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

... and welcome to h2g2.

I'm one of the <./>ACEs</.> (Assistant Community Editors). We are a team of volunteers who try to help new researchers for the guide find their way around. You can click on the link I made with that acronym in order to find out more. To find out more about anyone, click on the link made by their nickname (eg at the top of any conversation postings) to go to their personal space. Lurking is quite acceptable on h2g2.

One thing h2g2 has a lot of, as well as researchers, is these <./>Smileys</.>. You can use them in your personal space and other articles, conversations and journal entries. You just type the shortcut text and they appear as if by magic on preview or posting. For example: < tea > without the spaces becomes - the wrong sort for you of course.

You seem to have made a start on writing articles for the guide, so I take it you've found PeerReview and the Writing-Guidelines. Here are a few more links you might like to try. A660340 is a list of "Clubs and Societies" on h2g2. There's even one for procrastinators if you want to brush up your skills and avoid writing any more - though you'll never make it there if you are already too proficient. <./>Askh2g2</.> and <./>MiscChat</.> are good places to start or join a random conversation. If you don't understand the local terminology, have a look at A632431 "h2 Jargon" and A901829 "h2g2 Glossary". You could use the infinite improbability drive on the "Front Page" if you don't know where you want to go or <./>search</.> if you do. See the guide entries too important to be merely a number at <./>NamedEntries</.>.

Above all, have fun and don't panic. If you do find yourself tempted to panic, click the "h2g2 Help" link on the left. It may help.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there are probably other things I should be doing, but I'll be back if you call for help (ie reply to this message).

Dear SEF,

Thanks for your kind welcome and offers of help. As I have only recently been innoculated with the hootoo vaccine,( by my friend Recumbentman ) it is taking me a bit of time to acclimatise. Thanks also for the offer of smileys, etc, with which to brighten up my offerings. Personally, I'm not a great one for smileys, being a compulsive talker, I prefer to do it with words.

Being an addict by nature, I am hoping that the Guide will not suck me into an eternity of procrastination ( there are jobs I should be doing even as we speak ), as I am already finding its range of information, and the gaps therein, quite compulsive. Which I suppose is its function. Hence my reckless foray into Guide contribution.

And more to come.

Thanks so much for the various links you have provided.

May I encourage you to follow my recipe and become a chai addict?

I normally only use a few smileys round here - and I had increased that level from almost none because people round here seemed to lack the subtlety to read the words properly. You are obviously another person who is more used to complete words and sentences rather than internet/text-phone abbreviations. We'll probably die out...

I don't think it would be a good idea for me to try chai. I'm allergic to a lot of things. It was a strange coincidence to come across you and your enthusiasm for chai after only recently coming across another reference in the Guide though. I guess it's up to you how much you get sucked in. If there isn't already one, perhaps h2g2 needs an addicts anonymous club. A couple of times there have been competitions to complete the sentence "You know you're an h2g2 addict when...". The winning answers were turned into cartoons. If you have a back button on your browser or can open a separate window, try:

<./>B954695</.>
<./>B1017685</.>
<./>B1436229</.>

Treat them as cautionary tales...

Aaaah serendipity! The thought of chai occurs, and then the perfect recipe is brought to your awareness, surely the sign of an enlightened being. Apart from the dairy ( it can just about be made with soya milk ) and the sugar ( not great for yeast infections ) and the tannin/caffeine ( but it can be made with de-caff tea ) there's not too much there to aggravate allergies. Oh well.

As to smileys, I'm such an old technophobe that I use complete words, mostly, in text messages. Maybe that's an oxymoron, a technophobe with a mobile phone? And a computer! So, maybe just too old, a dinosaur in the age of mammals. Yes, we will probably die out, literacy is increasingly rare, and proof-reading a seemingly lost art, even in the broadsheets. You know you're an old fart when......
you give out about declining standards.

And thanks for the cartoon references. Another little worm to set free in my addled brain, "you know you're an H2G2 addict if............" I'll have to let that one mature.