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

Hi there..I stumbled across your page because I like to check out whose online and visit people. I'm practsing 'cos I'm going to be made an ACE soon, and part of their job is to go around and say Hi to new users. Since I'm not yet an ACE I won't do that yet I'll leave it someone else.....but if there is anything you want to ask about this wonderful place called h2g2 just reply to this message or visit me. It's that easy. I used to be fascinated by the Incas and Aztecs when I was much younger...just never really followed up on it though I've always wanted to visit I've never had the money...see you around

Hi androyd!
Nice to hear from you! How thrilling, somebody's reading my stuff...
Well, I don't have any immediate questions about h2g2, it seems to be a very nice place with lots of nice living creatures around. I have decided to try my hands on the GuideML now, looks rather simple. Or am I wrong with that?
Pity you didn't follow up on the Incas and Aztecs - but what are doing instead? And what will you be doing as an ACE except for welcoming people?
see ya!

P.S: Nice you also welcome deities (= me) on your page!

I don't really know what else it all entails - I'll let you know when I find out. Trying to work in GuideML gave me the confidence to tackle HTML and produce a website - it takes a little time and effort, trial and error, but it IS relatively simple. Go for it.
Can I ask if you've tried using the alternative Blue Goo skin? It's just that nearly all pages were designed to run on that and tend to look much better in it.

As for what I do - I am engaged in rewiring neural networks in ways which are required by society - other people call it teaching very young children age 3/4 years old.

I am actually using the BlueGoo skin because I like it more than the other one. And I've come up with a question about the GuideML: how do you do the thing with the coloured writing? I know that in HTML there are number codes for changing font colours. Is it the same here? Anywhere to look up the codes?
I did change my introduction slightly yesterday using GuideML and thought is was really easy. You have your own homepage? May I take a look at it? I am currently searching for some inspiration for my own homepage. I'm really keen on creating my own page now, the alternative being having to study for my courses at uni.....which I'll have to do anyway, but still.

So, you're trying to educate small children? Respect, I could never do that! I don't have the nerves and the patience.....

You can visit my junk shop at the H2G2 Space Centre. Also I do have a website but I did it for my friends who have a band: [Broken link removed by Moderator]
The email address there will get to me.
Here's how I've done colours: deities, myths and legendary researchers So you see that you can either specify a colour or just try out a code and see what happens. I believe there are sites on the web which list all possible colours but it's basically just a red green blue colour mix each digit represents either a colour or a strength value. I played around by setting everything to zero and then working out what was going on. Much more fun than looking at a list!! The GuideML information on the guide has links to a colours page I believe. Does your name stand for anything mythical?

Thanks for the hint on the colours! I'll give it a try sometime soon, next time I'm sitting here fit and fighting and not absolutely tired because it happens to be some time in the middle of the night....
You're doing quite a lot at H2G2, aren't you? The page you did for your friends is quite nice. And your real name is Andy, I presume? Do you actually play any music yourself? I've tried to play one or two instruments, but I'm absolutely hopeless at it and really untalented.....

Ixchel actually is the Mayan goddess of the moon. The name translates into Woman Rainbow as far as I know. Don't ask me why I still keep that name on, I'm not really into the Mayas anymore...

I can drum a bit though I've let it lapse recently and I can strum a guitar well enough to impress the hell out of little children.

Mayan Goddess of the Moon sounds pretty impressive, but I want to know why you don't like the Mayans anymore. In fact I'd like to know more about all those ancient peoples - are you going to do any guide entries? Tell me more.......

~Greebo stumbles in... falls over and hits her nose~

Ouch!!!

~Greebo climbs to her feet and grins... whilst rubbing slightly red nose~

Hi there... just thought me would drop in... er... well stumble in at least... how are we today????

Yes, I am actually intending to write guide entries about some of those ancient cultures in America. But it might still be a while, I'm rather busy at the moment. Are you interested in any particular culture?
Well, why don't I like the Mayas anymore..? I don't really know, I somehow just simply drifted to Southamerican cultures during my studies. But having said that I have to admit I don't really like the Incas either. I think they are somewhat overestimated as a culture. Just because they happened to be the ones run over by the Spaniards the Inca are remembered as THE culture of the Andean region and attributed so much. And people forget about there were cultures before which thrived as much and invented most of the things the Inca later took on.
I don't know if that has made it any clearer to you. There are certain things I could go on about for quite a while but perhaps I'd bore you with that. Just let me know.....

I'm sure you could impress the hell out of me as well with your playing the guitar! How many children do you normally entertain with your music? Has working with little children always been the thing you dreamt of?

Well I do actually want to know about these cultures so go ahead and I'll let you know when I'm getting bored...I'll reply like this: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!
I'm even more fascinated there were older cultures than the Incas. Listen this is what I have learnt - The origianl inhabitants of the whole of the Americas were believed to have migrated over the siberian/alaskan land bridge and made their way south where they became North American Indians, Aztecs etc etc. That's about it.. I've picked up bits a pieces but I'm not clear on trhe differences between Aztecs, Incas and Mayans. If you tell me there are earlier cultures then I really want to know about them.
I actually decided I would never teach since both my parents were teachers but I didn't know what I did want so I had a great time and tried to become a full-time musician. After a few years I knew I had to get out of that life-style or suffer permanent damage of one sort or another....after a few more years I found out that I had a real affinity with young children and was drawn kicking and screaming into the one profession I'd promised myself I wouldn't touch. How my parents laughed at that one
Every Friday I play for the whole nursery, that's 90 children in the morning and a different 90 in the afternoon...how many of those I entertain I don't know, but they don't usually cry too much

oh, how sweet, a little cat!!! !!!!!
Have you hurt yourself?!? I'm sorry! Would you feel better if I gave you some milk? Sorry, don't have any doughnuts at the moment but I promise I'll get some for your next visit!

