   party like it's 1999!   The Return of Reactive Moderation!!
If everything goes well with the Peer Moderation Pilot Project, it will resolve about 80% to 90% of our complaints. The sections below were written during the period when Moderators reviewed all entries on h2g2 and removed the ones that seemed to break rules, whether or not the community knew or cared or agreed.
|
Got Moderation?
Show how you feel about it. Sign the
Petition for Greater Freedom on h2g2.
See Zaphodista Communiqués page
for related articles and
the latest developments. THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELE-TUBBIED. First Declaration of the Zaphodista Army of Cybernautic Liberation
Writing from near the jungles of Lacandon, Chiapas, Mexico1. Forty-seven days our gathering place was down. You know how they talk about things moving fast in "Internet Time?" It is as if our beloved forum and community had been down for years. Many of the people who used to count themselves as fans of the h2g2 community will likely not return. But I have enjoyed this community too much to let it go. When it reappeared in full bloom, I was thrilled. Then I tried to read my old entries, which were "hidden pending moderation." Then I read the new House Rules. Our beloved revolutionary sweetheart, the hitchiker's guide website, has been absorbed by the BBC -- British Bureaucracy Clampdown. It appears that new guide entries will be available to read instantly, but pre-BBC entries remain "hidden pending moderation2." This proactive moderating will take time. Time that you wouldn't have to lose at most other boards, forums, communities. Your friends are all saving time posting on those other forums, because they don't have your loyalty to h2g2 the site, or your fanatical devotion to h2g2 the book. Is it worth it? Further, there will be no more vulgarity. It's not that free speech is curtailed exactly. Just your vocabulary. Because somewhere in merry old UK, people believe that the web should be tailored to kids, that adults should all give up their freedom so that parents and teachers do not have to take responsibility for policing children. Shall we discuss what "vulgar" originally meant? It meant common. As in, the lower class. Didn't you people get this all worked out of your system on tv shows like "Upstairs, Downstairs?" Speech should be common. To classify speech as unacceptable because it is "common" is to classify people as "common," is to raise yourself up undeservedly. We are all commoners now, because All Your Upper Class Privilege Are Belong To Us. To fight back against these ridiculous new policies, we present an unofficial h2g2 club -- a new, mostly non-existent group for fans of the old h2g2 site who are displeased with the changes made by BBC. | | |  | | |
Zaphodistas, as obedient members of the h2g2 community, seek to struggle within the existing rules of h2g2 for a reform of the system towards more democracy, openness, away from the pre-emptive moderating and the ridiculous ban on posting URLs. For the sake of the continued survival of h2g2 as a peoples' forum, these rules should be removed. Since there are so many other forums where people can write what they want without waiting for it to be moderated, without worrying about posting URLs, you can rest assured that frustrated contributors and visitors will not remain at a site with this slow and backwards system. These new rules are inconsistent with standards followed everywhere else on the web, and will likely prove detrimental to the survival of h2g2 when people can easily turn elsewhere. THESE ARE OUR DEMANDS: (Okay, they're not demands really. It's not a war, and we won't do any denial-of-service attacks like the real Zapatistas did. These are our heart-felt suggestions: ) 1. Any page you come across that says "hidden pending moderation" is a frustration you won't experience at most other online communities. Return to the system of moderation after the fact, as used by most other message boards, forums and online communities. 2. Allow URLs everywhere, in forum posts and contributed guide entries. If they point to something naughty, you can zap them after someone complains. That's how it works on every other forum and online community. The Beeb has done allright in radio and tv, but Welcome To The Web. It's not like your father's Oldsmedia. If you don't match the freedom and openness of other forums on the web, yours will be a ghost town before long. 3. Allow all languages. Are you kidding me, you desperado you? The idiocy of this policy has a certain JE NE SAIS QUOI. Will segments of this page be rejected because I write VIVA ZAPHODA!? In case this is your first day on the web (and I thought Beeb had a little more experience here), let me explain something else y'all failed to notice: INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE. Limits placed on information by sites that censor, sites that flirt with censorship (as this one now does), and