I can strongly recommend saying you're a Canadian rather than US citizen. Particularly outside London, American tourists are utterly detested for their rude and pushy behaviour.
Nah. Just don't behave rudely, and people will know you're one of the decent Americans.
Actually, Americans are usually spotted immediately (even when wearing Canadian Flags, albeit upside down, on their backpacks). British customs administers a test on arrival, and if you can't spell "valour" and "honour" like a Canadian, they force you to tell everyone you're Hungarian. Bouncy, bouncy.
Records Management and Archives are one area where my inner geek loses. As a RM and Archives professional, the first answer to your question is "hire a records manager". The second answer is "technology is not the answer" (i.e. more databases will not solve a scheduling problem).
We in Canada don't suffer the same problems as our American friends when it comes to government cooperation. Our provincial governments are more likely to work together than most states, especially with the federal government.
And for something as important as telecommunications, the social-democratic bend of Canadian government (historically) has led to a great deal of central engineering (as it were) from Ottawa, including (still!) a monopoly on the raw pipeline.
Your comment on population size is quite to the point. Because Bell's dominance has been centered in the most populated regions (as opposed to the US, where population is more spread out) it has been able to exert its influence in the the areas that matter most (i.e. the most populated ones).
Unfortunately, while Sympatico customers have benefited from Bell's motherly glances (and discounts), my ISP, as an independent provider, is limited by what Bell charges it to provide my link. That being said, I prefer my local ISP, because I get real technical support, 24/7, multi-homed pipes, massively redundant news storage, reasonable rates on other services such as a static IP, domain forwarding, etc.
Many of the problems in the U.S. are strikingly similar to Canada. Because DSL is controlled by Bell Canada (Stentor) having been granted a monopoly by the Government of Canada to build the pipeline in the first place, any company which wishes to compete against Bell must buy broadband from Bell at its prices. Despite CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) rulings, Bell provides its own broadband service (Sympatico) with preferential pricing. So my own ISP (I'm in Ottawa Canada) is forced to charge me the full $39.95 (CDN) a month, while Sympatico customers pay $19.95.
Things up here are not necessarily as rosy as the article would suggest.
Of course, something not mentioned in the promotional bits is that whenever the system goes on emergency power, the diesel generator is switched on, and fuel trucks are dispatched (flashing lights and blaring klazons anyone?) to the site for in-use refueling.
Slashdot Mirror
People who lose their sight later in life do not always learn to read braille.
I can strongly recommend saying you're a Canadian rather than US citizen. Particularly outside London, American tourists are utterly detested for their rude and pushy behaviour.
Nah. Just don't behave rudely, and people will know you're one of the decent Americans.
Actually, Americans are usually spotted immediately (even when wearing Canadian Flags, albeit upside down, on their backpacks). British customs administers a test on arrival, and if you can't spell "valour" and "honour" like a Canadian, they force you to tell everyone you're Hungarian. Bouncy, bouncy.
Wasn't 'V' a kitchy alien-invaders movie, starring Marc Singer opposite a gaggle of lizards?
For further information on RM, here's a white paper on electronic document management, and a powerpoint presentation on records management and DOD certification.
Finally, I suggest consulting the U.S. National Archives for formal guidance, or in Canada the National Archives of Canada.
We in Canada don't suffer the same problems as our American friends when it comes to government cooperation. Our provincial governments are more likely to work together than most states, especially with the federal government.
And for something as important as telecommunications, the social-democratic bend of Canadian government (historically) has led to a great deal of central engineering (as it were) from Ottawa, including (still!) a monopoly on the raw pipeline.
Your comment on population size is quite to the point. Because Bell's dominance has been centered in the most populated regions (as opposed to the US, where population is more spread out) it has been able to exert its influence in the the areas that matter most (i.e. the most populated ones).
Unfortunately, while Sympatico customers have benefited from Bell's motherly glances (and discounts), my ISP, as an independent provider, is limited by what Bell charges it to provide my link. That being said, I prefer my local ISP, because I get real technical support, 24/7, multi-homed pipes, massively redundant news storage, reasonable rates on other services such as a static IP, domain forwarding, etc.
Many of the problems in the U.S. are strikingly similar to Canada. Because DSL is controlled by Bell Canada (Stentor) having been granted a monopoly by the Government of Canada to build the pipeline in the first place, any company which wishes to compete against Bell must buy broadband from Bell at its prices. Despite CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) rulings, Bell provides its own broadband service (Sympatico) with preferential pricing. So my own ISP (I'm in Ottawa Canada) is forced to charge me the full $39.95 (CDN) a month, while Sympatico customers pay $19.95.
Things up here are not necessarily as rosy as the article would suggest.
Of course, something not mentioned in the promotional bits is that whenever the system goes on emergency power, the diesel generator is switched on, and fuel trucks are dispatched (flashing lights and blaring klazons anyone?) to the site for in-use refueling.
"We have important things to say about this, but not now."