The Merry Rose FAQ

[The Merry Rose <owner-atlantia@csc.ncsu.edu>]

  Frequently Asked Questions for the Merry Rose Tavern at Cheapside
  by Lord Kendrick Wayfarer (mka Tanner Lovelace) lloovveellaaccee@@nneettccoomm..ccoomm
  v1.2, 3 June 1996

  This document is a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions on the
  mailing list hosted at atlantia@atlantia.sca.org (also known as the
  Merry Rose Tavern at Cheapside, or simply, the Merry Rose).  The mail-
  ing list serves as a vehicle for discussion within the Kingdom of
  Atlantia of the Society for Creative Anachronism.  For more informa-
  tion the reader is referred to the Frequently Asked Questions from the
  Rialto (rec.org.sca).  This document also contains Lady Anarra's Lit-
  tle Book of List Etiquette.

  11..  TThhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee TTaavveerrnn aatt CChheeaappssiiddee

  11..11..  WWhhaatt iiss tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee??  WWhhaatt''ss iitt ffoorr??

  The Merry Rose is what is normally called a mailing list or mail
  exploder.  People send messages to one central address, when then
  turns around and resends that message out to a list of people that has
  subscribed to the list.  The Merry Rose exists to discuss topics of
  interest to the Kingdom of Atlantia in the Society for Creative
  Anachronism.  The SCA is a non-profit, educational organization of
  people that study the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and recreate those
  parts we find interesting.


  11..22..  WWhhyy iiss iitt ccaalllleedd tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee??  WWhhyy iiss iitt ssoommeettiimmeess ccaalllleedd
  CChheeaappssiiddee??

  People in the SCA use a medieval name instead of their real name in
  order to get more into the mindset of the past. This also extends to
  other things that have to do with the SCA.  The Merry Rose is
  supposedly a tavern where people gather to gossip and exchange ideas.
  It is sometimes called Cheapside because when we were deciding on a
  name, everyone had a suggestion and they sort of all got combined
  together.  Cheapside is a section of London and the Merry Rose Tavern
  is located there.


  11..33..  HHooww ddoo II ppoosstt ttoo tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee?? WWhhyy ddoonn''tt ssoommee ooff mmyy ppoossttss mmaakkee
  iitt ttoo tthhee lliisstt??

  To post messages to the Merry Rose they must be sent to
  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org.  This will resend them to everyone on the
  list, including yourself, if you are on the list..  You don't have to
  be on the list to send to it, but if you aren't then you won't know
  whether your post made it or not.  When you receive a post from the
  list and you try to reply to it, you must make sure that the address
  it is going to is atlantia@atlantia.sca.org.  Some mailers try to send
  it back to owner-atlantia@atlantia.sca.org.  This address doesn't go
  to the list, it only goes to the list administrators.  You can also
  send mail to atlantia-l@atlantia.sca.org and it will go to the
  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org address.


  11..44..  HHooww ddoo II ssuubbssccrriibbee ttoo tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee??  HHooww ddoo II uunnssuubbssccrriibbee??

  All subscription and unsubscription requests must go to
  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org.  Sending an request to the list, will not
  subscribe or unsubscribe you.  The best way to subscribe is to send
  the following message to majordomo@atlantia.sca.org:




  subscribe atlantia
  end




  This tells the Majordomo software, which may process many mailing
  lists, that you want to subscribe to the list named atlantia.  The
  software will then automatically pick up your address and subscribe
  you to the list.  If you need to subscribe to another address than
  where you are sending from you must structure the message the follow-
  ing way:


       subscribe atlantia <e-mail address@whereever>
       end




  Note that you  must use angle brackets around the address.  Other
  types of brackets, or parentheses, will confuse the mailer.  To unsub-
  scribe to the list you just substitute the word "unsubscribe."  When
  you originally subscribe to the list, you will be sent a message
  telling you exactly how to unsubscribe.  It is your responsibility to
  keep this message and refer to it if you ever want to unsubscribe.


  11..55..  HHooww ddoo II aadddd mmyy SSCCAA nnaammee ttoo tthhee lliissttiinngg aalloonngg wwiitthh mmyy ee--mmaaiill
  aaddddrreessss??

  The last place the list was hosted allowed people to add comments
  besides their e-mail address to the main list, but our current place
  uses a newer version of the software that is set to strip those
  comments out, and only keep the e-mail address.  This is done because
  many times those comments were not formatted correctly and just ended
  up being problems for the list administrators.


  11..66..  WWhhaatt aarree tthheessee ffoouurr lliinneess aatt tthhee eenndd ooff eevveerryy mmeessssaaggee??

  The Majordomo software that we are using has been configured to add
  these four lines to the end of every message sent out in order to
  remind people the correct procedure for unsubscribing to the list.
  When you quote someone's message in a reply, you should take care to
  delete those four lines so they won't end up in the message twice (or
  more times).


  11..77..  WWhhyy iissnn''tt tthheerree aa ddiiggeesstt ffoorr tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee??

  There is not a digest yet, but the possibility is being investigated.


  11..88..  WWhheerree ccaann II ggeett bbaacckk ppoossttss ffrroomm tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee??