sites that forbid languages, will find themselves left in the dust. If you can't let your information be free, there are many other forums that will3. Anyhow, I would think you'd be disgusted at how this policy flies in the face of democracy and freedom of speech, but apparently that stuff gets lower priority than, say, making a safe place where kids can read about Radio One. 4. For aesthetic purposes, will you just chill out with all the disclaimers? I don't remember there being this many on the old h2g2. Here I sometimes see the same junk repeated at the top and bottom of the same page, just so everyone knows about the new House Rules and Policies and Terms of Servitude and whatever. Maybe they have more weird laws in the land where you come from, but couldn't you just post the fine print and disclaimers once, buried in the "Terms of Service" that everyone has to read when they sign up for your service? This is how most other forums and online communities do it4. 5. Bring back the "Don't Panic!" button. I know real estate is scarce on the front page, but if you're so worried about people needing and searching for the word "HELP", then put it at the bottom in your stupid fine print disclaimer or something. You're fiddling with tradition, dog gone it! (I mean, "d** **** *t!") 6. Allow your readers to be adults by assuming they can survive reading a naughty word. It won't hurt us, it won't hurt your children, who probably know more versions than you by now. It won't even hurt your numbers, because everybody accepts this as normal on the web. It may hurt your Aunt Gertrude, but her boycott will be no great loss...and she too probably knows more versions of that word than you!
BY-LAWS of the Zaphodistas Can you hold up the moonlight in your palm and say, "I own you, moonlight?" No! Such are the rules placed on membership to the Zaphodista Army. Anyone may be a Zaphodista who loves democracy, liberty, justice, and that scene where Marvin triumphs over the tank just by talking to him. To become a Zaphodista, simply call yourself one. Too lazy to announce it? That's okay: you may already be a Zaphodista! The following guidelines are subject to change (if anyone else joins the group besides me who is writing this): A. Zaphodistas are patriotic about h2g2! We love the idea of the site, and strive for its continued prosperity. We may even be generally pleased with the past of BBC, due to their involvement with the h2g2 radio series and Red Dwarf and The Jimi Hendrix Experience BBC Sessions, in spite of their involvement with the h2g2 tv show and Doctor Who5. However, we do not support the recent changes to h2g2 made by the BBC, changes which seem to be working against the open system of the original h2g2 site. B. Zaphodistas must struggle within the rules of BBC h2g2 to reform those rules. We do not seek to overthrow h2g2, but to save it from the misguided policies of silly people from another world who do not understand the way our world turns. (In case you missed the metaphor, I'm talking about BBC's experience in the "world" of radio and tv shaping their policies toward the "world" wide web.) Getting ourselves kicked out probably won't help. C. If you have any pre-BBC guide entries "hidden pending moderation," by all means, update them and make them visible. Each of these hidden screens is a scar on the good name of what was once a healthy and open forum. ![The Revolution will not be Tele-Tubbied. Zaphodistas A520769.]() D. Eventually, h2g2 will likely allow outside graphics to be displayed on guide entries. Until then, the graphic symbol of Zaphodista struggle should be a broken graphic link with text message. View the Source code of this page to put a similar graphic on your page. For the ALT portion of the IMG SRC tag, insert whatever text you feel.
X. In the course of struggling for greater democracy, liberty and justice, it may be necessary to perpetrate a little subversion within the bounds of the h2g2 system. Namely, it may become necessary to move pages about the Zaphodista Army away from h2g2 to some other site, if they are rejected. And as the system of "Official Approved" guide entries becomes more and more elitist (and I would argue that they already were elitist before BBC took hold), it falls to us to support and emphasize unofficial guide entries. This section of h2g2, if it returns to the kind of shape before being tainted by BBC, is like an Underground Guide within the Guide, entries not marked by the elitist approval of whoever these people are in charge of giving approval. Z. All of the above demands and terms are subject to debate and discussion, and probably ought to be reworked by little local committees just like the EZLN does, but I can't remember what they call em. Anyhow, please post your ideas on the forum at the bottom of this page. JOIN THE INSURGENT FORCES OF
THE ZAPHODISTA ARMY
OF CYBERNAUTIC LIBERATION. THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELE-TUBBIED.
