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

Hi Sus, Thanks for the referral to this fantastic place - no doubt there are fun times to be had. How long have you been encountering problems with the hosts? Do you have any idea where the rest of my cyber friends have disappeared to? It was amazing to me that one day the Welcome Lounge was thriving and the next it was totally non-existent. Is this typical?

Hi Kittykat!

Glad you found your way here. I think you'll find h2g2 is just the kind of place you wanted. There are lots of really great people here, and if you have any problems or questions, pretty much anyone will try to help you out.

There are also some real-life meet-ups that you might be interested in... although this is a UK-based site (belonging to the BBC, as it now does), there are also meets in the US, which I believe is where you are? Whereabouts? I'm in the UK myself (and I'm a 'she' by the way!).

If you want to know how to get smileys into your messages, just click on one of them, and you'll be transported to the smiley page, showing you all the great smilies you can do. But you are welcome to ask me if you have any questions at all, and there is plenty of friendly people around if I'm not about, who will happily try to help out.

As for the BBCi message boards et al... myself and my friends have been banging our heads against a brick wall for months, so I totally sympathise with how you must feel. Suddenly removing the 'Welcome Lounge' without reasonable explanation or warning is just the kind of short-sighted action I've come to expect from them. They don't seem to recognise that real people are having real conversations and building up real friendships there. Let's hope the rest of the BBC can learn from the example set by h2g2.

I can give you the link to the board so you can try and trace your friends again, but I think you will no longer be able to post there. There is an e-mail address for me on my space (just click on my user name above) and you are welcome to mail me.

I hope you have a lot of fun here, and I'm glad I was able to help out a bit.

Sus xx

Hi Peg! (A much more feminine name!) Sorry about the gender mix-up. I've always associated Pegasus with being a valient, powerful and massive steed that one would want if in combat. So, that is a male in my book. You're probably a feminine free spirit, navigating the heavens, chasing unafraid all sorts of etheral things. Anyway, love your name. In time I will undoubtably reinvent mine as it is SO commonplace and DRAB. But my business nickname was "The LYONESS" ( after my last name) and all through my life I've been referred to in a catlike fashion. It helps that I love them - dogs too - in fact all critters. You are correct - I am a Yank who lives in N.Y.. Loved the Welcome Lounge - made some great computer pals - all of whom were smart, witty and extraordinarily diverse. One did show up in "Your Ideas" - hope she gets back to me. How did you arrive at this site? How long are you here? Anyone you can recommend that I simply MUST meet or is this an all over sensational site? Thanks again for your guidance and please know it is truly appreciated.

Well, your name is hardly common, as I only had a choice of two Kittykats when I was searching for you, out of the thousands of people registered to this site. Plus you get the choice of cool smilies like or to sign your name with. Sadly, no yet for me... although I have been known to go by (Unidentified Flying 'Orse!) for my love of the paranormal.

I've been a part of h2g2 since August 1999, long before the site became a part of the BBC (early last year). I have met a lot of wonderful people through here, and some are now great friends in real life. I know Pegasus is generally held to be masculine in mythology, but I never did believe in sexism and you are right about the symbolism of a 'free spirit'. LOL I do prefer to go by 'Sus' rather than 'Peg' though, as I tend to think the latter may encourage people to hang their coats on me.

If you click on my name and go to my space, you will find a drop-down menu of some of the great people I have met here, and I know any of them will make you feel very welcome. I see you have already met our lovely Community Editor, Peta.

h2g2 has groups and clubs and people chatting about all sorts, and of course there are the various Guide entries. If you have something in particular that interests you, you could try typing it into the 'Search' box at the top of the page (the h2g2 Search box, rather than the one on the grey BBCi menu bar). Many people start up their own discussion groups if they can't find one that covers their interests. You can do that by clicking on the 'Click here to add a new Guide Entry' link, and creating a page about your chosen subject. People then often advertise it but putting the relevant page number (eg. A123456) and Subject title in brackets after their names, so it is visible in the 'Who's Online' window.

If you want me to help you find anything in particular, let me know what interests you, and I'll hunt out some links. Anything else you want help with, just shout.

Sus xx

Hi Sus, I'm still not sure how to transpose those terrific smilies from that page to this reply. (I am SUCH a NEWBIE!!) Duh - this is embarrassing. Sorry about the incorrect appellation - but based on my brief review of your postings I sincerely doubt that anyone would DARE to hang anything on you that you didn't want! Love it! And didn't I notice a smilie that was flying? Perhaps it's adaptable. When you're not having fun on this site what's your life like? Married, children, working, painting, reading, spying, smuggling, romancing or other? Are you also into studying about "life after life"? That's one of my favorites along with learning about spirituality, metaphysics and things along those lines. I was born in Manhattan, grew up on Long Island and am currently living in upstate N.Y. in what was our country home. Completely changed my lifestyle from Super Yup to Totally Simple. (Long story). Looking forward to finding out about you.

Hi again Kitty. I see you've been spreading the joys of h2g2 over on the message board. Good on ya!

Don't worry about being a newbie. I'm sure you've already found out how friendly people are. Besides, there's so much here to find out about, it's gonna take a while.

Smilies are really easy to make once you start. All you need to do is put the name of the smiley (always in lower case) inside angled <> brackets. If you hover your mouse over a smiley, you'll see the name appear in the bar at the bottom of the screen... it's the word after #
Plus, if you click on a smiley it will take you to the whole smiley list, and all the smilies you can do. Here's a few examples:

< winkeye > makes (minus the spaces inside the brackets)
< cool > makes
< fullmoon > makes
< aliensmile > makes
< hug > makes
< cheerup > makes

Just a few to get you started!

Hmm... bit about me... well you probably gathered from the message boards that I have a keen interest in The X Files and the paranormal. I'm kinda interested in anything outside the 'norm'. Spirtuality and 'alternative lifestyles' are something that are gradually becoming more interesting to me, but I don't claim to know anything about them. My real life is generally not interesting enough to talk about online.

If I'm not about on h2 (or the message boards) you're very welcome to mail me any time. There's an addy on my user space (just click my name to get there). Have you had any luck in getting back in touch with your friends from the Welcome Lounge? Seems that the older parts of BBCi don't recognise that people are actually forming real relationships on the boards. Anyway, you have my full sympathy and support. I hope we can get some sort of assistance from Neil, so you can all get back in touch.

Sus xx

Thanks for all the support Sus - I deeply appreciate it . Is there any chance you'll be staying on here? Evidently you are quite popular and it seems many folks will be quite sad if you go. I have applied to Mice University as an exchange student but they appear rather suspicious of me! I can't imagine why since I have deliberately and carefully sheathed my claws - and that is not easy !!! Of course I did ask Greebo to borrow the titanium tips as they would be quite useful in combatting the evil loggers that I contend with on a daily basis . Do you know of any groups who focus on environmental concerns? There were a couple of people from the Welcome Lounge that found their way to "Your Ideas" but so MANY are missing! I shall perservere!! KAT