The Hitchhiker's Guide to Earth:About
From The Hitchhiker's Guide to Earth
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to Earth
An E-Z way to learn about the planet you're on.
Mission
The original concept of the Guide came from one bored researcher's Wikipedia surfing session at work in September of 2008. During this particular session, it occurred to him that there were many parallels between The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Wikipedia. Both are wildly popular electronic encyclopedias with built-in search engines. Both contain highly useful information compiled by a great number of individual reporters. Neither claim to have reliable information, and neither are written by any reputable researchers.
There are also differences: Wikipedia is not very interesting or funny. Douglas Adams did a fine job making the book itself a great read, and within the novel, the population of the universe prefers the Guide to other galactic encyclopedias for the same reasons: it's cheap, it's interesting, it's opinionated.
The Wikipedia does have one leg up on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, however; the Guide gives us very little information about Earth, while Wikipedia has tons of stuff about basically everything on our planet. However, it suffers from a stiff and impersonal approach. That's where we come in.
Guidelines
We decided in the beginning that all articles would should be written based solely on first-hand experience. Journalistic integrity. Rules. Guidelines. Whatever you want to call it, we have a specific way to research and construct articles on this site.
- All subjects must be researched in person. No fair writing an article based on online research or word of mouth. You must have experienced, met, been to, consumed, seen, felt, smelt, tasted the subject you are attempting to describe in person. Or at least one of those.
- All photos must be taken by the researcher himself. Don't use Google unless you are describing something that can only be seen from outer space (see Earth).
- All articles and photos submitted to the project may be edited at any time by anyone. However, it goes without saying that particularly tasteless articles and outright vandalism will not be tolerated.
- Be general, not specific. Think of this as an overview, a basic summary, of Earth. We want an article on the Cat, not White Bengal Tiger or My Long-Haired Grey Tabby Named Chelsea. Do not be afraid, however, to get specific within an article, since you are, in fact, researching one specific individual (in some cases). If your article on Cat is based solely on a one-to-one interaction with Chelsea, then obviously she will be the center of focus in your Cat article.
- Don't Panic! It's really not that hard. Try not to overwhelm yourself. Get plenty of sleep and keep a balanced diet, and you'll be alright. Trust us, you'll live longer.
Getting Started
If an article you are looking for does not exist, feel free to create one. Try to follow the format we established. For further assistance, check out our Help page.
For even further assistance, complaints, compliments, and other things you want to say, you can email me and I'll do my best to answer your questions.