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

Hi!

I just saw your post in the 'A call for ACEs' thread and saw that you are new at h2g2.

How are you? What do you think about h2g2 so far?

*stealth es Tav*

*waves at man*

hi Vip

Hello Tavaron,

I read something of yours very recently which favourably impressed me enough to make me nip over and have a look at your PS which I remember liking also even if I can't quite remember why at the moment. Likewise I can't remember what your piece was about but it'll come to me.

My first brush with h2g2 was some years ago during which I lurked but then was sans PC for a couple of years. I think h2g2 is a valuable enterprise. I know that sounds like a very staid statement, especially about activity as fun as hootoo....

Ah, yes, it was "Site Structure 2" which document popped up on my Google page. Lots of work. Many hours. Nicely executed.

Got a new pooter earlier this year and would like to join in, make a contribution and what with h2g2c2 etc now seems a better time than most, even if I'm not eligible or required to participate in the c2 part.

M a n

*waves back at Vip*

Thanks a lot. It's good to hear opinions from people who are not long time regular users of h2g2.

You seem to have read a lot about our current situation already. Is there maybe any advice you could give us on the matter of making things easier for new users and getting them to participate?

"on the matter of making things easier for new users and getting them to participate"

Advice? No, but I have had some thoughts. The place is a bit like a fairground. One arrives, sees everyone taking part in just about every conceivable activity but is completely unable to get on anything until it stops....

I'll give it some more thought. This kind of thing takes me a while.

M a n

thanks, please think about it

What exactly do you mean with 'One arrives, sees everyone taking part in just about every conceivable activity but is completely unable to get on anything until it stops....' ?

'One arrives, sees everyone taking part in just about every conceivable activity but is completely unable to get on anything until it stops....'

Just referring to the fact that one cannot cannot get on a merry-go-round or a Ferris wheel or a big dipper, or any other ride at a fairground, while it is in motion. One must wait for it to stop.

But such an analogy can take us only so far, especially in the present context because hootoo is such an unusual environment.

Thinking cap well and truly 'on'

M a n

What made you join h2g2? I think you were lurking for a while before you did?

(sorry, tell me if I'm asking too many questions )

No, you're fine.

This one's easy to answer anyway! Someone asked a question on one of the Learning English boards the BBC operates as part of their online effort. It sat unanswered for ages so I registered with the intention of answering but while I was doing that, wouldn't you know it, someone else did it for me.

Then I carried on poking around here and before you can say Jack Robinson I'm involved!

M a n

We were obviously lucky, that you found us!

I myself found h2g2 on a page about the film, can't remember if it was the official homepage. I spent ages with lurking before I joined.

We too were obviously lucky, that you found us!
I saw the film for the first time only recently. Quite enjoyed and thought it well done. Reckon DNA would've been pleased. Probably pleased to have the royalties, too!

Struggled and finally gave up on the books when they were published but at that point in life I was simply unable to find time for much that wasn't work. Shame, really.

"Lurking" always conjures up for me pictures of some peeping Tom. We need a word for "sitting observing from a comfortable seat in the stand".

M a n

Oh, you should try reading the books when you have time.

The first time I tried reading them was when I was 14, I didn't really understand them and thought they are stupid. About 2 years later I loved them.

Just out of interest, did you read them in English or in German, Tav? I just wonder how the humour translates, that all.

When I first read it it was German, I got all parts in German. I think I was 17 when when I read it in English for the first time.
I think DNA translates quite well, while Terry Pratchett on the other hand can't really be read in German because it looses too much.

... got all the Hitchhiker books in English too of course.

I guess although Arthur is very English, he is so stereotypically English that it translates OK.

Hang on, you were fluent enough in English to read it by the time you were 17? *shakes head* I feel my language education was raher inadequate... by 16 I could pass an exam but I would have found it vey hard to read a book without a large dictionary and a *lot* of patience.

Yes, and the jokes are not heavily dependent on language.

I was, yes. My teacher was also surprised because he was rather convinced that I'd never learn proper English. I also read the Lord of the Rings in English at that age, I had read it in German when I was 13.

Mind you, my situation in French was very different. In the last year at school there was a quiet agreement between my French teacher and me: I would be quiet and draw pictures and he would never ask me any questions, but I had to show the pictures at the end of the lesson.