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

Once the BBC came into the picture, the former h2g2.com conversations showed up with this ugly little symbol in the low right hand corner of each posting - the so called 'yikes' button... and it looked like a - at least in Goo skin...

http://www.h2g2.com/h2g2/skins/Classic/images/buttons/complain.gif

http://www.h2g2.com/h2g2/skins/Alabaster/images/buttons/complain_ro.gif

http://www.h2g2.com/h2g2/skins/brunel/images/conv/complaint.gif

http://www.h2g2.com/h2g2/skins/dev/images/buttons/complain.gif

The button itself looked quite ugly in some skins, and the idea of simply pushing a button if you were unhappy with somebody's posting did not quite appeal to me...

Not that I ever came upon any offensive postings in the 'old' days (www.h2g2.com) but I believe people would first try and talk to the offending researcher and then, if that didn't help, report it to the Italics - the yikes button seemed like a much too comfortable and easy-to-use shortcut.

Anyway, so I decided I would not use that button unless I absolutely had to - but with the usually reasonable and relatively well-behaved researchers, there has not been much need...

...until the influx of former LD (Leisure District) members - now, I'm not saying they're all ill-behaved spoilt little brats or hormonically challenged teens, because I've come across some very nice people from LD - but an amazingly large number of them seem to enjoy insulting and harassing other LD'ers, completely ignoring the <./>HouseRules</.> (I've not been all that happy about the rules either, but that's a completely different story).

So today I actually ended up using the yikes button on a posting - and I find that sad. Sad that someone has bothered to become a researcher only to spread misery and insults. Sad that there are people who seem to completely lack a sense of consideration for others. Sad that they have chosen h2g2 for their messages.

And why, oh why, do so many LDers post in capital letters using chat room abbreviations? (the h2g2 conversations will not be loading any faster)

Since English is a foreign language to me, it isn't immediately obviuos to me that the letter 'u' could also be read as 'you' - or 'r' as 'are' - but I'm slowly learning, but still finding it so unnecessary at a place like h2g2, where the conversations move slowly.

I have to admit that I have used yikes-button couple times. And that makes me very sad.

Comparing things with the "old times" the main issue for me is that back then people took more care about the community and everything. Now there is BBC to take care of us, to help with the problems, to solve our arguements, whatever.

At some point it was so great that more and more people joined h2g2. Now I am getting to feel sorry about it.

Why are they called Leisure Districters? Guess I missed that one.

Because of the 'chatty' place they used to hang around was
http://www.leisuredistrict.net

Are they the ones who are "everywhere" and always are rude?

Hi, I've yikesed a few things, a link to a porn site, that I was asked to do, and on one occasion I realised that I'd accidently reveled my address, I'd mentioned that I lived above a post office and that I had reveled enough information for my address to be found on the royal mail website.

Though I wasn't here in the days before the BBC I really hate posts in text speak. From talking to LD users I've come to the conculsion that it was a chat site, much like any other, but had a library attacted which was a little like h2g2. Then when the site was closed down many of the users moved over here. They have kept mainly to themselves, and because they talk to each other in text speak they haven't really got used to h2g2 ways. Those ex LD users who have talked to others have become intergrated, several are now ACES and one contributes to

One really sad thing I saw was a young lesbian who had put on her personal space that she didn't want to talk to males, I can understand why she thought that when she first arrived at h2g2, after all on many chat sites lesbians do get harrassed by men after a w**k, I assumed that once she got used to h2g2 she would change her mind and realise that it didn't happen here. But I went by her space the other day and it's still there

Did any one catch the small heated discussion that went on in ask h2g2, one researcher accused ex LDers of beign the scum of the earth! needless to say that they were very offended. Some of them relved that they though that we were up our own a**ses, and that the site only really got fun when they arrived. I expect that they meant that you can now ask a/s/l and no longer feel obliged to hold intellegent conversations. Then again those of us who would like to believe that h2g2 has always been a bastion of intellegent debate until the LDers arrived really ourght to visit the Nighthover thread, or "No No No"

Odd user names (either in capital letters or mixed), capital letters in postings, using chat room abbreviations - that's usually how you recognize them - but please note that I said that not *all* of them are 'bad guys' - there are some very decent people among them as well

Checking the Who's online right now, my guess is that these are former LDers:

<./>U218079</.>
<./>U218978</.>
<./>U229688</.>

Sorry Z - missed that specific conversation - but it does seem as if some ex-LDers have had some difficulties on 'conforming' to h2g2 standards...

