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

Not someone who goes around looking in skips or boot sales for bargains - but someone who takes a look now and again at all the poor, sad, half finished Entries in the Flea Market.


For those who have never been there, or heard about it - Flea Market is where something gets sent if it is considered Guide material, but for some reason or another, the original author cannot complete it.


There's lots of stuff in there, beware the cobwebs.

Take this one for example: Smugness A3224693 - yes, _please_ take it, it has lain there for three years


do you think you might feel a little smug if you rescued one or two?


ps beware - some of the Entries in Flea Market have already been rescued, so take note of the comments in the attached conversations.

The Flea Market forum can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/RF4

I see the How To Procrastinate entry has remained untouched since 2003.

Job done, I'd say!

Yeah, the Procrastination one - I was thinking about taking that one myself. . . one day

I've scavenged three, so far (Tank Tops, Lake Garda and Accounting Firms). I reserved another (on Hawkwind) a couple of years ago, but never really got much further with it.

I think procrastination got nabbed a while ago. I was thinking of writing a companion to my first every Entry on Laziness, but Procrastination had already been taken. Ah, here it is: A178355

I've scavenged two or three in my time. Not enough for the badge, but I'm working on it...

It's only 5 before you get a Scavenger badge.


Now I think about it, the Flea Market could do with a tidy up - are there any Scouts around with time to go through this and make a list for the Eds, of the ones that have been converted to Edited Guide Entries?

Alternatively, anyone who is thinking about becoming a Scout? This is one of their responsibilities, ie keeping Flea Market up-to-date.

If we had a list of Entries to remove from FM, then the remaining ones would look much more likely candidates for brushing off and putting back through Peer Review.

Oh - and I urge Icy to finish the Hawkwind Entry. That would remind me of my student days when they always seemed to be the band we watched. I have very vivid memories of their gigs.

I don't have time (she says, on her way out of the office for the nth time this morning) but it is definitely a job that needs doing and keeping on top of. It's easy to forget because it's not an active forum.

Let's change than in new h2g2, shall we?

I'm here!

*waves* to lil


yes - things like keeping Flea Market, and all the other forums as they should be will be a real bonus. We should have time, between all of us, to attend to all the areas of noohootoo as we would like them to be.

The Eds will be far too busy right now to actually move these forgotten duplicates - but if we have a list it will be easy to sort after the transition.


Oh and here's some Smarties for Vip

*gobbles Smarties*

Actually I was rather restrained and didn't actually eat any Smarties last night. By the time I was free to go downstairs and get them out of the cupboard, I didn't feel like them any more!

Ah, that's what makes this bunch so clever...Smarties.

Not at all like those 'chocolate-coated candies' NASA won't talk about, but throws around on the ISS.

One of these million years, I'm gonna have time to go to that Flea Market.

In the meantime, somebody PLEASE do the 'Smugness' one...please...you could be so snarky.......I love EG and snarky...

I've sent lists to the Eds TWICE before, although a while ago now, and it seems it's not a high priority. I liked the way they removed the navigation from the top of PR so if you don't know the forums exist you can't find them anymore. Oh I fib - one link to WW on the page (if anyone bothers to read it).

Thanks for making this point Mina - this sort of thing is exactly where we need to make improvements to any new systems. I'd like to see a really simplified and streamlined process, so that even newbies can understand where their Entries should go.


It seems like Flea Market has always seemed like a trash can then. I don't want it to be like this in the future. I'd like to see it as a temporary place for near-miss Entries, perhaps with the proviso that if they are not rescued after [x] amount of time, that they go back to their authors personal space anyway?

This might be a possibility, because occasionally a researcher will come across an Unedited Entry, on someone's personal space, about the same subject that they are currently writing about. They can incorporate the research from this Unedited Entry into their new one - giving the original researcher a credit - and take it into Peer Review that way.

Great idea, that.

Altogether, more 'help for newbies' is needed. Get people started writing, and don't make their first encounter with the community come in PR.

Sorry, that might be offtopic.

Thanks Dmitri! Not at all off-topic, well hardly much. I'm just collating all these observations at the moment so we can plan a clearer way into writing for everyone.

I foresee more A-pages...

"It seems like Flea Market has always seemed like a trash can then. I don't want it to be like this in the future. I'd like to see it as a temporary place for near-miss Entries, perhaps with the proviso that if they are not rescued after [x] amount of time, that they go back to their authors personal space anyway?"

That wasn't the idea initially - it was for Elvised Researchers, three months before they were moved, and only for entries that could be picked up and worked on without too much agro. Not for just rubbish.

I've rescued very old entries from there. Could have a look to see what ages I've picked up if you like, although I'd prefer to see them stay in there all the time, as long as there is a basic entry that can be worked on not just one paragraph.

It's full of *good* trash, but it's never been the project it *could* have been.

If someone has time, it would definitely be something that I would love to see picked up and loved. It's a great idea for those of us who are awful at coming up with ideas but enjoy taking something and making it better.

I've scavenged before now. My Death's Head entry was definitely a Flea Market save. I think the Firefly entry was too.

I did express an interest in an entry on the Beano, that was in the FM once. Someone else wanted to have a crack at it first though, so I left it alone. Must check if it's still there.


Geggs