Talk:Douglas Adams/Archive 1

message: DO NOT EDIT OR POST REPLIES TO THIS PAGE. THIS PAGE IS AN ARCHIVE.
This archive page covers approximately the dates between 31 August 2002 and 20 November 2005.
Post replies to the main talk page, copying or summarizing the section you are
replying to if necessary.
Please add new archivals to Talk:Douglas Adams/Archive02. (See Wikipedia:How to archive a talk page.) Thank you. JohnDBuell 23:22, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

message: I think it would be nice if someone had left my spoiler warning there, as the following passage concerning the deaths of characters spoiled Mostly Harmless for me, and I don't wish for it to happen to other individuals.
--Gitaroo Man 01:52, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spoilers 

message: * I sort of recall that DA even wrote a computer game, namely a text adventure titled Starship Titanic, in the 80s, and that this game was later reedited as graphics adventure. Has anybody details? Sanders muc 22:03, 8 Apr 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Starship Titanic 

message: * I also remember that DA explicitly allowed for digital distribution of the hitchhiker novels back in the BBS times. Is this true? Sanders muc 22:03, 8 Apr 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Digital distrbution of HHGG novels? 

message: Is it "A Salmon of Doubt" or "The Salmon of Doubt"? There seems to be some confusion over this issue.
*My copy of the book agrees with the "The Salmon of Doubt" --Qaz
*As does mine. -:)Ozzyslovechild 14:38, 7 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Salmon of Doubt 

message: Note: Moved the following comment from article. Proposals belong on the talk page.
It's clear from the radio series (which started it all) and the Pan Original editions of the first two novelisations that "Hitchhiker" should probably be "Hitch Hiker" or "Hitch-Hiker"; this is also supported by the common abbreviations for the series, HHGG and h2g2.
It's just as clear that "Hitchhiker" is in common use, including evidence on old FAQs, snippets from DNA postings to his forum, and the alt.fan.douglas-adams Usenet group.  And even original editions of the early work are inconsistent.  Barring any definitive pronouncement from the late Mr Adams somewhere on the Internet, a compromise is proposed: follow the old IETF maxim: "be liberal about what we accept [e.g. in searches], but conservative about what we generate [in page edits].  Thus no attempt is made to choose what pages result in redirection and what pages don't, but the text in whatever the base pages are should attempt accuracy in original spelling, influenced by the use as originally released.
This issue is also skirted by using 'HHGG' as much as possible. :-)
Admittedly, this is an anal-retentive issue (remember the old joke: "Is 'anal retentive' hyphenated?").  But what would wikipedia be without occasional sorting through of anal-retentive issues?
:I think we should use only one form for the sake of consistency. A Google search shows "Hitchhiker" is four times as common as "Hitch Hiker" and "Hitch-Hiker" combined:
:"hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" - 48,400
:"hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy" - 12,400 (this catches the hyphenated version too)
:Besides, Hitchhiker has also been the Wikipedia standard before you started to change it. You would have a lot more changing to do if you wanted to establish the other spelling consistently. --Wik 03:36, Dec 4, 2003 (UTC)
From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
:Note: Unfortunately, the different editions of the Hitchhiker's Guide spell it differently -- so you'll find "Hitch-Hiker's Guide", "Hitch Hiker's Guide" as well as "Hitchhiker's Guide" in different editions (US or UK), versions (audio or text) and compilations of the book.  For the sake of coherence Wikipedia spells it Hitchhiker, which is reportedly the way Adams himself preferred it. 
:--Spikey 00:33, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Hitch Hiker", "Hitch-Hiker" or "Hitchhiker"? 

message: I know this might sound dumb to most people, but isn't the phrase "premature death" POV'ed? I mean, who is to say it was premature? I just looks like fan-love to me. It's not important, I just felt like mentioning it. T2X 11:58, Jan 26, 2005 (UTC)
: There are some fairly well established medical and actuarial definitions of premature death, so if anyone is going to seriously challenge this we could use such methods to determine whether the word premature could be used.  I won't bother unless I see a serious challenge because I think most readers would agree that the death of a man by natural causes at age 49 is premature.  Adams did not expect it; he had a young daughter and had just moved to Santa Barbara.  --Tony Sidaway|Talk 13:14, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Premature death 

message: http://www.famous.tc/Douglas_Adams.html <----It looks the same to me. Isn't that illegal? --Radiodj19 00:37, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Interesting to note that they're not keeping up with our edits here :) --JohnDBuell | Talk 02:23, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another Article stolen... 

message: Why is there no mention of Douglas Adams' describing himself as a "Radical Atheist"? I think that is quite an important point in his biography. This interview (which can also be found in "The Salmon of Doubt") should also be linked: http://www.americanatheist.org/win98-99/T2/silverman.html
User:Quasimondo
:If you want to do a whole paragraph or two about how he started as a devout Christian, participated in religious services in Brentwood, but with the logic classes they taught, Adams started questioning his beliefs, and evolved into being an agnostic first and then a self described "radical atheist" go right ahead! --JohnDBuell | Talk 23:40, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Radical Atheist 

message: Again, verification needed. My US edition of the book has a foreword by Neil Gaiman, and the article here states there's a foreword by John Lloyd. Is that the UK edition only? --JohnDBuell | Talk 20:27, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  ''Hitchhiker'' (the M. J. Simpson biography) 

