Dragons and Computers

[Matamune]

OOC

This is a conversation of two Dragons regarding digitising the Ordo Library and providing secure remote access to it. Other Covenant members are welcome to bump in if they want to, but expect a lot of computer-talk.

Vassagon

Michael arrives at the Chapter house somewhat before the appointed time right after finishing his lecture at the unversity. This is intentional, as he needs to properly prepare: he isn't that much of a computer specialist, but he is smart and knows how to make programs work with proper reference materials. Before Chase arrives he prepares all the needed links on his Samsung notebook. Then he relaxes in a chair with an old tome in his hands written by a Dragon who apparently dedicated his life to going past the third Coil of Banes. He wasn't successful, but the book still offers some valuable insight. It is also quite close to falling apart from old age.

We really need to do this. All this knowledge, getting into worse shape by the day...

Sitting at a table in a rather fashionable (if not very expensive) suit, with a book and a laptop, Michael looks like a young professor that he is.

[Vassagon]

Chase is wearing a red short-sleeved dress shirt, tucked into black slacks with a black tie on top. It's an ensemble most white-collar techies are known to wear, save the choice of color, though for Chase it's trying something different. His blonde hair dangles in bright locks about his face, effeminate when paired with his thin lean frame. He has strung over his shoulder a laptop carrying case, presumably with a laptop inside.

Chase shows up punctually, perhaps a minute after the designated time. His schedule grows more and more busy each night but he likes that, it makes him feel useful, important. Michael can hear him clearly as he enters the Chapter House and makes his way in light but distinct footsteps to the common room. He smiles though it has more the affect of a grimace as the Lord stomachs the growling Beast beneath the surface. He can feel this man's Beast as well, each striving for dominance in this private setting. Would that he could stride over and lunge at the rival creature whose very presence had dared to exist. Yet he contained this feeling, locked it up, and buried it with a focused rational mind.

"Mr. Redfill? Chase Ankers, a pleasure to meet you in person," he forced himself to say in a steady voice. "I was quite relieved by your suggestion to do this. Not only because of its importance in preserving valuable knowledge, but because it's good to know there are others of our Covenant who are looking forward to the future in the light of new technologies." It as true, while some Dragons looked to evolve through the Coils alone, Chase felt it was just as important to evolve through skill sets and computer science.

[Matamune]

As Chase walks into the room the Beast's roar completely disrupts Michael's concentration. He clutches at the book risking to rip the brittle tome into peaces, but manages to compose himself and force a smile before long.

"Likewise, Mr. Ankers. My name is Michael Redfill, Doctor of History and Supplicant of Terror. I was also relieved that there are other Kindred with expertise where computers are concerned. What I suggested be done will help us preserve these ancient tomes and also help research in the field. Should I tell you of the conversation I've had with Grand Wyrm and my more recent research on the topic? Then, perhaps, you could offer more professional insight? I mostly interest myself in history and multi-discipline research, but I was able to find some information and programms that might prove useful."

[Vassagon]

"Ah, Doctor, is it? Then I shall be sure to remember that. Supplicant of the Hunger in my case," Chase says as an afterthought, having forgotten to include the title. He walks over to the table and sets down his carrier before pulling out a chair across from Michael. "I would like to know what Max had shared with you on the subject, yes. Feel free to tell me what you've put together and I'll add my own research on the subject where it fits."

He glances at the tome in Michael's hand and the open Samsung. "Ah, that book looks quite aged. One from the library or some light reading of your own?"

[Max Heinz]

*Max hears the conversation between the two Dragons drifting through the large Chapter House, setting down the blueprints he had been studying in the upstairs library at the large oak table that dominated the middle of the room. Making his way down the stairs and heading towards the source of the voices, Max strolls in to join Chase and Michael.*

Be careful gentlemen; speak of the Devil and he shall appear... *Max chides with a slight smile, obviously making a joke at his own expense.* What's the topic of conversation tonight?

[Matamune]

Michael smiles at Chase when asked about the book.

The Coils - light reading? Never...

"No, Mr. Ankers, it's from this library. Something concerning the Coil of Banes, but I wasn't able to study it properly yet. I mainly took it as an example of a book that would benefit greatly from being digitised and put somewhere on a shelf".

He is just about to start speaking about his ideas when the Grand Wyrm makes his appearance. So Michael stops talking, stands up and bows slightly.

"Good evening, Grand Wyrm Heinz. We were just going to discuss the particulars of the plan to digitise the library. How to provide reasonable security and cut down the costs, maybe. Would you like to join us?" - the Doctor knew that Max wasn't that proficient with computers, but nobody will start working on program code in a Chapter house. He simply wanted to discuss everything with Chase and pick the methods they'll use.

