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One more thing to add to the above, I'm working on getting into best practices. What I would like to see is the GoC follow the US Military's model and have an installation of sourceforge available for hosting in house software.

Beyond that I'm hoping to lobby the government to release it's software open source. All of it. Why? Eg: What's the point in being subject to tax laws, when you can't see how those tax laws are being implemented. The government is for the people and our tax software is not a national secret. It should be open available for review to every Canadian. Beyond that, in following with our peace-keeping history, we should be willing to stand up and share our software with the world. (This is not some egotistical rant about how great our software is, I know what problems it has. But by sharing we can get help improving it, and help others by sharing what we have.)

If the software isn't a required part of national secrets, why shouldn't we be willing to work with the rest of the world in developing a better automated bureaucracy?

Actually we are among the lowest in the nation but I suspect that distinction would be lost on the GP or would just be ignored as not meshing with his predefined conceptions about the United States.

Yes it would, because the lowest in your nation is still much higher than the highest in mine

I've never understood those that try to advance retreat clauses. Why the hell should you have to retreat from your own home before defending yourself?

Who said anything about retreat? Why do you have to "blow someone away" to defend yourself? Murder is not self defense, it is an offensive strategy. Are you talking about defending yourself with lethal force? Or defending your personal property with lethal force?

Requirement: It's also important that it conform to ADA accessibility guidelines. In particular, I'm looking for books or tutorial websites that teach the basics of good graphic design -- how to make it more appealing without losing the ability to communicate effectively.

The http://www.gc.ca/Government of Canada (GoC) has developed a comprehensive set of http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf2-nsi2/index-eng.aspguidelines for its web sites which might be of interest to you in light of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

As for graphic content you are best served by hiring a professional with experience communicating in a visual, non-text, medium.

Up here, we use gc.ca, which, of course, stands for, "Government of Canada Canada". It seems that some country south of us declared the ".gov" TLD as their own.

http://www.gc.ca/ is your friend.

BERNIER, Maxime
Parliamentary Address
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-8053
Fax: (613) 995-0687
E-Mail: Bernier.M@parl.gc.ca

Constituency Address
11535 1st Avenue, Suite 430
Saint-Georges, Quebec
G5Y 7H5
Telephone: (418) 227-2171
Fax: (418) 227-3093
1083 Vachon Boulevard North, Suite 201
Sainte-Marie, Quebec
G6E 1M8
Telephone: (418) 387-4224
Fax: (418) 387-8124

And

ODA, Beverley J. (Bev) (Conservative)
Parliamentary Address
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-2792
Fax: (613) 992-2794
E-Mail: Oda.B@parl.gc.ca

Constituency Address
68 King Street East, Unit 2
Bowmanville, Ontario
L1C 3X2
Telephone: (905) 697-1699
Fax: (905) 697-1678
Toll Free: 1-866-436-1141

The only unsigned driver I have ever seen was for an old Voodoo board.

The last time I met anyone who was using custom hardware was around 1985-6, a sound board that plugged into a C-64.

If you can't use your old hardware with Vista, then don't run Vista. New hardware shipping with Vista will be able to run it.

As a security-conscious programmer with a lot of corporate development history, I support Vista's blocking of non-signed drivers 100%. It's actually the first time I've agreed with Microsoft's plans and features since suffering the pains of Windows 3.1 development and support.

Maybe it's time for the idealists to get real about security issues. They see DRM as preventing them from experimenting; the vast majority of government, corporate, and home users either don't care or see it as a benefit that provides more protection from crackers, viruses, rootkits, etc. Even OpenSuSE has a similar enforcement option for verifying binaries, and I doubt it'll be too long before bigger commercial OS vendors do the same.

Fight a battle you have a chance to win, and stop dreaming that unsigned platforms have a future. Without someone certifying that a platform is secure, businesses are going to stop using them. Eventually client nodes that aren't certified won't be able to do much useful, either.

I object more to the use of products like Entrust web sign-in that ignores the security provisions of products like Java sandboxing, artificially blocking clients unless they are running a paid-for commercial OS from Microsoft or Apple. (Try registering with http://www.gc.ca/main_e.html for a "My Government Account" with Linux or even with Firefox under WinXP Pro.)

There is no reason for such an artificial blockage of client access, and that worries me a hell of a lot more than whether a couple dozen hackers can run custom drivers for their own hardware. Why would such a hacker go through the pain of Win32 driver development instead of Linux drivers anyhow?

-AD

On the other hand, that excuse doesn't wash when you compare with, say, North Slobovia, or South Slobovia.

Did you look at the results? It's other industrialized nations with mandatory universal public schooling that are beating the States, not isolated private academies in third world countries.

Note to other posters: Cry me a river about the impact of those damn illegal Mexican immigrants. They represent less than three percent of the total population; even if they all scored zero on the testing, dropping them from the scores wouldn't nudge the U.S. up more than a couple places in the rankings. I note that Mexico's students on average scored about 80% as well as their U.S. counterparts, too.

Meanwhile Canada admits far more immigrants per capita than the United States, and they're sitting twenty-one places ahead of the U.S. in these rankings.

Anyone can sue anyone else at any time

*ahem*

You accidentally left off "... in the USA."

