• Scientists develop immune cells that seek and destroy cancer
• US Military knew about depleted uranium health risks ten years
  ago
• Eunuchs to create national Indian political party

It is now exactly four months¹ since I was unanimously² elected as President
of h2g2. How has h2g2 evolved since then? I like to think that I have had a
positive impact, and that my leadership has inspired generations of
researchers to become more creative and dedicated to the Guide. In reality
I've probably put people off by acting weird.

These major changes³ have
occurred since that fateful day in September⁴
2000:

1. There are more entries involving subtle references to sex in The
   Guide.
2. There are less articles being written for The
   Post.
3. h2g2 seems to have lost/got rid of its advertising sponsors. This may or
   may not be a good thing.
4. There are more researchers contributing to The Guide from the Third
   World.⁵
5. There are a lot more smileys on h2g2.
6. There are more Ministers in my cabinet.⁶
7. The United States have finally decided who their next President
   is going to be. I think we can safely conclude that the residents of h2g2
   have a lot more common sense than the residents of the USA.
8. I have started the ParanoiaPost, my latest
   h2g2 hobby, which is the first parody of The Post...
9. The h2g2 Front Page is a lot
   neater, more logical and to the point.
10. There are more subeditors helping the
    editors of h2g2.
11. There are less subeditors actually helping the editors of
    h2g2⁷.

This is mostly Good News. But there are one or two items that concern me.
There is the subeditors-not-working-hard-enough problem but that's our
problem. We're actually on strike demanding our pay goes up by 5%. And then
there is number 2, 'There are less articles being written for The Post.' My
personal view on this is that when the Post was at its peak of production,
there were lots of enthusiastic, relatively new, researchers helping out.
They felt free to help out because the Post was relatively new itself. Now
the Post is an established part of h2g2, newcomers (and oldcomers) feel that
writing for it is something for the pros.

Well, all I can say to this is, if I can get published in The Post then
anyone can. If you've got something of interest to write about, then write
about it. If not, write about it anyway. The Post is a newspaper for the
researchers, to inform and help the researchers... and the only way to
develop your writing skills is to practice them.

h2g2 Fiction has been going through a bit of
a slow phase and so I have started the first h2g2 Fiction Challenge! See the
appropriate article in this week's Post; and join in! Go on! You know you
want to. The idea is to write a short story based on the title which I have
given.

Peregrin's feet have seen a fairly uneventful month, enjoying Christmas
at home with the family and subsequently lounging around in Devon, South
Wales, London, and Southampton. Events of excitement have been accompanying
Peregrin on the occasional early morning jog, and briefly suffering from the
cold when Peregrin forgets to wear shoes and socks.

A spokesperson for the feet says that the FootCam has not been
operational for a time because Peregrin's feet have valued their privacy
during the Christmas period. Normal operation will resume shortly. In more
exciting news, The Peregrin's Feet committee are considering the possibility
of obtaining an ADSL internet connection line this July, meaning that the
FootCam (among other services) would be able to broadcast at a much higher
quality, 24 hours a day.

Peregrin

15.01.01. Front Page

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