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE PRE-EMPTIVELY MODERATED.
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT NEED A DISCLAIMER.
THE R********N WILL NOT BE HIDDEN BENEATH ASTERISKS.
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN ALL LANGUAGES.
YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR COOKING THE REVOLUTION, BECAUSE IT WILL NOT BE PRE-DIGESTED FOR YOU. VIVA ZAPHODA!
[Signed,]
Subcomandante Insurgent Deidzoeb
[deidzoeb@yahoo.com]
Fat Mammoth.
Marc, RoD, Muse of BAATPTADOUBRA. NAVO,ASPATB,SGLGAHOMQ..
The Average Joe No One EVER Suspects.
Kasia, P.S. of Syncopation,Muse of Classic Goo Fans, Keeper of Rainbows, Zaphodista (visit Crossed Purposes Pub: A429310).
Amy the Ant - High Manzanilla of the Church of the Stuffed Olive.
Munchkin.
Garius Lupus.
Doltaghey House.
Shea the Sarcastic: Play Ball!.
Ottox.
Anne of a Thousand Days.
NYC Student - The innocent looking one =P.
GreyDesk.
Ormondroyd.
Linus...42, i guess that makes me the answer....
Santragenius V.
JK the unwise .
Pheroneous.
Rocket Rod .
The Corrupt One (MIA).
Bagpuss.
Galaxy Babe FP Author - Imagine there's no Heaven.
Mother of God, Empress of the Universe.
The High Duke of Mars.
Zeb (Viva Something-or-Other! And the Zaphodistas!).
Zorpheus - I'm so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis..
EtherZev.
Eternity (Ace).
Imaldris.
magrat .
Wumbeevil.
Don Malvado, so bitter my cat won't even lick me.
Titania & Ripley, the unau adolescent.
Raver-ace...:- |.
Orcus.
Pierce The Pirate (visit my ship at A579684), thingite key bearer.
Inanna has a theory - it could be bunnies..
Tefkat. I called the dog "anathema" so I could say "anathema sit".
The Nitpicker - Squad Number 10.
sea (alive... still... sometimes popping in...).
U168667.
shrinkwrapped.
Eatsmice. Purring quietly..
Comrade Rumble.
androyd "utopian dreamer".
broelan - can't decide between ice cream and beer....
Researcher 99947.
Gwennie.
Kumetanzuka the capricious.
Shazz PRME(emeritus).
Taliesin.
Zmrzlina.
Elly- studying..
Mr K H Jordan. Totally brain washed and incapable of making sense (the BBC has done its work well).
Wowbagger.
Go-Go Girl.
Little Mischief.
Kheldar (Don't hate the media, Become the media).
U128068.
Baldrick.
the other omylouse "multiply (1*6) by (6*1+0+3)!".
Bob Gone for good read the jornal.
Granny Weatherwax - ACE, Hell's Belle, Mother-in-law From The Pit.
Afgncaap5 (Totally Perplexed! A15955914).
Andy.
Chris Tonks - The Overseer [PCT].
The Return of The Unmentionable Marauding Pillowcase!!! (Visit U185434).
GTBacchus.
Melinda the Basketcase.
Yossarian Prefect.
Bumblebee .
Depressed Black Sheep.
One-eye, KoD, gent, MuG, randomly available.
Soapylou, Logic Skipper, (Zaphodista).
Freaky Cheeze.
Pastey - the ranter.
Anon[Join the fight for your freedom, join the Zaphodistas today! A520769].
Yowuzupman- New Top Speed 122 (thats mph you metric fools).
St.KT: Muse of Flying Horses(16)+2+6+9+9=42.
Is it on the Gosho? Can you point to it?.
Arutha( patron saint of personal magnetism ).
SchrEck Inc..
Yar Kramer (thinking with portals).
Spacecadette, just muddling through..
Jane Muse of Bad Girls (Pregnant :-D).
'nette (user of rockinghorse brains) see A465284.
ringo (it's not all right).
