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

Willing yes, able? maybe

I'd like to volunteer my services for this little project since I know a thing or two about 4 strokes if nothing else! I could also manage a bit on the electrical stuff, alternators, coils, distributers, spark plugs etc. or anything else if I have time to do some serious hunting around

Just give me the nod

Xuenyl

Excellent! Thanks for your offer, feel free to write the article on four-stroke engines. If you could, too, write a section on the electrical system of an engine... I'll add it into the "how it works" article.

Consider it done....soon....ish...

Xuenyl

but check out the existing page in the usefull links thread (off this project) to use as a basis for the four-stroke example.

Thanks Xyroth, I've looked at the original article

I've written the four-stroke article but I'm not entirely sure how to post it as part of the project, do you just add them as normal guide entries or is there a special secret method which I don't know about?

Xuenyl

I have just posted the guideml into the reply at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/FFM76511?thread=140765&skip=0&show=20#p1306377
After that, the field researcher has to come along, and create entries for the guideml to go in, so that they still have the edit privaliges for the guideml entries.

(come on superfreak, we are waiting for you)

After that, we the other researchers come along, and carefully pick the entries to bits, just like peer review. (but off this project, not peer review).

the field researcher is also responsible for taking the seperate entries and linking them together, remembering that you are only allowed to link to external sites, and edited guide entries, and usually youalso link to the other entries in your project.

OK! First article kind-of sort-of done... http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A632864

Anything I need to add?

Hi SuperFreak,

I put the four-stroke article in at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A633232

I haven't got time now but I'll come back and look at your article later, promise!

Xuenyl

problem detected.

with the articles having different editors, it means that the head of project is now no longer able to pop along to both and make sure that they are connected together properly.

PS don't forget when you get the other entries written to go and fix the broken links in the article, so that they actually point to the right articles.

Oh, and you might want to link to them of the project front page.

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, it's been a little hectic... Anyway, I finally got the article on alternative engines done: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A637661. If I'm missing any, let me know.

It seems that the article on four-stroke engines has a lot of the information I put in the "how internal-combustion engines work" article. Would it be better just to not include my article and use the article for each type of engine to explain how each works? Did that make any sense? I figured that the two-stroke and diesel articles could refer back to the four-stroke article, as it seems to be much more in depth than the article I wrote.

Anyone want to write the article on rotary engines?

Don't forget that there are articles in the usefull links thread that you only need to cut and paste into new entries. these cover:

Internal-Combustion Engines
Two-Stroke Engines
Four-Stroke Engines
Diesel Engines
Airplane Engines

I will look out my book on rotary engines and get back to you.

Alright, I'll get to work on formatting those into full articles.

Nice to see you back SF, my life's been a bit hectic too I do think it might be a better idea to have the details about how the engines work in the articles themselves because there are some quite significant differences between them.

I think though that there needs to be a kind of 'gateway' page, explaining what the project is all about with links to all of the articles and introductory paragraphs on each engine. Perhaps your original 'internal combustion engines' article could be converted to something of that order if you leave out some of the bits which apply only to four-strokes or something?

A little paragraph like

'four stroke engines are very common and used in.......etc..............read this article to find out how they work'

for each type of engine would be a good intro and you could also put in the catch all basics stuff like hydrocarbon burning and the conversion of chemical to mechanical energy which apply to all the i.c. engines and maybe a little history of the engines and speculation about their future given the eventual exhaustion of fossil fuels.

Just ideas

Xuenyl

Also, I had a look at your alternative engines article and it seems to be pretty good I'm no expert but I can't think of any other types that you've missed out. I was slightly concerned about the clarity of the paragraph on how electrical motors work but It's probably OK, and I'm not sure how well recieved the '....where can the evironmentally aware Guide researcher......' bit will go down with the editors despite it being a nice little phrase to introduce the paragraph.

Only time will tell no doubt!

Xuenyl

Thanks for the input, I'll modify my original article to be a "gateway" page. As for that offhand comment, if the editors want to get rid of it, they can. If not, well, it'll stay!

I've written a much more extensive article on airplane engines and am in the process of revising it... As soon as that's done I'll post it. All of the stuff I learned about them started flooding back and now the article's three pages long...

I have just written an essay about pollution from the internal combustion engine as a college assignment. I was thinking of posting it onto the Guide after it's been marked. I was going to put it as an individual entry, but have since come across this project. Would you like it to be part of this?

The title I was given was "The Impact of the Internal Combustion Engine on the Urban Environment" which, as I pointed out in my introductory paragraph, is very broad. Since I'm doing a chemistry course I concentrated on chemical pollution (not on noise pollution or on how the availability of private transport leads to the widening of the commuter belt or on any of the many other impacts the internal combustion engine has had on the urban environment).

Maybe this could expand to a seperate university project in its own right. Maybe not. When my lecturer has marked it and made her comments I'll post it on the Guide somewhere and ask ye for yer comments.

TRiG.

I've got that essay back from my lecturer now. I think it would work best as an independent article.

TRiG.