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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A683985

This was forwarded to me in an e-mail some time ago and I thought it would make a brilliant entry.

spook

I enjoyed reading this, but I'm not sure that it is Edited Guide material. It smacks of greeting card platitudes. There is no doubt it is interesting stuff, but there's no background to it. Where do these "facts" come from? Although I am a popular person, I doubt number 1. Is there any way you could flesh it out, with an introduction, the results of some surveys or anything?

I agree with Gnomon and also think number 3 and number 9 are dodgy.
There are all sorts of reason why some one might hate you, (you might of run over their dog) and not want to be like you.

I agree with Gnomon and also think number 3 and number 9 are dodgy.
There are all sorts of reason why some one might hate you, (you might of run over their dog) and not want to be like you.

If it was emailed to you then it's presumably been around the web loads and is therefore not original work, one of the main criteria for edited guide material I'm afraid.

I'm searching the web at the moment to see if i can find an original, but so far I've come up with nothing. I will probably add an introduction later today. Maybe a change of title would make the entry better. "15 things to remember" maybe.

spook

*throws up*

Erm, I'm not too keen on this 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' stuff. I really don't think it's edited guide material, whatever the title or introduction.

Can't say I'm too keen.
I had a 'new age' friend who insisted on plastering postcards with this kind of guff all over his house. He frequently would get into screamingly bad moods. So bad in fact that I was too scared to point to his own platitudes like 'If you are in a bad mood, do something good.' or 'Screamingly p***ed off? Give someone a bunch of flowers.' and so-on. It struck me that if you were in a good enough mood to appreciate the platitude, you probably didn't need it.

Sorry to sound so negative.

I have two suggestions:

*Maybe your entry would be good in The Post.
*I have an entry in PR at the moment. Why not rip that to shreds, get your own back

Fair enough. Gonzo's fine piece is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F48874?thread=160949 My guff in here http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F48874?thread=160871&skip=0&show=20 And Spook's fine Dr.Who piece is here (since we're chucking urls about) http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A662960

Sorry but in my opinion this article is possibly a breach of the Writing Copyright laws of the site. Part of our job as Scouts is to spot this sort of thing. Not that I'm being nasty, we all forward emails but it must be your own work to get into the edited guide.

Check these links for guidance

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Writing-Copyright
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Writing-Guidelines

I propose a sin binning I'm afraid on those grounds. Any seconders?

Orcus

I'll second that...... sorry, you may want to come up with your own 15 things, or reword these into something *original*... then when its resubmitted I can I can say why I don't think its suitable edited guide material anyway.....

It sounds to me like one thing said 15 ways "people love you" while this *may* be true, it isn't terribly factual or unbiased..

Now for my take on the "somebody loves you" *platitude*:

Do you know why people want to be loved? Because they do not have love themselves.... If you have love in your heart, then all you want to do is give it away...it is only the empty thing that needs to be filled...actual loe can't be aimed at smeone in particular...if you really love anyone then you have to love everyone... what generally passes for love is nothing more than fear...fear of loss, fear of being alone, fear of the unknown... so we cling to the things we *love* out of desperation, but where there is fear, love cannot exist... as for the new age guy with a bad temper, this comes from *trying* to be something one isn't, instead of observing and understanding what one is.....

So, in conclusion, IMHO no amount of reworking will ever make this an Edited Guide entry, but as suggested previously, maybe it could go in the Post or something....

H.A.

i agree with Gnonom... it's not anything that's wroth being put in the Edited Guide... i'm pretty sure there is plenty of stuff on self-appreciation.

-189100-

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'Peer Review Sin Bin'.

Hi there,

This thread has been moved to the Peer Review Sin Bin.

I don't mind this going in the Sin Bin. I just thought the e-mail would make a good entry. If you want to shrip another entry of mine to shreds (please don't! PLEASE!!!!!!) or tell me how good it is (Yes. do that instead. PLEASE!!!!!) go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F48874?thread=161701 spook

Hey Spook, just because it's sin binned don't . It's still a guide entry for anyone to read - it just won't get edited status - but that doesn't really matter a search in the right area will still reveal it to all the world

Like i said. I wasn't too bothered about that entry. What I'm really interested in is my other entry called 'How long is a Tick?' (please recommend it. I'M BEGGING U. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

spook

You'll have to wait a while for me. I just did my latest batch of reccomendations.

... but as it happens - I did quite like it