There’s currently a discussion blazing away on The Shambles that really got me thinking about things, so I thought I would share my thoughts here, as it’s all pretty much been said on The Shambles.

The discussion was started by one Mr Eric TF Bat, who is a great instigator of many a roaring great discussion, knowing just the right buttons to press and having just the right lever to get that ball rolling.  I am a great fan and envious of his skills.  Mr Bat quite innocently (well…) put to The Shambles reading audience the question of whether there were some SCAdianisms that should be weeded out and stamped on with great gusto.  Some of those on the list were such things as ‘The Eric’, ‘Garb’ and even ‘Troll’.  The word Garb even made it into his list of “And some I’d like to see fade (or stamp out, violently)”.

Whilst Mr Bats opinions are shared by some, and not by others I thought I would share my own perspective on this matter here.  These are my thoughts and my opinions that I share purely for well…  me actually.  First a little history of my involvement in the SCA…

I was first introduced to the SCA about 15 years ago, back then it seemed fun, quirky and a little scary.  It was something I could see myself getting swept up in quite easily.  Back then I was a fringe dweller in the Society,  barely touching the sides, but standing at the edge looking in at a wonderful and fun world.  Back then it seemed like it was more about fun and encouraging arts and sciences as well as the fighting…  Much like it is today.

Back then I never got involved enough to notice whether there was an underlying sub-culture in the Society that not only encourages ‘period-ness’ but visibly turned their noses up attempts that they judged to be ‘not good enough’.  Maybe it’s just the cynic in me, but since getting more actively involved in AS-39, I have noticed more and more who well, seem to be well… Authenticity Snobs.  These are lovely people mind you, but they just aren’t shy in visibly letting people know that they think they are better…  more authentic.  Please don’t get me wrong…  It’s not the clothes they wear, or even the fact that they are definitely more authentic, more period in everything they do.  It’s the not so subtle looks of distaste when they judge people who might not necessarily be in the SCA to be on parade.  Now everyone is entitled to their opinion, and as I’m doing here, expressing that opinion is their right too.  So basically I’m a hypocrite for judging these people…  I can except that, and I shall explain why.

The concept of The Dream is in effect what guides the SCA as a whole.  Not the Dream itself, as the concept of The Dream is that everyone has their own Dream, and that the SCA is just a legal framework.  The concept of The Dream guides us to be tolerant and encourage everyone to find their own Dream and to help them to do so.  From my perspective an Authenticity Snob is someone who tries to encourage someone to accept their Dream of authenticity as The Dream instead of helping them to find their own Dream.

When it comes to the words we use in the SCA not being period, not being authentic, I really believe that that’s because the SCA isn’t a recreation Society, it’s a Society for Creative Anachronisms.  It has never been and never will be a re-creation society.  The culture of the SCA has grown through 42 years of creative anachronisms, of being a modern society that creatively puts things out of their time.  Coke machines Internet Cafe’s at Pennsic may make people cringe, but they are Creative Anachronisms when put in the context of being at a medieval fair.

We have developed a culture, language and cultural traditions over many years and to try and change that now would I believe be very difficult.  The Eric will always be The Eric to some, as will all the other terms and those of us who love the concept of The Dream, love the true root of what the SCA is all about will always seek out those who have been in the society the longest.  We will seek them out to hear stories of the old days, and I’m not talking about the old days being the medieval times, the old days are the early history of the SCA and of Lochac.  I believe there are actually a surprising number of active people in the Society that are not in it specifically to be authentic, I believe that they are here because the whole culture of the SCA is one of acceptance, tolerance and community togetherness all with a taste of something quirky and fun. :)  42 years of traditions and culture is a heavy load hurtling through time and space, it’ll take a massive amount of energy to change its direction, even just by one degree.

OK, So I’m working on this weird and useless project at the moment. It’s useless cause for the effort I put in it will most likely get very little use, however it’s all about the journey, and not the result. So what I’m going to explain here is the outline of the project, and then ramble on about my thoughts for moving forward with it.