message: Is there a reason NOT to use Infobox_biography anymore? --JohnDBuell | Talk 18:55, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: There was never a reason to use it. It is nonstandard and uselessly repetitive. You know, the name and birth and death dates of the person are given right at the beginning of the article, just a bit to the left of the infobox. Such a box makes sense only for people in certain categories, like U.S. presidents, with many standardized data fields appropriate for that category (in that case term of office, name of first lady, predecessor, successor, etc.), but if it's just name and birth and death info and some random fact (like "fifteen million books sold"), an infobox is pointless. NoPuzzleStranger 13:11, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: If you're going to remove it, at least re-introduce a caption, per the Manual of Style. Wikipedia:Manual of Style or Wikipedia:Captions --JohnDBuell | Talk 13:54, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: This template is now up for deletion. Jooler 17:01, 23 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: An anon user restored the infobox, claming that there's no consensus on TfD. But regardless of that, THIS page now does better without the infobox - I am able to include a footnote to the photographer who took the photo of DNA that we use for this article by having a regular image box, and I can NOT do this using the Infobox template. I vote that it should STAY GONE (from THIS article). --JohnDBuell | Talk 21:11, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Infobox? 

message: Was his middle name with or without diaeresis? I have only seen the diaeresis on wikipedia, so I have my doubts. --Palnatoke 10:26, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Both M.J. Simpson and Nick Webb, in their biographies Hitchhiker and Wish You Were Here respectively, use "Noël" so I'd stick with it! --JohnDBuell | Talk 11:59, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: By the way, just had an opportunity to check the full online Britannica, and they use "in full  Douglas Noël Adams  Douglas Adams " --JohnDBuell | Talk 19:33, 24 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Noel or Noël? 

message: We could really REALLY use sections on his school days (such as the letter and short story published in "The Eagle") and his Adams/Smith/Adams and Footlights days in Cambridge. The bio is skipping from birth, to barely mentioning Brentwood and Cambridge, right into working with Graham Chapman and selling the occasional sketch/joke to the BBC. --JohnDBuell | Talk 07:26, 14 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I've filled in some more details for family members and early life/career (except I forgot the contributions to "The Eagle" myself, argh!). Probably the only other thing that SHOULD be mentioned (IMO) is his l-o-n-g courtship (10 years, I think?) to Jane Belson, their marriage, and daughter Polly. Are there any other suggestions? --JohnDBuell | Talk 03:04, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: FINALLY got around to parts of this. Added quite a bit on his years at Brentwood. Haven't touched the personal/family life (1980s/90s) yet. --JohnDBuell | Talk 13:12, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fixing up the biography 

message: Do we really need the section on Douglas' interactions on USENET? I'm sure its fun for the people who posted there, but it doesn't add anything to our knowledge of Adams, does it? DJ Clayworth 17:47, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Move to Wikiquote. --Bonalaw 20:27, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I think it should be tightened up to say that Douglas DID respond to his fans, first through postal mail, then through other technologies, since Douglas himself embraced many of them. He DID reply on USENET, and through e-mail, and at the end of his life on a forum hosted on douglasadams.com. --JohnDBuell | Talk 11:31, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Usenet 

message: Going with my earlier suggestion, if we clip the a.f.d-a section but move a reference to a "Adams's responses to his fans" section higher in the article, and include the references to mail, e-mail, USENET and his forums, how about we also add the section about his own family (wife and daughter) and also add a section about his love of science and technology? --JohnDBuell | Talk 03:08, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Sections? 

message: I was thinking the other day about Douglas Adams (as I often do; him being a large influence in my life), and I thought that it might be a good idea to reconstruct this article, with all the same information, only in Adams's style of writing.  This would probably be difficult, and require a lot of collaboration between multiple individuals who contributed most of the information to begin with.
It's just an idea now, but I think doing such could really add a special touch to the article.
Thoughts?
email me, if any of you want to attempt this..
fentgphx@gmail.com
:While that might seem like a good idea, I have a feeling that would get "shot down" as "not being encyclopedic." --JohnDBuell | Talk 02:27, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Oh please no. I think if anyone were to try this, it might become necessary to kill them. --Bonalaw 07:49, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question for those who primarily constructed this article. 

message: If anyone has UK first editions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and/or Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, could you please scan and add them under ? Blah, I never signed this. Oops. --JohnDBuell | Talk 02:24, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Such cover images are, in my opinion, the only things that are really still "missing" from this article. I feel it is FINALLY complete, and covers the major themes and works in Adams's life. --JohnDBuell 21:35, 20 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cover images wanted! 

message: Is it worth adding a note to the Doctor Who section about how the cricket pitch scene from the January 1 1966 episode, where the TARDIS materialises in the middle of a test match with the commentators taking the entire thing completely in their stride, is so similar to the scene Adams later wrote for Life, the Universe and Everything? Angmering 07:33, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Sure, I don't see why there can't be a paragraph about in-jokes from the two appearing in each other's series. Just added one. --JohnDBuell 12:50, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Futher examples; and quotes, would me good, please. Andy Mabbett 12:53, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The examples of Hitchhiker's references showing up in Doctor Who are listed elsewhere, and that is linked. This article is getting long enough already. And the Cricket Pitch scene in the third novel is really the only notable reference I can think of in Hitchhiker's of Doctor Who (it's already noted that the first Dirk Gently novel borrows heavily from two Doctor Who stories that Adams worked on). --JohnDBuell 12:55, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: So they are. Thank you. Mind you, some seem tenouous, in the extreme! Andy Mabbett 13:19, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The Hitchhiker's references in The Pirate Planet mostly come through the DVD's production note subtitles. The Ghost Light reference came from the BBC's online episode guide, and the rest can be seen or heard in their respective episodes. --JohnDBuell 13:37, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  There also appears to be a character named Arthur Dent in Doctor Who, because the Doctor claimed to know someone by that name in one of the more recent episodes. (The Christmas Invasion, I think (the one with the Sycorax, in acse you didn't know.))  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.252.178.158 (talk) 19:49, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Although Arthur was indeed mentioned in The Christmas Invasion, he's not really a character in Doctor Who, since he never actually appeared (and was not mentioned again either). The incident has been covered at both those articles (follow the links to see just where); but it doesn't really belong on this one as well. --Redrose64 (talk) 20:12, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cricket pitch 

