Slashdot Mirror
Don't Panic, It's Towel Day!
An anonymous reader writes "Today, as every May 25th, geeks all over the world celebrate Towel Day and carry a towel in honor of Douglas Adams. The popular author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy died in 2001 at the age of 49, but his work lives on. According to the book, a towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Hence its symbolic role in this celebration. This year, for the first time as far as we know, Towel Day is being supported by the British publisher of Adams' books, who organizes a photo competition."
Today is also Nerd Pride Day, but that's probably not a coincidence. Whichever hoopy frood thought of towel day should have been slapped with a Salmon of Doubt so that this never came to be!
Will wank off Linus Torvalds for fame.
Don't forget to bring a towel! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA6EHCrgZC0
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." --Mark Twain
We don't have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it.
-- Douglas Adams, Speech at The University of California
don't panic
rewriting history since 2109
If you live in Europe, you can buy THHGTTG with amazing discounts. Not affiliated with bol.com, just a satisfied customer and also surprised that they actually give discounts on this special day.
8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
...now more than ever: Keep your towel close and hope that you can hitch a ride.
since 1776 and there is a post on Memorial Day about a fucking holiday celebrating the fucking towel?
While vulgar, Parent is not a Troll. It is a comment (likely, but not necessarily, from a veteran) about this being an actual national holiday to honor our fallen military.
I like blue towels, white towels aren't bad but blue towels are sweet.
The rest of world don't have May 25th in their calendars, right?
"I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
Indeed he was.
[An extraterrestrial robot and spaceship has just landed on earth. The robot steps out of the spaceship...]
"I come in peace," it said, adding after a long moment of further grinding, "take me to your Lizard."
Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this, as he sat with Arthur and watched the nonstop frenetic news reports on television, none of which had anything to say other than to record that the thing had done this amount of damage which was valued at that amount of billions of pounds and had killed this totally other number of people, and then say it again, because the robot was doing nothing more than standing there, swaying very slightly, and emitting short incomprehensible error messages.
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
"What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
And though it's Memorial Day in one part of the world, this site is a part of the WORLD WIDE web.
I don't think that your post is a Troll, but please recognize that there is more than one thing going on around the universe today.
It's a simple matter of complex programming.
Who cares about Americans ? Douglas Adams was English. Obviously you got lost on a UK-centric thread...
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Yeah, there may be a world wide audience, but posting a story about a minor significance of a day 1:29 before the end of the day for some people means they don't care about people too far to the east.
(This story posted at 22:31 Japan Standard Time)
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
I don't think that your post is a Troll, but please recognize that there is more than one thing going on around the universe today.
Of course. I mean the Universe is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
That's why everybody should live in Greenwich.
I am the lawn!
I would love to join in on this special day, but I'm busy trying to stop this bleepin freeway bypass from coming through my living room. Oh, Zaphod, where are you?
Well the answer to all your rantings and mumblings, and also the answer to the universe and everything is....
You guessed it 42
And Douglas gave it to us, Salute!
You cannot solve tomorrow's problems with today's level of thinking - by Einstein
celebrating the fucking towel?
No. It's celebrating Douglas Adams and his writings.
The towel is an item used to celebrate DA, in much the same way that you don't celebrate a flag but use a flag in celebration of your (sadly fallen) compatriots.
It's all about the symbolic value. Just as a flag is a symbol for national pride (which is a Great Thing when not done in excess), the towel is a symbol for (and manifestation of) Douglas Adams' witty humor.
Also, on slashdot, what percentage is American? What percentage has read Douglas Adams?
But wait... I thought the 42nd day was Towel Day?
So, ten out of ten for on-topic reply, but minus several million for not respecting the dead.
Sure, the 1st book is mildly humorous, but that's as far as it goes and the rest of them are simply tiresome.
Deleted
I'm Canadian, and I do have may 25th on my calendar.
And it's Towel Day.
hey, that's the tune to funkytown!
IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
Memorial day isn't set for the 25th, its set for the last Monday in may. The two do not coincide most years.
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (TM)
But it would do away with the troublesome business of time zones and those damnable region codes, though it would be difficult to get a word in edgeways.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
I don't think the district is big enough.
Thanks for reminding us that the USA is the most important country in the world.
That is not a coincidence. It is just it has a very high improbability that it would happen. Apperently you dropped to a chance of 1:1. Now it is 365:1 (and falling).
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
i threw in the towel long ago
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
I completely agree bsharp8256. Today is not a good day for Towel Day.
