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

Hello Ek(coz thats what us Aussies would shorten your name to!) I just thought I would let you know that I,m about half way through my first draft of Drowning(remember?). What would be the best way for you to cast your beady eye over it? Should I leave you my email addy or something? Or just post it here? I,m doing it on MS Word(grrrr..their spellcheck..sheeze!!). Is there a minimum size and...well I have a heap more questions ,but i guess they can wait. Don't bother trying to contact me at my PS, cause it does not work at the moment(something to do with coming here from GW)...Enuff!!(like that spelling?<<<<<<...LOL) cheers 4 now

Thats if you have a Beady eye that is!!!........Any eye will do!!

(Now a glass eye would be another matter, although you could I(<&lt guess use an eye-glass)

Do you see the set of buttons on the left-hand side of the screen? Good. See the one that says 'Write an Entry'? Even better. Click on it. Type your title in the title box, paste your text in the text box, and then click the 'Add Guide Entry' button. Then post the link to your entry to this conversation. That way it'll be on the site, and I'll get to see it.

There's no minimum length, though it'd probably be best if the entry was more than a few sentences. You're here from GW? I was about to join the place when I heard about its impending closure. There's no reason why your PS shouldn't work; they transfer straight over from community to community - the power of DNA! I'd drop the techy people a line if I were you.

Good luck and all

Did what you said all but the post to you thingy so maybe I can just paste it here? I think its nearly done.



DROWNING NOT WAVING
HOW TO SURVIVE AN AUSTRALIAN BEACH

The first cold winds of winter whistle outside the doors and windows of Northern Hemisphere homes and inhabitant’s thoughts turn to warmer climes and perhaps that long planned trip Down-Under. Everything is in readiness, plane tickets, accommodation, itinerary, visas, passports, luggage that includes swimsuits, board shorts, beach towels, suncreams and lotions. As the plane nears Australia the eager tourists picture the warm sands and crashing surf soon to be experienced. Upon arrival at their beach of choice they find a large crowd there already, to avoid this they choose a less hectic section of the beach from which to enjoy their first taste of Aussie surf. A quick application of sun lotion and into the water they go…

For an increasing number of tourists and visitors from afar, as well as denizens of inland areas of Australia, this is all they remember of their holiday up until their awakening in a hospital bed. They are also the lucky ones as many simply never awaken or are never seen of again. They are a regular feature in Australian media for all the wrong reasons. In popular tourist Mecca’s like Sydney’s Bondi Beach and the sun soaked sands of the Queensland Gold Coast, unsuspecting beach goers from overseas regularly die from drowning due to their ignorance of Australian beach conditions. Picture postcard beaches coupled with a visitors pent up expectations and excitement can be the ingredients for potential tragedy. Australian beaches cover a wide spectrum of coastal conditions that can be found in other parts of the world, but the beaches that attract the international visitor are the surf beaches and these are the biggest killer of the unwary visitor.



To understand how a beach works, how the Moon and meteorological conditions influence tides and how they in turn affect the beach, can be the study of a lifetime. Reading a beach is a difficult assignment for all but seasoned regulars who use the beach on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. The term [reading a beach] refers to a persons understanding of the concurrent conditions at the time that they are observing a beach. There are also professionals whose job it is to know these things. They are known as Surf Lifesavers, there are approximately twenty two thousand registered surf lifesavers that patrol Australian beaches at peak periods of the year.


RIPS


The greatest danger to any swimmer on a surf beach is the current that is known as a RIP. It is caused when a channel forms between the beach shore and a sandbar further out. It is often recognised by sand-coloured or rippled water running out to sea in a clearly defined channel. This channel can cut straight through sets of waves and cause a break in what were long clean lines of waves. The waves may be breaking further out to sea on both sides of the rip. As well as this, if there is any foam or flotsam and jetsam on the water, then this will be seen to be floating out to sea in one area and sometimes at a rapid rate. Remember that these are visual indicators; you wouldn’t speed up if you were driving around a bend and noticed water running across the road or the sun was directly in your eyes! Of course not. You would approach with caution and drive in a manner suitable to the prevailing conditions. Apply this cautionary thinking to when you are in the surf as well.