The Great Roadtrip Server

The Van when I first bought it back in January 2007. The Roof racks and tube have since been removed.

Intro: Take one Misubishi Express Van, add a computer and a wireless hotspot access point, viola! You have the Great Roadtrip Server project. Only limited by imagination… and well.. what bits can be gotten cheap or scrounged.

Aim: To create a mobile travelling wireless hotspot server that provides information and entertainment to passengers with Laptops within the hotspot area (ie; travellers going in the same direction.). The server will act as a wifi hotspot, allowing anyone to connect to it, but imediately taking them to portal page which will inform them that there isn’t actually any internet access as such and everything they are viewing is on the server.

They will be able to connect to other users of the server to chat, both through a text chat room, and via teamspeak or ventrillo. The server will also cache a few more popular websites, and if possible mirror some of the online Java games websites for entertainment, hopefully providing a well rounded selection of information and entertainment for all ages.

I may look into future possibilities of connecting it to the web via a 3G modem so that it can keep certain information up to date, most likely this information will be added to the portal via RSS and cached. It will also have a live blog containing some text and photo’s that will either be updated when the server is in contact with it’s home syncing station, or via the aforementioned 3G modem.

The Ramblings…

So, that’s the project in a nutshell. Currently the plan is to install DD-WRT on a Linksys WRT platform as the Access point and use a Mac Mini or other hardware as the server. Originally I was just looking at using some sort of PC as the hardware and attempting to configure it as an access point, however utilising DD-WRT allows me to do some fancy stuff, as well as the ability to keep each client computer separate (Which was a possible security issue, as it opens up the possibility of client to client hacks).

This will be a whole system, as included in the installation will be a home syncing station/server that will have a local copy of the setup and the webpages. When the Vehicle server can access this home station it will attempt to pull everything across. This hopefully will limit the amount of work that needs to be done on the Vehicle server itself.

Power is my main consern, as I would like to be able to keep the server running for as long as possible without external power needed. This means that I need to look into one of two options that I can think of.

1. Finding the most power conservative hardware platforms for both access point and server.
2. Working out a solution that provides some services at minimal power cost during downtime. This could be by having the actual server shut down, but have a holding/portal page that indicates the status, and the ability to remotely restart the server. Once again the Mac Mini is looking good for this.

I’m thinking Option 2 is the most beneficial, as it allows a fairly powerful server to be used when power isn’t too much of an issue, but also provides

Stages of development

So my first issue is committing some hardware to the project. I am a little reluctant to use the Mac mini as I have grown quite fond of using it as a workstation, however it IS actually the hardware that was originally purchased for the job. I have a bid in on a Linksys router which will become the DD-WRT access point.

I would love some suggestions of means of caching websites so that when the server can connect to the home syncing station and retrieve updates. I would also love suggestions on any possible software that might help with the setup and management of this system.

The idea with doing this project isn’t so much to provide the service, but more to learn how and the journey to completing it.

My world hasn’t changed much lately.  Sure, there have been things happening but nothing worthy of getting on here and ranting or raving about.

Radburne War was great fun, and I enjoyed it as much if not more than the first one. There was GOOD food, oh my was there good food!  And there was singing around the fire, there was war, there was a FORT!  As in almost a whole fort, not just a pallasade.  Note I did say Almost…  The missing bits were, the coverings on the side walls, and some gates, which Terry has said that he will make.