Actually all of this could easily be solved with many large space based mirrors to light/shade the earth as needed. Baddaboombaddabing, it's the same time everywhere!
Sure it would kill off all kinds of animals and probably heat the earth up, but wouldn't it be worth it to have it be the same time everywhere on earth? And don't forget we could have nice long days every day of the year.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
As others have pointed out, it's neither a national holiday, nor our fallen military - so yes, in my non-USA eyes, he is a troll, regardless of his good intentions.
Towel Day and THHGTTG are by no means a topic that's specific to a single country, so one should keep ones reactions and comments in an international (and, well, intergalactic) spirit.
I'm fairly certain that everyone who uses the Gregorian calendar has May 25th on it...
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
Why should we respect the dead? They're dead, they don't care if we respect them or not.
Mada mada dane.
You wanna get high?
No offense, seriously... but we aren't all American. Where I live it is just another regular towel carrying day. You do however, make a legitimate point.
i r in ur
Don't know, but that's a cube of only about a quarter of a kilometre per side so I expect it could fit comfortably enough. You might need to knock a few buildings down but since we'll all be cremated I don't suppose anyone will mind.
So, ten out of ten for an intelligent reply, but minus several million for not getting the reference.
Assuming a person needs on average 2 square feet of ground space to stand in, 6.8 billion people would require 1263 square kilometers.
So Greenwich is too small, but Greater London at 1579 sqkm would be just about right.
This analysis purposefully ignores stacking possibilities, because those are just too damn awkward.
I love The Hitchhiker's Guide, but fuck carrying a towel around with me!
"sudo rm -rf your-face"
Why should we respect the dead? They're dead, they don't care if we respect them or not.
Your grandmother was a whore.
It is the those that loved them still living that you can respect.
No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...
I'm pretty sure that much more than 1 million citizens of the US died in the last 2 centuries.
I'm also sure that it is beside the point. You see, Memorial Day in Canada is in November, and there are probably a lot of countries that do not celebrate the death of their soldiers.
Towel Day it is.
In Canada we do not have Memorial Day. We have Remembrance Day. Thank you, that is all.
i r in ur
Seriously - a lot of people have a towel on shoulder in some parts of the country.
Sadly though, it is now only seen in (supposedly backward) villages.
Note how everyone flocks to agree with you?
Guess you're out of tune - move right along...
Percussionists know the usefulness of towels. We use exclusively black towels because they look better on stage, but they can be used for:
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
I don't think you could fit 6 billion people in Greenwich...
If you expand it a bit. You can comfortably fit 6 billion people in Britain, not taking the issue of how you handle the growth into consideration.
And they claim the world is overpopulated!
Took my Towel to the Memorial Day Parade!
It had so many uses! I waved it and wiped my brow with it. I even used it to wipe the chocolate stains off a child's face.
Douglas Adams was a Genius!
Your theory fails, it's called Greenwich Mean Time. The prophecy says we have to choose Greenwich!
I am the lawn!
Erm, why is this an issue? There are 365 days in the year to celebrate some 200,000 years of Homo sapiens wandering around doing notable things like inventing crop rotation, stopping throwing rocks and the moon and trying to figure out how to throw themselves at the moon and inventing Hypercolors t-shirts. Even if there's just one notable event or person a year, that's around 548 things to celebrate, honor or remember each day (there were decimals, but screw them because if they can't be bothered, neither can I).
So, yeah, some days are going to be shared. Doesn't mean they have to be mutually exclusive. For example, May 25th is also:
Cookie Monster's Birthday - I tried carrying around a cookie, but I ate it. It was delicious and I poured out some crumbs for my muppet hommies who ain't here.
National Missing Children's Day - read a milk carton, maybe save a life.
National Tap Dance Day - Part of me hopes there's a afterlife just so there can be a Gregory Hines/Douglas Adams smackdown for this day.
Cover The Uninsured Day - Pretty relevant, really.
And, the one you might be most interested in, National Smile Day.
Besides, Memorial Day falls on the last Monday in May (or May 30th, depending on how you feel about 1971 and the federal government), so it's really just a guest on this particular May 25th and maybe it should behave itself better?
Well, Julian as well... ;)
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
rewriting history since 2109
Because it's only in the US that Memorial day is celebrated.
Towel day can be celebrated world-wide.
Don't worry - this is actually a memorial of Douglas Adams - who died while freeing the mind of people from following the usual tracks.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
+ bonus points to whoever gets my account name (WSOGMM).
