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

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,( go here for more info : A53209 ) 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 <./>ThePost</.>, hootoo's very own newspaper!

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

eh? who are you? what are you!? what am I doing here and where's my towel!!? And why does the menu keep changing colours!!!?

ACE? *clicks on link* oh ACE, so you're like my Guide then?

by the way, belated HI!

Yes, I know, this reply is on the later side of very very late. But I didn't know there was a reply to be made. I originally joined the Guide for sentimental reasons really. I would have been a much more active researcher but I sort of got stranded in the tedium of Life the Universe and some of the stickier bits of Everything. It is possible I may be back here with a purpose. Possibly...

anyway, how do you do?

Hi, nice of you to say hello.

Replying to anything here is optional, but I'm pleased you did reply.

Just wait until you've been on here more often, then you'll see just how sticky h2g2 is.

I'm not quite sure which menu you are talking about?

The default skin is brunel, which is what your page should show in - unless you've changed your settings.

The Front Page changes its colour every day, and I've changed the colour on my PS to a different colour than the default green (as have many other researchers) - is that what you mean? You can do that with your page, too, if you want. Just let me know if you need help.

Have a good day.

Bel

Oh I had to reply. I mean I disappeared for... I'm not sure how long. I was somewhat surprised to find a nice message waiting for me when I so improbably returned here.

About the theme, as said above, I haven't been around here in a very long time. It was just that the colour scheme switched from red to green from one page to another. I mean it's kinda hard to follow the advice on the cover when you are being assuaged by such brash variations in contrast. but .. that could just be me. I've been a bit weird...

Still, I think I might like it here.

and you have a nice day/morning/evening/night too depending on time zone and/or temporal anomalies.

I'm in Europe, Germany, to be precise, so it's evening for me now.

Sorry that the various colour schemes confuse you, I guess it's something only newbies notice. I'm not quite sure, but I think you can avoid that by changing your settings. Click on 'My preferences', then click on 'Skin' and change to either 'Alabaster' or 'Classic GOO' (shudder), then click on 'Update Details' and Bingo. Your skin has changed to either a bright white, or a horrible Goo-blue, and the frame colour will stay the same no matter wich page you click on.

If you click on my name, it will bring you to my PS.

Near the top of the page, I have a few links saying:

This site looks best in Brunel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here to view in Plain Text
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here to see in GOO (not recommendet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And finally, click here to view in Alabaster

click on any of the links and have a look which skin you may like, then change your settings accordingly.

Bel

oh, um... ah.. Well, about the whole theme thing, it was a bit of a joke. you didn't really have to type all that. sorry.

I've been reading the <./>DontPanic-FAQ</.> section so I think I'll be OK as far as the interface goes.

thanks for your help. I'll be sure to come pester you again if I have any other question. You can perter me back as often as you like too.

That sounds like a deal then.

And don't worry, I didn't type all of the above - I copied and pasted the last bit, which is why it looks so odd.

Plus, that's what we aces are here for: we're here to help if possible, and a newbie coming back to the welcome message makes it all worthwhile.

I really love the volunteer jobs I'm doing here. I would stop doing them zthe moment I wouldn't enjoy them anymore.

Oh, and going by the times of your postings, I guess you're either far to the east or far to the west of Europe? Or just somebody working shifts?

(Remember: replying is optional.)


Bel

oh I see. But you still went through all the motions of copy pasting, CtrlCCtrlV'ing or mouse movements(right)clicking which involves stressful flexing of the upper arms. I've put you at risk of repetitive stress injuries. I am terribly apologetic.

And I'm not quite as newbie as that. Well, I may be fairly new here. but you could say I've been around much of elsewhere.

actually I have a question. How do you reply so fast? Is there a setting somewhere to get email notifications of replies to conversations and journal entries?

And speaking of volunteer job. Okay maybe not quite volunteer. I wouldn't mind if I was offered some remuneration. but anyway, is there any post vacant or being offered to fix h2g2 a bit? I mean it looks like an awesome community. but looks like the site could use some healing. fix quirky GuideML, add features like uploading images. or at least linking external ones. Clip art stopped being your best friend since everybody upgraded from 8-bit colour display. And the ghastly limited choice of themes and how they seem to add/disable useful site features when switching between them. I won't say I'm an absolute expert but I know about as much as the next computer geek. Probably more really...(I know, I could just go ask the bbc folks directly. but its sometimes better to know the probable answer to a question before asking those who might know the actual answer) And I know this is a strange question to ask you but a possibility is always a possibility.

