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

Hi ! This is one of my entries. I had the idea about this after a visit in Rome. I´ve talked to some people who had the same experiences as me, and even some of the Romans have this oppinion. I think it´s intersting, but what do You think ? Is it worth being an entry in the Guide ?

Well, it is entertaining to read, but it needs a bit of work before the sub-editors will give it a thumbs-up.

You might want to refer to http://www.h2g2.com/Writing-Guidelines
It has lots of helpful information that will help you get your entry Edited.

The first thing I would point out about the article is the use of "I" and "you." Using both are generally frowned upon for Edited entries, because information articles usually read better if they are written in the third person. So please re-write your article without using "I" and "you."

Also, please proofread your article, and separate your paragraphs by another carriage return. It is very distracting to read an uneven chunk of text with grammatical, punctuation, and capitalization. For instance, the word "you" should not be capitalized unless at the beginning of a sentence.

Good job, though. Keep plugging at it and we'll see if we can get this into the Edited Guide.

Wampus

Thanks ! I hope I´ve corrected the right things. And I´m glad the else was enjoiing You. It´s my first entry, and so this is a sign for me to keep on writing this way. Again : Thank You !

I like it. Good, informative, and just the sort of travel information that goes good in the Guide.

I think, though, that one could apply what is said in that article to just about any densely populated area. A friend of mine from New York described the pedestrian situation there very similarly to how you describe it. And I certainly don't make eye contact with drivers before walking in front of their cars; to do so would be akin to saying, "I know you're waiting for me, but I'm going to walk in front of you anyway," which I think is a bit impolite. Better to let the driver think he's waiting for some poor idiot who doesn't know to look both ways before crossing.

Wampus

I think there is definitely material for an Entry here, because crossing the road in Rome is like no other city that I've been in. The cars really do not stop. They swerve. The rule on pedestrian crossings is that the driver is not allowed hit the pedestrian. But there is no question of slowing down.

Perhaps if this were combined with "crossing the road in Cairo" and "crossing the road in Interlaken, Switzerland", you might have the beginnings of a good article.

Cairo: you have to cross maybe 4 or 5 lanes of traffic. As you cross, you signal to the cars whether you want them to go in front of you or behind you by waving your arm in front or behind you. Normally you wave in front until about half way across the lane, then switch to waving behind.

Interlaken, Switzerland: all you have to do is think about crossing the road and the drivers will read your subtle body language and stop their cars. There is probably a law which says that you must stop if you think that a pedestrian is looking longingly at the other side of the road.

HI !
Nice idea this. And, by the way, I have another city-information :
Berlin, Germany : Don´t try to cross ! Never, never, never ! Except on traffic lights it´s impossible to do so. The only more agressive drivers can be found in New York. There even the lights don´t let them use the brake !

And, oh yes, I forgot, if someone has information about other cities, post them to me. I think I will take them on my article

Crossing roads in South Africa is simple, as long as you don't try crossing at a pedestrian crossing!

I lived in Verona for a while. Rome is not the only city in Italy like this! Cars will swerve but not enought to actually avoid you. You must unceremoniously dive for safety, even if you are 83 years old.

Here's the link, BTW:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A450929

Anyways, while this is an interesting topic, I definitely think the prose needs some cleaning up. Unfortunately, the author doesn't seem to be around anymore.

Is there anyone out there interested in taking this on? Should we refer to the Writing Workshop?


Mikey

Hi !
No, the author is still alive but was not able to write here because of personal troubles and his studies.
Great You like the article. And about the prose : english is a foreign language to me, so I´ll be lucky if You would tell me something You find strange and how You would write it. This is something the other readers can do to.
Thanx.
Albion

Hi Albion! It's not easy to get the bit of sarcasm from German (I suppose) over into English, and that's the problem here. >>"..there is a quite high possibility that he�ll come to an interesting place ..." You are indicating that the man will find himself in a hospital - I would say it's better to just write it this way! After that, you could take care of the pieces in the previous postings and you're ready! By the way: have you seen that there's a GermaniaConnection around? See http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A478055 :-) And, if I'm correct in my assumption then you might be interested in having a look into the Berliner Bulettenbude at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F36649?thread=119503, which serves a very good ! Bossel, Scout

I think the entry is hard to understand; I had to read it 3 times, and I'm not sure if I get it now. Just my opinion.

Well, I can read it with the brains (if there really /is/ such a thing within my skull) of a German and there it works.

Actually, I guess I really started learning English at this place here (I said 'started', not speaking of ever being 'finished' ) -- although I didn't do that by writing entries. My proposal is that Albion rewrite the entry and by and by we take care of the details.

Well, unfortunately Albion doesn't seem to be around as of late. Should we shuffle this off to the Workshop for the time being?


Mikey

Well, I have to agree with that. That's around my fifth seconding today

Bossel

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'The h2g2 Writing Workshop'.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'The Writing Workshop' to 'The Flea Market'.

...as the author of this entry seems to have 'left the building'.