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

Ok so I am new to H2G2, I go write my profile and finmd that a link to someting has been edited out, no one has commented on as to why it has been removed, who had done it or even contacted me to let me know that it has been done. So I go back re edit my profile putting the link back in with some comments so it should be abbundantly clear to anyone commenting it out that I'd at least like somone to tell me why what I'm doing wrong. As having read both the house rules and the BBC's T&C I don't think that the link actualy infringed them.
Rather predictably the link was changed again, just snipped out in an identicaly manner and no one emailed me, or commented who was actualy responsible... which left me wondering, is H2G2 modderated by bots!?!?! who just go arround and stamp on content deemed inadmissable via some strange rules... so I will now go back and stary playing with my profile, I'm not sure what will annoy me more, the fact that some po faced so and so is repeatedly editing out a link without bothering to contact me, or some stupid bot is doing the same thing... i wonder if I will ever find out.

Usually, when you get an Entry moderated
you get e-mailed about it...

Dont know what might have happened...

Hi Spasticate,

I am Abi the Deputy Community Editor of h2g2. The reason that the link was removed was it contravened the House Rules which state:

"Any links from Guide Entries to websites we consider unsuitable will be removed - if you are considering adding a URL to an entry, please make sure that it adds value and interest to the subject of your entry, and isn't, for example, purely commercial. Unsuitable sites would include those with racist material, pornographic or sexually explicit material, anything which encourages illegal activities, material which infringes copyright, or sites which purely plug or promote commercial products or services without containing material which enhances the subject matter."

Unsuitable sites also include those that incite hatred against minorities; racial or sexual. This rule is applied regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the content of the website you are linking to.

I am a little concerned that you have not recieved an email saying that your page had been failed. I have sent you an email to check that the email address we have for you is correct. Please could you reply if you receive it.

Thanks

Thanks abi, I did get your test email, I'm not sure why I didn't get emailed the previous two times when the link was removed. Im not sure I really approve of taking that link out, as the god hates fags (i can mention them I hope) people much as though they might be objectionable are arguably nuts, are actualy out there being crazy and nasty regardless of weather I link to them or not. However my intention is not to troll this more to find out why somone was coming allong and just editing my content without even telling me they had done so let alone why.

Anyway, I'll just have to come up with something else to put there instead, however the first time I had the URL edited out it occoured to me that i just put a link to a page on my website that would redirect to the same page after a few seconds, which would to casual inspection be fairly inoccuous but achieve the same effect. Im not saying I intend to do this but hypotheticaly, what's to stop somone who is determined to contravine the house rules from doing this?

Anyway, i'm no one has actualy answered my question as to weather there is some kind of politicaly correct bot parsing all URLs or not, judging by the concern i didnt get an email I'm a little more inclined to think that this is indicative of human error... although who knows, maybe its a failure of some kind of automated email system. So please do tell are there itty bitty bots running around here or no?

No there aren't - our Moderators are all students starving in garrets somewhere.

Seriously though, we moderate by hand rather then having an automated system. Thus because each link is checked by hand, putting a delayed re-router from your website to the other wouldn't work either.

I don't actually deal with moderation myself but Peta, the Community Editor is on holiday and I am dealing with it in her absence. I have found out why you did not recieve an email. At the moment the system is only set up to email when a page is failed and not when it is edited.

So no tiny robots I am afraid. If there were it would be all very Iain M Banks!

thats probably for the best the tiny robots in i.m. banks books tend to have serrious attitude problems