And I exist a little bit east and a bit further south to your location. in Mauritius. Small Island. South. The posting times are not very relevant since my time scale is seriously distorted at worse and only strenuously non-linear at best.

(ah, but I must reply. I would be rather rude of me not to. at least I think it would be rude. Is so far as there is even a reason to reply.)

post scriptum: my english may sound a bit overworked most of the time. I hope it's not too much of a problem.

Hi.

I've just had a look, and Mauritius is only two hours ahead in time (from Germany), which isn't all that much, really.

>>repetitive stress injuries<<



It shows that you have no idea. It's just so nice if newbie comes back to my welcome message (even if it's not a newbie after all). I'll always try to reply to any questions made. If I wasn't prepared to do this, I'd be in the wrong place for an ace.
I'm an extrovert person, so being an ace suits me fine as it means I get to talk to people from all over the world - at least until they get bored with me and move on, or leave the site, or whatever.

>>How do you reply so fast? Is there a setting somewhere to get email notifications of replies to conversations and journal entries?<<

If you call a reply a good five hours later 'fast', then yes, it probably is.

There is nothing to alert you to replies. I'd love to have a sound alerting me to a reply, or a friend coming online (the way you can set it on MSN and Skype), but alas, you just have to refresh your page ever so often to see if there has been an answer.
No emails, either (like on facebook, for example), but then I'm not sure I'd want my inbox to be flooded with email notifications of replies - but that's probably just me.

>>fix quirky GuideML, add features like uploading images. or at least linking external ones. <<

I agree, it would be nice if we could upload images, but alas, we can't. h2g2 is not on the BBC's list of priorites, which means we hardly ever get money for new developments.
However, you can put a link to an external site.
If you post it to a conversation, remember to put the complete url, or else it won't work. Same goes for your PS if you are in Plain Text.
If you switch to Guide ML, you can link a word within your text to an external link. You can even link from a picture on a page.

Go here A19789311 and click on the photo of the Beverly Sisters, then you'll see what I mean.

As for the features not being available in all skins: from what I understand, this is again lack of money. New features are developed for Brunel, because this is the default skin. The users of the other skins often complain about the fact that their skins are left out. I think Jim Lynn does all that is possible (Jim Lynn is the nice techie guy who does most of the development for - and fixing of the site).

>>my english may sound a bit overworked most of the time<<

I haven't realised anything like that. In fact, somebody talking in proper English makes a nice change from some of the posts you'll find onsite. (Not that I'm a language snob, me. )

ooh, I'm not going to get bored. I'll try very hard not to bore you or scare you away either.

and, well, actually about the notifications, I've found a little hack. there's the "My Conversations" link on the left menu in Brunel it pops a self refreshing window which display your updated conversations. Self-refreshing as in; it's content is updated automatically every 2 minutes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/Brunel/MP230913?skip=0&show=25&s_type=pop

this one is your subscribed conversations. Cunningly sorted by last active.

you can change the "show" variable to limit the maximum shown on the page. for example replacing it with "show=42" would show the last 42 most recently updated conversations. Very nifty programming style. allows the user who know what they are looking at to manoeuvre their way around. Clever man, Mr Jim is. (except this could be dangerous if the user had malicious intentions, but this is the Guide. and one does not wish ill to the Guide.)

and this one is mine

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/Brunel/MP10063232?skip=0&show=25&s_type=pop

so if you were, say for the sake of argument, and absolute hgttg fanatic, you'd set that page as the background of your desktop and be up to date with every development in your(or anybody else's on h2g2) subscribed conversations. Can be done on windows, very probably on a mac. It's not terribly practial though. Could explore using RSS feeds and such. But that bit seems to be under BBC control not h2g2. but that's all technical and I said I won't bore you.

But it is possible you already knew all that...

For the images, just after I made I last reply I realised that is was in fact a very clever move to reduce the amount of stuff to be moderated and any copyright issues. Since the users can't upload new pictures, aside form the obvious amount of disk space it saves, it means editors don't have to moderate picture if they get yikes! over offensive material. Copyright because who knows from where the user (probably without ill intent) will link the image from. Could be a liability for the BBC.

