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

I've been away from h2g2 for more than a year, so I've missed the BBC takeover. There are lots of things about the new regime that I'm not totally happy with, but there are more important issues.

I've joined in a couple of conversations which were great fun - not time-limited like a chat room, so there's more time for rewarding thought.

I may be missing something, but I see too many conversations and too many articles that just do not get any replies. And too many researchers' pages have no contents and no live conversations.

It's my own fit of pique, but the article on Pascal's Wager (God exists by two falls and a submission!) was a good thought provoker. Which got several comments on style but little on content. And then I responded in some detail and the whole exchange fizzled out.

Is it me? Hello...? Is there anybody out there?

Yep. Hi

Hello. I'm here too. Will I do? If you're newly back and wondering why some conversations unaccountably die in mid-flow, you might keep your eyes skinned for missing messages nicked by moderators. When a moderator spots something they don't like the look of, they whip it out until someone who actually has a the wit to make a judgement can reinstate it. That often seems to kill a conversation stone dead and it very often doesn't start again just because the message has been put back.

Welcome back!

Yes, welcome back - I noticed too!

*wanders in flicking his tail to keep off flies*

I remembers Pascal. Don't think I'd ever wager with 'im though. Seems to know his stuff...

*becomes distracted by greener turf*

Oh yeah, you're right about having time here to think about responses. So much nicer than just shooting from the hip like they do in quick response chatter rooms where an intelligent conversation is out of the question. Thing is, here, even a serious discussion is peppered with humour, satire or just plain childish nonsense and y'can ignore it or enjoy it - just don't let it spoil your mood for conversation at a higher level. Sooner or later I'm gonna finish reading the backlog on Pascal's wager (if I can find it again - oh I know I'll go to your home page) and I just know I'll have something to say about it. Point of information - Never 'unsubscribe' from a thread you're interested in! - they always come back to life!

Amazing - six people jumped on this inside of an hour. Here I am a day later.
So are you back or what?

I'm still hanging around....

Thanks for the greetings. Yesterday was so "interesting", in the Chinese sense that I didn't even get a chance to look at the computer. It's now 05:14 and things are quieter.

I haven't got the hang of this place yet. It was good of you all to notice me, but how did you notice me, where did my journal entry show up?

h2g2 Statistics page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/info

I caught it in the most recently updated conversations list just after you'd written it, which would have kept it further up the page so the others saw it. Something like that anyway

That's correct!

Aha. Just following the stats link gives me lots of ideas.

It's particularly useful if, like you've been noticing, you are being frustrated by all these absent researchers. The stat's page indicates that not only are they around (like the Who's online box) but they are also active.