Sergeant Mushroom.
Psybro.
woobers.
Zero.
mari-rae(tee reads: (entangled in cardboard boxes, please send tape...).
Mr. Christopher, enjoying the Magicians Guild game where he is called Polonius Franc, Elder Healer and local merchant.
iopgod.
Magnolia Thunderpussy, Geisha of the Web. [MoG]
kierkegaardvark = kierkegaardwolf [1+6+6+5+6*4 = 42].
Iceraven(Lord of Shadows)(Muse of Vampirism)(Keeper of Things that should not be).
Eeyore.
V (I'm going to be a Daddy :-D) Officaly the bloke who carrys Bob home ;-).
Helium Bandit.
TIMELORD .
earthman.
NMcCoy (attempting to standardize my username across the Internet. Formerly known as Twinkle.).
Frizzychick.
Badger.
Metal Chicken .
Jeremy (trying to find his way back to dinner).
Weatherwax.
Xerces The Keeper of Blades and Bows .
Kyacamuffin (Formerly the Toxin Avenger).
.
Wolfman, Zaphodista :X (soon to be Zarquon again, or maybe not).
Jeff - Lurker <lurk>.
Mandarb [((1+1)x4)x(0+2+5)=42!]] (currently rebuilding his h2g2 life!).
Courtney Patron Saint of Social Embarassment .
Matt - Zaphodista and swashbuckling pirate of the "Blood of the Zaphodistas".
Kristina the Flamenco Dancer - ACE, PS of Duende, Muse.
Contemplation (Zaphodista in a Cloak of Goo).
GinTonyx - Keeper and Mixer of the Gin and Tonic, Muse of the Lemon Garden..
Niwt.
?.
.
Researcher 168963.
Zarniroop (er.... I'll think of something amusing to put here soon!).
Ioreth (on hiatus).
Suz - *is gone*.
Zed.
Kumabear .
Freedom.
St.Trin 5!/5 + 2 + 7 + 9 = 42.
Sakki.
Red Dog (a figment of Paul H's imagination).
wizard.
Netter:Leader of the Towel Munchers.
Notquiteallhere - the Conversation Assassin.
Jamie.
simply scruff singing a rainbow.
RedFish ><>.
Stella.
Sylvia, pokémon trainer(with her Oddish)(Minister of emerald green, keeper of green magic).
Monsignore Pizzafunghi Bosselese.
Siguy.
The Oppressed Pipe of Great Magnitude(Home of 'The Adventures of Wesley Pipes').
Peet (the Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Spoonwinner, Cheese Namer & Zaphodista).
Burn.
E G Mel.
Eusebio - squad number 11.
plaguesville . ("I'm not fussy about having a brand new uniform, I'll gladly accept Peta's beret...")
Captain Kebab.
Babel o' fish...back to earning a crust!.
Joe aka Arnia, Muse, Keeper, MathEd, Guru and Zen Cook (business is booming).
some bloke who tried to think of a short, catchy, pithy name and spent five sleepless nights trying but couldn't think of one.
Almighty Rob - mourning the old h2g2.
Jimmy the Evil Scar.
MadMunk?¿ .
the phantom ( part time) 1x6x9-9-9+6=42 . greeblet. .
Beeblefish.
Pandora...Born Again Tart.
Swiv (decrepit postgrad).
A Girl Called Jack.....muse of 6 foot green squirrels.
Argon0 [Creator of SuDoK42: A5475431](BenKOR's DAD!)(H2G2 SuDoKu @ A5178828)(7*((7+0)-(8^0))=42)(keeper of 42isms -see A53.
Anonymouse (40077).
Eeyyuuup- ((1+7)/4) + (4x10)=42.
Merkin.
vogonpoet (AViators at A13264670).
Muninn.
Freddy, Keeper Of The Word "fnar!". Back from the Underworld..
Tummyfish-[F.A.S- A568703]Zaphodista - Keeper of Fish) [1*7*(8-0!-0-1) = 42].
LUCIEN-Scouting the web for the out of the ordinary.