Discussions were had with a few members of Crossroads about my plans to build a small forge and metal working area.  The members I have spoken to are keen for it to happen and as such have offered me a reasonably nice little plot to start planning.  I do intend to plan it all out how I would like it, and then put a plan to the board asking for either a Yay or Nay, however the board members I have spoken to have indicated that it shouldn’t be a problem as this is exactly what Crossroads was designed for and not many people have done stuff cause they are worried that Crossroads has too many cooks.  My worry isn’t so much that the board/committee will choose to interfere with my plans, but that other people will want to get involved and have opinions on how it should be built.  I guess this might be a concern for anyone thinking about construction, and therefore a reason to hold off and wait to see what other people are doing.  I’m not a member either, though seeing how this plan comes together will determine whether I want to be a member or not.  I do love the idea, and whilst I do agree with some peoples assessment that their should be a better management of the ecological issues associated with land at the top of a catchment area, I do believe that there is also room for everyone to get a little out of it, and for it to be what the members see that it has the potential for.  I do believe that the location is a little far away to expect the general public to venture to for a medieval weekend, at least for people to travel to for a day.  It’s fine from Canberra, and closer area’s, but I do not believe that they will bring in the numbers that might be needed to make something worthwhile…  This is just a personal opinion though, and should not be taken to be a slight on any such planned event.

In other news…  I have purchased a nice new camera so that I can start taking decent pictures for this site, so  expect to start seeing nice pictures of things soon.

Seems I must be doing something right at work… As of day I have only been working in the company for 7 weeks, and I have already been given a number of compliments from Customers and the Management as well as awarded the companies equivalent to the employee of the month.

To top it all off yesterday I was told by my boss that they feel I have proven myself a worthwhile employee, and that they are going to be taking me off my 3 month probation 5 weeks early. This is great news for my back pocket… well.. for those I’m in debt to anyway as it means I can actually afford to start scrabbling out of the small hole I had dug myself into.

My goal in life of being happy, and making sure that I am happy in everything I do does have it’s down sides. Whilst I believe my work ethic is good, I am aware that my perspective in life leads me to make decisions that aren’t always best for those who choose to give me credit. Leaving the last job the way I did was well… silly and irresponsible, but it felt good. I had no problems with that decision at the time, nor since. I am however very grateful to Russ, my new boss for giving me the job the way he did and for allowing me to prove to this company that I’m a worthwhile investment.

This is a whinge… I state that now so that those of you who aren’t at all interested in whinges can just ignore it. Whinge whinge whinge whinge whinge…

I’ll admit that I’m not the bestest of little old granny driving… But this weekend just gone’s trip to Sydney was well… Driving me round the bend with the idiots that get licences these days…

Lets start with the heading out of Canberra… Yes, It snowed at Lake George… Yes.. Drivers should slow down when there is snow and ice on the road. But to slow down from 110Kph to 30Kph by slamming on the brakes is just idiocy. To top it of, I had someone intentionally pull out of the left lane to slow me down (Yes, I was travelling at about 60-70Kph, quite comfortably within my ability to control the situation), this is not only stupid, risky and well… lets stick with Idiocy, it’s also counter productive to safety. For me to be getting out of everyone way by over taking them when they weren’t comfortable traveling at a slightly high speed means that there are less cars bunching up and less potential for a huge multi-car pileup. When I drove through there were some cars that had skidded off the road, there were reasonably clear tracks through the snow covered road, and well… the little flicks of the steering wheel to test the grip proved that things weren’t dire. Anyway… Ahhhh Release! Now on to the next whinge… and yes, you’ll notice there’s a theme.

So what’s with these people that slow down when trying to merge with traffic going at 110Kph? You know… the ones that try and merge doing 80Kph or sometimes slower and wonder why it’s so damn hard? It’s frustrating and it happening far to often. Do we need to ban drivers from freeways unless they can merge safely*? Surely even 5th grade students can see that the safest and easiest way to merge with traffic on a freeway is to match their speed before you get to the bottom of the on-ramp? If you are going 110Kph and they are going 110Kph then you’re really not going to hit anyone that hard. The biggest safety issue with traveling at that speed is that if you fudge up, then the damage has the potential to be more. But seriously… if you are traveling at 80Kph and they are traveling at 110Kph that’s like hitting a brick wall at 30Kph. Speed in driving is relative when it comes to the cars around you.

The fact is, all driving is dangerous… But it’s the idiots like those above that increase the chances of something disastrous going wrong.

*

No, this is not a real suggestion as I don’t advocate more rules just to enforce common sense.