Well, the honeymoon is over, in a thoroughly literal sense. I have returned from the Society for Creative Anachronism’s annual Pennsic War unharmed, save for a slight sunburn and some poison ivy… For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pennsic, imagine over 5000 medieval recreationists taking part in a week-long event featuring tournaments, merchants, feasts, revels, court, raids, and much more, culminating in the annual war between the Midrealm and the East Kingdom. Let me tell you, it was quite an experience! And although the Dargon project conference never did materialize, John White and I did manage to get a little talking done, and I managed to meet a reader or two as well. All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience, and I hope to see more of you there in future years!
But back to the news. Hardcopy subscriptions are almost ready to actually be implemented (after blowing up my last printer, I have a new one currently on order). And a potentially major development was the recent announcement that the WISCVM inter-network gateway is considering closing down. There is currently a lively debate by the powers that be as to how BITNET is going to maintain access to other networks. I strongly suspect that BITNET will continue to maintain a gateway, even should WISCVM shut down, and I doubt that there will be any great effect upon FSFnet distribution should this occur.
And finally, you might notice that direct FSFnet distribution has broken 400 with this issue. I’m very pleased with this, and am hopeful that we will continue to grow. Be sure to show issues to friends who might be interested, and keep spreading the word! This will be the final issue of volume 8, and the first issue of volume 9 should be out in mid-September. And remember, September is “Be Kind to your Editor” month…
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