It might be a good idea to make elections more predictable, but there's no reason to make them less frequent. We very regularly see governments burnout on activity before the end of our current cycles, and the revealed preference of the country is that they actually pretty much enjoy elections generally.

There have been two provincial mergers in the works.  One of them, Florencia and Fiova, was rejected by Florencians.  The other, Vuode and Maritiimi-Maxhestic, is currently in progress.  I hope to have the time to push forward on it soon.  We solved the Senats issue by simply avoiding it: the provinces will merge on a provincial level and in most ways, but will still be technically classified as separate electorates who will elect their own senators.

Cosa: PROG - The Progressive Alliance
Senats: Aus

RZ6 - The Hand of the King Needs No Glove Puppet Amendment: Aus
RZ21 - The 9 to 5 Amendment: Për
RZ22 - The Succession Amendment: Për

Quote from: Barclamïu da Miéletz on June 03, 2024, 10:30:20 AM@Baron Alexandreu Davinescu Sorry for being somewhat impatient, but, any progress on the shipping?

My academic year just ended; I haven't gotten the envelopes filled out or the postage purchased.  Hopefully this week :)

The Sabor has not turned our attention to this, apologies.  We usually do the work of prepping such things, and we have not.  Obviously it's been pretty busy!  My first priority is getting the ID cards prepped and sent, but then I'll get to this.

-Dean

The response validation can also be automated, so no one needs to check to see if their vote was counted.  Forms allows for the use of regular expressions, so you can set up a voting page like this:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAiEwYmpQwe6MMp76yLrT4NfV0bChL_0Po6CGLXJi4Ozk8vQ/viewform

Notice that it just won't accept answers that don't match the preset security codes I added.  And the form can be set to automatically confirm submitted votes with the respondent.  This is poor security since it can defeated, though -- might need to find better ways.

I'm sure that there's a consensus here.  We haven't made the move because (a) it's hard to beat free kindness from a citizen, but we do still need to find someplace cheap and (b) we need someplace stable so we don't have a repeat.

Quote from: Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat on June 06, 2024, 08:30:57 AMThis is a good idea in principal. Spreadsheets are much more accessible to the average person. But when it comes to automating tasks, most cloud platforms that I'm aware of have limited support for anything less than SQL databases.

I haven't dabbled with Google Forms or anything like that though, so that may help mitigate the manual effort.

I don't think we'd need to do anything like SQL or the like... the automation I was thinking was more just macros that would process data entered via Forms or directly.

Quote from: Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB on June 06, 2024, 10:04:30 AMI actually at one point started creation of a Google Form and a spreadsheet to do just his. I'll take a look and see if I can find it.

This is the spreadsheet I began working on. It's obviously not accurate as it was just a test but it may be a starting point.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j_xuM5jjRAAwiO_3Ny7fjjHXhenMSZ0gSaj9Flp6cJQ/edit#gid=0

This is a great start!  I'd actually envisioned something simpler on the back-end, with just rows for votes and whatnot, and then a front-end that presents the data in a nicer way.  But honestly this would also be a completely fine way to do this, if we decide that it's the best path forward.

Quote from: Sir Lüc on June 06, 2024, 11:08:57 AMOh boy do I have opinions, not all of them positive I'm afraid. (One being that this thread should really be titled "Future of the Database" of course :p)

I hope to have more time to type those out in short order.

No, future of the Chancery is correct.  We're going to input Txec into the spreadsheet too, like TRON.

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, SMC EiP on June 06, 2024, 04:26:06 PM

Quote from: Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB on June 06, 2024, 10:04:30 AMI actually at one point started creation of a Google Form and a spreadsheet to do just his. I'll take a look and see if I can find it.

This is the spreadsheet I began working on. It's obviously not accurate as it was just a test but it may be a starting point.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j_xuM5jjRAAwiO_3Ny7fjjHXhenMSZ0gSaj9Flp6cJQ/edit#gid=0

I was actually just thinking the other day on how easy it would be to implement something like this as a set of Google Sheets. It would be a lot less centralized, to be sure, and we would likely lose some degree of functionality as a result, but the tradeoff is accessibility for both the SoS as the primary user and anyone who assists in maintaining things. Could also write some macros as well to automate certain tasks, I'm pretty good with that.

It would be a transition that works best in stages, but it can be done. Ideally we find the biggest pain points first.

Yeah, I think we'd probably go through at least one full cycle all the way through, soup to nuts, before we even think about getting rid of the database.  I'm sure we'd love to have your help -- and maybe you can think of stuff to do with Infoteca to make it fancier, too!

