Technology and the SCA

Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2003
4:35 PM

Finally getting something done this week. I blew off most of yesterday getting my car worked on and running errands. I got the serpentine belts and two of the tires replaced. Still need to do the other two, but they only had two in stock. So I get to go back. Not really fun to spend so much money to not even get anything fixed, just maintenance. Oh well... I got a second estimate at a different service station and they were way more expensive. Sigh.

Today I made a new picture/mirror frame which will go to Michaels as a sample for the class display. I got tired of the old one, and have really improved a lot since I made it. Unfortunately I'm not really happy with the new one either, but it will do. Maybe I'll like it better after it's been grouted.

BdeB asks: "What is your favorite and least favorite thing that the advent of Internet technology has done to how we play in the SCA?" Excellent question. My favorite thing is the way information and research is so much easier to acquire because of the Internet. I can look up sources, locate them and even buy them over the internet. I certainly don't trust all internet sources, but so many of the useful books and such that I have found, I heard about from an email list or web site or what have you. I also dig the online art galleries that allow me to look at period art without buying a book on every Renaissance artist who ever lived. I can even magnify them to see details I might not be able to see in a printed book. Amazing.

My least favorite thing is the way everyone takes this medium for granted. (I also agree that many people don't think about what they are saying and have no problem flaming people, but I see less and less of that as time goes on. People who do it are generally jumped on and cyber-beaten within 30 seconds.) It bothers me that people whine when the kingdom server goes down for twenty minutes, when it's a volunteer service, nobody in the kingdom has to pay for it, and they probably have an Acorn somewhere in their house anyway. You get what you pay for, folks. Cut your kingdom webminister some slack, whether that's Gruffudd or Kevin or anyone else. They have full time mundane jobs and can't always foresee technical problems. In general they do a damn fine job.

Ciao!