Journal Entries
A hesitant return - something worth clarifying
Posted Apr 28, 2003
I should point out that, despite my rather vocal disdain for the Iraq guidelines, I don't put much if any blame on the majority of the hard-working <./>Team</.>. These guidelines, I'm sure, came from further up the chain of command at the BBC, and might not reflect the views of their on-site representatives--the Italics. In fact, this entry F124?thread=258542 from the journal of Jim Lynn gives a welcome picture of an Italic taking a dissenting position.
Given the appreciated work these folks do, I thought it was worth a quick follow-up entry to make this clarification.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Apr 28, 2003
A hesitant return
Posted Apr 28, 2003
After about a two month hiatus in posting, I'm once more returning to activity on this site--though hesitantly.
As alluded to in my previous entry, my volunteer position (as Guru) was my primary link to the site in the months before I was sacked. So, when I lost the position, I really lost my main reason for being at h2g2 and subsequently my user space was greatly scaled back.
As also referenced in the last journal entry, my participation with the site was similarly scaled back. I seriously contemplated leaving h2g2 indefinitely (if not permanently). Seeing as how my contributions to the site (especially outside of volunteer duties) were so few and far between, my leaving certainly would have not been any major loss for h2g2. And, my main benefit for staying at h2g2 (again, outside of volunteering) was the chance to participate in an interesting online community; this was, frankly, something I could do without--the loss for me would not be so great either. I, however, decided to postpone my final departure.
After returning from spring break, I had hoped to find more time to spend on h2g2, and planned to return to the site, having taken a refreshing break. I even contemplated reapplying for a Guru badge once I'd been active and online for a while.
Then I saw the Iraq guidelines.
I can't honestly claim that I didn't see it coming; the BBC had shut us up before when we were bombing Afghanistan. The real shocker for me was that the volunteers were being asked to police threads for any mention of Iraq (and, indeed in some cases, it did appear that even mentioning Iraq was cause to have a posting chucked into the nearest memory hole). As I was during the Afghanistan Conflict, I was very unhappy with these rules.
However, something about this about silencing seemed to irritate me more than the silencing during the Afghanistan conflict. Perhaps it was because these guidelines seemed to be more strictly enforced. Perhaps it was because the ACEs (those friendly greeters that helped Researchers find their way around the site) were told in their off-site forum that it was their responsibly to report mentions of Iraq to the moderators (my hat goes off to principled folks like Ste and GreyDesk who resigned their volunteer positions over this issue). Perhaps, too, it was that the debate over a war with Iraq was more contentious than the military action in Afghanistan.
In the interests of full disclosure, I readily admit that I don't participate much in such debates over military policy (censorship or no). I do, however, benefit a great deal from watching such debates take place between many of the intelligent Researchers--both supporting and opposing the war--here at h2g2. When that debate was disallowed on site, I--and many others--missed out on some intelligent and potentially enlightening discussions that could've helped us all better understand the issues brought up by military action; this was most unfortunate.
To return, if I may, from this rant and toward the subject of this journal entry, I found the Iraq guidelines to be most off-putting. My previous new-found motivation for being active with h2g2 was essentially lost, and I again didn't feel like being a real part of the site.
So months went by. I lurked, not posted. Armed conflict tapered off. The restrictions of discussion were lifted. I'm back. Either later today or tomorrow, I'll go through my message centre and respond to all those people who probably think I've ignored them (I find it more than puzzling that I've had more messages left for me in the past few months that I've been gone than in any period of time of similar length when I've been active 
). Then I'll start wading through the backlog to see who else I might've unintentionally ignored.
I really don't know where to go from here. I'm not making any promises on future participation. The jury's still out on whether I want to still be a part of h2g2 or move on. I could just as easily take off should 'Iran' or 'North Korea' become topics of silenced debate in the future.
But, for now at least, I've hesitantly returned. And--I suppose--that's something.
