'm shocked at how aggressive it became"<<

I followed the first few postings, thought everything was right, and skipped further reading My assumption is that a few researchers new to the business took it over the edge and didn't really *read* the author's postings.

Somehow that's the same like on the /Feedback thread... It's just a sequence of essays and opinions without much reference to each other. I've posted three or four times but nobody seems to actually have read the postings. The same with your last contribution there!

>>The contributions I normally make are 'I like this entry' which of course are totally worthless but always true.<<

After all, better than none! Imagine one of those researchers down the Peer Review without any answers to their postings for weeks...
If not really helpful at the Peer Review, this kind of feedback /is/ helpful if posted to the entry itself!

BTW (had a visit over at your place...): I still have plans to write an entry about Escher's Tesselations!

Re: "I tend now to bring the conversation to the top with completely irrelavent comments." Now I personally am fairly easy about this, but I understand it will annoy some people. Lucinda (AKA MyRedDice) for one has sounded off recently about this. Sorry I can't link to the relevant postings; I've searched for them but no luck. Just so you know.

And to comment on the article itself - Shouldn't it be Monte Carlo rather than Montecarlo?
Other that that, I can't see anything wrong at all. Nice one

I can see that the svouts in general would be annoyed about this, as I'm sure it doesn't make the job any easier. Since the entry's already been recommended a scout might not see any changes I make, so I'll leave it as it is and let them sort it out, but thanks for telling me

Bossel, you're right. I think after reading though so many posts everyone has an opinion and they feel the need to say it regardless of anyone else, myself included no doubt, but it's bad for the thread. I followed it for a while but then it got into technical dreaming about mythical buttons and I unsubscribed. The human side of it I can comment on, but when it comes to asking for new features it's not a discussion I'd feel happy in, not being a scout guru etc.

I look forward to reading the Escher entry very much, and if I can help (it's unlikely but I'll offer anyway) just yell.

Re: "I tend now to bring the conversation to the top with completely irrelavent comments" - Meanwhile I think it actually *helps* (but hey, don't spread it too wide!).

My idea is that people who follow the PR advert banner get to see the first 15 or so threads of the PR. If there's some headline which rings a bell then they could be lured into reviewing and commenting. Once done that, they might click on "more conversations" and read another 25 thread titles. Any threads which happen to be listed there get a chance to be reviewed, others don't. Because, hey, who wants to click through 12 convo listings in order to find something interesting [just btw, Bossel is of a different kind].

Another point is this: (I am exaggerating this now, but only to make the point clearer) Everywhere on h2g2, the third or fourth bunch of conversations might be considered 'forgotten' or 'outdated', that is to say, the subject matter may not be relevant any more, or has been discussed in all depth. So why bother to click another of those red lamps? Those are ooold threads. (end of exaggeration, you'll get the idea). But the Peer Review is different! As of today, the 'oldest' thread received its last posting some 5 weeks ago, which cannot be called 'long ago'. And: there's at least one researcher sitting behind all and every thread there, and waiting.

Re: "Since the entry's already been recommended a scout might not see any changes I make, ..."

The Scout's "job" is done after the recommendation, okay. But the next step is that a SubEd is assigned the job of fixing typos, looking after the GuideML and such. You can ease this job by applying any corrections before the assignment is made, as you still retain ownership and 'editing' rights. A short time later, seemingly weird things will happen: the entry might vanish completely from your list of Guide entries (or it might not), but it will reappear under a different A-number (without 'editing'-rights for you) with the word 'pending' behind its name. But in the end you will have your *original* entry back under 'Guide Entries' (with full editing rights and the original A-number), plus another entry in the 'Edited Guide Entries' section (without rights, and with the other A-number).

hope that helps

Re: M.C. Escher

I've got vague ideas concerning writing about the tesselations which I find fascinating. If you were interested in writing the biography or perhaps his other works, eg: the 3d-endless-waterfall & stuff... could well escalate into a h2g2 University project

I meant sub-editor, I don't know why I wrote scout. Maybe I was so in awe of your newly aquired status...
All I meant was that I knew that a while after they get the article the sub won't see any changes I make. Or that was what I was led to believe.
I was a little bewildered when my AS entry disappeared, but I realised what was happening when it came back edited so now I understand.

So I should only bring my article to the top if it has an interesting title? How about 'A really fun guide to the Wacky races which you'll be really enthusiastic about I can tell you'?

Re Escher-have you seen Metamorphose? It's the one that goes in a really long strip. I personally think it is brilliant.
Also, my granny once gave me a sliding puzzle thing, where you shift the squares around, of Sky and Water 1, the fish and birds. It was about ten squares by ten squares and it was REALLY difficult. I must have had it ten years now and I don't ever remember having completed it. It did it once apart from two squares which were the wrong way round and I had no way of sorting them out. (if you don't know what type of puzzle I'm on about, go to my page, follow the 'it's the wacky races' link, and go to the games and downloads section where you will see an example of what I mean)
Is Escher popular in Germany? I suppose he would be, considering his nationality. He isn't so well known here (UK). If you said to someone about the stairs, or the waterfalls they'd know what you meant, but when I say Escher to someone I have to explain generally, which is a shame IMHO.

I see that you too have a link to the Darwin awards. I have wasted many a happy minute there, laughing at those less fortunate than myself. I'm so sweet-natured...

Oh yes, you're right. Once the SubEd made their copy, they won't be aware of the changes you make. But you can phone them up: Do a "search" for the entry's title and look out for the copy, then post to the SubEd's space.

So I should only bring my article to the top if it has an interesting title? -- I'm cornered! If I (as a Scout) have subscribed to a conversation then I'm expecting more or less substantial comments when it pops to the top. But that's only one person. Bringing the thread to the attention of all the peers might increase it's chances to be commented on, especially if it has a catchy title. Well, it *might*! I used the headline '(drinking beer at the) Nockherberg, Munich' without much success... until a caring scout dug it out from the depths of PR and recommended it.


IMHO, Escher was a Dutch! Metamorphosis... hmm, doesn't ring a bell from just reading the word. If I see the piece I'll recognise immediately!

He personally isn't/wasn't too popular in Germany, but his work: Yes, quite popular. People are fascinated but don't really know who made all this. So that's quite how you describe it for the UK


Darwin awards
Yeah! Sometime last year I was made aware of the site, and dropped immediately into the one story with the airforce mechanic who stole one of the booster rockets and attached it to his car, and accelerated up to 400 miles/h or so. I nearly emptied my bladder from laughing...

Are German relations with Holland not good then? I know very little about foreign affairs. I don't even know much about British affairs, although I think we just had an election
I made the Monte Carlo change. The entry didn't get recomended very long ago so I would have thought the change would be seen.
I have a physics exam tomorrow Just so you know and can shower me with sympathy.

Ooops, the relations between Germany and the Netherlands *are* good - I only wanted to say he's Dutch.



Physics, aaaah! My favourite at school, but obviously not yours...

I like it very much, I just don't like being examined on it. Which would be why I keep wondering away from my books and logging into h2g2....

It's a good course, although with bad teachers and a definite male majority. There are only two girls who chose it (inc me) and one is dropping it next year, so it's just me and the boys... If I pass the exam

Hmm, the best preparation now would be to log off and to get some sleep!

Good Luck!

Bear in mind we're on different time zones. It wasn't that late when I posted. Anyway it seemed to go alright, I didn't come out of it in tears anyway. Only one more year to go and then I can leave for uni.

Thanks for the
Have one yourself