message: I got the DVDs of the series for X-mas, which contained lots of features including an interview with the great man himself. In the interview he states that he wrote the episodes, it's mentioned as he got the Dr Who job just as the H2G2 project was launching. Webhat 16:09, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If you are referring to City of Death that has already been documented in this article and that one. And his getting the commissions for the radio series AND The Pirate Planet and his leaving the script editor's job on Doctor Who to spend more time working on H2G2 is also well documented. --JohnDBuell 21:02, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  DNA wrote Dr Who episode 

message: I feel like it should be included that his official biography's title "Wish You Were Here" might be another reference to Pink Floyd's album/song under this same name. --Kamikazi 20:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That IS mentioned in the "Pink Floyd" section. How more explicit do you want it? --JohnDBuell 21:40, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry, I must have over-looked it. --Kamikazi 16:24, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  More Pink Floyd influence? 

message: Pilotguy said: "Please stop adding nonsense to Wikipedia. It is considered vandalism"  - I respond:  "no it is not!"
quote:  "When you leave the edit summary blank, some of your edits could be mistaken for vandalism" 
I made my edit clear
I was at this gym as I was told it was a gay hangout (I forget the name). I am simply using wiki to publish this flag for further info on the name (and nature) of the gym.   Maybe my gym info was / is wrong.  At least the gym NAME would be more info to this wiki entry no?
But I look at the internet once every few months so I'll leave you editors to re-revert....
:No where in any of the documentaries or published biographies of Adams is this mentioned. It's not appropriate to post claims like that and leave it to others to do your research work for you. It can not be backed up, and so out it goes from this article. --JohnDBuell 02:18, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  name & nature of santa  barbara gym 

message: Is it just me, or does calling Douglas Adams a "cult figure" sound a bit POV? The use of "cult figure" is by nature rather vague and disputabe, and Adams, who probably has more readers than Michael Crighton (and is definitely not cult) is certaily very close to the edge of "cultism".   freshgavin TALK    04:22, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Considering that the Hitchhiker's series were a big part on the former BBC Cult site (for cult TV, and in the case of Hitchhiker's, radio), I'd say it should stay. --JohnDBuell 04:28, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I wouldn't argue that HHGG was cultish, I would that it isn't anymore, especially after the movie release.   freshgavin TALK    04:55, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

text: Considering that in my personal experience, it was mainly the cult of existing fans that went to the movie and got the DVD, and that it really did NOT do overly excitingly well, and there isn't going to be a sequel, I'd say that would be an argument for it remaining a 'cult' sci-fi work. --JohnDBuell 05:07, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, maybe you're right. I think I'm just over-aware of the surge of fans in the last while because I always thought of HHGG as cultish and liked it that way :  ).   freshgavin TALK    06:17, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cult 

message: Mr. Adams was scheduled to give the commencement speech at Harvey Mudd College a few days after the date of his death, and on campus at the time (as a Pomona College student), there was a wide rumor at the time that the stress of preparing for this event contributed to this heart attack. It was always heresay to me, but I was told that several Southern California papers had mentioned this. Would anyone know if this is the case, and if so, if this factoid should be included on the section relating to his death? Smoove K 06:00, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd say that if you can find anything in newspaper archives from May 2001 that say that, you could mention it. "Several newspapers at the time claimed blah blah blah" as long as references are cited. --JohnDBuell 06:07, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Harvey Mudd College 

message: Because there seems to be a minor edit war going on over apostrophes, I'm going to state here what I keep stating in the edit summaries, and other editors that have left "s's" I'm sure will back me. Adams's book - this is correct, current US and UK usage. A simple google search will verify this, but you have to be careful. There are many examples online of s' stated as being correct, but if you look at the works cited on those pages, they are from older style and usage guides. Several sites that agree with the current usage include:
* http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwheret.html
* http://www.colorado.edu/Publications/styleguide/punctuation.html
* http://faculty.mccfl.edu/Jonesj/Tools/errors.html
* Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style_archive_(punctuation)
And The Little, Brown Handbook, ninth edition, copyright 2004, also gives "s's" as correct usage. --JohnDBuell 06:57, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd certainly be willing to confirm that this is the correct form. Though it may look a little odd, s's is standard and less ambiguous than just s'. The only time s' should be used is if there are a plural number of the person/place/thing in possession, and I think we can certainly agree that there is only one Douglas Adams (that this article is referring to, of note, etc.). EWS23 | (Leave me a message!) 07:26, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

text: Yes, I inadvertantly learnt something new through this discussion - damn wikipedia! 8) Garglebutt / (talk) 02:06, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  s apostrophe s 

message: I'd be grateful if someone could find a moment to explain to me why 1) "Adams's" (which, as JohnDBuell and EWS23 pointed out in 2006, is correct usage - along with "Douglas's grandmother" and "Douglas's hayfever") is not used in this starred article, and why 2) logical punctuation (recommended in Wiki Guidelines on Style) isn't used either. This is not criticism of the Adams article as it stands. I'm asking because one would have thought that recommended usage and recommended punctuation would be a standard in starred articles throughout Wikipedia - and that's not the case. The Albert Speer article, to provide just one example, uses logical punctuation while the Douglas Adams article ignores it. I, for one, find that confusing. 
User SDS pointed out the following: "For proper nouns, the owner gets a say. Sometime in 1997 Douglas explained that his preference was Adams', and that a special exception would be made for the novelisation of Starship Titanic, to make it absolutely clear that he wasn't the author. Hence Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic by Terry Jones." Fair enough but since 2006, no source or follow up have been provided for confirmation. --Jumbolino (talk) 23:07, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  On s apostrophe s and logical punctuation 