I also saw your "other page". I was like "Holy Zarquon Singing Dingo's Kidneys with Little Umbrellas on Top!! That's bloody brilliant!". Really clever way to circumvent an imposed limitation. Fake images. I won't say I could never have thought of that. I probably would given the time. Your custom smileys are made the same way right? Too bad larger images will crash firefox. and the amount of text can take its toll on the h2g2 database if it were common practice.

ohah, seems I've been ranting a bit long here.

About the money to get things done, to tell you the truth I was prepared to offer help for free(hence volunteer). And in fact it doesn't cost much. we are after all in the age of open source. I figure that the software that powers the website is probably open source too. Possibly Perl or something. It's mostly about having free time and the will to do stuff. When you are given something nice for free you don't hesitate to give back something nice at the same price, i.e. none at all(Although, I admit it would be sweet if I could actually add to my credentials "Worked for the Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy"). I'll probably research a bit more before going to annoy Mr Lynn. Wouldn't want to sound like an overconfident newb, fresh off the boat, trying to tell him how to do his job.

If memory serves me right your PS said 'not harmless at all' right from day one, and it didn't scare me away. On the contrary, I was rather intrigued by it.

I hardly ever use the *My Conversations' pop up, if I am doing other things, I have my PS open in a second window and refresh it whenever I remember it.

I wouldn't like to have the conversation pop-up as my wallpaper, but I have my PS linked to my desktop.

For the more curious people there is always the <./>info?cmd=conv</.> page, showing the 'Twenty Most Recently Updated Conversations'. Like in your example, this can be extended to show up to 100 conversations. I think that is the maximum, though.

Many people on here seem to have that list as their wallpaper, they are keen ers.

I haven't a clue about RSS feeds - I never understood quite how it works, and so far, I never had the impression that I needed it. However, you have the possibility to get RSS Feeds for h2g2: A710100

As for linking to external websites: we're still subject to the house rules if we do, so e.g. purely commercial sites are a no-no, as are pornographic sites and so on. However, the moderators can't check every link, so you may well find a few somewhere which have 'fallen through the net' of the moderate moderation system.

As for the photo code and the smiley code on my other page: I guess they're the same sort of coding, not really meant for this site, hence the long loading time for the page. Friends were so nice to give me the codes, I could never do anything like that myself.
But then that is what this site is all about: the sharing of information, knowledge, experiences.
Everything on here is there for everybody to make good use of.

I have no idea which programming language is the base of this site. From what I know, it was developed especially for h2g2, and the BBC bought the site purely in order to make use of the programming for its other DNA sites (i.e. the DNA message boards).

I'm sure there will be others who can explain this far better than me if you are interested.
(Note t ing TiT: this is NOT your prompt )

>>(Note t lurk ing TiT: this is NOT your prompt tongueincheek )<<

eh?

*frowns*

*wonders*

*ponders*

*reads it a few times*

*gives up*

um.. what do you mean by that?

The interconnectedness of all things suggested "TiT" to be Teens in Transit. But I thinking you may have meant "Tip". Except I'm not sure I get it...

I also wanted to ask what you exactly did you mean by "replying is optional" in one of your earlier reply. I may have misinterpreted it.

And yes, the not harmless bit is true. There are relatively few things in the Universe but there are some terrible things which you can come across in improbable ways. When one considers Everything, i.e. the Total Perspective approach, one needs to consider it as Everything and not a mean of Everything. The average of Everything being of course nothing at all.

Still I better add some foot notes to my personal space.

Oh, TiT is short for Traveller in Time - a hootoo veteran, <./>guru</.>, online 24/365 and lurking all conversations, especially Ace welcomes for potential questions of a more technical nature.
I've had him drop in occasionally, although I prefer to send my newbies over to his space, or I've been known to go and ask him myself.

I think a third, unknown person dropping into any conversation is somewhat disruptive and confuses newbies unnecessarily - but maybe that's just me.

The nature of h2g2 is that every conversation, every post made, every word written is accessible for everybody, and in theory, it is 'fair game' to join any conversation you like. In praxis, however, it is against the unwritten laws and Netiquette of the site.

so are gurus.

I wouldn't mind someone else barging into this conversation. In fact it would make me feels less "alone".

