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

Oops, a blank posting - I posted too soon. Still, none of us are perfect .

I'm just going to go over to your Guide Entries and see what's there.

In the meantime, perhaps you could add a sentence or two to your space to tell h2g2ers what sort of topics interest you.

And could you reply to this to tell me how confident you feel with these computer things? For example, if I said 'cut and paste this stuff', would you know what I meant?



Amy the (Guru) Ant

I am not too confident but I know how to cut copy and paste etc. I am a Great grandmother aged 78, everyone is a amazed that I come on a computer and converse at all but I am in a site, I am not allowed to mention, I got cut out last time and I am their oldest. I am not bragging but I think the fact that when younger I had a high I.Q. has helped me. I also write for magazines, or whoever will pay me for my work. I do not get published regularly as the magazines have said to me. We can't keep putting your name on things. I have kept everything I have ever been in, including poetry books. Is that enough info for you. Cheers Marj

Hi Marj

Good to hear from you.

That's the right sort of stuff but we need to get it into your Space where everyone can read it.

I want to go through some stuff about Guide Entries with you. Stop me if I get boring.

?

Amy the Ant

The Basics.

I think you need to know about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I know it says on the Welcome page that you don't need to be familiar with the books - and that's right - but I think a little bit of knowledge about them will help.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, when students took to hitchhiking around Europe, a number of guide books were published. I think the Lonely Planet guides are the only ones in that genre to have survived into the modern day. Originally, a large amount of the content of these books was compiled from first-hand reports by real hitchhikers (although I suspect that is no longer the case). In the late 70s a very clever author (our late and much lamented friend, Douglas Adams) wrote a radio series in which he imagined this type of guide book being available for inter-stellar travellers. The radio series was very popular and was eventually published in book form.

The central character of the story is a guy called Ford Prefect. He is a researcher for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - a weighty tome published in electronic form. He wrote articles, sent them in, they were edited (heavily - his report on the Earth ended up as just two words: Mostly harmless) and then put in The Guide.

At the time when DNA wrote his books the idea of a computer small enough to be put in a rucksack was a matter of science fiction. But a few years on, it's science fact and here we are writing the Earth Edition of The Guide.

We work away in our Spaces writing articles. What we write is always open for others to read but in practice this very rarely happens. If you want your work to be read you must first submit it formally to the editing process. I'll explain how to do that later.

While your work is still on your Space, you retain editorial control and no one else can edit it. No one, not even the people who run the site (known as the 'Italics' because of the way their names appear in the Who's Online list or 'The Powers That Be'). Everyone can read your work (although,as I said, they're not likely to) but no one can change it. People visiting your Space cannot see the little edit links that you can see.

Compare my list of Guide Entries with yours. Mine have no 'edit' links.

That's enough for now .

Talk to you again soon.

Amy the Ant

Ready for the next installment, Marj? Or was that last one enough?

only just discovered your two messages. Am not sure what you mean about no one can see what I am writing. Where do I put it then. I have a lot of stuff on the left, that says edit, who edits then. I still find this place confusing. I guess I am too old for that Hitch hiking thing. I hate Outer space things, its bad enough coping with this world without worrying about what's out there. A lot of cold and heat and I very much doubt aliens. Cheers Marj

Bear with it. It takes most people more than a month to figure this site out - whatever their age.

Very few of us are aliens.

I see you have attracted some h2g2 poets already and several people are hanging round to read your prose. I think you'll get a good reception Peer Review when we get there. And you have Assistant Community Editors (ACEs), Gurus (like me) and Archangels lining up to help. We would all be very upset if we lost you from h2g2.

Other researchers can see everything you write - but only if they bother to look. The chances of this happening by accident are quite remote. Press the Who's Online button. This shows the registered users who are online at the moment - usually about 50. How many have you visited and read? So how many will have visited you?

Fortunately, you have now met quite a few people and you can personally invite them round to read your work. You can make a link to a page just by typing in its code number. For example U135642 is my Space and A442757 is my Guide Entry on Pharaoh Ants.

The edit links scattered down the left hand side indicate that you are the editor. You are the editor until it has been through Peer Review and has been selected for special treatment.

There's quite a lot to know about Peer Review and related forums. Take this link to make a start. <./>DontPanic-ReviewForums</.>



Amy

Bear with it. It takes most people more than a month to figure this site out - whatever their age.

Very few of us are aliens.

I see you have attracted some h2g2 poets already and several people are hanging round to read your prose. I think you'll get a good reception Peer Review when we get there. And you have Assistant Community Editors (ACEs), Gurus (like me) and Archangels lining up to help. We would all be very upset if we lost you from h2g2.

Other researchers can see everything you write - but only if they bother to look. The chances of this happening by accident are quite remote. Press the Who's Online button. This shows the registered users who are online at the moment - usually about 50. How many have you visited and read? So how many will have visited you?

Fortunately, you have now met quite a few people and you can personally invite them round to read your work. You can make a link to a page just by typing in its code number. For example U135642 is my Space and A442757 is my Guide Entry on Pharaoh Ants.

The edit links scattered down the left hand side indicate that you are the editor. You are the editor until it has been through Peer Review and has been selected for special treatment.

There's quite a lot to know about Peer Review and related forums. Take this link to make a start. <./>DontPanic-ReviewForums</.>



Amy

Bear with it. It takes most people more than a month to figure this site out - whatever their age.

Very few of us are aliens.

I see you have attracted some h2g2 poets already and several people are hanging round to read your prose. I think you'll get a good reception Peer Review when we get there. And you have Assistant Community Editors (ACEs), Gurus (like me) and Archangels lining up to help. We would all be very upset if we lost you from h2g2.

Other researchers can see everything you write - but only if they bother to look. The chances of this happening by accident are quite remote. Press the Who's Online button. This shows the registered users who are online at the moment - usually about 50. How many have you visited and read? So how many will have visited you?

Fortunately, you have now met quite a few people and you can personally invite them round to read your work. You can make a link to a page just by typing in its code number. For example U135642 is my Space and A442757 is my Guide Entry on Pharaoh Ants.

The edit links scattered down the left hand side indicate that you are the editor. You are the editor until it has been through Peer Review and has been selected for special treatment.

There's quite a lot to know about Peer Review and related forums. Take this link to make a start. <./>DontPanic-ReviewForums</.>



Amy

Oh dear, I posted just as the computer that runs the big database threw a wobbly. I apologise for the resulting triple post.