message: Since this article was posted as the Featured Article of the Day earlier this week, several editors have (mistakenly) corrected the text to indicate that there were two Hitchhiker's films. This is not the case. I think what's happening is that some people are confusing the TV series, which ran for six half-hour episodes, but has also been shown on television (primarily by PBS stations in the USA, but not exclusively) in "longer" versions, which are generally episodes 1-3 and 4-6 or 1-6 all run together with the credits taken out at the start and end of individual episodes – this GIVES the appearance of at least a made-for-tv movie, but it was not and is not. I can not stress this any more, there was, as of February 2006, only ONE Hollywood-produced, feature-length movie, released into theatres. Its article is at The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film). --JohnDBuell 03:21, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, it IS true. VHS editions may have had opening and closing credits trimmed to make it look like a mini-movie or two, but even if you do a "View all" on the DVD, you still get opening and closing credits on each of the six episodes. It's a six episode TV series, and NOT a movie. --JohnDBuell 15:18, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's]] "Films" 

message: While it's not all that important, if this ever gets re-recorded (or if you just fancy editing the original file--various software, including audacity can be used to cut sections and add new bits) it's pronounced "Rees-Jones", not "Rice-Jones".  Also, when Palin says his own name the 'a' is like in 'ace' not like in 'had', but I'll forgive that.  And I think you misread the names of the fourth and fifth radio series (I expect they can be downloaded somewhere if you need assistance with that). Joe D (t) 06:03, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Noted!  I was planning on doing a new recording after the the article hit the main page and got tons of edits, and I'll be sure to remember these so I get it right next time.  Thanks! --lightdarkness (talk) 06:23, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: "Addenda: the f in Knopfler is silent (I think)". Actually, the 'p' is silent (or in fact, almost, it's a glottal stop of sorts). 82.176.194.151 12:23, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Recording 

message: From the part about the Starship Titanic:  Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic (1997, written by Terry Jones (who insists he wrote the whole thing while in the nude)
Is this vandalism or does he really insist that?
:I don't know if he still insists it, but it is/was a running joke about the authorship of the book. It's mentioned in the hardcover edition foreword, at least. --JohnDBuell 08:34, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There's photographic "evidence" on the back cover - with a carefully placed laptop.  It should certainly get a mention in the article. --Tango 15:33, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The foreword and the photo appeared in the paperback edition too. --Bonalaw 15:51, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is this vandalism? 

message: Do we really need those two categories as separate entities or can we merge Animal Rights into the "Last Chance to See" paragraph of "Environmentalist Activism"? map 13:25, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If you think it'll read better (and it probably will), feel free to make the changes. --JohnDBuell 15:12, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Environmentalist Activism vs. Animal Rights 

message: I believe that the vast amount of messages left on a message board managed/owned by Douglas Adams should be taken note of. --FrostyBytes 14:56, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Puplic response to DNA's death 

message: Personally, I'd use analogy, but there's not much in it, and that's mainly personal preference. As stated above, allegories tend to be more stand-alone, wheras this is more of a throwaway remark. On the other hand, the two words are very nearly synonymous, and I think most people will know what you mean either way. --Scott Wilson 20:42, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks. I'll go and change it. --Tango 20:55, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: So after this long discussion of not necessarily using what other people say this gets settled with just one additional vote? I'm not sure I like that. I'm leaving it alone, but I have a feeling this may not be the end.... --JohnDBuell 21:36, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's how third opinions work. Better to use someone that we know has thought about the options than random people off google. If you can find a better way to decide - a quote of DNA calling the story something specific, for example, this will have to do. --Tango 21:40, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

text: *Exactly. The idea behind a third opinion is to settle small disputes quickly, with the minimum of fuss - insta-consensus, if you like. If you feel hard done by, though, you could make a request for comment in the hope of achieving a broader consensus. --Scott Wilson 22:31, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

text: Thanks for this comment which upholds the highest wiki standards and shows great maturity and respect. Tyrenius 09:15, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Wikipedia:Third opinion|Third opinion]]

message: there are some vandalism-ish entries, i dont know about reverting, could someone do that please?
last "correct" entry seems to be http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Douglas_Adams&oldid=64297805 (15:30, 17 July 2006 by JohnDBuell)
134.106.11.83 13:57, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  vandalism 

message: I think there should be a quotes section. He had a good one about writing. Something along the lines of writing is the act of arranging words skillfully. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Benbenbenben (talk • contribs) 12:58, August 10, 2006  (UTC)
:Quotations generally go at Wikiquote.  Adams has a page there, wikiquote:Douglas Adams, which is linked at the bottom of this article.  I don't see the specific quote you mention, but if you have a citation for it you can add it to that page. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 17:26, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If you go to www.quotationspage.com and search for Douglas Adams you'll find tons of quotes.Darkn00b 00:12, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quotes 

