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

I've just received another BBC email, and for those still waiting I've decided to copy it here:


Dear H2G2 User,

We wrote to you recently asking if you were willing for your email address to be passed to the new owners of H2G2. You were invited to opt out of this process if you did not want this to happen.

Our analysis tells us that less than ten percent of those contacted have so far opened the email, perhaps because they do not trust that it came from the BBC. This suggests that many of our users will not be able to make an informed decision and we have therefore decided to modify our approach. Where a user tells us not to, their details will not be passed on. Otherwise, we propose to provide the new owners with an encrypted list of email addresses and user IDs. If you choose to register with the new H2G2 website and you enter the email address we have used here, this will enable the new owners to link your BBC user ID with your username and your email address. This means that if you were a contributor to H2G2, the new owners will be able to link your past activity/posts with any future activity on the new website.

This means that anyone who has not opted out of the process will receive an email after the sale has been concluded with a link to the new H2G2 website and its terms and conditions of use. They can then choose whether or not to register with the new H2G2 website. If they use the same email address as they used for their BBC ID this will unlock the email address and user ID in the encrypted list we have provided.

If you do not choose to register with the new H2G2 your personal information will remain encrypted and therefore inaccessible to the new owners, and will be deleted at the end of the transition process.

If, however, you would prefer not to be part of this process and would like us to remove your email address and ID from the encrypted list, then please email us at [email protected].

All the best ,

H2G2 Editors

Wow, I think I predicted this!

"deleted at the end of the transition process" worries me.

This means that people will only be able to claim their existing h2g2 accounts if they register on noohootoo during the transition window. This could be a problem, and it would certainly mean the impossibility of nighthoover's return if he doesn't get in touch pronto.

But, if like me, he's had a change of e-mail provider, he'd never know.
I was originally on Virgin. When I changed to Waitrose I lost my original sign-on, and signed up again. Luckily I didn't lose that on my next provider change.

I wonder how many others have disappeared for the same reason? 10 years is a long time to stay with one provider!

MMF

We will lose the accounts of Pheloxi, TB Falsename, zendevil Terri and many others absent friends

It's very sad that the accounts of Pheloxi, TB Falsename, Yoda and Terri and many others will be lost.

Don't understand how that they would know which people have opened their h2g2 notification email.

Ah, that's easy, you hack into people's e-mai... Oh, hang on.

Myself and Jimcracker7 from the way it looks that they notified all the people have been on h2g2 since it began which would be the reason that only 10% first emails have opened because at least 4% last 2002 where on digital box who now unable to access and may already changed their emails.

And those who are no longer with us would not be able to open their emails and not only those who's have already left h2g2 over the years but the one's that had to leave because they had no choice including the were ones which under 16 when the rules were changed this may explain why there analysts found that only 10% were opened is probably because h2g2 members are no longer using the same emails and others are not opening emails because they are not there to open them.

It looks to me that the emailed not only ones just re-signed to the new skin and that they could have actually sent emails to all the h2g2 members may be as far back as the beginning.

whats all this e-mil thingy about, just send me another one and I'll make sure the spam is un spammed

i dont think we are going to "lose the accounts of pheloxi, zen devil, tb falsename," bels or any of the others who have passed away... and by accounts i mean their personal spaces, their entries, their postings... the only thing that will be lost, finally, in the end, are the DETAILS which we have lately been talking about... password, email address and login name of accounts ... all that is going to be deleted is the ability to access those accounts from the inside as the owner of each account...

and that will be after a period of time
which
i am sure
since its us who are now going to be in charge
will be a nice long time
rather than
a nasty abusively short time

you know what i would like to see though?
i would like to see this:

the emails they are sending to all researchers to be emailed from an already recognized address ...such as the one they have been using since the beginning when they let us know a posting has been hidden or removed? that way their emails to us wouldnt go to spam.

really.

why does it always have to be so hard?

also... if the new powers that be can finagle keeping it simple...
then if you are one of those folks who want their stuff to stay here at the bbc
but not go over to the noohootoo...

then i think all you will have to do is make sure you reregister over in noohootoo
and then delete alla your stuff immediately...

and if you want it not to stay on bbc (which will be an archived thingie i bet)
then you should delete alla the stuff before the move...
and i bet we will have at least 24 hours notice afore the move

Was I the only one who could not make top nor tail of the second email. I think I understand that I still need to do nothing if I want to stay with h2g2?

Can somebody confirm please? It might have been more sensible to ask everyone to reply then they would have known who read their emails, and which email addresses were still active.

I can see a lot of people being left behind.

Websailor

What I understood from it is that currently do nothing but expect another email that you will reply to so that you can register with noohootoo with your current info and account.

Thanks. Will wait and see what happens. Exciting or what?



Websailor

Argh it seems we have been hit with the ancient chinese curse:

"May you live in exciting times "


(who will just sit back and wait for another email. One that is probably not so incomprehensible since it will be written by one of our own )

just checked my settings and email as my old blueyonder, and message came to my active on the digibox, so what do i do, change to another email, ie hotmail or gmail, or just leave to, the powers that be, jim

all this talk of moving has made me hungery anyone

Jim - I would say NOT to change your email address that the BBC has used to send you their email. This will be the one that you should use in a couple of weeks to sign up with the new h2g2 site. As long as you can recieve the proper invitation to sign up, and use that address to send emails from - then this would be the best thing. Do nothing, as long as you can still use that email address.

Once you have registered with the new site, then it would be sensible to update your details to an account that you use more frequently. But just now, the BBC support team will be so deluged with emails that I worry yours might just not get attended to. So, unless there is a problem with you using the blueyonder address right now, I would leave well alone.




Lanzababy

Did you see the new e-mail they sent today? Everything just got soo much more confusing.