It was teh most frustrating conversation I'd ever been in, we would be talking on one topic and suddenly someone would post "HI XERGADD HOW RU HUN " then it would degenerate into random chat for a while. When it was pointed out that it was rude to do this we were accused of being elictist, - of course not using that word - they put it "SOME PPL HAVE THR HEADS SO FAR UP TR OWN A**S HERE" but with less cohertent sentances.

You can see I don't get around much. I stick pretty much to Lil's and the CP and a few friends. Probably a good thing.

There are a lot of other ex LD users who I feel priveledged to have meet, and who I enjoy talking to. As someone who is on far too many places on this site, I'm sure that the "chaterz" are in a minority in most intellegent conversations. Of course there are LDers who are in these conversations, but you could never tell that from they way that they post.

So the entire LD website had different rules? And they have tried to bring those here? I must not know any of them. I thought you meant the teenagers who are such know-it-alls and are rude to everyone. And who pop up in nearly every Ask h2g2 conversation. Or maybe it is the same kids. Oh well.

No it didn't, i think it just attracted a load of arrogant kids who thought that they know everything. I tend to find that if you use sentances they soon leave the conversation - "cuz yr borin"

I wonder why the 'chaterz' don't simply use Yahoo IM or IRC, or any of the zillion other chat services available, including a new one recently launched by BBC? It seems quite obvious that hootoo is not designed as a chat room. Or maybe I'm being an elitist snob?

Perhaps it really is time for the towers to institute the 'bozo' filter
Then those of us who at least try to communicate in complete words and sentences, (and s), wouldn't have to feel we were being shouted at by the unruly 'chatspeak' hooligans

Interesting how "they" all come from one place...I must admit some of them have got on my nerves a bit...or maybe I'm just elitist......I know one of them recently plagiarised some already Edited entries ...but apparently LD is back up...

I have only clicked on the button once, by accident

If it is elitist leaving LDers to their own devices and avoiding threads they get heavily involved in, then yes, I am. But I also avoid threads that get unpleasantly argumentative anyway.

I have only come across a handful in the Ask h2g2 forum and threads pointed out by others.

I've met couple LDers in my places (like in the summerhouse) but they keep quite well the spirit of the conversation, so it's ok for me. Then again, they aren't teenagers.

T, there were 2 separate but overlapping conversations about this on Ask h2g2. As someone said, they got very nasty and silly although some of us did try and calm things down a bit.

The one about Leisure District people is here: F19585?thread=299221

The one about text message speak is here: F19585?thread=298480

Z said it.

Taliesin, one of the problems is that most of the chaterz are web TV users and don't access the web via a PC, they use a decoder box or "digibox" and either have to go through the letters using a TV remote control handset or move a cursor across a keyboard that comes up on the TV screen. This makes it difficult for some of them to type full words and its easier to abbreviate.

In fact there's some debate as to whether they are meant to be accessing anything other than their cable company site. Leisure District was run by one of the cable companies and the users could have email. One of the longer standing LD researchers here, aka, was determined to experiment with the limitations of the digibox and eventually found a way to email a clickable link to h2g2 and this legendary "magic email" passed round many users.

F16034?thread=258689&post=3671165#p3671165

Z said it.

Taliesin, one of the problems is that most of the chaterz are web TV users and don't access the web via a PC, they use a decoder box or "digibox" and either have to go through the letters using a TV remote control handset or move a cursor across a keyboard that comes up on the TV screen. This makes it difficult for some of them to type full words and its easier to abbreviate.

In fact there's some debate as to whether they are meant to be accessing anything other than their cable company site. Leisure District was run by one of the cable companies and the users could have email. One of the longer standing LD researchers here, aka, was determined to experiment with the limitations of the digibox and eventually found a way to email a clickable link to h2g2 and this legendary "magic email" passed round many users.

F16034?thread=258689&post=3671165#p3671165

Thanks for the links coely! *drifting off to check them*