message: Wasn't there a nice headshot at the beginning of the article previously, where did it go? The ApacheCon picture is definitely not the best one I've seen in terms of conveying what DNA looked like. 82.181.61.48 22:24, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually I never liked that photo myself, as he wasn't smiling. As I noted in the article's edit history, there has been some concern lately about publicity photos being reused within articles, and the very high likelihood of copyright violations that such publicity photos bring. I therefore changed the photograph to one that was available on Wikimedia Commons, and licensed for free reuse. --JohnDBuell 22:27, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It should also be noted that on other languages' Wikipedias, where fair use is NOT permitted, that photo is the ONLY one of Adams that appears. --JohnDBuell 22:48, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

text: Well, he isn't exactly smiling in that one either :-) I appreciate the fair use issue; perhaps this, then, means that there is a serious demand for a non-copyright-encumbered headshot of DNA, preferably smiling (I agree, he did look a bit gloomy in the earlier one)? -- 82.181.61.48 23:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The current photo sucks, as its from the side and there's too much background around Douglas Adams. The previous photo used was *much* better and more professional. — Wackymacs 15:33, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Of course it was more professional, although the look on his face was awful. But I'm going to side with those individuals that say too many promotional photos are being claimed as fair use. In fact there are probably too many fair use images (book covers, screenshots) in this article as it is. Under CC-BY-2.0 don't we have the right to recrop it and repost it as long as original credit is given? Or find another head shot that someone is willing to release under a CC license or GFDL. --JohnDBuell 15:39, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: CC-BY-2.0 or however, there really ought to be a decent mug shot we can snag somewhere. Gobonobo 09:06, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps the older picture with the towel(in the article) could be used? anything is better than the current one, at least the towel would reflect his work more.. :) John.n-irl 12:12, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It wouldn't be the best choice either, as it's a screenshot, and not under a CC license or GFDL. Of all the photos on this article or the Hitchhiker's article, both of which are included in the v0.5 downloadable disc, only that CC licensed photo of Adams at Apachecon is included. None of the others are redistributable. --JohnDBuell 14:00, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The first picture 

message: Shouldn't there be a physical description of Adams somwhere in the article? I can't find one anywhere.-Darkn00b 20:18, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The one thing that all of his biographers have pointed out was how tall Adams was, even as a youth. I do believe this is in the article. I would recommend finding a copy of any of the published biographies for their photographs, as they cannot be reproduced here. --JohnDBuell 22:00, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The article section "Education and early works" describes Adams' height. Other physical attributes can be determined from the various photos in the article. Also, the acronym "POV" generally refers to "point of view." salamurai 22:45, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

text: There are FIVE photographs of Adams in this article alone (although one's of him in costume....) and a sixth in the Steve Meretzky article. --JohnDBuell 03:46, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: what he said. :) salamurai 03:57, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Physical Description 

message: I just wrote the page Science humour. The final section is "Humour in science fiction". I mentioned Adams, the Babel Fish, and used the quote from the Babel Fish page. Could you please head over, and help develop the article? Cheers, samwaltz 18:35, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Science humour 

message: Quote:
::Adams himself recorded an abridged audiobook adaptation of the first novel in this series in the 1980s. The sequel was performed by Simon Jones, also in an abridged adaptation. Both were released by Simon and Schuster Audioworks in the United States, and are out of print.
TRiG 20:49, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well sure. If the publisher ceases publication of the audiobook, and stock is sold out, it's technically "out of print" regardless of the medium. The same term is applied to video, DVD and so on (thedigitalbits.com makes note on one of its pages that its count of DVD titles does not include out of print ones). --JohnDBuell 23:32, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Check this: Do audiobooks go out of print? 

message: Firstly I tried to reference "Towel Day", being suspicious that people may be subconsciously attempting to popularise a nascent tradition rather than document an existing one.  The only one I found (that is "independent") is at BBC h2g2.  I don't think h2g2, which is maintained by "the public", qualifies as a "reliable" source for the reason that Wikipedia itself doesn't qualify.  +"Towel Day" only googles 200,000.
Secondly, I tried to reference the naming of IBM's "Deep Thought".  That it was named for HHGG Deep Thought is not unquestionable (although fans would possibly say, "it's obvious").  I googled +"Deep Thought" +IBM +Adams, and didn't see any.  I bring it up because Deep Thought (chess computer) cites no references (and says that "Deep" refers to its multiple processors), and IBM doesn't mention it.  Are we accepting hearsay?  May we have a reliable reference that says it was actually named for the HHGG Deep Thought?  --RobertG ♬ talk 08:49, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tributes etc 

message: The article says "see explanation below" when mentioning the "Fit the x" terminology - but I can't for the life of me see it.  Am I missing something, has the explanation been deleted, was it never there?  Thanks. Carre 19:58, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fit the 

message: He suffered a narrowing of the coronary arteries which led to a myocardial infarction and a fatal cardiac arrhythmia.
Is there actually a reference to support this claim about the cause of his heart attack? I can find none on a quick Google search, and it is not the only possible explanation for the attack. --Susurrus (talk) 23:40, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Narrowing of the coronary arteries 

message: How can you have a trilogy of five books? It says so on the top of the article in the first paragraph. (Desk3375 (talk))  —Preceding comment was added at 04:51, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Consider it to be a manifestation of Douglas Adams style humor. --RenniePet (talk) 12:42, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

text: More seriously - Adams actually referred to them as a "trilogy", even when the series had four and five books. We're quoting him rather than making a joke in his style. --McGeddon (talk) 13:44, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