Some countries are a little more reasonable with their litigation laws.

Thanks to our moderately socialist government, you actually get paid to live in those territories ... but I don't know if emigrants get that. You could start looking at the Government Canada website, if you want.

Er, which capital city are you thinking of?

There isn't even a city where the G8 is officially being held (Kananaskis) and Calgary is neither a federal nor a provincial capital.

Toronto, is not Canada's capital either.

Ottawa holds that dubious honour. Toronto just thinks it's the captial of Canada and, of course, many people around the world get fooled.

For good time, you can always check what our southern neighbours think about us.

"The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future,"

Compare: Ok, Mr Dalhmer, we'll not look into the funny smell if you promise not to kill and eat anymore people, while keeping other parts of them for sexual "funning."

See, in the country I live in, we usually prosecute entities (people, companies) when they break the law. We don't just say, "well, don't do it again."

Apparently, you can. I don't know the details, visit their website. Maybe the governments website (http://www.gc.ca/)

DirecTV isn't licensed to broadcast in Canada.

what that means is that anyone who receives their signals does so in contravention of the Broadcasting Act, and in particular, s. 32(2).

however, DirecTV cannot prosecute under the Broadcasting Act; Canada has to. so in order to get Canadian pirates, they have to persuade the CRTC to go along. so far the CRTC hasn't cared much. this may eventually change, if more Canadians start getting DirecTV and StarChoice or somebody whines enough.

this would be a great reason to sue the company to fucking smithereens, but unfortunately it has probably already folded so one couldn't collect anything.

What? Sue Canada Post to smithereens? Canada's national mail service, owned by the Government of Canada? Actually, counting the national debt, the finances of the company are in the red by about $500 billion, which is not unlike most dot-coms.

Oh well... one can always visit the homes of its boardmembers with a cigar-cutter, mafia-style, and make yourself a nice necklace of fingers

Let me give you the address of the Chairman: 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. You can't miss it; it's the one with big tall gates, security cameras, and badass RCMP everywhere.

Actually us Canadians prefer to express our displeasure non-lethally, with pies in the face and such. But don't get too close, he's been known to personally handle protesters by the neck. Probably something he learned from watching Hockey Night in Canada.

man that is bad, what is up with that big LEAF?????

While criticism is welcome, I need more to go on. And the leaf? Easy: I'm Canadian. Sorry about the link to the Government of Canada, I don't feel like digging up a witty link this morning. :-)

If I am not mistaken, however, traffic is regulated by the provinces, so it is not likely that this will happen all over Canada.

Oh, to the person who thought our country is ruled by the Queen of England, do a bit more research next time. Our country is ruled by The Government of Canada, and the Queen can't really do much, she can't even enact laws without the consent of The House of Commons and the Senate (Constitution Act, 1867-1982)

This link to Novus Telecom can be used as evidence.

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Right.

Speaking of all the election hype, I feel compelled to throw in my $0.02 on the upcoming elections for us neighbors in Canada..
Since I'm generally (by choice) uninformed about American politics, I only take interest in the subject purely for entertainment value.
Equally entertaining is that of Canadian politics, which from my personal observation, us Canadians take more of a humouristic look..
The next Federal Election is Nov 27, 2000, and our candidates have given us a few more boxes on the ballot to check (or spoil) :)

So, for those Slashdotters interested, here's some nifty links I've come across for some more comic relief

Elections Canada
Some Logos
Parties
Liberal Party
PC Party
NDP
Canadian Alliance
Marijuana Party
Bloc Quebecois
Government of Canada

And how on earth does the carnivore system have anything to do with your weight-loss attempt graphs?

I think this is the point where you are supposed to have an Open Mind(tm), and consider the other side of the argument. We all know why the FBI is the super devil incarnate, stealing the privacy of the american citizen for evil ends. But, instead of getting hung up on the Popular View(tm), why not pause and consider the other side, which is how this system would benifit the american public? How else can you come to a critcal analysis on the situation?

Personally, when i hear of people like Timothy McVeigh getting arrested, it makes me sleep easier at night. Some people on Slashdot seems to be as inflexable as those on the Christian Chat Network, which is quite frightening.
-legolas

(ps go Canada! Ra ra ra, etc.)

i've looked at love from both sides now. from win and lose, and still somehow...

i know canada does. Government of Canada Website

I live in Canada (Alberta) and do not think Canada would ever become part of the states if Quebec leaves. True the west/prairies do feel under-represented in Parliament but not enough that we would want to become part of the US. The majority of us are very proud to be Canadian and could not consider the idea of becoming stateziens. We definately do not promote ourselves or our patriotism as much as out counterparts to the south. We are proud of who we are but don't make a big deal. Canada Day is truly pitiful when compared to Independance Day.
That said, if Quebec does leave our country would be better off. I don't have any figures handy (if you really want them, have a look around Canadian Gov't Website. For the taxes each province has to pay the federal government, Alberta contributes the most per capita while Quebec received the most. On the surface we all seem to be equal but having a look at the numbers reveals some interestings trends.

Just my thoughts on the subject...
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All things being equal, a fat person uses more soap then a thin person does.