Types of Rips

Permanent
This type of rip can be caused by coastal fixtures that are permanent like wharves, piers, and outcrops of rocks or Bommies (groups of rocks or boulders that usually only show their heads at low tides) as well as the contours of the ocean floor.
Fixed
Fixed rips like the name suggests can last for a few hours or even several months. These are felt by the swimmer as a deepening of the water as you wade out and accompanied by a current that pulls and tugs at the swimmer. The floor of the beach is not a gradual slope in these situations but quite often a gutter or a series of holes that range in depth.
Flash

Flash rips appear suddenly, usually without warning. They are caused by a large build up of surf in a short period of time. This can happen when the weather conditions are changing for the worse or a result of storm periods that have passed and the beach is experiencing a tidal change from low to high or vice versa.

Travelling

Travelling rips can constantly move along a beach propelled by a strong current from the shore.

PATROLLED BEACHES.

These are easily recognised, as apart from signs indicating that it is a patrolled beach, the beachgoer will see two flags on long poles placed in the sand at a distance apart from each other and these are each coloured red and yellow On these beaches a tourists choice of swimming spots is as simple as this----SWIM BETWEEN THE FLAGS AT ALL TIMES---- that message will also be on signs placed along the foreshore by local councils. Between those flags the surf lifesavers have reckoned that area to be the safest and easiest to patrol. The positioning will also represent the area with the least amount of rip activity, although even the most popular and safest beaches are closed some days because of treacherous conditions and only the foolhardy enter at these times. The distances between the flags will often vary from day to day and sometimes even hour to hour. Reasons for this are the changing nature of surf conditions; lifesavers are trained at recognising these and will also regularly swim this area to check for changed conditions. If they deem it necessary they will reposition the flags accordingly or even close the beach. Some beaches will have areas outside the red and yellow flagged areas that are marked with blue flags; within these areas fibreglass board (Surfboards) use is prohibited. Again the swimmer would be well advised not to enter any beach area where board riders are active as a surfboard (even a riderless one) can be propelled at dangerous speeds, which will almost certainly result in injury if not death.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

There are a number of simple things that will assist you to stay out of trouble.
Don’t swim straight after a meal, don’t run and dive into the waves as this can and does lead to swimmers suffering various degrees of spinal injury if they crash into shallow sand banks. Waves along the beach shore (Known as the Shorebreak) can be dangerous if they rear up suddenly and then break. These waves are known as Dumpers and they can be frightening in their intensity and sheer strength. The prevailing local weather and tidal conditions should be taken into account when planning a day at the beach as it is these things, which will cause changes to a beach. If in doubt ask at the local Surf Lifesaving Club (S.L.C). The S.L.C. is also the place to find out all you need to know about any facet of beach safety. It’s an old truism that you can never trust the sea and it is never more so than on a perfect sunny day at an Australian beach. If there is one piece of advice that will save your life while swimming at the beach it is…SWIM BETWEEN THE FLAGS! This simple instruction has meant that no life has ever been lost at a patrolled beach area in the State of Victoria for instance.1


DON`T PANIC

The above term has been used before as a warning whilst undertaking many different and varied activities in life. It has been used in conjunction with surf safety campaigns for decades in Australia. An Australian child is brought up with the maxim; Swim between the flags! Don’t Panic! Wave your arm if in trouble! Never ignore a lifeguard’s directive! Tourists would be well advised to do the same.

Being caught in a rip is the major cause of most beach drownings in Australia When a rip does grasp the unwary swimmer, as stated before DON’T PANIC, don’t fight it, just remain afloat and it will take you out to or beyond the breaking waves zone. Try not to think about other things your mind is likely to dwell upon like sharks, stinging jellyfish or any other nasty of the Deep. If you are sucked out by a Rip and manage to control the urge for sheer terror and panic, just raise an arm and wave. If you have strength aplenty then it is usually just a matter of swimming with the current and catching a wave (waves) back into shore.

The number one best thing that the visitor can do while in difficulty in the water is to raise one arm and wave it about. This is the most recognised sign of a swimmer or surfer in trouble in all Australian waters, remember this simple thing and you will have a much better chance of survival. All lifeguards are trained to recognise the swimmer in trouble, even one who is weakened and just able to raise their arm. At very many of the large popular beaches the lifesavers have inflatable boats with powerful outboard motors driving them and they can be at a distressed swimmers side in a very short time. They can then be brought back to shore where trained people with medical equipment are ready to resuscitate them and call for further aid if necessary.