(I've just read through this [huge, my word processor tells me nearly 900 words--I'm now in that uncomfortable place where further postings will only diminish my average posting length 
] posting, and I really hope it doesn't come across as sounding too self-important. I realize that I'm but a minor drop in the bucket [and a relatively insignificant one, at that] of the greater h2g2 community. If this posting suggests otherwise, it is only because a Researcher's journal is essentially his/her own echo chamber, where anything posted will likely appear to be of inflated self-importance since it takes some measure of ego to assume that what one has posted will be worthy of anyone in the community's concern.)
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Apr 28, 2003
Jeff - Researcher
Posted Mar 7, 2003
Well, I've been sacked as a Guru (and not without some justification), so I currently hold no official volunteer positions 
. As such, I might not be around h2g2 as often as usual (while I usually only posted every few weeks, I generally visited the site daily). Accordingly, my page has been scaled back some.
Right now, though, I'm currently taking a break from studying for a physics and chemistry final. Looking forward to spring break in a few weeks. 
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Mar 7, 2003
Time Marches On: Looking Back Three Years
Posted Jan 20, 2003
Well, looking at my page, I just realized that my three year h2g2 anniversary happened a few days ago. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I hadn't realized I've even been online for three years.
Of course, I haven't been at h2g2 for three solid years. I only dropped in off-and-on throughout 2000. When I finally remembered that I'd signed up for this site, I returned only to find that Rupert had begun. Once that dark period was over with (in early 2001, if I remember correctly), I started visiting more regularly.
Upon the surprising death of our founder in May 2001, I felt motivated to give something back to the site; since we were being swamped with newbies who joining up after hearing of Douglas's passing away, I decided to sign up as an ACE. Months later, as I regained my familiarity with the site, I signed up to serve as a Guru as well.
By then, 2002 had rolled around and I was well into my first year away from home at college. Studies took a lot of time, but I still managed to periodically check back with the site. As the year carried on, I had less and less time to spend at h2g2, eventually culminating in a somewhat humourous set of two or three journal entries around late May/early June 2002 in which I claimed to return to h2g2 very soon, only to post subsequent entries every few days thereafter postponing my return.
Summer started soon after, and since it was to be the first real long vacation I'd had in years (as I was working the previous three summers), I thought it would be a great opportunity to be active on h2g2 again (and maybe even write some guide entries 
). However, I received a call from my former employer and agreed to go back to work for them. While initially hired to work for only about a week, I ended up working for over two months (I was however, receiving nearly twice the hourly wage I was receiving when working for my employer in the years before). Anyway, I really dropped off the h2g2 radar for that period.
In late 2002, work had ended at school had started. My inactivity over the past months had cost me my ACE badge (and probably nearly cost me my Guru badge as well). My abrupt change in academic focus meant increased workload, but I still tried to make it to h2g2 semi-regularly.
Now its 2003, and for some reason (probably to get my name toward the top of the longest posters list at <./>Info</.>, I'm looking back. Since I've heard the pre-Rupert backlog's been restored (with the change in the moderation scheme 
), I'll probably check through some of my threads from years past and see which Researchers I've rudely, albeit unintentionally, ignored. Some threads will likely be allowed to die quietly; I was a good deal more radically political years ago, and I cringe 
to think of what I might have been prattling on about so far in the past.
So, here's to another year at h2g2 
. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually write a guide entry or two during this one.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 20, 2003
Happy New Year
Posted Jan 12, 2003
Well, here's wishing a (belated) happy new year to the rest of the community (and, by community, I mean that very small portion of you that have happened across this page). I'm back at college now, and starting a new quarter. So, currently, I have more time to hang out here on h2g2.
Now, off to wade through the backlog! 
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 12, 2003
Back to Jeff - Lurker <lurk> - nostalgia overload!'s Personal Space Home
Jeff - Lurker <lurk> - nostalgia overload!
Researcher U109000
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."