Vogon Poetry Generator - @BBC - we want it back

It is a very sad day when one has to announce the Vogon Poetry Generator is no longer working.

Actually it has not been working for a while but I in my haphazard way hoped that:

1. People would stop using the link on p&g
2. ...well, it might just magically come back again.

But as you can see if you move your eyes right the Vogon Poetry Generator is the top post on the site. In spite of being uploaded in 2012 almost at the very start of p&g. People, and I assume not just fans of Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, have an absolute craving to get creating their own Vogon poetry.

So why oh why in the age of apps and general ease with creating small bits of code that do useless but entertaining things has this been withdrawn instead of being gloriously recreated for a new generation on smart phones?

So join the Campaign and bug the BBC to get it working again. Or write a new one and make some money...

And if none of the above makes any sense to you at all I suggest: Don't Panic.

************

A sample of Vogon Poetry

See, see the old sky 
Marvel at its big beige depths. 
Tell me, friend do you 
Wonder why the genet ignores you? 
Why its foobly stare 
makes you feel slithery. 
I can tell you, it is 
Worried by your offddddog facial growth 
That looks like 
A mould. 
What's more, it knows
Your clart potting shed 
Smells of grass.
Everything under the big old sky
Asks why, why do you even bother?
You only charm my cats.

How to add a QR code to your book

You have seen them - the little boxes of black and white code - and maybe you even use them. They are a quick route - literally quick response - for mobile users to access web information etc.

They are very easy to add to your book if you are publishing yourself or run a publishing company. And while you will probably always provide a print web address - they make a nice addition e.g. for people in bookshops who may not buy there and then but want to get more information; or need to confirm. They can just scan, read or store the details and job done.

To add:

1. Decide on the information you want to encode - ideally this should be a page that knows it is being viewed by a mobile device with a small screen and adapts itself; at the very least a page that users can use on any device.
2. Encode it using a QR generator app e.g. http://tag.microsoft.com/home.aspx or online at http://goqr.me/
3. Download your image and stick it wherever you want it used.

Enjoy!

Poetry Foundation app

Not a creative tool but perhaps a useful searchable database. And it is free. You can explore poetry on your phone or tablet. From Shakespeare to César Vallejo to Neruda and Heather McHugh, this app turns your phone into a mobile poetry library:

Features include:

• Shake and go to find new poems to fit any mood.
• Search based on line snippets.
• Extensive database

More information here http://www.poetryfoundation.org/mobile/ and here http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poetry-from-the-poetry-foundation/id370143863.