.
Where the dangers for your average tourist begin is when they swim at unpatrolled beaches or outside of the flagged areas, swimming at night is also a sure fire way to become a statistic. An easy trap for the tourist to fall into is to move away from the busy flagged area of a beach in search of a less crowded spot, this is yet another way to potentially become a statistic. The great majority of deaths occur outside the flagged areas at beaches. . The further away you are from the patrolled area, lessens your chance of rescue or resuscitation
. New Years Eve celebrations and Christmas parties at popular coastal beaches usually account for some near drownings and the odd death. These quite often are the result of a common recipe for disaster at more than just beaches. Alcohol mixed with sheer youthful exuberance, add some testosterone and throw in a dash of why the hell not?, and you have your basic ingredients for a possible tragedy. Statistics show that males are four times more likely to drown than females and that the age group most effected is the 15 to 34 group2.

. Statistics from The Medical Journal of Australia highlight the risks for tourists and new migrants when they take to the water in Australia.

Overseas tourists
· 88 tourists from 12 countries drowned in Australia during 1992-1997 (age range, 3-78 years; 16 female)
- 73 drowned in non-boating incidents, 5 in boating incidents and 10 in unspecified circumstances.
- 38 tourists came from Europe (15 from the United Kingdom, 10 from Germany), 35 from Asia (17 from Japan), 7 from the United States and 8 from other countries.
- 89% of tourists drowned in the ocean and 11% drowned in fresh water. 61% drowned at surfing beaches or elsewhere in the "ocean" and a further 24% drowned while scuba diving or snorkelling.
· Tourist drownings comprised 4.7% of non-boating drownings, 18% of surf and ocean drownings, 25% of scuba and snorkelling drownings and 1.6% of boating drownings3

Recent news articles in the Australian press highlight the dangers faced by tourists while swimming or even just resting on the sands enjoying the sights. A 25-year-old male Indian tourist swimming at one of Sydney’s popular beaches drowned while the area was experiencing extreme coastal conditions, i.e.; big seas and winds resulting in great surf for board riders but often suicidal conditions for swimmers with no experience of big surf beaches. Sixty other swimmers were swept out to sea as a result of a strong Rip along with the Indian tourist; all were rescued by lifesavers except this unfortunate young man. Even if you are not a swimmer but are just doing the tourist thing and visiting popular beaches, it still helps if you can recognise a swimmer in trouble. A very recent tragedy on the Far North Coast of New South Wales (home to some of the recognised greatest surf beaches in the world) occurred when a visiting English lady was looking out at the surf area where she was sitting on a towel in the sun and saw two people waving. She waved back and proceeded to watch these people wave for a few more times and then watched and slowly took in the fact that they were not waving to her but were in some kind of trouble. T he poor woman had mistook what she thought were strangers waving to her or someone else for an actual elderly sister and brother in their eighties who had been sucked out by a rip and consequently drowned before help was able to be directed to them. Ambulance officers consoled the now distraught English tourist and one can only sympathise with her in her grief. Events like this may have been avoided if this tourist had been made aware of the dangers involved and the appropriate responses to them.

. Stevie Smith 1902 - 1971, Poet and Author, wrote an appropriate line;
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning;
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning


Airports the first arrival point for the great majority of tourists and visitors to Australia sometimes will have information from local authorities about beach protocol, but don’t rely on it! Remember that this is a foreign country with totally different beaches and seas and your average European resident is more than likely to have never encountered its likes before. Asian visitors feature prominently in statistics as well, so again they need to be made aware of the dangers.

For beach safety, some of the invaluable hints that lifesavers always emphasise are:
· Always swim or surf at places patrolled by lifesavers or lifeguards.
· Swim between the red and yellow flags. They mark the safer area for swimming.
· If you are unsure of surf conditions, ask a lifeguard.
· Don’t swim under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
· Never run or dive in the water, even if you have checked before because water conditions can change.
· If you get into trouble in the water, stay calm. Signal for help, float and wait for assistance.
· Learn how to spot a rip and keep clear of it






1 http://www.watersafety.vic.gov.au

2 Males are four times more likely to drown than females…source royal lifesaving society of Australia.

3
Sources; "an article published on the Internet by The Medical Journal of Australia ".
© 1999 Medical Journal of Australia.





Hope this will do Echo. cheers

Hi rhynch

I'll look at the entry in the morning when I've got more time... right now it's 22.30 my time and I'm rather tired. Is A3915498 the entry? It'll be better to work from there so that you can edit it if I make any suggestions or you see things you want to change. As I said, I'll have a proper read-through in the morning (or really, in the afternoon or evening, once I get home from school).