I'm quite fine, thanks. Always feel fine when a cat comes round to visit me. How are you (apart from your nose)? And so you are an official ACE? Nice to meet you!

So you think there may be hope even for me and that one day I might get on with children?!? because I said to myself the one thing I never want to be is a teacher! But it's rather because I know what horrible things we did to our teachers and I don't want to have to endure that..... But I have to admit teaching at university appeals to me more and more the longer I study - would't that be great, torturing innocent students and seeing them suffer just like I am suffering now.... he he he....
What kind of music do you actually play?

Well, I have to tell you that I'm really glad you've heard the Indians migrated to the Americas from Asia. Some people believe they came from outer space.... which would of course fit perfectly well in the context of this guide!
But still, yes, the first 'Americans' came from Asia via the Bering Strait. That was until around 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age (during which there was no water between Siberia and Alaska). From there on they began to settle all over this new territory. Within 2,000 years they migrated from North America all the way down to the last tip of South America. And because of different environments they started to develop different kinds of cultures. At first they were all hunterers and gatherers. But in some areas people (for one reason or another) developed agriculture and began to settle down.
The first civilization with stone monuments appeared at around 1200 or 1000 B.C. in what is today Mexico. They are now called Olmecs and the most striking thing about them is they put huge stone heads everywhere they lived (looking something like this: ). (There are also some interesting theories they might have been influenced by the Chinese....)
The Olmecs disappeared by around 400 B.C. and were followed by several other civilizations in central Mexico. At around that time the first Maya also appeared on the Yucatán peninsula (eastern Mexico). The Maya stayed on until 900 or so when they (better: their architecture) more or less suddenly vanished. The Maya apart from building pyramids also developed a writing system you might have heard of or seen. They also had a calender which seems to have been in use all over Mesoamerica (= Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and some other countries).
Back in central Mexico from about 900 to 1200 the Toltecs were the main power. Then the first Aztecs moved to that area from somewhere north. They were the last major civilization in that part of the world and were defeated by the Spanish in 1521.

Are you snoring already? But I still haven't mentioned the South American cultures! Let me get to them quickly (for the sake of completeness....)

The major civilizations in South America all developed along the west coast of the continent and in the Andes. (even though recently archaeologist seem to have found evidence for large settlements along the mouth of the Amazon river...) The first larger buildings are dated to 1800 B.C. and they are said to be a ceremonial centre in use for some centuries. At around 900 B.C. another ceremonial centre develops at Chavín de Huántar and this one lasts till around 300 B.C. At that time at Paracas people bury their deceased in very colourful cloths - which you can still dig out of the desert there. (don't do it though without permission from the government, they don't react very kindly....)
100 B.C. sees the advent of two more cultures, one are the Moche in northern Peru (who last for circa 1000 years), the other is at Nazca in southern Peru. You might have heard of the mysterious lines they have found in the desert of Nazca.... After Moche the Chimú civilization developed in that same area and reached its height at about 1450. And then at perhaps 1200 the first Inca appeared and started to conquer the peoples of the Andes until they were themselves conquered by the Spanish at around 1530.

Now I really hear you screaming: enough! Okay, I'll stop now! (and that was only a very short summary.... ) Hm, perhaps I should copy that and make my first 'real' guide entry out of it......

~grin~... no me not hurt really... and yes me is... one of those mythical official ACE's... hmmm... not that we are all like me... me likes to think that me one of a kind... but fi you do have an troubles or questions... me can prolly help you out with them... or at least find someone who can... ~grin~

Thanks for the offer of a doughnut... me does love them so... ~Greebo sighs wistfully~

Me thinks that you have the makings of a great guide entry... please do write it... you write well... and its easy to read... ~grin~... in fact you are just the sort of writer me loves... ~huggle~

I absolutely think that that is a really nice summary and a really top notch guide entry. I'll check the search engine to make sure there isn't aanything else along those lines. I'm definitely not snoring. I always thought the Aztecs were a culture dating back 1000's of years. I've always felt drawn to the civilisations of the Peruvian Andes. Can you tell me more about the Peruvian cultures pre-Aztec. Is much known of them? Who are your favourites and why? I wasn't joking when I said I was really interested?
As far as teaching goes, I think all decent teachers have a particular age group they feel more affinity with. I could never concieve of teaching outside of my age range yet others say they are frightened by nursery age children as they are so vulnerable (Ha! up to a point!!)If you generally get on with say first year students more than say teeenagers then go for university lecturing. I must say I also get on well with student teachers and could conceivably become a university lecturer but nothing in between for me. But please don't become a teacher because you can't think of anything else to do - there are too many of them already.