  All post from the Merry Rose are archived and can be found by
  anonymous ftp at ftp://www.pbm.com/pub/sca/atlantia/atlantia-
  l/archive/.  If you don't know how to access anonymous ftp, contact
  your system administrator.  Posts are archived by month and are
  compressed using the Gnu zip format. Most all gnu software can be
  found at the main gnu ftp site: prep.ai.mit.edu.




  11..99..  AAmm II aalllloowweedd ttoo ppuubblliisshh MMeerrrryy RRoossee ppoossttiinnggss iinn oouurr nneewwsslleetttteerr??

  The legalities of copyright ownership in an electronic medium are
  currently murky.  In countries that are signatories to the Berne
  Convention (which includes the USA and Canada), text is copyrighted
  from the moment of creation.  However, text submitted to newsgroups
  and digests mmaayy be different, as it is intended for a wide
  distribution.  There is no clear answer in the USA at the present
  time.  The polite thing to do, regardless of whether a lawyer would
  tell you it is necessary, is contact the author(s) of the article(s)
  in question, and ask for permission to publish.  Abide by their
  wishes.  Assuming permission is given, you (or your chronicler)
  probably want to save a hardcopy of the message giving you permission.


  11..1100..  IIss tthheerree aa bbaaddggee ffoorr tthhee MMeerrrryy RRoossee ppeeooppllee??

  There is an unofficial badge that was presented to Lord Kendrick
  Wayfarer at the Storvik Baronial Investiture in March of 1995.  The
  blazon is

       ((ffiieellddlleessss)) OOnn tthhee sseeeeddss ooff aa rroossee bbaarrbbeedd aanndd sseeeeddeedd pprrooppeerr,,
       iinn ffeessss ttwwoo rroouunnddeellss iinn ppaallee,, aa bbiilllleett ffeesssswwiissee aanndd aann
       iinnccrreesscceenntt,, aallll ssaabbllee..


  which is heraldese for a rose with a smiley on it. :-)  There have
  been rumors of badges to be made, but as of yet none have surfaced.


  11..1111..  WWhhyy ddoo II kkeeeepp hheeaarriinngg aabboouutt aa nnoorrtthheerrnn pprriinncciippaalliittyy??

  The topic of a principality in the northern reaches of Atlantia is one
  that seems to crop up every now and then.  This list was created in
  the midst of some of these talks and therefore received a lion's share
  of posts on it near the beginning.  That has since tapered off, but
  you may still hear people talk about it now and then.  Apparently this
  issue is able to galvanize people on both sides into almost despising
  the people on the other, while those who don't feel strongly either
  way get caught in the middle.


  22..  LLaaddyy AAnnaarrrraa''ss LLiittttllee BBooookk ooff LLiisstt EEttiiqquueettttee  ;;))

  The Society for Creative Anachronism revolves around ideals of
  Chivalry and Honor.  Etiquette is merely an extension of those ideals.

  When posting to the list, please bear these simple rules in mind:

  Trim the message you are replying to. In other words, do not quote the
  entire message then tack your message on to the end. This is extremely
  annoying!  Instead, cut all but the relevant part of the post and add
  your reply to that.

  Add substance to the discussion. Resist the impulse to post a "Me too"
  or "I agree" message to the list. If you agree, state some reasons
  why. Add value.

  Stay on topic. If your reply drifts the discussion from the original
  topic, change the subject line to reflect that. Many people delete
  mail un-read based on the subject line. If you've got inspirational
  things to say about Viking Longship construction, make sure your
  subject line doesn't say "(SILLY) Hagar the Horrible!"

  Post items of general interest to the list.  Send personal notes to
  the person.
       "Mary, remember that discussion we had last week?"

  is inappropriate.

       "Lady Mary and I were discussing exactly the same thing last
       week and we thought..."

  is very appropriate.

  Make sure your message is addressed ONLY to the list. There are few
  things more annoying or wasteful of disk space than getting two (or
  more!) copies of every message!  If your e-mail program automatically
  replies to all then make sure you delete the person's personal address
  (or delete the list address if it's a personal message).

  Be polite. It seems like it wouldn't be necessary to say this in an
  SCA FAQ.  Unfortunately it is. The print-only medium of the e-mail
  environment makes misunderstandings common. The reply feature makes
  angry posts easy to send.  Re-read your post before you send it. Would
  you say that to the person's face? In front of someone who's good
  opinion you value? Assume there has been a misunderstanding and strive
  to correct it.

       "Do you really mean to say that East Kingdom Sheep are supe-
       rior to Atlantian ones?"

  is MUCH better than

       "You idiot! How dare you insult Atlantia's sheep! You should
       be thrown out of the Order of the Hooked Crook immediately!"


  If you have a problem with a post or poster, send a private message.
  Posting chastising messages in public does not help to solve the
  situation.

  Do not post private e-mail on a public forum without permission from
  the sender.

       "Lord John wrote to me the other day that he liked court."

  is appropriate.

       "Lord John wrote to me the other day: 'I like court because
       I can get in a good nap.'"

  is not appropriate.

  Realize that a majority of the Atlantian populace does not have access
  to the Merry Rose. Issues discussed here cannot turn into 'decisions'
  without input from the rest of the kingdom. The Merry Rose
  supplements, not replaces, conventional means of communication.

  Make sure you're sending posts in ASCII and not with foreign
  characters like accents and umlauts.  Many American mail programs
  cannot read non-ASCII characters.

  Finally - enjoy the discussions generated here. Share them with your
  non-e-mail friends!







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