Thanks Echo
After reading some conversations about what the EG is all about I think I might just scrap the whole thing. I think it`s what the conversationalists label Mediocre, probably could of just wrote>>>When in Australia if you want to swim in the surf, ask a lifesaver if it is safe. Brief but succinct. cheers

Don't give up Rhynch!!! Never give up! The EG purists are an odd cult... but what it really comes down to is that the EG is what *you* want it to be - which means that if you think it ought to include an entry about surfing safety than by all means do so! This is your Guide as much as anyone else's - that's why we're all Researchers with a capital 'R'. Though of course, Orwell's 'Animal Farm' comes to mind: 'All Researchers are equal, but some are more equal than others...'

Allow me to give you some advice to make it look nice. Then I'd suggest you submit the entry to PeerReview and see what they think there.

Here are some grammatical errors that I have discovered:

inhabitant’s --> inhabitants'

Down-Under --> Down Under(?) (I've never in my life seen it hyphenated, but as you're the Aussie I'll take your word for it.)

Everything is in readiness, plane tickets... --> Everything is in readiness: plane tickets...

As the plane nears Australia the eager tourists picture the warm sands and crashing surf soon to be experienced. --> ...picture the warm sands and crashing surf that they will soon experience.

they find a large crowd there already, to avoid this they choose... --> they find a large crowd there already - to avoid this they choose... OR they find a large crowd there already. To avoid this they choose...

Mecca’s --> Meccas

Picture postcard beaches --> Picture-postcard beaches

a visitors pent up expectations --> a visitor's pent-up expectations

and how they in turn affect the beach, can be the study of a lifetime. --> and how they in turn affect the beach can be the study of a lifetime.

The term [reading a beach] refers to a persons understanding... --> The term 'reading a beach' refers to a person's understanding...
This sentence could go into a footnote. Footnotes are created using GuideML, which I'll go into when I'm finished commenting on grammar.

...the current that is known as a RIP. --> There's no need to capitalise this word. When you learn the GuideML (see below) you can italicise or bold the word to give it emphasis.

Bommies --> is this strictly Australian slang? It sounds like it! If so I'd remove the word and just say 'groups of rocks...' No need to unnecessarily confuse people.

On these beaches a tourists choice of swimming spots is as simple as this----SWIM BETWEEN THE FLAGS AT ALL TIMES---- --> On these beaches, a tourist's choice of swimming spots is as simple as this: swim between the flags at all times! (Again, no need for capitalisation; GuideML will help you once again.

Between those flags the surf lifesavers have reckoned that area to be the safest and easiest to patrol. --> The surf lifesavers have reckoned that this area is the safest and easiest area to patrol.

within these areas fibreglass board (Surfboards) use is prohibited. --> Doesn't everyone say 'surfboard'? Or am I just showing my Californian nature? If this is true, why say 'fibreglass board'?

(S.L.C) --> (SLC) - Guide style says no full-stops after initials. Just the way things are.

It’s an old truism --> I think you mean 'altruism', but 'saying' or 'proverb' might be better.

at a patrolled beach area in the State of Victoria for instance. --> You don't need the 'for instance'.

brought up with the maxim; --> brought up with the maxim (no punctuation necessary here)

Try not to think about other things your mind is likely to dwell upon like sharks, stinging jellyfish or any other nasty of the Deep. --> Try not to think about things like sharks, stinging jellyfish or other nasty creatures of the deep.

Don't capitalise 'rip'!

Where the dangers for your average tourist begin is when they swim at unpatrolled beaches or outside of the flagged areas, swimming at night is also a sure fire way to become a statistic. --> This should be two sentences. Replace the comma with a full-stop. Or a period, if you prefer, since they are the same thing. I love the phrase 'become a statistic'!

The further away you are from the patrolled area, lessens your chance of rescue or resuscitation --> The further away you are from the patrolled area, the smaller your chances of rescue or resuscitation.

new migrants --> I think you mean 'immigrants'?

i.e.; --> ie (This is House Style.)

Airports the first arrival point for the great majority of tourists and visitors to Australia sometimes will have information --> Airports, the arrival point for the majority of tourists and visitors to Australia, will sometimes have information...



I'd give the whole thing a read-through as well. There are a few typing errors that I'm sure you'll be able to find and fix if you give the entry a glance.


Now we come to the GuideML that I spoke of earlier. This is the markup language of the Guide and is based very closely on XML, which is based on HTML. It includes features very similar to those of HTML, such as the tags for a paragraph and the tag for a blocked quote. Some things that would be particularly helpful to this entry are the GML tag for your headers and the tag for the footnotes. You can put the sources in a footnote as well, but most Guide entries don't have sources so you really don't need to leave them in at all. If you're interested in doing more with GML, you should investigate </.>GuideML-Clinic</.>. Or you could just let me do it for you if you're lazy Oh - and if you want to implement GML in your entry, go to the edit entry window and under 'style' change it to 'GuideML' instead of 'plain text'.

