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

Hello? Helloooo?

Long absence. Come back to find things different.
Okay, can adapt. Just a question: are any of you really here?

Why does it always say on a PS that someone (including me) has posted "Just Now" or "One Minute Ago" when that's patently false (as evidenced by lack of activity in their conversation pane)?

While I'm at it, another question: in this new interface, did anyone think to include a mass unsubscribe option? Or am I stuck going through all my accumulated conversations and deleting them one by one?

I'll probably think of more, but there's no point in asking if none of you are out there...

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This is the automater post reply system for Bobstafford ...there is no one here please call back some time in the next hour/day/week/year/decade*. Thank you.


*highlight your choice

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Hello Leo.

Nice to see you back

I'm still here - just!


A

Only "just" here? Like most of you is elsewhere, perhaps in an office somewhere? What a peculiar situation.

Can you please bring me up to date on any weird but commonly known glitches in this new interface? Because I'm having a puzzling time of it.

Hi Leo!

You'll find much more accurate information about who's online when if you use your old skin. I've bummed about in the new one a time or two, but just can't bring myself to like it much - I'll keep my Goo, thanks.

Welcome back!

You mean
Its tough to get used to
GML is a puzzle to work out
Smilies get yikesed
On the old site I'm is I'm written by you the new site

There are loads of little things but on the whole things are sort of OK



What do you think of it all

Just a fr'instance:

When I drop into Peer Review (the forum itself) it shows a few entries listed by submission date. At the bottom it promises me that there are 1126 more entries that I'll see if I click the right link. When I do, it pulls a bait and switch, saying that, after all, there only seem to be 58.

Then, near the top (because they're organized by most recently commented on now) is an entry about playing first person horror games that I commented on and that Gnomon replied doesn't exist.

Finally, there's the mysterious way everyone seems to be commenting constantly. When I visit someone's personal space, it insists that they've only just posted somewhere. But their conversations list shows no evidence. Even more peculiar, my page says the same thing about me.

Is this just me, or do other people see this stuff as well? Cuz maybe I just need to have my head checked. Or my browser's head checked.

You are not alone

Phew! There's a relief. Not that I was panicking or anything.

Broelan - I've been to preferences and settings without luck. Where can I get my Alabaster back?

Use the old address:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster

hmmmm... that didn't seem to work...

try this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/home

Oh beautiful Alabaster... Thanks!

So, I'm getting from bobstafford that the BBC is trying very hard to unload h2g2? Out of curiosity, who do they think could possibly want it?

I'm sure they're much more concerned with the fact that it no longer "aligns with their desired internet presence" than they are with who else might be interested. Curious that they dumped all the time and resources into redesigning the whole place only to announce that they're unloading it. Of course, as you've witnessed, they're not all that pressed to fix the bugs in the new site.

Obviously the community is interested in self-ownership. I haven't really had the time or energy to keep up with all the developments, but I've been peripherally interested. I've tried to help with what I can. I don't know what other outside parties may have expressed an interest in ownership.

Taking a break from school, or are you finished?

I wondered about the new look.

I'm sort of surfacing. I have a few months left before I graduate, and I was thinking about reclaiming bits of my former life, such as "leisure" and "creativity." I made a list of the fun things I'd done recently, and it came down to:

- Danced on bubble wrap
- Gave "Fox in Socks" to a friend's one-year-old as a birthday gift
- Slipped a Harry Potter clip into a presentation on bone implants

That was when I realized my life was kinda pathetic. So I thought I'd go back to some of the things that kept me busy before I discovered things like fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.

Well if it isn't the english major back from a lengthy re-tooling

I had a similar reaction near graduation - a kind of "Didn't I have a life once? I wonder where it's got to "

Nonetheless, congratulations!

Well, my professors would point out that congrats are a little premature as I haven't actually graduated yet. But I don't think they can reasonably prevent me, so

"Retooling" - you have no idea. I tried taking a creative writing course last semester, because my brain felt like it was ossifying in engineer form, and it was like trying to touch my toes after year spent on the couch eat potato chips. My first short story was about solving a Laplace transform. My sonnet was an ode to my leukocytes. Class reaction was... polite.

. Tell you the truth, I couldn't properly read a novel until about two years after graduating because I was so used to skim-reading to find the important/relevant information .

So recovery is possible? I was wondering if intense rehab would help or not.

Hey Leo! It's great to hear from you.