The Real and the Virtual  Do you sometimes have the same problem as Molly the Editorial Assistant Kitty? Telling the real from the virtual? Here's a good way to test your grip on reality while having a good time. Attend the Manchester or Edinburgh Meet, both coming up. (If you went to the London Meet, we expect a report once you're compos mentis again.) If a h2g2 Meet is not quite reality, it's the next best thing, and it isn't online.
As for what's online, we have some good Stuff in here, and we'll get to it in a moment. First of all, the Editor wishes to apologise in advance to Superfrenchie for the French joke in this week's issue. Yes, it is puerile of us to fall in with the British habit of snarking about la belle France. But look: you're way cooler than us. Your language is more mellifluent. Your cuisine outdoes ours. Your president is handsomer, and a much snappier dresser, than anybody we've got, naming no names. Our mockery is merely the refuge of envy.
Another comment about the snark in this issue: it occurs to us, sitting in North America as we are, that some of you on the other side of the Atlantic may be unaware of the planetary treasure that is Buzz Aldrin, and what he has done for us lately. Thus, you may not get the reference in one of today's cartoons. In addition to being the second human to set foot upon the moon, Col. Aldrin has recently provided us with a sterling example of heroic fortitude in the face of politicians. Please watch that video. After standing for all that blather, Aldrin made the now-famous quip, 'To infinity and beyond!' Which proves two things: Buzz Aldrin has a sense of humour, and he has seen Toy Story.
And now, for this week's issue.
- Nature can offer visions of paradise. Witness Willem's gorgeous birds and the bounty of a Pennsylvania farm garden. These are real, not virtual: we put them on the internet for your pleasure.
- It's quizmania at h2g2! Test your knowledge of non-alcoholic summer drinks. Then guess the picture, and figure out what Bluebottle's neighbours are talking about in Written in Black and Wight: F. Our Quizsection Extra takes you behind the scenes with Cleverbot in a special edition of Join the Q.
- We're out in space with the Caption Challenge. Okay, we lie. We found this objet d'art in the Hoggetts' swimming pool. But it will resonate with scifi fans everywhere. Come up with some snark.
- We at the h2g2 Post are sure that all our readers want to spend their summer doing responsible things which would have pleased respectable people of the past, say the 1950s. It is in this spirit of rectitude that we offer you a temperance pamphlet, a very staid film review that's guaranteed not to raise your blood pressure or make you think about apes wearing armour (thanks a lot, Awix!) and instructions to keep your idle hands from becoming the devil's workshop. Bluebottle, you really have to learn how to loom knit, especially while running. . .
- Of course we do not neglect our cyberresponsibilities. There's still a Create challenge to work on. We have the usual writing advice to argue against, and an amazing discovery about ancient Egyptian Facebook.
- Stop Press: Awix said, 'When there's no more room in hell, the post will have to start running Awix's reviews two at a time.' We have double cinema this week with his special tribute to the work of the late George Romero, the filmmaking genius who reinvented zombies and put Pittsburgh on the cinematic map.
So get to work and read all of this. Add some snark and commentary of your own. Remember to send Stuff in between your fabulous forays into the Real World. Take pictures, we like to watch. You know where to send them.
And have a good week, wherever you are!
Dmitri Gheorgheni
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