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

Sorry Spike, I think I got moderated for that story. Hope it doesn't reflect back, or poorly, on you. I thought the story made a good international relations story, which is, after all, my specialty. I'm even qualified to teach the History of Canada. I did not realize the moderators had 'ex post facto' powers. Perhaps if they looked closely they would see I condemned one *item* and made made a joke about beer and cigarettes. Anyway, now I am seriously worried about a comment I made to another ACE concerning a new user. It may very well get me banned for life. Oh, that h2g2 were protected by the First Amendment!

Hope I have caused you no grief. I will not be offended if you ostracize me for a while (for your own good).

MJM ACE?

Oh, don't worry, it happens to the best of us. And don't worry about me; these things don't hurt reputations. It's only when half your posts are moderated and the other half they haven't gotten to yet. Then there's a problem.

-Spike A.

Good attitude! Actually, now I think, it might have been a server glitch. I will have to ask someone who has been moderated. Busy day. Must run. Take care!

MJM ACE

If it was moderated it would said that it was hidden and given a short explaination. It that what happened? I didn't see.

-Spike A.

No, maybe the whole thing was a server problem. The conversaton postings (right hand column) went all BBC grey with the BBC logo superimposed and the "oh oh" glyph at the bottom center. Both sender and receivers names were highlited in magenta. I could not post on this conversation for over an hour while on other conversations my postings appeared at once. It was all very weird.

What do you think happened?

MJM ACE

I take it you use frames. What browser and OS?

-Spike A.

*buts in*

You signed up for knights of h2g2! Yes!

Oh, there you are. I just posted on your page. I'm very proud of my title.

-Spike A.

OK Sir Spike OS.8.6, AOL, alabaster. I wasn't aware of the new position of Paladin. Congratulations!

The more I think about it the more I think it was a server glitch. It was a day or so before everyone was having problems getting on line: [proxy problems]? So I'll bet there was a difficulity with h2g2's hub or server.

I think I am getting too paranoid (is that like being too pregnant?)


Let me know what you think, Sir
MJM ACE

OS 8.6: Good! Mac! Yay!
AOL: Well, this could be the problem. You must have noticed that AOL doesn't like to actually work correctly...
Ala: Aack! No! Stay back!

Have you tried Goo? If you havn't, you shouldn't continue using ala until you have. If you have, I question you judgement, but whatever floats your boat...

-Spike A.

P.S., Have you been to the Orchard? It's on my space under clubs, etc.

I have nothing against Goo, its just harder on my eyes. Remember I am a Mole. And occasionally I do visit Goo pages. It does make for a refreshing change. I hate aol: a browser and an isp in one. It makes one lazy and keeps one in ignorance. If you start out with aol you never really learn how to use other browsers or even what other isps can offer. I am happy I have access to Netscape and Internet Explorer. I am thinking of using a local isp. I could use my University isp and browser but then everything we say here would become property of the University. I do not want them nosing around my personal mail: worse than the BBC. Let me give Goo a try. If my eyes hold out maybe I'll stick (punny) with it.

MJM ACE

ps, promise to visit Orchard.

*We*? You mean if you're on the Uni ISP and I say something it's theirs? Or did you just misspeak, er, type? (Hoping )

My school does the same thing, though they don't ever say so publicly. I hate it. Thankfully they haven't had a problem with h2g2 yet, so everything's peachy.

-Spike A.

Oh, you bet! It is a State University so they own the web site (Lotus Notes) and anything sent via Lotus Notes is their property. Supposedly it is for the protection of students and teachers (those who want an improper liaisan IE: sex). But it really stiffles free expression. Say I were writing about the sexual habits of the Tokugawa Shoguns, that would be permitted. Say I wrote my sweetheart a saucy letter: that would be suspect and frowned upon. Say I wrote a student a suggestive letter: I could wind up in jail, the emial used as evidence against me. So it is best, at the Uni at least, to confine your emails and browsing to academics. I think your school does the same thing but h2g2 does have some redeeming value: there is serious research offered there (here). Me, I am on my own ISP (AOHell) so I can speek freely, but were I to browse h2g2 from the Uni, that is all I would do. I would not respond to any postings because the Uni would own my responses.

I'm sure you are OK. It sounds like your school is not so uptight. Where my brother teaches, a private girls college, you can lose your job if you f'rt while on line. Very oppressive for America, bit some upper-midwest states are that way.

Must run! Papers to grade I need to hand back tomorrow. Good writing to you Spike! Kindly stay in touch.

MJM ACE

PS, oh and yes, they would own your responses to my emails too! Who is watching whom?

MJM

Sorry, I'm still a bit confuzzled: they would own *my* responses? And what do you mean by saying they own the website? Surely not h2g2?

-Spike A.

It is hard for me to explain because I am so computer challenged. Uni of NE uses the Lotus Notes system. You do not have to be on an ISP to use it. However, if you are off campus and you access your account then you have to enter the Lotus Notes system via an ISP. Either way the Lotus Notes system retains for all time every correspondance made to and from faculty/staff. I'm sure they download the data out of the system every 24 hours, but none-the-less, a record is kept of all email going via Lotus Notes. If you sent me an email to my Uni address the Uni would 'own' that correspondance because you are using a system they own (Lotus Notes: we call it Loath-us Notes). The Lotus Notes system is a closed system but can be accessed off-site via a password.

