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

Hello there Nonnie,
how's about a cuppa?

*tilts head*
Ow, right, that's no longer necessary.

But i have to ask: why have you been going round reactivating old and forgotten threads recently? Is there a reason? A touch of longing for the old days? What what?

Erm.. I do hope you don't mean tea has become redundant... Oh, you mean the tilting of the head? Erm.. why is that?

As for old threads and old days.. well, yes, a bit of that.. a bit of just finding old answers, a bit of this and a bit of that.

I'll take that tea, thank you.

'Nonnie

Well as I recall, and as you might reread in a certain Party Mootates... Reggae Rooles thread, we all had putty for heads or something, and I shaped my head into a teapot to pour from, for pouring is what one does with tea, so true. And then I was franticly searching for another receptacle, to pour the tea into or my head would stay like a teapot forever, and now, half a year later, along comes mousie and 'profers me a different receptacle', so I'm taking said receptacle and pourin you tea from it, as we speak, so to speak.

squeak?

'Queak! Yes, it all makes sense now, I do declare. But you know, searching for just the right receiving receptacle for headtea takes a bit of time.. Of course you do, we all do.

Thank you, kind sir, for your generousity.

'Nonnie

I'm curious as to your well-being.
You haven't been very upbeat in your commentary, my dear mouse.
Are you, on the whole, okay?

Much of what we do here is banter and light of weight so if you feel i should not stray fomr this path, please stop me, but I am, as i say, curious.

Hrm... Well.. Of course I don't mind at all, and I'm flattered and all.. I just can't seem to see what would cause you worry... I know I haven't been ... erm.. as visible as I once was... And there were a few 'old threads' where I probably should have ... let sleeping thoughts lie.. But other than that and apart from being busy, having had a brief bout with the flu and occasionally posting while a bit exhausted (though still exhilarated, you understand, at once again finding a brief stolen momement to wander the halls of h2g2 ) I've thought myself to be on the cheerful side.

If I've given cause for concern I must admit, I am curious as to which window to my tortured (only kidding ) soul I've left uncovered.

Here, have some cookies and with your (generously shared) tea. Do come sit down and chat a while.

'Nonnie

Ah yes, that was where we stood. I was coming to sit down, and chat a while. Ho hum.

If there was something that struck me as indicating a little bitterness on your side, it was perhaps some jokes about marriage.
I thought someone's marriage was bothering you.

*nibbles on a cookie sort of, find out it's with nuts and rejoices at the discovery*

Hmm.. Well.. Marriage is the number one cause of divorce, you know.

´t is, 't is.

*big breath*
*exclaiming*
Good to read you again, in your rightful spot as Anonymouse, OG HHGG!

OG being Original Gangster (= been around in the neighbourhood since day one)

Well.. Not day one, but close...

From the sound of some of your posts Nonnie you're not planning to be around for Day 1 Mark2.

;^)#

Ooopsy, I meant to add - I hope I'm reading it wrong.

;^)#

Come now, what is this?
Another one to- mistakenly I gather- interepret Nonnie's postings for indications of not being very happy? She told me there was no reason for me to think she would be unhappy, Bruce. Nonnie, I guess you are sending off some vibes where you don't want them!
*puts an arm around Anonymouse*
there there. there there.
whether you need it or not.

Thanks, prez. When we left off before the shutdown, all was fine...

Now I'm plagued with mixed feelings. I've missed my friends and my goo and most of all the conversation. But this doesn't feel like home. I don't agree with the new terms, and holding my stuff hostage until I checked their little box I think was a dirty trick, and I don't think it would actually hold up in court if hard-pressed.

So I've been packing. I've still got a lot to get through. I can't say that I won't be hanging out lurking in corners, reading, catching up with friends, and even occasionally posting. There's not much retail value in conversation, save perhaps the impromtu poetry, which I wish I could remove and will have to be careful not to imbibe in anymore.. another thing that makes it not like home. I don't know what the future will bring, but from what I've seen so far all my worst fears and more have been realized.

While I understand (& to a certain extent, share) your concerns I can only urge you to wait & see what happens once the dust clears - that's my current plan.

;^)#

With the conversations, that's my current plan as well... but with the new wording to the 'TOS' and the copyright issues I can't in good concious leave my works on these BBC-owned servers. I will get what I can off and probably make a nusiance of myself pestering whoever I can to get the stuff I can't reach.

(At my size, that may be a lot.)

My $$$s are on you receiving messages with the terms "irrevocable licence" in response to your remove requests.

But they're $$$ I'll happily lose

;^)#

Well then you really take the things you do here seriously, don't you? Not to say I don't, but maybe because of there always being the coyright thing, and because a lot of our conversation is just playful banter, the things I for one have been writing here don't hold much value to me. There are maybe three articles, some good laughs in conversations, but that's it. I shall have to check your page soon to find out what you're all about, and to see the treasures you fear for now. I know some people here whom i know have been writing things of some girth, like Loony or Wowbagger and his cartoons, and well if you feel like that i can understand your concern.

Still, the question remains what is it that exactly bothers you. is t that fact that it is you who no langer holds the right to what you do here, or is it the fact that is is the BBC that does? The difference is subtle.

Lastly, don't go. Just don't write anything of value beyond good fun here anymore. CAn't you do that?

...?

Bruce: The irrevocable license bit might have held water had there been a choice of "No, I don't agree, please remove my items from your servers and send them to me" ... The fact that it didn't, and gave me no choice for retrieval but checking the little box throws a monkey-wrench into the works.

Prez: The conversations here run from the bizarre to the absurd, light-hearted to dead serious, and more or less stands apart from the articles.. or it did, until any references had to be made from an article. The articles, however, are another story.. I may not have spent hours in the library researching, but I haven't written on anything I didn't already know. Personal experience is a much greater teacher than someone else's anyway, IMHO. Whether serious or silly, they're still my creations, however, and in that, yes, I take them seriously. Poetry is my biggest concern, however, since that has always been my chosen art form. Like any other art form, sometimes they're good, sometimes bad, but again, they're mine.

I gave my permission to tdv -- and through that, h2g2 limited -- to use, modify and publish my works in this and other forms. When I signed on those terms said nothing about 'sub-license'. The BBC terms, however, say "You may only use your writings, all others must have permission from BBC" or somesuch. Uhm.. excuse me? This is bull-puckey. _I_ will decide if anyone else can use my stuff, not the BBC.

Methinks there is a call for an explanation of the copyrights... again

If I read them correctly, it means that you still retain copyrights on the stuff you submit (hence the "non-exclusive" line), which means that you can still sell those copyrights. But, as the beeb will hold the other part of that non-exclusive copyright, it means that you have to inform any potential publisher that you do not hold exclusive rights. You'd probably never run into serious trouble with this, since you're a North American, and the beeb would publish its stuff in the UK. In that, the contract doesn't seem to me to be terribly different than before, other than the ability to sub-license your work to a third-party for publishing. But then again, I may have it wrong. I'm a tech-geek, not a lawyer.

In the meantime, you are still free to reproduce your work on h2g2 in your own personal website, etc.

As far as the censorship thing, I think it's a widespread panic that we've got going here, but for good reason. Mark is making some statements that suggest we're taking the whole thing a bit too seriously, and that he intends to ensure that the Guide is not significantly changed. For the meantime, I will put my faith in him and the rest of the Towers staff, and wait to see how things play out.

I understand your reaction, Nonny, and I sympathise with it, but I'd like to ask you to exercise a bit of patience. Please don't go yet.