text: Here's some speculation for you: Could it be that Adams's "trilogy of five books" joke derives from a Monty Python reference? The three-vs-five confusion appears in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, most notably in the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch usage instructions, which state emphatically that one must count to three after pulling the pin, yet King Arthur still manages to slip and say, "one, two, five". (I believe there is another three-vs-five slip elsewhere in this film, though I can't recall where at the moment). Given Adams's connections with and admiration of MP, his trilogy of five books joke could be a nod to this troupe. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 07:53, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: My vague recollection is that the series was called a "trilogy" even before Mostly Harmless came out - has anyone got one of the late 80s/early 90s editions to check? Timrollpickering (talk) 14:23, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Did Adams intend to write five books from the start?  I doubt it.  His publisher had to lock him away to finish just one!  I don't remember the three books being called a trilogy, but I do remember the fourth book being trailed as "the fourth book in the HHGG trilogy".  Then Mostly Harmless was trailed as "the fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named HHGG trilogy", which is just another bit of humour building on the previous joke.  I don't think there's anything of "tribute" about it.  (And I wonder whether anyone involved thinks of "one, two, five" as one of the most outstanding Pythonesque moments?)  --RobertG ♬ talk 14:47, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Trilogy of five books? 

message: In the opening paragraph, I have enhanced the reference to his initials from "He was known to some fans as Bop Ad (after his illegible signature), or by his initials "DNA".[3]"
By adding:  "His three initials were coincidentally to become world famous for the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953; appropriately the major scientific discovery mainly made in his own home town of Cambridge, England was said to be 'the secret of life' by the scientist Francis Crick on 28th February 1953."
 
He must have been amused (if not actually inspired) by the coincidence - even if he arrived the year before the actual elucidation of the structure of D.N.A. by Crick and Watson in Cambridge!
One of the three scientists who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the DNA Discovery:Maurice Wilkins studied at the same Cambridge college as Douglas Adams.   
The sheer coincidence alone is well worthy of his subsequent comedic science fiction writing. 
nitramrekcap 91.110.217.162 (talk) 19:40, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: "Sheer coincidence" is completely inappropriate for an encyclopaedia, but Adams was documented as being amused by this. There's definitely a speech of his out there that opens with him wanting to mention, before anything else, the parallel of his initials being DNA, and that he was born in Cambridge in 1953. If someone can dig this out and source it, I think that'd be worth a brief mention in the article. --McGeddon (talk) 16:08, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Ah, got it. Is there an Artificial God?: "I just want to mention one thing, which is completely meaningless, but I am terribly proud of - I was born in Cambridge in 1952 and my initials are D N A!" --McGeddon (talk) 16:09, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

text: Perhaps we should leave it in, as tribute to a great author and great man, whose very views on literature and humor would surely be well-commemorated by a single fact in the pages of Wikipedia which has no genuine connection to the topic at hand, but has an indirect connection upon first glance? seems quite connected to his overall world-views, from that respect. thanks very much for your participation in this article on a truly great author and commentator. --Steve, Sm8900 (talk) 14:48, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Except that as it was stated it was untrue and gushing, hardly an appropriate "tribute to a great author"?  Document the coincidence, yes, preferably in brilliant prose, but let's not overegg it!  --RobertG ♬ talk 15:10, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  DNA 

message: There's extra space below the last template.  Please fix it please and thank you because I can't/don't know how.  Thanks again.68.148.164.166 (talk) 02:58, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Which template? Ged UK (talk) 20:23, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extra Space 

message: Ive noticed that citations from Radiohead's album "OK Computer" are not mentioned. Several songs from this album are clearly tributes to DNA. Someone mind adding those? Im still learning proper editing, otherwise i would add it myself. Sono hito (talk) 19:30, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Not if 'clearly tributes' is unsourced opinion. If someone from the band has said it somewhere, or DNA said he thought it was, then fine. Otherwise it's just POV. Ged UK (talk) 19:42, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: See - Paranoid Android Sono hito (talk) 14:59, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Referring to an unsourced Wikipedia article is hardly a reliable 3rd party source. Ged UK (talk) 15:03, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Unsourced? Can you elaborate? The first 3 of 5 source referances are just about how the song was titled over Marvin from hitchikers. Sono hito (talk) 13:39, 28 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  Simple, the references have only just appeared! The version I looked at (this one) was unsourced. Now there's a source, so it seems reasonable to put it in here, but I would use the sources in the Marvin article rather than refering to it, just in case they get removed from there. Ged UK (talk) 14:00, 28 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Music notations 

message: Should we note that Douglas Adams only ever wrote in third person.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Forgotten Element (talk • contribs) 13:01, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not sure that's particularly notable. If you can find a reliable third party source that thinks that it is notable, then fine, otherwise it's just POV. Ged UK (talk) 14:00, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

text: That's not true. See the many short pieces in Salmon of Doubt, or Last Chance to See. --Belg4mit (talk) 16:55, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Third Person 

message: The episodes authored by Adams are some of the few that have not been novelised as Adams would not allow anyone else to write them, and asked for a higher price than the publishers were willing to pay.
Making such an assertion about demanding higher fees is dodgy IMHO. This is referenced to a 1991 FAQ and I don't think that's a terribly good source to rely on. Doctor Who is particularly notable for many myths about production and the like circulating, because a rabid fandom and market for reference books developed years before it was possible to research the accuracy of many statements and so rumour, hearsay and speculation often got written up as "fact". Even today there are many websites repeating myths that were debunked years ago.
I've seen many different explanations - that Adams wanted to novelise the books but when Hitchhiker's took off he didn't have the time (and wasn't the fastest of authors), that he was holding out for a higher fee, that he wanted to do something more ambitious than the "convert camera script into prose" prevalent when most of the season 16 & 17 novelisations came out amongst others. But I'm not aware of any traceable interview by either Adams or the Target editors and it seems hearsay still reigns. For what it's worth the three story articles merely say that no agreement could be reached, without going into details. Timrollpickering (talk) 15:18, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lack of Who novelisations 

message: Isn't there a better picture available for the lead picture? I don't think the picture from ApacheCon in 2000 is all that great. His face can hardly be seen at all; it just doesn't seem like a very flattering picture. Aren't there any better pictures that can be used here on Wikipedia? --Bando26 (talk) 04:16, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Better Picture? 

