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

When people complain to me about changes at the library, I explain that public institutions constantly evolve and that they would stagnate and become ineffective if it were otherwise.

We all realize that h2g2 is evolving. I don't think the objection is to change itself, but to the bombastic, arrogant, insulting language used by certain researchers.

I personally find this behavior childish. It also encourages me to ignore their arguments.

I use h2g2 as a form of recreation. When it ceases to be fun and entertaining for me, then I'm outta here. I don't understand why people want to be part of something that makes them so angry.

Amy, I'm 'not remotely marginal...'? Well, that may be, but I always sat with the marginal kids at lunch. (It's better when the -fights break out.)

Bacchus and Jodan, it's my journal and you're welcome to be here.

I don't have any questions actually, at this point, regarding the UG; your discussion with Amy was thorough and frank, and I'm perfectly satisfied with your motives.

We can't all get along with everybody, but up till recently I had felt that the social harmony on this site was remarkable. I suppose I shouldn't gripe about the marginal bickering and paranoia, but it's just in the past few months that the effects of some researchers' dissatisfactions has reached as far as hobbitty me.

... There is discord in the realm...

Smellfungus!









I just had to go and look up the word. Unfortunately, neither of my dictionaries list it. Neither did dictionary.com. So, I Googled for it. Got some interesting links.

First, here is a poem:
http://www.geocities.com/smellfungicide/smellfungus.html

And here is an article that includes a definition and a plea for the word's revival:
http://csmweb2.emcweb.com/durable/1997/10/02/home/home.1.html

I will help rehabilitate the word. Marv has the Borg...I shall have the Smellfungus! I also will begin using codswallop more often in honor of my grandmother who enjoyed all things coddish (her greatest insult was to call someone/something a 'regular cod' which was much worse that just a 'cod').

Then I will rehabilitate the word 'varlet.'

Lil, as the former cause of some... er... 'social unrest' -*sheepish grin*- I have to believe that a lot of the nastiness that ends up on the site can be attributed to being young and headstrong and taking yourself too seriously.

That last one is the kiss of death. Taking yourself seriously is definitely a bad idea.

Although, as a Duchess, I am bound by the terms of my job description to take myself extremely seriously, I know just what you mean.

And as for ~your~ social unrest, I put the kidnapping of the Celery right up there with eatsmice burning down 16 hectares of the Magic Forest. Immortal tales in the history of the atelier!

This, the matter I've raised is quite outside the realm of adventure cataclysma. Although taking oneself seriously is very likely contributing to the nature of the behaviour we observe.

This is a good place to continue the discussion I raised in Post 696 of the 5FXth conversation at Lil's.

Hmm. I didn't know about this. Looks like everyone's being pretty calm and respectful about it anyway

We do our best, Jodan .

Following on from post 750 in the other thread, I'd like Tango to tell us exactly what evidence he found on h2g2 that 'something' was to be found in the 8000 messages on the CA Yahoo Group.

Then I'd like him to ask the questions he wants answered.

Actually, is this the right place? Wouldn't CommunityArtists be better?

I'm not involved, but now I'm curious to know what the problem is that he is trying to track down.

H

Aren't we all.

i, for one, am throughly confused. Tango, I really wish you would just come out and say what the heck it was you were looking for that made it imperative to you to go "undercover" in the CA stuff.

If Tango comes up with a specific problem that we can verify, then it's official enough to go to the CA's pages. Right now, my feeling is that to take Tango over there and grill him would be... too publicly confrontational.

I mean, everything is public here, but by moving to my own journal I'm trying to send the signal that this informal. We want to work things out together, not hold a trial. I hope that makes sense.

Lil, I'm not trying to grill him...here's the thing. the CA's are a bunch of people with artistic talent who have freely offered to help make hootoo a prettier place to be. What possible issue could someone or a group of someones have that would warrant creating an alternate account, etc?

I read what you said at the beginning of this thread, and I still don't get it.

On the subject of the undercover operation, I'm rather with MR in that I can't possibly think of a reason why it should seem necessary to audit the hard work of people who are presumably spending lots of their valuable free time on something so innocent as trying to brighten up the guide. Particularly as if not them, then who? OK it was done by paid staff before, but giving it to the community, even with guidelines and constraints is surely a positive thing, not to mention adding some diversity and even a further level of creativity (I mean in addition to the written articles and whatnot) to the place. And presumably, with a wider pool of people, then there's more art on the site now too.

But it is still a volunteer and somewhat informal thing, isn't it? I mean, I appreciate that a lot of effort has gone into it to make what comes out of as high a standard as possible, and I'm not running down you artists' efforts on that score at all. But why all the cuffuffle? I really am not getting it.

Plus, I have to say, that I'm with Amy on the methods used. I really think that another way could have been found if Tango had really wanted too. Frankly the only thing wrong with h2g2 sometimes is that people do sometimes forget that just because they can hide behind a computer screen to abuse other researchers without having to then look them in the eye and suffer the social uncomfortableness of doing it face to face, doesn't actually mean that this is a good thing. The whole atled thing shows, to me, a certain lack of respect which is bordering on this kind of behavior. Sorry Tango. I'll admit, if you like, that I might have softened that langauge a little if I was min your immediate vicinity right now.

Plus, even if you had got access to the 'secret' stuff and investigated it, the conclusions you might have drawn would still have been filtered through your perceptions, and would have ended up as being just as subjective and probably riddled with inaccuracies as everyone elses. With the added problem that you weren't there at the time, probably can't reconstruct the whole context to whatever you are reading, and by your own admission don't know the people well enough to be absolutely sure that your njudgement of their motives and whathaveyou is the correct one. So to a certain extent, you would have just been indulging yourself and your curiosity.

Although without knowing what the problem is supposed to be perhaps I am wrong about that...

Hi, everyone ! I am afairly new figure to hootoo ( I joined it both back in March or April, I think) so I don't really have the perspective of what it was like. I get the impression that there are a number of young revolutionaries who want to overthrow the system and line some of us "older" ( shudders to be placing himself in this category) folks up against the wall. I do feel that there needs to be more of a sense of respect for fellow denizens of H2G2. Maybe some of the long-time members do need to become more involved, as someone suggested earlier. And maybe some of the newer younger members need to have a little more patience with imperfections. We are all human, all imperfect...

I think the whole situation has arisen because of a deeply disaffected ex-CA who has made a number of accusations. Some accusations have to do with things that were alleged to have been done or whose execution allegedly failed. Other accusations go to character, as the lawyers like to say on tv. All accusations have been made incessantly and heatedly.

The rest of the CA's have declined to respond and some might think that to be an indicator of guilt. I think we're leaving the matter to the Italics. The CA list is a very peaceable and productive place lately.

Tango is trying to be unbiassed, although he's carrying all that scientific-method baggage which is in itself a cultural bias, () but I digress. I do understand what he is trying to find out even if I disagree with his methods and his justifications.

But it's not in my power to let him into the CA list archives, and if he can't draw then he'll never get in under his own power, unless Atled is actually a group account and someone else did the artwork that was submitted. So far I have asked Tango about that point twice, and he hasn't responded satisfactorily. That would be a whole 'nother issue.