Hey Buddy - can you spare $ 6.90? I need a Scotch on the rocks.

Our Cons are underpaid! So screams the headlines in an Ottawa daily, the article goes on to say that a report by Corrections investigator Howard Sapers recommends that inmates be paid at least minimum wage!

The article states that today an inmate can only earn $ 6.90 per day for work performed, regardless of how many hours he/she works.

I have to ask -- what do they need money for? They get free clothes, room & board and all of the necessary items they need for a better life than those on our streets today! I would think that nearly every street person would be happy to have all of the amenities that our inmates have, particularly during our long, cold winters. Sapers report continues by saying that the inmates need more money for cigarettes, booze and chocolates! What are we running here Club Fed or a prison?

I've heard, from a reliable source who works in the prison system, that the inmates get unlimited satellite TV, high speed Internet access and minimum and medium installations have been known to have golf courses, horseback riding and even nice little cottages for connubial visits. I don't even have satellite TV let alone a "private" golf course or stable!!!

Booze?? Since when did our prisons start running cocktail bars for inmates? I can just see it now, your middle-aged murderer sidles up to the "Last Chance Bar" and orders a Glenfiddich on the rocks to ease the stress of a day making license plates - how touching to think that he can find some relief from the stressful life he faces behind bars.

As far as I understand the reasoning behind all of this concern is that the income difference between an inmate and the rest of the working population is too great. Well, I have to ask, why is this person in our prison system anyway - because he/she is being punished for a crime against society that's why. Does the fact that they are incarcerated get pushed aside in favour of creating, behind bars, an environment that most nearly matches the outside world?

Does this happen in the prisons our good neighbours to the south run? I think not. When you go to prison in the USA you are leaving society and are being punished for your transgressions. The environment is tough and spartan and that's how it should be! Don't coddle the inmates punish them and maybe they'll think twice about re-offending when they get out (if they get out - but that's the subject for another post).

I'm sorry but buddy I can't spare one red cent for you to live a cushier life on the inside!

Cheers from the Valley.

Spy vs. Spy - Shaken not Stirred!

What a week if you are a spy. First we Canadians actually catch a spy about to board a plane in Montreal for places abroad. This gentleman had been posing as a Canadian using forged paperwork to acquire a passport. It's not yet clear whether he was spying on Canadian business or Government activities or whether he was just using us as a "safe" haven and jumping off point for other countries. After all who would suspect a mild-mannered Canadian businessman of being a Russian intelligence agent?

A notice to those other spy's operating in Canada or using Canada as a base - we will get you (eventually)!

Secondly, if I were a spy and was about to meet a supposed contact I would be very careful what I ate or drank. Witness the sad demise of one Alexander Litvinenko, a "former" Russian spy who passed away after being poisoned by his contact. While we've yet to learn what actually killed him it does look like the Russian Federal Security Branch went out of their way to silence a former employee who was raising embarrassing questions about the death of a controversial Russian journalist shot to death earlier this fall. I'm certainly glad Canadian companies and Government agencies don't follow the same practice here! With all of the disgruntled ex-employees around if they started to poison each one there would be piles of bodies in the streets.

Which takes me on a slight tangent - if you can become disgruntled with something can you also become gruntled with something? eh? If you've got an answer to that please let me know.

And finally we have Bond .... James Bond who has arrived on the silver screen yet again. This time however, he's a blond. Imagine, Ian Fleming must be rolling over in his grave with a blond Bond on the big screen. Sure he's got the suave speech, the ability to charm most females out of their clothes and into his bed, all of the neat Bond-toys but come on - who can believe a blond Bond!

Give me a dark haired Bond any day. I'd prefer Pierce to this impostor!

Cheers from the Valley

Mommy, am I going to glow in the dark?

Every young child might well be asking their mothers this exact question if a company, SRB Technologies, gets its way. SRB has been given tacit approval to dump tritium (a radioactive material) into the Ottawa River without treatment. Luckily a variety of environmental groups have noticed what was happening and are intervening with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to stop this from happening.

How did this happen, you might ask? Well it's more from the inaction/inactivity of our nuclear watchdogs than from anything out of the ordinary that SRB set out to do. It seems that no one in particular paid any attention to the solution for reducing environmental radioactive pollution that SRB put forward.

Here is a link to one of the sites that is following this developing situation:
http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/issues/radioactive_waste_from_pembroke_company_srb_technologies/

Now I'm glad my children are grown, they can look after themselves and can decide whether they want to drink the water from the Ottawa River. I for one will not drink the water if this company is allowed to proceed with their plans for dumping tritium into the river.

I don't want to glow in the dark - would you?

Cheers from the Valley

The Best Fish & Chips Around

I've been doing an informal survey of fish & chips in both Ontario and Devon, England. We've been looking for the best batter, consistency of quality and size of portion. We've also been considering the chips that are served with the fish from the perspective of quantity and quality.