message: Seeing as people compare it to the HGTTG sometimes, ("people off the street writing it), I'd like to know if he ever discussed it.----occono (talk) 04:10, 21 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Wikipedia was created in 2001, the year Adams died.  --RobertG ♬ talk 06:31, 21 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I knew that, but I thought it was around before he died....he caught onto new big things pretty quickly. Probably not though.----occono (talk) 15:17, 21 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Wikipedia had only been up for a couple of months when Adams died. As it was, he had h2g2 going. I think it's unlikely that Adams knew about Wikipedia, and even if he did hear of it, in its earliest days Wikipedia paled in significance to h2g2, making it unlikely that Adams would feel compelled to comment on it. It is interesting to think about what he would make of it today, though. faithless (speak) 22:30, 26 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Did he ever comment on Wikipedia? 

message: Re: 94.10.138.243's edit (stupid browser submitted before I had a chance to type an explanation). Reverted because 1) the source has no majestic majuscule 2) Adams was an atheist and the case distinction is important to many of this persuasion. --Belg4mit (talk) 16:49, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Case 

message: It's the tenth anniversary of Adams death this May. For the past 9 years, fans have been carrying a towel on May 25th to commemorate his passing. There is an article for Towel Day, but there isn't a mention of Towel Day is this article. I'm going to add it as a See also, but it probably should be a bigger point. Clerks. (talk) 02:41, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Towel Day]] 

message: "on the occasion of Adams's 42nd birthday (the number 42 having special significance, being the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything and also Adams's age when his daughter Polly was born), he was invited to make a guest appearance at Pink Floyd's 28 October 1994 concert at Earls Court in London"
How could his 42nd birthday be significant as the age when his daughter Polly was born, when at the time of his birthday, clearly she wasn't born yet!  Unless these things all happened very quickly in succession, it wasn't significant for that reason at the time of the concert. ScottMorris1 (talk) 00:53, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Significance of 42nd birthday? 

message: Is it really necessary to devote so much space to Adams' interest in Apple computers? To mention other 'Apple Masters'? It reads almost like an advertisement.
:Technology, once Adams embraced it, became a major part of his life. His biographers (both in print and on video) agree on this point. And he was an outspoken advocate for the Apple platform. Apple themselves noted his passing in 2001. I don't think it's any less an advertisement than biographies of US radio stars in the 1930s and 1940s that mention who their specific sponsors were, as that was no less a big deal and no less important in their lives - shows didn't get on the radio without a sponsor. I think it would take something away from the biography to change his outspokenness and advocacy about Apple Macintoshes to a much more generic outspokenness about computers in general, because it really WAS the specific platform he believed in and advocated, and which was very much a part of his life from their introduction in 1984 until his death in 2001. --JohnDBuell 02:59, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with the first guy. It's worth a sentence at the most. Do we really need to know about other "Apple Masters"?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.75.206.143 (talk) 15:42, 25 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Apple References 

message: In "Monty Piton's flying circus" Adams appeared in episode 42.Was this intentional or not?
:Python predates Hitchhiker's. It's a meaningless coincidence. --JohnDBuell 21:38, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: How can you read H2G2 and still believe in meaningless coincidences? Ojcit 18:36, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  42? 

message: The article for Highgate Cemetery currently states of Adams "his grave is currently unmarked awaiting a decision about its proposed headstone in the shape of the number "42""  Funny, but I can't find any supporting site that isn't quoting Wikipedia.  I figured someone here would know. - BT 15:43, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Someone attempted to insert that here, and I removed it for being unverifiable. If 3rd party proof can be found (through a London newspaper or something), then it could get re-added, with the appropriate reference. I'd suggest tagging that spot in the other article with a  template. --JohnDBuell 18:20, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Done.  Thanks for the response. - BT 20:31, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  grave marker 

message: The article needs to go into more detail about his influences. I am reading Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan right now, and the resemblance to Adams's work is uncanny (compare the Infinite Improbability Drive to the Universal Will to Become). The writing styles and attitude of the narrator are almost identical.  — BRIAN0918 • 2007-12-28 21:45Z
: You need references that say that, or it will be considered original research methinks. BeShaMo (talk) 13:40, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  The resemblance to Sirens of Titan is (a) coincidental, NOT due to influence and (b) explicitly stated as such in Gaiman's "Don't Panic". Adams agrees he can see the similarity, but only read the book AFTER he'd written H2G2.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.188.147.34 (talk) 07:51, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  More on influences 

message: Douglas's wife Jane Belson passed away yesterday, Wednesday September 7th. There has been one attempt to add this fact to the article, since reverted. Is it relevant, or not?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.188.147.34 (talk) 07:37, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wife's Death 

