I've just discovered that the Rolls Ethereal have been massively vandalized by a Russian spammer, so I've had to take them offline for the moment. I'm going to try to recover the data, but I can't make any guarantees -- it'll depend on the extent of the damage. They'll probably be down for a while, while I try to figure out an appropriate spam-proofing mechanism -- if anyone knows of a good and easy-to-drop-in captcha tool written in Perl (or something else like that), please write to me. Thanks!
Point the first: this site is search-only, twits. That means that it doesn't get reflected in Google. Which means that all your work (and I see that you've put in a remarkable amount of work) was utterly and completely wasted.
Point the second: I might never have noticed your vandalism of the site if y'all hadn't gotten greedy. Someone appears to have tried to put in an entry that was so egregiously long that it somehow broke the database. That alerted me to the problem, and has led to me going through the entire DB and deleting all the spam entries. Bye, bye.
Point the third: the system's going to be moderated when it comes back up, so no spam entry is ever getting into the DB again.
As I've been warning I would do for over a year now, I've finally gotten around to a serious expiration pass. All entries that have not been touched since before January 1, 2000 have been removed. Sorry if this killed any entries that folks considered active, but the speed of the Rolls is directly related to how big the database is (it isn't exactly the most efficient code in the world), and I gave a great deal of notice that this would happen eventually.
As a reminder: you can mark your entry up-to-date by going to the entry. (If you know your entry number, just go to the Edit function and type it in. If not, do a Search for your first name, find your entry, and click on the entry number.) Make sure that your data is correct. If not, change it and press "Submit Changes". If it's still fine, just press the "Confirm" button. Either way, the entry will be marked up to date, and should be fine for the next couple of years. If you do this once a year, you shouldn't ever be in danger of expiring. (My plan is to never expire data that has been marked up-to-date within the past two years.)
Welcome. This is the introduction to The Rolls Ethereal. It contains general information on what the Rolls are, and how to use them. This is the third Web-based version of the Rolls. The changes are mostly cosmetic, but things are now running a little faster, and more changes will hopefully be on the way.
The Rolls are intended to be a sort of "phone book" for SCAdians on the Net, at least those who are interested in being in it. Anyone who considers themselves SCAdian, and who has some sort of Internet/Compuserve/Prodigy/whatever access is welcome to send in an entry for inclusion. If you are reading this page electronically on the Web, you are part of the Net. Please note that I am now requesting that people not send entries in on behalf of others without explicit permission; there has been some abuse of this in the recent past, and I have to tighten the rules.
If you are new to the Rolls, please read through this full document, so that you understand the policies. (Or, if you haven't read through it in the past few years, take a dig through it -- the policies and procedures do slowly change over time.)
Bookmarking: If you are making a pointer to this page, either as a bookmark or a permanent web link, I recommend using the permanent URL:
http://www.waks.org/rolls/
This URL should work for the indefinite future, even if the physical host for the Rolls changes.
If you want to skip this introduction, the following functions are available:
In case you don't already know about it, the SCA has a substantial presence on the Net. In particular, there is a large and thriving discussion group, called The Rialto; this is the amalgam of a Usenet newsgroup and an Internet mailing list. If you have Usenet, check out rec.org.sca. If not, you can receive the Rialto by writing to sca-request@mc.lcs.mit.edu. Be warned that it can often take a while (upwards of two weeks) for requests to be processed -- the list managers are only human, and it's a big list. Also, be aware that the Rialto is very busy; rec.org.sca often has over 100 messages a day, and the mailing list, which is in digest form, often puts out half-a-dozen digests a day.
rec.org.sca and sca-request are completely redundant -- if you get one, you should be getting all of the messages on both.
If you're searching for someone specific, and can't find them here, there are a few other paths open to you. Take a look at the appropriate question in the SCA Questions List FAQ for more options.
The format of a typical entry (I use myself as an example), is:
The first line starts out with a tracking number. This is your number in the database, and it is permanent. It is mostly for internal use in the system, and you don't need to worry about it much. Click on that number to edit or confirm that entry in the database. Please only edit your own entry, not other peoples'. (Note that the tracking number above doesn't actually do anything, so don't bother clicking on it.)
The first line also has my names, with the Mundane in parentheses. Entries are in alphabetical order by SCA name; those with no SCA name are in order by Mundane name at the beginning. Note that name means name, not titles. If you put your name as "Lord Foobar the Befuddled", you're going to be alphabetized under "L", not "F". Put titles in the Titles & Offices line.
The next line is location, again both SCA and Mundane. After that comes Titles and Offices, then Interests.
Next is email address. This field is required. Note that it is active -- if you have a Web browser that understands "mailto:" URLs, you can simply click on the email address, and it will prepare to send a message to that address.
Next is home page. If this field exists, it is also active -- you can simply click on it, and you will go to the specified home page.
Finally, there is update date. This reflects the last time your entry was edited or confirmed. I ask that people please confirm their entries at least twice a year; confirm your entry by clicking on the tracking number, and pressing the "Confirm" button on the Edit page. The management reserves the right to remove old entries that haven't been confirmed recently. If your update date is shown in boldface, that means that it's old enough to be in danger of being deleted soon.
As of this version, it is now possible to search the Rolls interactively, and this is the recommended way of finding people. The Search screen allows you to search on any of the fields in the database. So, for example, if you were looking for me, and you just remembered that my name was Justin and I liked to dance, you could specify "Justin" under SCA Name, and "Dance" under interests, and it would return all of the Justins who like to dance and are listed in the Rolls. (Which includes me.) Or if you are trying to find contacts in a given town, you could just search on the town name in the Mundane Location field, and it will tell you who is registered from there.
