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

Its been a while since I've used H2g2, and one of the reasons I returned was to make a suggestion. I see pages that used to allow this are now dormant. So my question is, is it still possible to make suggestions for the development of H2G2?

Just a side note: deleted was my username until I changed it. This thread has not been deleted.

I suppose you could go to the Feedback pages and make suggestions, but don't expect anything to happen.

A few years ago, the Powers That Be actively discouraged bug reports as they were so understaffed and overwhelmed. Now I believe the one or two left, all volunteers, are solely focused on simply keeping the place in stasis, at a nominally functioning level. There's just no paid staff or resources for implementing all the great plans they had for this place after it was sold from the BBC. (I got a preview of a Steampunk skin from Pastey at the 2014 Meetup. It looked great.)

I'm not saying don't make suggestions, just saying don't set your expectations too high.

Low expectations, eh?

Perfect match for a Coronavirus world.

Thanks for the info Baron. I was going to suggest that a YouTube channel could be set up using entries as content. It could prove to be a lucrative undertaking, especially as the site always seemed to be in need of funds. Clearly however there isn't the means, manpower or maybe motivation for this to get off the ground.

Hi Lusus

Thanks for the suggestion. We do have a YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUUTSumIRyuI3O-bcFQpWvQ that has Entries as content.

Could you help us to do more with that?

I just SHMASHED the subscribe button.

Is shmashed the same as smashed?

Hi Mr/Ms H2G2 Editor. I'd be more than willing to help out, but I think you'd need a smallish number of people to work on the channel.

To offer a little constructive criticism of the videos already uploaded, I'd have to say the sound quality needs to be worked on. I have other suggestions but if there are other people willing to help out we could discuss it further.

It’s Dr, actually

Fair criticism of my videos, yes - I used a dictaphone thingy, which didn’t give the best sound. I have been using the video function of my camera more recently, and I think that is better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywNt_8ozvEU

I’d be willing to do more work on this, as I think it is a great idea to make h2g2 Entries more multimedia and to make more of the tools of YouTube.

Paulh, "shmash" is how at least one YouTuber says it. "Shmash that like button and if you want to see more, shumash that subscribe button."

At least that's the way I hear her say it.

I don't know exactly why I started following a YouTube channel that does mostly style videos, but I did.

Here's the end of one of her videos. http://youtu.be/Fr-qagv7ig0?t=1591

Watch the whole thing if you want to check out a strange vending machines in Japan.

Thats very encouraging to know Sasha . Sorry if I seemed to be critical of your videos, it really wasn't meant in a negative way.

I guess some official consent from whoever makes decisions is whats needed. I think however if this is going to get off the ground we'll need the following team:

~Someone to adapt entries for videos
~Some one to take care of graphics
~Video editor
~Narrator

This is just my thoughts though, and I'm aware I'm coming at this as a relative outsider.

And also, I love the Brahms Hungarian Dance No 5 with a Disco Beat

No problem at all - it is fair criticism, as I was very much learning as I went along with the videos I made... I've had more practice since then - glad you liked my Brahms Video

Yes, I did all those tasks - I used my own Entries, so I was able to adapt them, I used my photos to create the graphics, I used my video editor to put it all together, and then I did the narration, such as it is

The YouTube Channel was set up by the h2g2 Core Team and I was tasked with working on it, so your thoughts are much appreciated - keep going

I'll be in touch asap with a full response. I hope thats OK.

Thanks for Shmashing that Subscribe button BG

I've done some updates to the channel today

Sorry its taken me so long to reply, I became a little snowed under with things. Below is a link to a video I made that gives an indication of what I think might be possible for H2G2 videos.

https://streamable.com/c3gez9

I spent at least some of the last three weeks since I posted here looking at ways that members of the H2G2 community could get involved with making videos. Some software and methods were tried and rejected, until I arrived at what can be seen in the video.

To save myself time I used royalty free vectors and other images that I edited (and in places animated) to create a style that I hope is reminiscent of the Hitchhikers Guide.

The narrating is done by Google voice to text, which slows down the video a bit, but then, its just a rough draft of what I feel may be possible with a YouTube Channel based around H2G2 entries.

See what you think