Uptil now, all my writing on h2g2 has been limited to my Personal Space with you. THe rest of my time here has gone into lurking.

Are you familiar with the idiom: "Lurk More." and even "And once you've lurked more, lurk some more!" or "even when you thought you've lurked more, lurk more!!" also "what do you think you're doing with your mouse pointer over that post button?? LURK MOAR GODDAMIT!!"

if you don't, you sons might.

I have been VERY tempted to barge into several old conversations to point how wrong they've all got it.

by the way what is the netiquette for replying to very old threads(last reply over 6 months old)? Necroposting as its called. It's not really mentioned in the A901838

Must I assume there there's nothing against it?

On some of the forums I administrate, I very expeditious against trolls which post in old threads to say something stupid. Permanent ban, that sort of thing. But if it's to add something new and possibly innovating, it can't be seen as wrong, right?

>>In fact it would make me feels less "alone".<<

Well, there's nothing stopping you to get to know more people. Your Ace's journals (i.e. mine) could be a good starting point. You can find my latest journal here:

F127730?thread=5352081

I'm not familiar with the 'lurk more' mantra. I'm not much of a lurker, but then I'm usually too busy to find the time for lurking anyway. Apart from that, I've found there's not really much worth lurking. If I like what I read, I will post at some point. If I don't like what I read, or don't find it interesting, I'll just unsubscribe.

My sons don't lurk here, it's the wrong language for them.

>>by the way what is the netiquette for replying to very old threads(last reply over 6 months old)? Necroposting as its called.<<

I like the term Necroposting.
Seems to sum it up nicely. I remember I posted to some very old conversations when I was new, I never noticed just how old they were. I didn't get many replies, people tend to unsubscribe after a while of no new posts. Unfortunately, it's what happens a lot: newbies signing up here to comment on an entry they've found, and the author of said entry having left the site years ago. It's a pity when that happens, and if I come across such posts while aceing, I either post a reply myself, or post to EF - depending on the comment.

In other words: it's fine to 'necropost', but don't expect to get a reply.

from necromancers bringing back the dead and necroposters bring back dead threads.

I think I actually coined the term necroposting.
or possibly re-coined it.

It's one of those things like the cat flap or the matchbox metaphor. Really obvious stuff that gets reinvented all the time by almost everybody. or at least they'd just consider how convenient it would be to invent it but not do much about it.

I mean why would you make a hole in a perfectly serviceable door just to let a household animal go in and out as it pleases? let the bugger use an open window.

Did you know that the ancient Egyptians invented the first cat flap in their pyramids?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38259000/gif/_38259791_pyramid_update2_info300.gif

note the northern and southern shafts. too small for a human to enter through. but just the right size for cats.

Of course it was only a prototype design. the openings were placed midway up the pyramid's sides.

(this is actually a serious theory of mine. Please credit me if you intend to mention it to an archaeologist. I mean. Seriously. (this applies to you BBC folks who want to reuse things in the guide for your other purposes as well.)there is a joke bit in it here. but still.)

I'm not a cat person, and I don't think I'd have such a cat-flap in my front or back door (well, not that I own a house anyway).

Funny interpretation of the outlets in the pyramids - although I don't think you're right, I know that the Egyptians adored cats - didn't they even have a cat-goddess?

I just googled it, it's Bastet.

http://baaks.net/img/katzenmutter_bastet_06_02_2.jpg

Did you know that the Egypts had cat cemeteries and mummyfied their cats from about 1,000 BC on?

And there's even a cameo appearance by benji mouse at her feet. Froody or what?

I am actually a very cat'ish being. I've had at least one cat around ever since... well probably since the species evolved into the common tabby variety.

The Egyptians also had the first pokemons. I think.

Pokemons? We used to have a Pikachu (or whatever the name is). My son bought it at a fun fair. It's quite large.

Well, a lurking TRiG hasn't been warned off ...

I'm sure I read somewhere that the dna program, which runs h2g2 and plenty of other BBC communities (<./>/dna/hub/communities</.&gt, is written in Perl. It's certainly very clever.

There are a lot of things this site doesn't do, but the things it does do, it does better than a lot of flashier places. I, for one, love the interface. It's tidy. And clean. I like that.

TRiG.

(Do you know any PHP, by any chance?)