All in all, search is quite powerful, and should accomplish most of your needs. Click here to search the Rolls.
Besides being listed in the Rolls Ethereal, many SCA people and groups are in a separate Home Page Listing, maintained by Eric Praetzel. This is conveniently organized by geography, and makes an excellent alternative for finding contacts.
Adding an entry is quite easy: just click here to go to the Add Entry page (but please, read this whole section first). Please make sure that you are not already in the Rolls first; if you are, and the entry isn't correct, edit the old entry (as described below) instead. Any SCAdian on the Net is entitled to an entry; groups are also welcome if they have home pages and email contacts to list.
Note that the Add function is rather slow; some browsers give up and return an error before it finishes. This usually does not mean that the function has failed; usually, it is still running when the error comes back. The only real error is when you get a page back saying that the Rolls "seem to be busy"; this means that someone else is currently using it, and you should try again later. (Yes, it's a quickly-written system, and doesn't deal with multiple users well.) Regardless, always wait ten or fifteen minutes and then check the data before you assume that an addition failed; often, you will find that you were successfully added already.
(And please check the list before adding yourself in the first place; many people have simply forgotten adding themselves in the past, and wind up with multiple entries because they add themselves again.)
The only information that must be sent for inclusion is an SCA or Mundane name, and Net address. All other fields are optional (most people supply them, but for the privacy conscious...) If you don't have an SCA name yet, but consider yourself a SCAdian, that's fine; just say so, and send an update as soon as you come up with an SCA name; in the meantime, you'll be listed under the Mundane name.
Please keep the data short. If you have been in the Society for twenty years, and have accumulated dozens of titles, you can probably consider yourself an honored member of the Order of the Etc. Titles or Offices that you are particularly proud of should be listed first, so people notice them. Likewise, be brief with your Interests. If you are a Jack of All Trades, just say so. Particular interests should be listed first.
Don't make too many assumptions about peoples' knowledge. Even if everyone in the Kingdom of New Oz knows and respects the Order of the Hippo as the highest award around, it's quite possible that I've never heard of it, so don't abbreviate it to "OHip" without explaining what that means. If you are including an title (especially an abbreviation) that is not listed in the award list below, write to me personally and tell me, so I can add it to the list.
Mundane location does not mean full street address. It is simply intended as a general locator, so that people can figure out literally where you're coming from. It isn't very obvious on the Net, and not everyone is proficient in converting SCA geography to Mundane.
For the Net address, use a full-fledged Internet address if possible, since that's the standard that everyone is used to. If you're coming from, say, Prodigy or Compuserve, please use the Internet version of your address. ("M28KJS@prodigy.com" or "20773.2828@compuserve.com", for example.)
Please do not add entries for other people without getting clear advance permission first. I do track where entries are submitted from, and will not hesitate to publically flog and humiliate people who abuse the system.
The recommended way to edit an entry is to find the entry (by searching or listing the Rolls) and click on its tracking number; this will take you directly to the Edit page. From this page, you can change the data as you like, or just confirm that the data is correct. If you already know the tracking number, you can click here to enter that number and edit the corresponding entry.
Once or twice a year, I am "expiring" old entries, generally those that haven't been touched for more than two years. Therefore, I recommend updating your entry once every year or so, just so I know that you are still around and want the entry. If none of your information has changed, just follow the instructions above for Editing your entry, and click the "Confirm" button. That will update the date on your entry, without changing any of the actual data.
It is now possible to delete entries from the Rolls. I ask that this be done with extreme caution; you should only delete an entry if you are absolutely certain that it is completely obsolete (ie, the person either is no longer involved with the SCA at all, or has left the Net completely, or the entry is a duplicate). I am tracking all deletions, and will deal very harshly with any abuses -- I am both capable and willing to cut any site that abuses this capability from all access to the Rolls, as well as doing whatever damage I can to your SCA reputation if you delete (or edit) someone's entry without permission. Just Don't.
Those warnings said, click here to delete an entry from the Rolls. You must first know the tracking number of the entry; unlike editing, there is deliberately no easy way to go directly from a listing to the delete function.
Once or twice in the past, people have used the Rolls to spam members of the SCA. I don't care whether this is well-intentioned or not, don't do it. No, it's not illegal and I can't prevent you from doing it. But I can and will do everything in my power to encourage members of the SCA to boycott you and whatever you're selling, and generally humiliate you as much as I deem appropriate. (We have already driven a couple of vendors off the Net entirely for this kind of abuse.) Again, don't do it.
(By spam, I here mean sending out mail to much or all of the Rolls on completely unsolicited subjects. Looking for contacts among the people who have, say, listed an interest in music is perfectly fine and appropriate. Sending out commercial announcements or surveys to half the Society is not. It all boils down to: don't be a jerk.)
The administrator of the Rolls Ethereal is Justin du Coeur, located at justin@waks.org. Send me mail if something goes notably wrong; at this point, the Web interface should be pretty solid, so I'd like to know about any bugs.
There are no warranties, express or implied, on this information. Individuals are responsible for the entries they provide.
Some people on the Usenet are getting a bit picky about this, so let's make it explicit:
The Rolls Ethereal are Public Domain. You may print them, cut them up, remail them, or what have you, freely and with no obligation. (But again, don't be a jerk.)
Click here for a partial listing of the awards listed in the Rolls.