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on June 05, 2024, 08:27:30 PMUnfortunately, there have been situations in the past where AD has withdrawn his labour from projects where he wasn't part of the decision-making team. An electoral choice where you have to put AD in government or he won't offer his labour is not necessarily invalid, but certainly what I'd call "anti-political". And it also raises the issue - which I tried to run past Þerxh but maybe he didn't get it - that basing a major project or an entire government on one hyperactive person has a quite obvious point of failure, as was demonstrated just last term. The same kind of failure whereby the current Database becomes a shambles whenever MPF isn't around to tweak it, which is very often.

This kind of makes it sounds like I refuse to help with stuff unless I'm allowed to do what I want.  That seems unfair of you to imply.

I frequently volunteer help for things when I'm not in charge.  At various times while in opposition, I put together el Lexhatx when in Opposition, I helped vet and suggest questions on the civics test, I reorganized and led an entire new cultural paramilitary in the form of the Zouaves... Honestly, the only time I can recall withdrawing from an effort was the history project you were leading, and that's because we immediately came into conflict when you said I was trying to take over by contributing too much.

I am very proud of my record of civic service, no matter the Seneschal.

Now, certainly we have to face the reality that Talossan louise do not shine bright in any pecuniary sense.  People donate their time and sweat for prestige, the pleasure of doing interesting things, or to fulfill a promise.  When the Free Democrats replaced most of the website, it was done after promising to accomplish this task if given the mandate of the people.  That is completely reasonable -- we don't pay in gold, but in fun.

So essentially the database is one giant complicated system, and our main problem is that we can't really manipulate it to do what we want.  This means that we are increasingly using kludges and occasionally ask for emergency help from someone without enough time to really get involved that much.  To anyone familiar with government software, this is actually a very familiar story!

Now, I propose we engage in a traditional approach from many governments:
1. First, a fact-finding panel composed of twenty-three people in various interest groups, split fairly closely by partisan lean, who will travel to Gstaad for a two-week retreat in order to come up with the process by which we will decide on the next steps for the

Well, actually, let's start by breaking down the use of the database:

• Records
• Voting
• Legislating

The immediate problem is that it's really hard to design a whole new system to do these things without a ton of technical knowledge, and even if we did do that, we'd just be stuck with another giant complicated system that will get gummed-up in short order.  There's no way to make a big complicated thing that isn't big and complicated.

The solution is that we shouldn't be trying to do everything all with the same system.  We should be using different systems for each task.

The obvious objection is that this would make the Chancery an incredibly difficult and exhausting position that no one would ever want.  But aside from the fact that this is already true right now, it's also not correct.  Since even though we have different systems, we can still use the same simple tools to make it work: spreadsheets.

Spreadsheets are essentially just very accessible databases, available to everyone.  They're incredibly low-maintenance, incredibly transparent, and incredibly versatile.  You can pipe the information from a spreadsheet to all kinds of fancy purposes, including glitzy front-ends to present the data in a pretty way.  And if we use a few tricks, we can make them work for these purposes.

Now, obviously we don't want the Chancery in charge of just manually updating everything all of the time.  That'd get very onerous.  I'd suggest that using different implementations of Google Forms is the best approach.  Google Forms can be embedded into webpages, so that we can have a Chancery webpage for Ziu votes.  A member of the Ziu is issued a code for their votes, and then when they want to vote on the Clark, they go to a page and enter their votes for each bill, and then enter their code.  The spreadsheet is programmed with any of a number of relatively simple formulas to match codes up (or reject them) and the results are automatically tabulated on the sheet, and simultaneously automatically transcribed elsewhere for display.

The devil will be in the details, but I think that this will be a system that anyone can learn to manage and most could learn to modify and improve.  And what's more, this would be something that others could make even better -- I'm just a teacher, and so think about what someone who knows more about spreadsheets could do! -- and could build on.

So right now, that's where I'm at.  One big word: "spreadsheets," with hours of thinking and figuring to do.  But updating Infotecă with all of its information takes only about a minute per month... I bet a clever system of automated spreadsheets and forms would at least take no longer than we currently spend on this stuff.

Quote from: Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB on June 05, 2024, 11:41:37 AM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on June 05, 2024, 11:36:20 AMI would still like to do this, and I actually have a plan in mind to replace the database overall with simpler different system (rather than using it for record-keeping, voting, and legislating).  I'd be happy to discuss it in detail if there's any interest.

Sure I'd love to discuss it - just not in this thread as I don't want to derail it.

I'll start a new thread.

Quote from: Sir Lüc on June 05, 2024, 12:20:48 PM

Quote from: þerxh Sant-Enogat on June 05, 2024, 04:44:11 AMSystematically voting for the fall of a Government when in opposition must not be a principle.

A small quasi-philosophical note on this; even if the government of the day was performing well, an opposition party that wished to lead a future government should by definition vote against Confidence, as otherwise they would essentially publicly admit they don't believe they could do a better job.

