The sub-categories logistics... hmm. Complicated. I don't think they can be included in the main Caissar polling - too many options, too long a poll-sheet, and you get cross-eyed voters who forward the mail to the junk folder if received by mail, or just decide to go and do something else, if on site.

Like Ohio said, it just doesn't matter. Whether it's bloc voting or a few friends scratching each other's backs.

And that's a very good idea, actually!

I knew I was mangling the joke, so I'm happy to see the original restored! I didn't even remember where you had posted it.

<Jess> you're welcome, and that Polish series is excellently done. Some of the names are not pronounced perfectly - I noticed for example that while your friend got the "j" in Janowski and Aljekhine right (pronounced as "y"), he slipped with Bogoljubov. ;) And any "s" in Hungarian names should be pronounced "sh"... but that's just minor nitpicking, and the overall quality was really very high. Valuable work.

I understand <WannaBe> likes having the voting spread over a few days, but this could potentially solve that problem. At least, it would make it fairer for candidates in other categories who don't get that many votes.

Remember when you suggested I use "Prague" instead of "Praha"?

For the same reason I used the most popular English pronunciations for the most famous players, such as

"Tart a Cower" In stead of "Tar ta Cahver"

And "Win OW er" instead of Vinn ah ver"

And "War saw" istead of "Vahr shahva".

Also, "Lods" instead of "Lodge".

Interestingly, the best source I found for Polish pronunciations of place names, and words in general, was <Shoah>, because it has so much Polish text with handy English subtitles.

I did not, however, know about the Hungarian "S"!

Thanks for that heads up. <Annie> would you mind taking a look/listen at my next video before I upload it? I should have asked for this one, but I spent so long on it with the "new feature" and my partner, I wanted to let it sink or swim on its own, if that makes any sense.

At any rate, Richard can't be held responsible for any of that- he did hundreds of re-takes based on what I wanted, exactly.

Very patient man...

<Keep them forums clean> arghhh I suppose as the biggest spammer at the site I can't complain about traffic in my forum that's put there for publicity.

<Jess: <ly be done if the woman weren't so bone idle...>>

Heh. Close enough! ;)

About the local vs best-known pronunciations of players and place names -

<Remember when you suggested I use "Prague" instead of "Praha"?>

Yup, I do. What prompted that was that somewhere - don't remember where - I read something like Charousek was born "in a small Czech town named Praha" - and realized that the writer simply had no clue that "Praha" was another name for the world-famous, and not exactly small, Prague. ;s

So I figured that it would be both simpler and more meaningful to use place names that people would recognize, and I still think so. However, <player names> are another kettle of fish altogether. :)

Thing is, you can't cram too much edjamacation into a few short videos, and the point isn't to teach your viewers geography after all; but the point <is> to teach them chess history! And there's no end to people plaintively inquiring all over the chess sites how the names of them "exotic" players should be pronounced... they really wanna know <that>! (BTW, congrats on getting both Euwe and Alekhine just right...) ;)

So, I think that, unlike place names, where you can just go with the best-known versions, player names should always be pronounced as <authentically> as possible - in fact, that's one of the greatest pluses of your new voice-over capabilities. (That and being able to impart a heckuva lot more running information than when you were limited to short captions...)

<I did not, however, know about the Hungarian "S"!>

You did, ackshly, we discussed that WRT Charousek... ;)

But here's a recap, with previously unmentioned details -

Hungarian s = English sh

always, <except> in the following two-letter combinations:

Hungarian cs = English ch

Hungarian sz = English s

Hungarian zs = French j, (AKA the English s in "treasure").

The last two are not to be confused - the order of the two letters obviously matters.

<Thanks for that heads up. <Annie> would you mind taking a look/listen at my next video before I upload it? I should have asked for this one, but I spent so long on it with the "new feature" and my partner, I wanted to let it sink or swim on its own, if that makes any sense.>

You know I think you're right. Because I can use print *and* vocal, all I have to do is make sure that the first time I use a correct pronunciation of a player name, I simultaneously show a photo of him/her with the name printed. Then there'd be no possibility of confusion on the part of the viewer.

Oh and yes after re-reading your other post-

I did in fact <simply miss> "Bogol YEW bov."

Heh - no, wait, don't do anything! :D
That's sortof the point... I'll explain. ;)

<WannaBe> take all the time you want - that's perfectly fine with me. :) I also have a habit of flatly refusing to state an opinion until I've had time to actually think about things. ;) Nothing urgent there.

Space cats!

I don't remember/think anyone made any kind of solid concrete suggestion(s) on how to 'solve' this problem, if there is one.

I also, I am fairly certain, that <wordfunph> did a lot of 'lobbying' for others to vote him, not that there is anything wrong with it.

No one ever said you can't encourage others to vote for a certain individual... (just annoys me when it's on my forum, and I am trying to tallying up the votes and have to sort through all the posts. =)

Well, for one thing, you suggested earlier that we start by discussing whether there is a problem, and if so, what it is.

I, among others, have replied to that. To recap, one main problem, which undeniably exists, is the ridiculously small voter pool - and in that context, I would suggest that you may want to reconsider your characterization of those comments as "grumbling", because, frankly, you should be grateful for them. After all these years the "Caissars" have been running, and despite a significant growth in site membership, the continued fact of a vanishingly small voter pool, which makes the whole Caissar "voting" rather farcical, indicates that this project is NOT going well as-is, to say the least - and these "grumblings" are your only clue as to what's wrong with it. You can be sure that for every such "grumbler", there are 200 or more others who will say nothing, but simply not bother to participate in the nominating and voting - "vote with their feet", as they call it.