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

Thanks for the link...and the interesting compliment! I'd appreciate any ideas for my club--even though I've already put it out in the mainstream, the brutal truth is that it sucks and has no members.
As for you, I think I underestimated how much you've put into the Guide, since I've finally gotten a chance to actually read some of your articles! I might, eventually, get around to writing something...

See ya around!

(P.S.: You can't possibly offend me, so don't even try...unless you REALLY want to. )

Ahh, but I *can* offend you, but that's because you're a special case, and I know a lot of personal stuff...

One thing I would caution you on before you go campaigning for this club is the fact that, as a club's moderator, you have a duty to your members. People expect you to maintain threadiquette, answer questions, and update the page as required (and it requires it quite a bit in something like my Foundation, where I am maintaining an active list of members AND a growing link library). In order to fulfill that obligation, you need to be able to get online quite often... I've been away for as little as three days and found the Foundation members clamboring for my attention.

So, if you are going to be able to fulfill this obligation, then the next step is to begin canvassing. Nobody has joined your club yet for simple reason that they don't know a thing about it. Luckily for you, I know all the places to go and things to do to attract members. Your best bet is to start with related forums. There's one in Ask H2G2 on the subject that I could buzz into and advertise for you. Then you write a Post article (the Post is the H2G2 newspaper... I submit content for them once in a great while, but I used to be quite active with it) mentioning your club. You also zoom over to Peta's homepage (she's the Community Editor part of my title Assistant Community Editor) and mention it, and it might appear on the homepage in "The World of H2G2." You also submit an advertisement on my Guide to H2G2 Clubs (you've already been there) which I will post in the appropriate place. Another tip is to put a roving ad on the end of your nickname... everywhere you post, people will see the name of your club and the address for it. It doesn't hurt to mention it on your homepage, either. Before long, you'll be awash in an angry mob of betrayed Winbloze users hungry for blood!

As for writing articles, the cool thing is that you don't have to be online to do it. Write the article in a text file (I use notepad) and then take it to school, and upload it to your page when you get some online time. I write all my articles offline, and I get all the online time I could ever want.

Thanks for the ideas--I knew that you would know tons about H2G2 clubs just from going to your page. Unfortunately, next week starts summer vacation but that means that I will only get occasional Internet access.
I've started work on a few articles, and I also found enough time to learn the basics of Guide ML, so I'll probably get one out soon.
And as for offending me...sorry I even mentioned the idea!

Boo!

Betcha didn't expect a response so soon, did ya? Now you know what I do when I should be working...

I think we'll hold off campaigning for your club then, until we can get you more access. I tried to talk your mom into it, but she's pigheaded even for this family...

ANyway, I called yesterday to see if you guys were home, because I dug out that Starship Titanic game and book I promised you two. When are you going to be home so I can bring them over?

Hi there!
Thanks again for the game. And don't feel guilty about going here during work--my brain's usually off on another planet when I'm at school.
Mom's just anti-technologically inclined, and the fact that she's in this particular family makes that a hard barrier to get past...but it's nice to know that there's someone else out there trying to help! Thanks--she's getting closer and closer to giving in!
It was pleasant having you visit yesterday--I think it's kind of funny that just these strange books seemed to bring us closer together by being a common thread (however improbable) between us!
Well, that's all for now. See ya!

No es problema. I'm glad I finally have someone in real life who shares these interests with me.

BTW... I lobbied a bit more for you on the internet thing after you went to bed... methinks she's beginning to crack...

Good--it's lonely around here during summer break.
On another topic, please be the first to join my club. I mean, I want more than just myself on the list when I start advertising it (only a matter of time!). Any particular creative title you want? You KNOW you want to join...after all, who else would have sparked the idea?
Oh, and in S.T. I've already upgraded to 1st class--but I'm walking in circles. I also sent the Parrot down the Succ-U-Mat! *evil laugh* I hope I don't end up needing it!

Ahhh, yes, I remember it was such an unintuitive game that I pushed it aside for several months, and then finally solved it only after extensive help at the SST forums. I suppose I can be prevailed upon to don my captain's hat again and guide you through some of the rougher bits.

I hadn't joined your club yet because you weren't ready to make a go of it yet, but if I must, then I must...

Notice how I refrained from making any comments about how you insist I join your club, but won't even go near mine... see what a selfless individual I am?

Hmmmm...I go away for a few minutes, and how interesting to see that you've come and gone by our forum yet again. (It's getting a bit long, isn't it?)
Yes, I do stop by your club--just about every single time I go to H2G2, in fact. However, (and no offence intended toward the FFFF) can you possibly imagine Mom's reaction if she caught wind of my joining it???
And I'll stop by the other forum as soon as I push this button down here...

Almost forgot to mention that lil' sister here is bugging me to make her an H2G2 researcher. Should I flat out say 'no way, sign up yourself when you're older' or something along the lines of 'sure, oh wonderful sister of mine'?
I guess it's mainly my fault she's so intrigued with H2G2--and also, if I'm not being too bold by saying this, partly due to a certain other role-model of hers?

I doubt it has much to do with me... I haven't had much opportunity to influence either of you, what with my life of travel, excitement, and oppression...

I was just joking about you joining the FFFF anyway. I would certainly enjoy having you, but it is something that people need to choose for themselves. That's one of the reasons that I never recruited as heavily as I might have... of all the tips I gave you, I only utilized a couple of them. I posted to related forums, and wrote an article on it for the Post, but that was it. My modest little club grew up mostly from word of mouth, although I like to think that some people are discovering it from my Overwhelmingly Huge Guide to H2G2 Clubs... that is, after all, exactly why I chose to undertake that project.

And as for your mom finding out... I won't tell if you won't. Seriously, though, we managed to touch on the religion issue last week after you went to bed. Your mom kept making references, so I came out and told her I was an atheist, and she was a bit shocked. She was pleased to note, however, that I am a moral, upstanding individual, which runs completely contrary to her preconception of atheists. There's hope for her yet... anyway, her version of Christianity is completely her own, and bears no resemblance to any known sect. Her god is a nice god because she's a nice person.

As for little sis, I think she'd enjoy being a researcher, but how can she get access right now? You're having enough trouble getting time online for yourself. Once we break your mom down to the point that she gets you guys home access, then I think it would be cool if your sister exercised her ability out here as well. Imagine what a family porttrait we would be painting... yourself, your brilliant cousin, and your precocious sister... everyone would think we were a family of geniuses, and my brothers wouldn't be online to prove us wrong.

Okay, and she'll probably worship the ground I walk on when I get around to telling her that I signed her up. If you lived with her, though, you'd find "perfectionist" a better term.
I've also managed to spark my 16-year-old cousin's interest in the Hitchhiker's Guide and H2G2. She's quite intelligent, but I told her to make sure her fish-brained brothers don't interfere--in regards to the image we all need to keep up. However, there is the ongoing Parental Internet Phobia that keeps us all downtrodden...

BTW, I've found a project to keep my mind occupied during the relentless tedium of summer. I'm writing a series of articles on animation for the University Of Life in my spare time. Just got the e-mail from Peta giving me the OK, so that should be something to keep me from going nuts! (Much unlike that ever-so-infuriating game.)

Who knows, maybe it will keep me out of trouble long enough to get Mom to crack! My current method of getting access is quite an annoyance...