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

Hello and welcome to the wonderful community of h2g2 , also called 'hootoo '
I am your <./>ACE</.> and have come to meet you and to greet you and to help you with your first steps on this site.
First things first :
, there's always somebody near to help you with whatever your problem might be. For example you can reply to this message and/or ask me a question by simply pressing the reply button. Or you can click on the name above this message, which will bring you directly to my Personal Space ( recommended ), where you can leave a message for me.

Here is the Welcome Message from DNA, the founder of the site: A157349

h2g2 is all about writing entries for the edited guide, and I'm fairly sure there'll be a topic YOU could write about, so why not give it a try?
Go here for more info: A53209
In case that's not your cup of tea, there's still the <./>writing-alternative</.> and the <./>Underguide</.> for creative writing, as well as <./>ThePost</.>.

Things you should know before you start :
This is an open forum, so everything you post can be read by everybody else, and you cannot delete it, nor can you correct it once it is sent. This is where the 'preview' button below your answering box comes in handy.
The only thing you can edit or delete, is any guide entry you create, which includes the introduction on your Personal Space.
So why not read the Guide to Netiquette on h2g2 at A901838 before you put your foot in? You're much less likely to accidentally upset somebody if you're familiar with the site's Netiquette. To give you an impression of how you may feel if you posted before thinking, take a look here: A11284193
If you reply to this message and tell me a bit about your interests, I can most certainly point you directly to the best places to go.

For more tips and insight you can read these pages:

h2g2 in a nutshell: A8468742

Hints and Links: A719840

and don't miss to read the <./>FrontPage</.>, and the aforementioned forums.
Take your time, have a look around the site, and enjoy yourself .
P.S. I'm certainly prone to having forgotten something vital to you, so please don't be shy, hit the reply button below this message.

Bel

The first thing that occurs to me in the first 15 minutes is a comparison to Wikipedia, the major on-line encyclopedia in Divided States of America, from whence I hail (deliberately ironic rhetoric there). The latter is much more formal, to the point of stodginess, and pathologically picky about their entries meeting very exacting, anal-retentive standards. I tried writing an entry for them years ago and it was shredded by some pompous moderator and I've never tried since. This looks much more easy-going and comfy, more, shall I say, British, and I've always loved Brit humor--Douglas Adams, Rowan Atkinson, Monty Python, they all make me howl and fall out of my chair. I think I'm going to enjoy this bunch.

Ironically, I was linked here by some reference to h2g2 in a Wikipedia article. Their links are often far more interesting than their articles.

But not nearly enough about myself: 71-year-old retired church organist (please suppress the shrieks of laughter) dying in Colorado with my dog. Right now I'm off to the city's 12th annual Oatmeal Festival.

That's interesting what you say about w*k* (it's sort of 'no-no' here ).
I've been led to believe that everybody and their dog can just write what they want and that there's nobody tpo stop them. From what I know, I could go and 'edit' any article that's published there.
Our system is very different, we have PeerReview for entries that are meant to be part of the edited guide, and once they are published, there are only special people who can edit them.

Hope you're having fun at your Oatmeal Festival - oat is good to keep the cholesterole levels at bay.