Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 29, 2026, 11:39:42 AMIt almost feels needless to say, but because I have small children, this album has been played hundreds of times at this point.  (Actually I love it.)

https://tidal.com/album/441820935

I hate Golden because

• It's k-pop.
• It's overplayed in our local radio stations.

It almost feels needless to say, but because I have small children, this album has been played hundreds of times at this point.  (Actually I love it.)

https://tidal.com/album/441820935

I personally have Windows 11 on my laptop, which effectively is my work machine, and Linux Mint on my desktop, which I largely use for gaming. I did run Linux-only for some time until August 2023, when I smashed my old laptop that was running Pop! OS. Since I had to urgently get back to work on the new laptop, I kept Windows 11 (with some debloating tweaks) and never replaced it since, mostly because of laziness and being afraid some work stuff won't run on Linux.

My application server runs Ubuntu Server and my NAS runs TrueNAS (which is either BSD or Debian, idk)


I am considering getting a Macbook at some point to get the most of both worlds on top of the excellent battery life and build quality.

Quote from: King Txec on January 28, 2026, 02:21:15 PMPerhaps if we want to fix an imbalance, MC's should run for their seats instead.

As S:reu Autófil has already pointed out, this is a topic I'm greatly invested in. I've been researching and developing different voting systems that fulfill the following criteria:

• People vote for candidates, not parties. I would prefer a completely party-less system but I'm open to compromise.
• Proportionality is preserved. I believe this is self-explanatory.
• MCs have the same or very similar voting strengths. The current practice in which some MCs have four or more times the voting power as others is something I'd really like to do away with if possible.

My current favourite is a form of Approval Voting (i.e. don't just vote for your one favourite, vote for all the ones you find acceptable), and I've even coded a tabulator for it as well. I plan to make a separate thread for it, explaining the system and showing some examples, in the near future once I'm less busy with schoolwork.

Hi Bråneu!!!

I can only speak Italian and English, though I've taken a short A1.2-level German course last semester, after dabbling with it on and off for years (not counting three years in middle school ages ago), and I've been surprised at how I can actually understand quite a bit of written and spoken stuff now. I'm really hoping there will be an A2.1-level course next semester; can't wait to get back to learning.

If I could learn whatever language I wanted without caring about whether it was particularly useful to me, I'd probably try with Dutch or Portuguese next.

Of course, I consider myself as a Talossan speaker as well, though I was better at it when I was actively developing L'Översteir, just through increased exposure.

added to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vpj7FD31PbEan0JZXZeXWKION0WpNZG2vdJ6xm7uaKY/edit?usp=drivesdk

Hugh, please provide email and postal address if available.

"As to your second question, I would say that, if we must have bicameralism (which it appears we do, for the foreseeable future anyway), the conflict between responsible government and mis-applied federalist governmental structure will require one to come out on top, and in Talossa's case, I choose responsible government."

The Kingdom -- which has the addition of a quite well applied federalist structure -- has been functional for decades

Quote from: King Txec on January 28, 2026, 02:21:15 PMI may not be grasping the entirety of the proposal here, but I fail to see how the Senate is less democratic than the Cosa, as senators are actually elected by the people, whereas MC's are on a party list but don't actually run for election in their own right. Perhaps if we want to fix an imbalance, MC's should run for their seats instead.

Funnily enough, I believe we've all actually had a discussion on that bolded bit recently, though that's more Sir @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP area of enthusiasm so I'll not steal his thunder.

One of the more straightforward reasons for the "less democratic" argument is that it weights the votes of citizens unequally. We had four Senate elections this last time (three regular, one special). In each of those, more votes were cast than the entire citizenry of Vuode. Even if every Vuodean vuoted (and last time they had a Senate election, only about half did), their vuotes would still mathematically be worth more than the votes of any of the Senatorial voters from these other provinces. You see this problem appear (and receive similar criticism) in other similarly-structured institutions, most notably for most of us of course being the US Senate. The Cosa, of course, weights every vote equally, as it is a pure proportional representation.

QuoteIs the intent of MC Autofil to eventually convert the Senate into more of a UK style House of Lords? Why is our current setup a problem?

The answer to your first question is a bit of a "yes and no" situation, depending on how exactly you mean it. "Upper house of review, much like the House of Lords?" Yes. "Unelected upper chamber, appointed by the Crown or the Government?" No.

As to your second question, I would say that, if we must have bicameralism (which it appears we do, for the foreseeable future anyway), the conflict between responsible government and mis-applied federalist governmental structure will require one to come out on top, and in Talossa's case, I choose responsible government.

Thanks for your service, Sir Ian! Good luck with your current ventures.