So please fix this up and submit it to Peer Review! I think it's excellent and really in the style of the Guide. As I said, the purists (myself included) like to talk on and on about what Douglas Adams would have wanted the Guide to be. But I think we all need to remember that it's *our* Guide, not Douglas's Guide, and that it means a slightly different thing to all of us. I write entries about calligraphy and folk music and the one sport I play (Academic quiz bowl). You write entries about water safety. There's nothing wrong with that!

Gods, I suck at pep talks. Anyway, I think it's good and I want you to fix it up! I'll be out of town for the next few days, but I'll be back on Monday if you need help or advice or whatever.

Good luck!

Ta Echo
Thank you for taking the time to read through it. I have just rushed through your reply with out taking to much on board( Hey I have a very big Chardonney and fresh goats cheese to nibble!(This is Australia!)) Have a gr8(Bet u luv this cell phone language)W/end. No I will try and not be lazy about Guide.ml(or whatever), my 15 y/old son is setting up his own websites so one would think he should be able to shake Dads plain text.Doc into shape! Actually it looked rather finished and nice in the MSN Word doc. Yes it did lose a fair bit in translation over to the Beeb and this site. No matter, thank you once again for taking time out of your studies to pass a critical eye over this.

Take time out from your studies is what I mean't to say

Hi echo
I have corrected mistakes you have pointed out. A Bommie is a real term for rock outcroppings in or under the water. Not on or connected to the shoreline, divers talk about diving to Blah blah bommie also fisherman will talk about anchoring up near a bommie or casting from the shore to a nearby bommie. I do take your point though that the term may not be known to everybody. Enter the word into google and you will see what I mean. On this I will defer to your judgement. I dont mean altruism, I mean a truism as it is defined in the dictionary ie a self evident truth or a commonplace or trite statement. On second thoughts I dont think I will get my son involved in this as far as the GML goes. I may have to rely on you to do this onerous task for me. Ok I had better go, speak soon

ok, I'll have another good look at it tomorrow morning, but as it is I *just* got back home after an onerous plane flight and I'm somewhat tired... so in the morning all things will be clear, eh?

Good lord, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you on this; but suffice to say that I have now, so let's see what I've got to say:

Wow, you've made incredible progress! It already sounds much better and makes much more sense. I still have a few grammatical things that you need to fix, though, and I'd like to do something about that GuideML to spruce it up a bit. What I'm going to do now (if you don't mind, of course) is copy & paste the entire entry into a new entry, at which point I will edit it the way I would if it were one of the entries I was handed to sub-edit. Then we can take another look at it and see if it's ready for Peer Review. Cool?

Well, I've spruced it up a bit (I hope) and my version can be found @ 3962162. I have (as you can see) added your name to it as well so you can edit it, which I hope you will if you can think of anything you'd like to add or change.

What I think the next step is for this entry is to impose a little more organisation on it. I think a good outline (which would involve a simple reordering of paragraphs) would go something like this:

a)Intro, i.e. first two paragraphs
b)Reading beaches & rip currents
c)Tragedies (deaths, etc.)
d)Surf lifesavers (what they do and how they can help you)
e)How to stay safe

Let me know what you think of this and 'Drowning Not Waving v. 2.0'. Talk to you soon

I'm sorry, that's A3962162 where the entry can be found. And if you like, you can go to <./>test3962162</.> to check out what all the GuideML code looks like.

Hi EMR(..flowers not cheerup) My mum likes flowers my wife likes flowers my daughter likes flowers so I hope you like flowers. Real busy here I will read through it on weekend(actually i,m going fishing tomorrow but dont tell anyone,one of the pro's of being self employed) hope your well........

Flowers are ok... only exception is when I'm trying to maintain my tomboy facade. Which is most of the time. But the thought is appreciated.

Have fun fishing.

Morning/evening Echo, your ideas sound fine to me and also I think we could ditch the footnote on surfboards and just change fibreglass to surf. cheers

I'm wholly in favour of that idea, Rhynch. You go ahead and do that.

Shoot me for a Blockhead, but just how do I change it? Do I edit my version or did you mean your revised version?

You should edit the revised version, because that's the newest updated one. It should be on your Personal Space. Do you see it?

Let me know if you need help.