Jimmy, Keeper of Hot Peppers, the Holy Hand Grenade, and the Occasional Pet Rock.
Clarke The Cynic -Keeper of all things darned (socks/souls)..
Twenty-First Century Schizoid Man.
Zaphod II: alchemically treated with "tickety-boo" tea .
Cyberlemming - Zaphodista - U178564.
Ruppinger.
Arlecchino (school gets in the way).
genfinch ((1*3)-1-1)*(6*7)=42.
Davius the Mostly Competent.
AsnoT (Zaphodista).
Scary Dave.
Increase Mathhrubers, Sber of Pelamar [IMSoP] - If time is an illusion, why do I keep falling for it?.
moyabrit (Viva la Revolucion!).
Uncle Monty (nothing much going on here then).
LittleMissFordPrefect * scfitu * KoRCS * PS of the ....*.
weegie .
Alex Watson [Zaphodista].
w85.
Floh Fortuneswell.
PinkyBoodles.
furtim - Zaphodista Sympathiser.
tuc fortuneswell, Dax is updating his page.
pathetical, formerly "madmaz- zaphodista, marshmallow minister, vegetarian and torturer (among other things)...".
njan (afh).
Peter aka Krans.
ANDROKTONE (Visit MoominValley! A639010).
Zarquon's Singing Fish! .
the autist formerly known as flinch.
Lifson Kofie.
Someone You Know(GrandHighMaster Of All Things Unsanitary And In Need Of A Good Clean Before The Neighbours Come Round).
Big Green Smiley.
Robert.
Captain Venom: (Making his triumphant return to H2G2!) Proud Keeper of ....
Codpiece Man: Cynic and OBLPSEA.
Candi.
Rat, the researcher without a stupidly long bit after his name like everyone else has..
Crazy Man .
Smilodon.
Galen.
Mistadrong, (Count vonCount.)the last Gog standing.
Dominik (Zaphodista, see petition A544943!).
Artenshiur, the perpetually pseudopresent.
Andrew Wyld [kt:'Burning Pestle', kp:'Mutamems, Ideodiversity', Zaph.].
owlatron.
So Long and Thanks for all the Fish(Deceased) (U183367 and U46417 are same person).
† - Darth - † (U183367 and U46417 are same person).
This spce intentionally left blank.
Count Zero.
Wildman - I'm not really mad, I've just been in a very bad mood for 40 years!.
Rissa of the ShoeShine, Protector of Boots Everywhere - Thingite, Zaphodista, NH Player, Geek.
Alsieboo, Robert Rankin fan member, A2120617.
Traveller in Times >42 )^( _.
Wøñkø.
Keseral - lost....
Blue Bird .
Scandrea.
Plum Linden.
Cowgirl .
chupito .
[229 members as of 5 JANUARY 2005.]
[A588602 is an
Alphabetized Zaphodista Roll-Call,
thanks to Increase Mathers]
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See Zaphodista Communiqués page
for related articles and
the latest developments.
Got Moderation?
Show how you feel about it. Sign the
Petition for Greater Freedom on h2g2.
1 Actually "near" in this case means several thousand miles north and a little east of Lacandon, more in the vicinity of Kalamazoo.
2 Apparently you can make pre-BBC entries visible by updating them. Still, any page you come across that says "hidden pending moderation" is a frustration you won't experience at most other online communities. As long as there are any pages "hidden pending moderation," there will be work for Zaphodistas to do.
3 I know, I know: this would have been a great point to talk about how stale, old copyright laws left over from the Twentieth Century will also crumble when exposed to the world's desire for blisteringly free information. But we'll save that for another time.
4 On the web, you have an even better trick for "fine print" than you have if the fine print were on paper. On the web, you can make one of those tiny scroll boxes that only show two or three lines of text at a time, and make your victims read yards and yards of convoluted legal jargon inside that teeny box. Nobody reads that junk, they just skip down and click OK.
5 I'm only kidding about Doctor Who. Please don't send your robot to zap me, flailing its vacuum cleaner hose arms. As for the h2g2 tv show, I meant it.
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