Surely your Uni has its own website and a 'closed' email system. The best I can suggest is that you try and see if you can set up an email account. I don't believe you will be able to unless you are a registered student, but you might see what I mean. I was told by the Uni tech support that there is Lotus Notes (the closed system) and >net< Lotus Notes (the ISP access system). Often the two do not get along. I cannot access my account via AOHell, but I can from Netscape. On Campus, I just hit the Lotus Notes icon and *bingo* I can sign on without using any ISP.

Does any of this make sense?

Study it a while and see if I am totally confusing you. I wish I were more conversant in computer jargon I could explain better. Hope this helps!

MJM ACE

Ah, I see. You mean that the Uni would *retain* the info, not *own* it. There's just no way for them to claim any ownership over anything I type over here. I'm not at a Uni, but a High School, and a small one at that. It's lucky that we even *have* an email server. It's usually used as webmail (like Hotmail), but it can theoretically be used via POP3 (with an email client, like Eudora or Outlook Express). Theoretically. I've never gotten it to work myself.

Our computer system is pretty pitiful, really. The more impressive it tries to be, the worse it gets. We have two buildings, each with a computer lab, each with a printer, and they're all connected via a network running off of one central server. The main building currently has five working computers: two have problems displaying anything when I log in, one is a Compaq which is really nice when it works and a pain to fix when it doesn't, two are generally all right. Sometimes they all print. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes some print. It's wierd. The other building has four working computers (next to many dissected and beheaded dead ones): one old Win98 machine like those in the main building, and three shiny new Compaqs with Windows XP. They'd be really great machines, too, if our system administrator (who doesn't have sysadmin in his job description; no one does, hence all the problems) had bothered to install the XP printer drivers on the server. On top of that, the old reliable computer can't access the printer for God knows what reason. Now the best part: today is science fair day. Anyone with a science class this semester has a project, and everyone needs a computer. None of them print. No one knows that none of them print. People are lucky that I took the cover off of the Win98 machine yesterday and screwed the floppy drive into place so it was present on the front of the box. They're also lucky that Strider was smart enough to disconnect the printer from the network and plug it directly into the only machine in the building that could use it so that it *could* use it.

And the worst part: we're not allowed to. We technically aren't allowed to fix any problems or offer any tech support because they aren't our computers to "play" with. We can't do anything non-school-related with them and we can't change any settings. Well, that would be just dandy if we didn't have to...

We're thinking of going on strike (the tech-orientated among us) until they let us do "non-school-related" things on the school computers on our own time. They say they're their computers and that they're letting us use them, but if we're the ones supporting them, they're not really theirs. I can't wait to see our non-sysadmin's face as he's engulfed by screaming worried students who "need this for next period and isn't there something you can do and no I don't have a printer at home or a computer and yes it has to be printed not handwritten why because the teacher said so." See how he likes it.

-Spike A., venting vehemently

What a headache you are having Spike! The Uni system is super fast (almost like DSL) and we have a fully trained tech support 24/7. Oh, by the way, the Uni wouldn't *own* any email sent me but it could use against me any 'compromising' emails in court (say I was trolling for porno or soliciting sex/drugs).

A small High School? I have been searching for a private Senior High or Bording School or Junior College to teach at. I almost went to the WIlls Institute in Calremont, CA, but it was a military boarding school. They have a nice home page (sorry, forgot URL) but hides the fact plebe's would be getting the shaft all the time. I hate authority in any shape or color. I couldn't stand by and watch a plebe get ripped: I would have to 'kneecap' the senior classman. That, of course, would get me fired.

Sorry you have to struggle so hard with your institutes' computers. Many private High Schools are beginning to require the students to have a lap-top. The little college my brother teaches at requires all students to have a lap-top (its kind of a lend/lease thing with Apple or Gateway). The computer I wrote my Masters Thesis with had 500K memory and took 5 1/4 floppys. The printer took the old accordian style paper and would only print one page at a time: you had to stop and tear off each page before the next could be printed. I say the school should let you go hog wild with the computers: you probably know more than them! You know more than me (POP3???).

Go on strike! Do it!! Or use civil disobedience: refuse to help. Have every student do their work in longhand, because they cannot use a manual (or find) typewriter or afford a secretary. Find a foundation to give your school the funds to get new and many computers and do the paperwork yourself then spring it on the Administration. What ever happens you are in control because you have the knowledge. Find a way to use it!

Good luck Spike! As Ram Das said, "Be Here Now". It sounds like you are getting a good education despite the computer snafu.

Hey, next time I'll tell you about my Uni biology class and the reflector microscopes they used. It was like the stone age .

Hang in there Spike! We "greybeards" could learn a lot from you.

Later, MJM ACE

Thanks! We're getting through it...

-Spike A., rather exhausted by the last post

Not ignoring you Spike! The semester is winding down and I have much work to do. Last class 9 May and new class begins 13 May. Some break, huh? Ah well, at least I am doing something I enjoy. I have to toss together a syllabus in three days then prepare for the final exams and research papers to come rolling in. Then there is still the worry of getting a job with benefits just at a time when college students will be flooding the market looking for summer jobs. *sigh* Gotta keep on keeping on!

MJM ACE