I honestly can't decide what I think about this.  On the one hand, this is philosophically sound... shouldn't every member of the Opposition lack confidence in the government's ability to do the job on the basis of wrong policies?  But on the other hand, often those are simply issues of priority.  No one in the Free Democrats seemed to really oppose the availability of more data on immigration or the like, but they were just skeptical it could be done well or was worth doing.  If applications are being handled in a timely fashion, deadlines are met in a reasonable way, and there's nothing happening that's actually objectionable on its own merits -- I can see voting to support a Government from the opposition.

Tricky one, in some ways, even though I know it's de rigeur to always vote Non when you're in the shadow.

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on June 05, 2024, 12:29:41 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on June 05, 2024, 11:36:20 AMBut you literally spent an entire term upholding something that you now admit was an error. Seeing now that the Agreement was indeed used to block the Ziu's consideration of Chancery Reform and that historic Organic Law reform was achieved outside of that Agreement, Open Society would welcome the Progressive Alliance's support for our effort to ensure an apolitical Chancery/Civil Service.

Reposting for the operative part which was ignored. Ahem.

Yes, I agree that intense passive-aggression is making it hard for you to communicate clearly.  See, you started your response here with a technique called "begging the question," where you state a very questionable assumption as if it were agreed-upon fact, before then proceeding to your request.  Answering either positively or negatively has the side effect of seeming to accept that assumption.

If you'd like to build bridges, put down the torch.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on June 05, 2024, 04:29:39 PMFair play to you, great comeback :D

But more seriously: if I'm reading your program right, the question of why the Database reform didn't happen is "AD was going to do it, so it didn't happen because he went on leave, but it'll happen this time". So it seems that every election or so there's an AD Will Be Minister of Everything party, just under different names.

It is true that I am unusually effective at creating long-lasting and durable new solutions for the country.

Heh, but seriously, not to beg the question myself: as one example, I organized and did most of the work to convert the sprawling series of laws from decades of legislating into el Lexhatx.  Our legal code is now in its tenth year, and it has become one of the most important parts of governance.

And Infotecă was created last term -- a system that's incredibly easy to maintain, and yet provides invaluable data for understanding the trends of our country.  If you think your government is screwing up the immigration process or that Witt is quieter lately, that information is just a click away.  And while it's just a spreadsheet, that very simplicity means it can become the basis for any number of other projects in the future.

I am just one guy, so I'll never be "Minister of Everything," but I have a knack for new solutions to fix hard problems.  I'd like to put that to work again and work out a new system for the Chancery.  I'd be happy to discuss specifics, if you'd like.

Quote from: þerxh Sant-Enogat on June 05, 2024, 04:45:39 AM

We also think our Province is the best.

Provinces are key components of our Nation.
I believe a sense of regional chauvinism can generate healthy competition and activity. I have the intention to promote the idea of interprovincial fairs and contests. Provided that Cézembre – the best province - wins at the end.

I agree with a lot of our platform, but obviously this is a serious error, since my province is the best.  Maritiimi-Maxhestic: all your vowels belong to us.

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on June 05, 2024, 05:26:20 AMFinally. I (and Open Society) am grateful and relieved that you admit this was an error. You have once again shown the maturity and reasonableness which brought me back to the TNC. But you literally spent an entire term upholding something that you now admit was an error. Seeing now that the Agreement was indeed used to block the Ziu's consideration of Chancery Reform and that historic Organic Law reform was achieved outside of that Agreement, Open Society would welcome the Progressive Alliance's support for our effort to ensure an apolitical Chancery/Civil Service.

I think this is a really good point.  Therxh disagreed with a party agreement, but still made an effort to uphold it.  This is something that a mature and trustworthy leader does.  A different sort of leader might find it intolerable to endure any significant disagreement from the rest of the party.

Quote from: Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB on June 05, 2024, 10:00:07 AMAllow me to set this record straight. There was ONE conversation on WhatsApp in which I provided to the Minister of Technology a list of needed changes and requirements for a new database. Nothing happened at all and the Chancery is STILL struggling under a system it has no control of and is entirely not user friendly.

This is my fault, probably.  I had this set up as my big goal for the term, just like Infoteca had been my previous big goal.  I have a very good record of accomplishing major changes like this, but obviously I was forced to be absent almost the entire term.  For those unaware, I had to make arrangements for my dying mother and then take care of the estate.  I don't apologize for these priorities, and everyone was very kind about it, but when the government is just scrambling to stay together they're not going to have energy to put into a big new tech project.

I would still like to do this, and I actually have a plan in mind to replace the database overall with simpler different system (rather than using it for record-keeping, voting, and legislating).  I'd be happy to discuss it in detail if there's any interest.

Considering how we make dramatic, sweeping changes almost every single year, it does not seem correct to me to say that the Senate chokes off reforms.

It also seems like switching to a unicameral system risks concentrating power even more significantly in the hands of just one or two people.  That's already a problem, since the crown has almost no political power at all and can't provide a counterweight -- eliminating one of the last remaining checks in our system seems unwise.