[MR] mundane names and the OP

[EoganOg at aol.com]

I worote:

> > Your mundane name is the one thing that we can be reasonably sure will 
> > not change.
> 

And Kwellend/Njal replied:


>     Really??  I knew this was true in Iceland, but it is the first I've 
> heard of it in the USA.  I really must tell my wife that her name didn't 
> change after all...
> 

Notice I inserted the word "reasonably" into the sentence. Yes, your mundane 
name will likely change when you get married.  You may also choose to legally 
change your mundane name for other reasons.  The fact remains that, for the 
most part, although our SCA name may change, our address and email may 
change, our telephone number may change, our modern name is a pretty reliable 
way of identifying ourselves.  My point still stands.


>     The College of Arms doesn't enter your mundane name in an electronic 
> database.  The corporation isn't dealing purely with game-side issues.  
> Do you not see a difference there?
> 

Honestly, not really.  When I submit my membership form, I'm giving my modern 
name, address, etc, to folks I've never met in a state 3000 miles away 
without blinking an eye.  When I submit a name and device to the College of 
Heralds, likewise I give my modern name and address the will be seen by who 
knows how many heralds before beig stored somewhere (electronic or not).

My mundane name is also on my drivers licence, insurance cards, credit cards, 
on every peice of mail going to my house, and even on my name tag at work!  
It's not a secret and I really don't see the problem with the Clerk of 
Precedence using it to help her make sure all of my awards and honors are 
properly credited to me.


>     And I'm pretty sure that the mundane names collected for the combat 
> authorization database weren't originally intended to be published on 
> the web either, but I had no trouble finding them there last year.  The 
> fact that Mordrea doesn't intend to publish them does not bind her 
> successors to her policy, or from mistakes or theft.

I think it very unlikely that someone would steal Mordrea's computer and then 
decide to upload her database to the web.  I also find it unlikely that 
Mordrea would "accadentally" upload it to the web.  The issue of one of her 
successors deciding to put that information on line is another matter -- one 
that could be written into the office holder's policy if it is that 
important.  

But really, if people have access to the fact that someone named Bob Smith, 
known in the SCA as Alistair Gowan, recieved his AoA in 1997, what does it 
really matter?  

Sorry, I know you have privacy issues here, but I fail to see why this is 
such a big deal.


>     Using mundane names is like using plastic in armor, or polyester in 
> your court garb: ok if that's what is the best you can afford, but not 
> something we should encourage on the game side.  And the OP is about as 
> game side as you can get.
> 

Um, no.  Using mundane names in an OP database is like using a modern sports 
cup under your armor.  Yes, it's modern, but no one can see it and it sure as 
heck helps to have it when you need it!

This is not about calling people into court by their modern name.  This is 
not about structuring the Order of Precedence by modern name.  It's about 
using a modern name, in a modern electronic database, to help keep track of 
the awards and honors that we give out in our game.


>     I *wish* Mordrea had asked for help researching period ways to 
> manage and track such things.  I'd have helped.  She didn't, and that's 
> her choice and option; she holds the office.  I don't so I'm allowed to 
> 

I wonder what kind of period ways of keeping track of people in an electronic 
database you had in mind?  From what I understand, she's taken care of a lot 
of multiple errors in the OP since collecting mundane names for people.  It 
seems to be working, and I applaud her!

Aye,
Eogan

Tighearn Eoghan Og mac Labhrainn, OPE, OSS, CP
Sacred Stone Pursuivant, Baronial Bard
WWW.ALBANACH.ORG
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 out of every 4 babies in America dies of CHOICE
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