...and thanks for all the fish.
since 1776 and there is a post on Memorial Day about a fucking holiday celebrating the fucking towel?
Yes. And if your 'Memorial Day' is really so massively important to you, you woldn't be a) reading Slashdot, b) reading the article about Towel Day and c) taking the time to write your post.
Don't be shocked that a world-wide community (remember only 5% or so of people are American) which focuses on geek/tech culture doesn't follow what you think is important.
If there's something you think would interest the world's geeks about your Memorial Day, please submit away!
Yes, well they do have a tendency to either turn up 3 years too late, or worse overstay their welcome by 7 years.
Of course they don't. But their living relatives do.
I think you'd find that far more than 5% of the world's geeks are American. You don't find all that many nerds living in third-world poverty, but that is where you find the vast majority of people.
Hey, all those folks died for our freedom. Which includes the freedom to celebrate about a towel.
Julie Moult is an idiot.
Your sig is remarkably apt, after that quote...
May we live long and die out
Who cares about Americans ? Douglas Adams was English. Obviously you got lost on a UK-centric thread...
Obviously your misidentified* UK-centric thread got lost on a US website... /. if you want to be belligerently xenophobic when someone is trying to explain another person's comment.
You're looking for http://slashdot.co.uk/
Oh, wait, that's a place-holder. Looks like you can buy it and make your own british version of
*misidentified because Towel Day is an international holiday, not a UK specific holiday.
I can think of no better way to honor our fallen soldiers than by enjoying the freedoms they fought to preserve. Including the freedom to do weird things like walk around with towels.
I'm an American and I've figured out the solution to this problem.
Today, Memorial Day and Towel Day, I will carry a towel imprinted with the design of the Stars and Stripes. This will have the effect of adding to the already incredible versatility of a towel, as in a pinch its status can be upgraded to flag (in case I have to claim some land from invaders... or Canada (muhahahaha)). I'm PREPARED. The only problem is is that my BBQ attire has this damned ball of apron fluff that I can't seem to properly get rid of.
Seriously though, both holidays exist, and should be celebrated as is appropriate by local culture. Seems simple enough to me.
I'm Canadian, and I do have may 25th on my calendar.
I'm Canadian too, but let's not get too caught up in ourselves: Unless it's a rare 364-day misprint, I think it's safe to say May 25th is on all (Western) calendars.
- RG>
Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
Have you submitted the article outlining the importance/significance of the day?
And though it's Memorial Day in one part of the world, this site is a part of the WORLD WIDE web.
I don't think that your post is a Troll, but please recognize that there is more than one thing going on around the universe today.
I honestly am embarrassed by my countrymen and women who ignorantly assume since today is a holiday in the United States, that the entire world stops. It simply shows how internationally stupid most Americans are. We barely learned American history in our public schools much less global history. Yay, federally funded public schools.
</rant>
Sigh... it's an American holiday. Welcome to globalization.
Peanuts? More like a infinitesimal bit shaved off an atomic particle of molecule that makes up a crumb of a peanut.
There is no "Ignorant" mod, so "Troll" had to do.
IMHO - they're synonymous. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.
Well.. It was on out land when we found it...
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
They just suffered a permanent existence failure... http://www.towelday.org/
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
You could also argue that the people who modded him Troll are Trolls themselves, in the sense that they are ignorant of how much the holiday means to Americans and how sensitive they are about it. Which would explain the person's reaction.
I can't speak for everyone, but here in Denmark we don't celebrate Memorial Day, but there are numerous Towel Day celebrations going on. Last time I checked /. wasn't "News for US-nerds only" (even though some insensitive clods seems to think so).
I'm sure a lot of Americans have died since 1776. In general a lot of people die over a stretch of 233 years... I guess I'm trying to say that I don't really get your point. Besides, we're not celebrating a towel, we're celebrating the guy who gave the towel its immense significance 14 days after the day of his death. (Granted - 42 days after would be more appropriate.)
"Live free or don't."
We shall nonetheless hail the True Patriots - our honored dead. Additionally, we shall continue to miss and admire our friend from across the pond, The Late Douglas Adams.
~Just as a thing fails if it lacks a kernel, so too it fails if it lacks a skin. ~ Rumi, Discourses
And you, sir, have done more to dishonor their sacrifice than anyone else I've seen on /. today. They did not die to that there would be a day where no one would be allowed to do anything else but think of them. You don't honor them by complaining that additional things besides honoring them are also being done on the same day. You more or less make a mockery of what they actually died for.