message: :"Adams used e-mail extensively from the technology's infancy, adopting a very early version of e-mail to correspond with Steve Meretzky during the pair's collaboration on Infocom's version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
Given that this game was released in 1984 and there were emails whizzing round the ARPANET from the early 1970s, with various forerunners on internal networks, I'm not sure it is accurate to talk about a "very early version of e-mail" here. Connectivity has improved, email clients have changed (whether for the better is highly questionable!) and email volumes have vastly increased (not least due to spam), but the main ideas have been pretty stable over the years. I constantly come across people who seem unaware that the internet existed before about the late 1990s, and I wonder if this widespread ignorance (I don't mean that pejoratively, I just think it's a shame) is reflected here. I don't want to go ahead and change this yet though in case some exotic proprietary messaging system that has since fallen by the wayside is being referred to, but if no one clarifies this I'll eventually edit that bit. Beorhtwulf (talk) 23:55, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Cited. "Development began in late February 1984 ... after which the two kept in touch via phone and a very early version of e-mail." Simpson, M. J. 2003, Hitchhiker: a biography of Douglas Adams p. 212. Justin, Charles & Co. - SummerPhD (talk) 01:12, 24 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It does not make any difference that there is a citation with those exact words, in fact it makes Beorhtwulf's point, illustrating Simpson's ignorance of the history of email.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.98.240.41 (talk) 08:15, 25 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Your interpretation is that the reliable source is wrong. Whatever. (He's probably referring to the fact that 1984 was the first time a home user could access email (via FidoNet).) In any case, feel free to write around the phrase that offends you, but try to preserve the sense that Adams was an early user. - SummerPhD (talk) 20:20, 25 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Very early version of email" 

message: The following reference was removed: Douglas Adams, BBC, 21 April 2005, accessed 1 June 2009; H2G2 is a wiki-like site, and inappropriate as a reliable reference.  Many other references were updated with cite templates. ΣΑΠΦ (Sapph)Talk 20:12, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reference Cleanup 

message: Douglas is often referred to as "DNA" but there is no mention of his middle name in the wiki article - how did he get the name DNA / what does the "N" stand for? I know it's trivial, but it's so common should it be mentioned (at least in passing) in the article? 180.92.211.33 (talk) 01:17, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: A mystery for the ages... "Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was..." - SummerPhD (talk) 01:52, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  DNA 

message: Perhaps worthy of note that Radiohead have made several allusions to Adams' work, up to and including the title of their album 'OK Computer', (Zaphod to Eddie, 'OK, computer') and the song therein, 'Paranoid Android'.
109.154.193.239 (talk) 23:49, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Music 

message: Any truth to the rumour that he penned the text for the video Getting the Book Invented?
See here (at 2:02): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk4ERwnV-Yw  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Westley Turner (talk • contribs) 02:29, 13 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  He predicted the eBook? 

message: According to some sources I didn't find especially reliable, Douglas Adams was carrying a gym towel when he suffered his heart attack, which was particularly notable since the towel was a comically recurring item in his book series and an eventual symbol of his life's work. However they don't seem to have any better evidence than the indication that he was at the gym when he died. Should we include something about it? Can we find a better source? If not, can we label it apocryphal? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.12.110.187 (talk) 05:04, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Without a reliable source, we have nothing to include. - SummerPhD (talk) 14:00, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Death and Towel 

message: Adam's .mac link doesn't link to anything.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.141.178.143 (talk) 02:23, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Which link are you referring to? —Theopolisme (talk) 14:51, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  I don't know the answer, but I do know that Apple changed their (dot Mac) .Mac / MobileMe service; though I don't recall the details. Misty MH (talk) 00:34, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dead Link? 

message: Should "babelfish" which are described elsewhere in wikepedia not get a mention in this article as the first idea of a universal translator.  There was a web programme in the late 1990s called babelfish.  176.61.97.234 (talk) 14:43, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Babelfish are in-universe (see also: Fictional universe) and as such don't typically merit a mention in the author's article. They are, however, already covered in detail here. —Theopolisme (talk) 14:49, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bablefish.  should be included in the hitchhiker section of the article. 

message: External links section has wikipedia links - How to place the Wikiquote boxes and wiki commons boxes ? - Need help. for some reason couldnt move away from this page after seeing this :$
- Karthik Sripal (talk) 18:49, 18 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wiki links in an external links 

message: Neil Gaiman's book (quoted in the article) reports that Adams' memorial service was the first church service broadcast live by the BBC. What about Royal Weddings and so forth? Don't they count?
Scaramouche (talk) 11:58, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Memorial Service on the BBC 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: There's a longstanding problem with people adding trivia and "tribute" information to this article. May I respectfully remind other editors that the best way to show respect to Adams would be to make this article as good as it can be. This is not achieved by adding whimsical material or repeated mentions of the number 42. John (talk) 11:51, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article quality 

message: I don't think this is sufficiently important to be mentioned in the article, or to have its own article. The Telegraph article is mostly based on Tweets and scarcely establishes its notability. What do others think? John (talk) 17:59, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Towel Day narrowly survived deletion in 2005. Its notability is weak. It's always worrying when the existence of a Wikipedia page significantly boosts the profile of the subject. Maybe "Towel Day" could be merged here. I think it's worth mentioning here, but the text is problematic: it "has been observed every year since then". How many people observed it in 2018? From the "Towel Day" article it seems that observance has been scattered.--Jack Upland (talk) 06:55, 30 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Towel day 

message: This article is full of trivia (who he went to school with etc) presented in a chatty way. There are also too many meaningless tributes. This was raised some years ago, and I think it is time this was all removed from the article.--Jack Upland (talk) 06:23, 30 December 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: I have removed a lot of the trivia. I don't see why we need all the details of his wordprocessors, but maybe someone can explain that.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:10, 30 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Trivia 

message: Is this guy really Douglas Adams? His photo looks like that of a man in his late 60's.Clash Jester (talk) 13:31, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: He was in his late 60s. --Roly (talk) 13:44, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: But he died aged 49???--Jack Upland (talk) 08:33, 23 July 2020 (UTC)

text: Sorry, you're right. I miscalculated. --Roly (talk) 09:33, 23 July 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Photo