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

This is I think not the first time it has seemed unclear as to what is the job of the subs and what should have been done by peer review and what should have been done by the author.

The guidelines clearly state that only an entry that is pretty much ready should be submitted to PeerReview :

>>Make sure that the entry is, as far as you are concerned, finished. If you're looking for a few final comments on an entry that you haven't quite finished, then please submit it to the Writing Workshop instead.<<

From what I know, the scourts are asked to correct grammar/spelling etc in PR if possible, and the sub-eds do the rest. Imo it is not acceptable if an author is asked to do a few corrections which are pointed out to them clearly, so it's just a matter of cut and paste, and refuses it with the words that that's what the sub-eds are for.

Could I kindly direct the discussion of these matters here; A9741972

Then we can get on with finidnig more funny little Entries using the IID

Whatever 'finidnig' is...

It's an Icelandic saga about sharks.

Only a brief 'hear hear' for B'El then?

Hear hear

As you were

Oh, not ANOTHER song about fish from Bjork.

Oi Matt, may I direct you here: <./>miscchat</.>

>>Then we can get on with finidnig more funny little Entries using the IID<<

<>

That's exactly how I feel everytime I hear her.

Sorry, B'El, back to the IID experiment!

I don't know if this is a relevant point or not, but isn't it possible to go back in to the entries and correct them? Do they *have* to stay flawed for yonks?

No, that's what either <./>feedback-editorial</.> or the Update Forum <./>RF21</.> are for.

A776135: Fight Club – the film – lots of personal opinion, not great. I'd say it'd be a very hard film to write about without givng away the spoilers 2/5

A429969: Snowboarding – bit short but what's there was is good, explained some of the basics 2.5/5

A360514: Improvisational games – very short, left a lot out 1/5

A832411: USSR - fantastic, though more about the leaders than the nation itself 4/5

A273610: Christian symbol for the fish - again very short and didn't have that much information 2/5

Not a great haul, but I did have a lot of early entries and I feel they aren't always up to the standards of more modern ones

A655481 - An Introduction to Coarse Fishing.

A653753 - How to make hair extensions.

A622937 - The Causes of the English Civil War.

A579053 - Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, West Indies.

A781724 - The Vietnam War Through the Eyes of American Filmmakers.

Nothing really exciting, I'd say. Still, I read two and might come back to a third one later.

I just did three attempts yesterday... The only one I really rememeber was a rather fantastic entry on poetry... Particularly the bad stuff I'd give it 4/5! (wish I'd figured out how to post the link last night... i'd do it if I could, sorry!)

Okay, got a few minutes, so let's have a go:

A952184: Robin of Sherwood: The Television Series; Pretty long, but doesn't suffer for it. Well written and interesting. 4/5

A593219: Borth, Dyfed, Wales, UK; Good. Entertaining, not too long, enjoyed it, might even be tempted to go 4/5

A179462: Relaxation; 8 years old and it REALLY shows. This entry would not get into the EG today. Well written though. 1/5

A1061380: The Manhattan Cocktail; A little long for me, but interesting nonetheless. Found out what a rob roy was. 3.5/5

A325757: Oahu, Hawaii, USA - The Gathering Place; Another good one, actually, interesting entry, I was impressed. 4/5

16.5/25 Four good, one awful.

A734979 - Madame Tussaud - Wax Sculptress - interesting history
A273610 - The Christian Symbol of the Fish - oh dear. Should be reclassified "mostly harmless" and stuck in the Update forum. No h2g2 links either.
A137620 - Paperclips - Intriguing title but I was expecting a lot more, and left very disappointed.
A422588 - Massage - Brilliant. Everything you could ever possibly want to know (as an amateur, which I am)
A5882033 - Emily Wilding Davison (Suffragette) part of a Uni project on Forgotten Heroines (I'd read this as I was part of that project) Brilliant (no, I didn't write it)

3 good/2 bad

A766019 Fables in 200 Words or Less
A9633260 The Trail of Tears - The Forced Removal of the Cherokee Nation
A10177067 Moth Orchids - A piece of tropical beauty in your own home
A1066510 Colchester, Essex, England, UK
A673427 Nudists

5 very varied entries. All seemed quite well-written from a quick scan. Only the first 2 are of real interest to me but I'd be surprised if 5 random entries taken from Wikipedia or an encyclopedia were all interesting to me.

A4717 Pet Shops (Mostly Harmless Writing Team) - Short.
A2659999 The Years of Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start The Fire' - 1961 - interesting but to get the full gist, I'd have to read the whole uni project (all 19 entries of it )
A471287 Trepanation - interesting, gave me a name for a procedure I was sort of aware of.
A430200 Cribbage - the Card Game - informative and well written
A1161280 The Hungarian Uprising - also informative and well written

Nothing there that I am particularly interested in, so a disappointing haul today. Not bad though 4/5

"The Years of Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start The Fire' - 1961 - interesting but to get the full gist, I'd have to read the whole uni project (all 19 entries of it)"

Yes, you will.

B

"I'd be surprised if 5 random entries taken from Wikipedia or an encyclopedia were all interesting to me."

Now that's an interesting twist on the experiment... If I may?

A398973 - Portishead - the Band:
Short, out of date, not terribly informative. A bit of a duffer actually...
W*kiquivalent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portishead):
Not much longer, but contains a full and up to date discography. Quite surprisingly I'll have to say 1-0 to W*ki!

A833393 - Jerboas:
Starts in a very W*ki style, but is saved by a subheader reading "Why Jerboas are amazing" Not a terribly interesting entry though.
W*kiquivalent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerboas):
Dull. Dull, dull dull. There's nothing between these two entries, so grudgingly I'll have to split the point. W*ki lead 1.5 - 0.5

A2198603 - Blogs and Blog Entries:
A good bit of EG here. Informative, but still with a bit of charm. Some tips though, which I think is where we differ from other encyclopedias. They say what, we say how.
W*kiquivalent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogs)
Longer, possibly more detailed, but I can't bring myself to read something which starts "A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order." Could there be a more boring opening sentence in the Universe? Hootoo equalises at 1.5 apiece.

A841358 - Building Confidence and Self Esteem:
Now this is really where we come into our own. A guide on how to get through the day and feel better about yourself. And it's a good read too!
[Nearest] W*kiquivalent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence)
They don't have an equivalent. Put confidence into their search engine and you get little more than a few synonyms and a definition. Hootoo goes ahead 2.5 to 1.5

A22548747 - The Humble High Five:
Everything you could wish to know, presented in an entertaining manner. How to do it, why to do it, who started it, when it was cool to do it, the socio-political stimulus leading to people slapping outstretched palms. I love it. A great entry.
W*kiquivalent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_five)
Isn't as informative on the origins. Which surprises me as the criticism laid at the EG usually states that they just have more information. Shorter, more boring. Does give a tip. Yawn.

We win, 3.5 to 1.5. I don't know if that proves anything, but I doubt it.

Well done. Thanks for that!
I might do that next time