The best, freshest and largest portions are to be found at the London Fryer in Paington, Devon. The proprietor Roy is married to a Canadian girl from Smiths Falls Ontario. Orders of Roy's Haddock and Chips (large portion) resulted in plates being delivered with two huge fillets hanging over the plate edges. These fillets covered a generous helping of English chips which I must admit no one here in Canada has yet to best. I'll tell you that after eating this offering the only thing on my mind was hibernation! We've visited the London Fryer several times and the result is consistent, therefore I'm declaring it the winner (so far!) in the contest.

Ranking second, more easily reachable and always consistent is the Glen Cafe, a Scottish family restaurant in Kanata, Ontario. This hospitable place always welcomes it's patrons and there is usually one of the partners in the house to ensure a smooth operation. Their Haddock and Chips is a close second in quality to the London Fryer while not being quite as generous in size perhaps. The big advantage of this restaurant is that it's only a 5 minute drive from my house something I appreciate once a week.

In addition I've sampled several offerings from the Halibut House in Port Perry, Ontario; a small Fish & Chip shop in Newmarket, Ontario, one in Alliston, Ontario and in Perth, Ontario. They are all good but none of them comes close to either the London Fryer or the Glen. Most offering "English style" fish & chips have batters that are too thick - I don't want to dine on batter - I want fish!

If you've been somewhere that has exceptional fish and chips please drop me a comment and I'll try to sample it myself.

Cheers from the Valley.

Which Way from Here? - The Need for Information Architecture

I've often heard a client ask "Which way do we go from here?" at the end of a project. While I might have helped he/she get to this point by managing the project for them it's not really my role to answer the question. So many groups are undertaking their Information Management (IM) projects in isolation from other organizations or in isolation from other process owners in their own organization.

As a consultant I'm the first to put my hand up and say I'll help a client deliver a project. I have been in the business for so many years I often have the luxury of an outsiders overview of the IM work the client is undertaking. While individual client groups may be using technology in the right way to support their business, more often than not they haven't embarked on their IM path by consulting with others in their business unit or in other business units in their corporation or their Department .

I personally don't feel right taking on work from clients who haven't done an Information Architecture (IA) as there is a high probability that the work will be discarded with an IA is done. Also as a tax payer I feel that the right path to technology use is to architect a) your business process', b) the information needs to support those process' and finally c) the technology to support the architecture. This architecture needs to be done in consultation with your entire business or Department so that the whole is the goal that all of the individual projects seek to implement.

It hasn't been easy arriving at this view, consulting engagements put bread on the table, but in my view the long term approach using Information Architecture is the right way to sustainability, re-usability and longevity of systems. This is the best way to use scarce resources ($ and people) to further the business goals of the organization.

Cheers from the valley.

Is Our New Mayor a British Soap Star?

We had a municipal election here and have chosen to replace the mayor. Our new mayor is Larry O'Brien, an experienced and successful businessman. Larry started Calian, a high technology engineering and consulting business. This business has grown over the years and is very successful.

Let's face it, Larry doesn't have to work so he must be doing this because he feels the need and that he can make a difference. Bravo, you have my support Larry.

But let's investigate Larry O'Brien a little deeper. Anyone who saw the Ottawa Sun on Tuesday morning saw a picture of a jubilant Larry O'Brien. I can't actually lay my hands on a copy of this photo but I'd urge you to look at the attached photo and tell me if it doesn't look like Larry O'Brien.

I've got to tell you folks that the gentleman to the right of this text looks a lot like our new mayor. But and (I have to add that I know the following only because I see the show out of the corner of my eye when my wife watches it.) this picture is of the much loved and recently deceased (in the show that is!) Fred Elliot, innkeeper for the Rovers Return and well loved butcher on Coronation Street.

I hope that Larry is successful in his new role as mayor and that he can tell the difference between brisket and top sirloin!

Cheers from the Valley.

(Photo courtesy of ITV Coronation Site)

Mother Nature Gets Even - But You Don't Have to Shovel It!

It's 2:45pm and still raining here in Ottawa. It seems like Mother Nature has decided to open her taps full and douse us with rain. Now I'm the first to say that rain is occasionally needed but this hasn't been the occasional rain. Compared to relatives on the west coast in British Columbia this is barely a dripping mist, but it's enough for us that I'm beginning to gather animals two by two....if you get my drift.

In the elevator this morning everybody was griping about the rain but one chap piped up "At least you don't have to shovel it!". That got a chuckle from everyone because he's right. Normally at this time of year we've had some snow that stays just long enough to need shovelling (or at least pushing around). But so far, touch wood, we've escaped the need to break out the trusty snow shovel.

I've still got things I could be doing outside to put the garden to bed and I know I should be hanging the Christmas lights before it gets so cold that my fingers freeze to the ladder while I'm trying to do it. But what the heck there's still time yet, eh?