[Vassagon]

Chase hadn't expected the Wrym to be in attendance at this meeting, but it was after all the Chapter House, their communal lair. He nods, bowing slightly at the waist in respectful attention. A thought had occurred, at the mention of the particular book Dr. Redfill had mentioned, and a question formed of that thought, though he would put it aside for now.

Dr. Redfill had answered the question fully so Chase merely nodded in agreement at this. Still he greeted Max politely, "Good evening, Grand Wrym. I was just asking our good Historian here what was shared between yourselves on the subject."

[Max Heinz]

*Max grins slightly, holding a hand up as the men react to his presence.* I didn't mean to interrupt, but I heard voices and thought it best to investigate. By all means, continue. I'm as much a student as anyone else when it comes to computers...

*He heads for one of the chairs scattered around the room, setting down to allow the men to continue their conversation. He had a few other topics to talk over with his fellow Dragons, but those could wait until later.*

[Matamune]

Michael takes a moment to collect himself, shifts his position to sit with a somewhat straighter back and starts explaining:

“I’ll try to be brief, so stop me if I go into too much detail… During my meeting with the Grand Wyrm and Supplicant Villiers I was approved to take charge of this project. It might not seem like a big deal, but digitizing the library can help preserve the books, increase security and provide on-site access to a part of our knowledge base to the Dragons.”

He stops for a moment considering the order in which the issues need to be addressed. Finally he decides to start with the topic warranting the least discussion:

“Your expertise, Supplicant Ankers, is mainly needed to ensure that the remote access system is secure. If feel, my own proficiency may be too little to ensure there are no holes. But we’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s first discuss the method which we’ll use to digitize the library.”

He makes a broad sweeping gesture towards the books:

“As you can see, we have quite a collection here. We cannot trust anyone but the Dragons to handle the books… Well, perhaps, blind ghouls would do, but I don’t want to fall to that level. So using simple scanner hardware is out of the question – it would take months of our time to sit, flip pages and push buttons,” – after taking a breath, Michael continues. – “What I suggest is we purchase a mass digitization system. Something along the lines of Treventus Scanrobot. The problem is that they are very expensive, and I’m talking around 80000 dollars or so. Still, the advantages are obvious: it would make the process quite simple and insure that the scans we make are of good quality and can be easily processed to be converted into text files. I am currently working on forming a multi-discipline research group with some Kine scientists from around the world and it’s my hope to make quite a fair bit of money this way. I’m fully prepared to pay the major part of the fee, when I’ve accomplished that goal. I believe it will take from several months to half-a-year, though.”

Feeling he has been speaking for long enough, the doctor stops and asks:

“Are there any questions, Supplicant Ankers, Grand Wyrm? Perhaps you were able to think of a workaround for the monetary problem? I do recall you mentioning something along the lines when we spoke on the phone, Mr. Ankers. I was considering renting the system for a moment, but all the libraries that have them, need them. And ours will need to keep it too, after we are done with scanning the tomes we have now.”

[Vassagon]

Chase nodded thoughtfully, considering Dr. Redfill's points. When he pauses for questions, referring to Chase's research, he readily shares his findings. "Well because the awareness of digitizing book hardcopies is becoming a point of interest to many libraries and universities, there are now a variety of methods and programs as alternatives. Unfortunately when it comes right down to it the major issue is the sensitive content our library holds. Secrecy is the primary issue in all things to honor the First Tradition. My initial thought when hearing Dr. Redfill's request over the phone was Google Books. The program is free to universities and libraries, though unfortunately the trade off is that all publications are shared publicly, obviously not an option in our case. The second that came to mind is manually and methodically unstringing and removing the bindings of each tome and scanning them ourselves. Though as you say, we neither have the manpower nor the experience for such a task. We'd need a specialist in handling old books so that none are damaged in the process. With the benefit of my clan I suppose we could hire a specialist and then I could wipe his mind of all he may have read, but that would likely be too difficult or may shatter his mind, who can say. That would still leave us with the long and arduous task of pushing buttons."

Chase chuckled, somewhat amused by his own thoughts. "Anyways I want to bring another point to mind in this endeavor. You say, Dr. Redfill, that Herald Villiers has approved this venture, but is she aware of the dangers of digitally stored information? I've recently learned myself that the Prince strictly forbids such storage of vital information concerning our kindred nature. Even if this were an exception to that I think a whole other issue would be the secure encryption of that information. Encryption that would hold against any and all attempts to access it without the public or symmetric-key algorithmic key. There are some freewares that are provided, Pretty Good Privacy & GNU Privacy Guard are quite reputable, though I would do more thorough research into their reliability. The point would be that if anyone got their hands on the hardware itself it would pretty much lock them out utterly without the access key. An access key that we would be responsible for."