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

I wonder what happened to arietty? Did you say something? *tries to look cross and ends up just looking crazy*

No idea. I vaguely recall having seen the name somewhere, sometime before. So to see him/her twice in one setting kinda surprised me. A friend of yours from earlier days, perhaps?

*stifling a giggle at the semi-crazy look*

I believe we've interacted before.. I've turned into a real slacker these days..

I seem to be going through a lull as well. I look in during my work-day, to see from the INFO page what is happening, particularly in a couple of Forum threads. But really find little inclination to sign-in or post more than once every day or two. Maybe the season, or maybe the 'gloss' is finally fading for me.

Still, I expect to be here for quite some time. Some very good friends are only to be found through this medium.

I only really check it in the evenings after work.. many of the people who I spent time with are no longer around the site, but a few still are. I try to keep up with some of my ACEly duties though.

I've never had enough available time to go the ACE route. But about a year or so ago, when they sought new Scouts, I joined in. I think I was perhaps the first of a "new wave", in fact. But once 'inside', and seeing the existing and the new folks involved, I politely resigned. I am obliged to work and co-operate with any number of folks that I find distasteful, that I'd never invite into my home for a coffee. But I figured that with a voluntary organisation, I could follow my own preferences and ethics.

Volunteering can often be every bit as frustrating as a job, if not more so. Only the pay sucks.. but the fact is I love hootoo and what it was created for so even though I don't have any problems with the others I volunteer with, if I did I doubt it would chase me away.

Hmmm, such a number of thoughts that come to mind, ... And how to
express them without risk of misunderstanding?

Firstly, over the years milady and I have been quite involved in
volunteerism. Community oriented and supportive agencies, youth
organizations, social entities of the various communities we have lived
in. As you would expect, we also did not always see eye-to-eye with
everyone that we worked with. But in each case, we had a strong will to
make a success of what-ever we were involved in. And so just found a
way to get on with it, despite personalities.

I don't personally see h2g2 as something that I am so involved with.
Certainly, Mr Adams had a wonderful and worthy notion that inspired it's
entire creation. And from the threads and Peer Review, it's obvious
that some of the more prolific writers have similar goals and dreams.
In the way that they try to ensure that their view of how the Edited
Guide "should be", is adhered to. Sometimes to a very sharp and
critical point, which can be somewhat off-putting.

I am not a writer, nor do I share 'the dream'. I find the Guide to be a
wonderful source of interesting reading, via the PR submissions and the
Infinite Improbability Drive. But should it go off-line for an extended
time-frame, say due to technical difficulties, I would not be terribly
bothered.

There are certainly quite a variety of 'communities' across the site as
well. Some folks enjoying the diversity of it as a sort of
'after-hours' club, shared with like-spirited folks from around the
world. Others have become so addicted or bound to it, as their link to
the rest of the world ... in some cases, it IS their entire world. I
have a fairly full real world, and so again if the site dropped for an
extended time, I'd not be overly distressed. I'd certainly miss the
chats with distant friends, but most of the tighter ones can be found by
e-mails or by voice.

So, boiled down, I really do like the site for a lot of its aspects.
But I don't have the same attachment to it and it's purpose as yourself,
and a goodly number of other folks I have met through it.

Whoops, apparently "word-wrap" carries over.

*recites, ... 'preview is your friend, ... preview is your friend'*

*giggle*

One of the best things about hootoo is the diversity. PR isn't my cup of tea either.. while I love to write, I seldom have the time to research and write articles for The Guide. I do like some of the communities it has built up though. Some now gone that I miss terribly as well.

For a time, under my first (and very false) personna, I was "in" with the United Friends. But with changing duties, and reality, I moved to the more real "me". And with a bit of after-thought, realized that that particular group wasn't for me. There are a number of adjectives that I could try for, but in briefest ... just not 'me'. I find a measure of comfort and fit in Lil's Atelier though. Reality, personal, more of what I feel a community to be. So I loiter there, posting as and when.

But to be honest, I have never been a part of any crowd, fully. Often welcome in many, but never really one OF them. The nerds, the jocks, the middle-of-the-road crowd, ... Always that one degree of "not quite-ness".

I just answered your email. Sorry it took me so long.. it sounds like with the upgrade it installed a different driver that doesn't work with your device. That's why I'm suggesting removing it entirely and reinstalling the earlier version.

I have a different device so it's not a problem I've experienced.

I received your mail. Naturally it was AFTER WMP 11 pushed in, and things broke that I had cause to seek FAQ's. Apparently, it was already known to be incompatible with Zen players. There were lots of suggestions from M$ what to do BEFORE allowing the update, but as to any after the fact? Wait and hope for Creative to create a patch/flash to catch up. Mind, if the device is no longer visible, it's gonna be quite hard to apply a flash, eh?

Like I said.. remove MP completely, don't just roll back to an earlier version but totally uninstall and remove. Check your registry to make sure it's gone. Then install the older version.

If you just try to roll back to an earlier version it may not roll back everything. Newer drivers would be kept. I honestly think it's a driver. Hence needing to remove the whole thing then do a clean install of an older version.

Oh that reminds me... check the device's maker for drivers... they may have an older driver or some sort of tech notes to help you with it. If it's a known problem they may have created a fix. It's not MSFT's responsibility to fix it, it's the maker of the device.

As I understand it, from searching the Creative and the relevant MS pages, there is no driver, per se. There is 'firmware' for the ZEN, and the communication is provided by Media Player and it's "Media Transport Protocol". As do a number of other brands of MP3 players. With subtle changes to that protocol in WMP 11, some models must now play catch-up with MS again. This from a well-buried FAQ page.

I'm not overly worried, so long as we leave atleast one system at the original WMP.

PS: Knowing what close and personal friends Mssr's Gates and Jobs have always been, I'm certain it's ALL a conspiracy to have the whole world attached to iPods.

*giggles* the Zune is giving iPod a run for its money in a very short time... I love my Zune too..

The reason I suspected a driver is because you said the computer wouldn't even acknowledge the connection of the device.. if it were firmware interaction your computer would at least know it's there, just not interact properly..

Okay, consider me the lead character for a Geicko commercial ... What is a "Zune"???

M$'s answer to the iPod..