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
Just a "Slashdot is US-centric!" comment here, but damn, it's already 4 PM in Europe, and I think past midnight in Australia.. couldn't you have posted this story earlier, for the geeks in the other parts of the world?
Are you kidding? Only 12 hours late is an amazing feat for Slashdot.
Oh, and sorry for two replies, but this really burns me. The people who made these sacrifices didn't do so to be worshiped or even to be remembered (not that they should be forgotten, but remembrance wasn't their purpose), they did it so the rest of us could live our lives in the pursuit of happiness. I already did my Memorial Day ritual, using the flag the Air Force gave me at my mother's funeral when I was 13 after she died in the line of duty. Now I'm grabbing a towel and heading out to laugh and enjoy some of grilling and life with my neighbors and friends. That's exactly the way she celebrated Memorial Day when I was a kid (except for the towel part), and exactly what I continue to do, and that's exactly what she'd want me to do and why she did what she did -- so I and everyone else could do precisely that.
Sorry you don't get that, but don't lecture other people about the proper way to celebrate Memorial Day, because you clearly just don't have a fucking clue. I honor the wishes and hopes and dreams of those people who you reference in your title. Why do you wish to piss on them?
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
Did kind of make me worry about mentioning it to anyone at that rate though...kind of scared me into removing it from Facebook even :S Personally, I see nothing wrong with "celebrating" towel day even though its Memorial Day, and I don't feel I'm disrespecting anyone or not recognizing Memorial Day due to that, but oh well.
Anyone else get shunned today?
How about if we just all lived on the Prime Meridian?
There are other countries in the world? Wait - there is something OUTSIDE the USA?
I mod everyone down who says "I'll get modded down for this." I hate to disappoint.
I'm Canadian, and I do have may 25th on my calendar.
I'm Canadian too, but let's not get too caught up in ourselves: Unless it's a rare 364.24-day misprint, I think it's safe to say May 25th is on all (Western) calendars.
- RG>
There, fixed that for you.
$ make available
Assuming a person needs on average 2 square feet of ground space to stand in, 6.8 billion people would require 1263 square kilometers.
[snip]
Please stick to either imperial or metric. Don't mix them!
$ make available
Actually it's more like a *whoosh*!
$ make available
GP said 5% of people, not geeks.
$ make available
Hey, you wanna get high?
Ever played Wii Golf? On the fairway, distance to the pin is measured in yards. When you get to the green, it's measured in metres (ir at least it is in the Australian version).
Weird stuff.
Anyway, what's that in bogans per pub?
Don't you just love the American World Series? Exactly how many nations compete in this "World" Series?
There is this joke about an American tourist in Sydney who asks a question along the lines of "How does X in Australia compare with other parts of the third world?".
On the face of it this is not such a stupid question because from the POV of a US person most of the rest of the world is in the third world. The US is big and people there don't generally need to travel. I don't think the education system is to blame on its own. Having the opportunity to travel makes a big difference I think.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
I ride a bicycle to work and I keep a towel in my locker. To celebrate towel day today I exchanged my old towel (and the emergency food supply it carries) with a fresh one from home.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Don't you just love the American World Series? Exactly how many nations compete in this "World" Series?
The Japanese wanted too, once.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Oh no not again!
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Could be worse. I'm from Belgium!
more than 5% perhaps, but that is still not exactly important enough for everyone to know what your on about, geeks in london, france, spain, italy, germany, australia etc all would justifiably have no idea about this memorial day business. Combined they would have easily have 2/3rds of the worlds geeks also.
Wow, a yank complaining about someone else being belligenerently xenophobic. Now I've really seen it all.
Ha! Mod me -1 wasntpayingattention for not knowing about towel day, but I was actually carrying a towel all day on Monday! I was fishing on the holiday and it turns out that I got more fish that day than any on other trip this year. Unfortunately they were rock bass, not Babel Fish.
I did say "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" when I left the lake, though...
It's not on mine. 25th of May is though.
A small but important difference...
So many arabs, so little ammunition...
I still think that DNA is only dead for tax reasons, and as soon as the mess in California is sorted, he'll be back..
(might have to wait a while :p)
Democracy is a very interesting idea; it would be worth trying..
Democracy is a very interesting idea; it would be worth trying..
The human race as a whole is not yet ready for it. Most people don't vote for the one they want, but against the one they hate. This invariably leads to dual systems of two hated parties, where third parties don't stand a chance. The same thing is happening from the US to Romania.