Saturday, September 25, 2004

Canadian Provincial Archives


Alberta: http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/preserving/paa_2002/index.asp
Provincial Archives of Alberta
8555 Roper Road, Edmonton, AB T6E 5W1
Phone 780-427-1750  FAX 780-427-4646  Email paa@gov.ab.ca

British Columbia: http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.htm
British Columbia Archives
PO Box 9419, Stn. PROV GOVT, Victoria, BC V8W 9V1
Phone 250-387-1952  FAX 250-387-2072

Manitoba: http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/index.html
Archives of Manitoba
200 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg, MB R3C 1T5
Phone 204-945-3971  FAX 204-948-2672  Email archives@chc.gov.mb.ca

New Brunswick: http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
PO Box 6000, Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1
Phone 506-453-2122  FAX 506-453-3288  Email provincial.archives@gnb.ca

Newfoundland and Labrador: http://www.gov.nf.ca/panl/
Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador
Colonial Building, Military Road, St. John's, NF A1C 2C9
Phone 709-729-3065  FAX 709-729-0578  Email panl@mail.gov.nf.ca">panl@mail.gov.nf.ca

Northwest Territories: http://pwnhc.learnnet.nt.ca/programs/archive.htm
Northwest Territories Archives
PO Box 1320, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9
Phone 867-873-7698  FAX 867-873-0205  Email nwtarchives@ece.learnnet.nt.ca

Nova Scotia: http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/
Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management
6016 University Avenue, Halifax, NS B3H 1W4
Phone 902-424-6060  FAX 902-424-0628

Nunavut: There is no Nunavut Archives online yet, but Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth: http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/departments/CLEY/index.shtml
Nunavut Archives
PO Box 310, Igloolik, NU X0A 0L0
Phone 867-934-8626  Email eatkinson@gov.nu.ca

Ontario: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/
Archives of Ontario
77 Grenville Street, Unit 300, Toronto, ON M7A 2R9
Phone 416-327-1600 or 1-800-668-9933 (Toll-Free Number – Ontario only)   FAX 416-327-1999  Email reference@archives.gov.on.ca

Prince Edward Island: http://www.edu.pe.ca/paro/
Public Archives and Records Office
PO Box 1000, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7M4
Phone 902-368-4290  FAX 902-368-6327  Email archives@edu.pe.ca

Quebec: http://www.anq.gouv.qc.ca/
Archives nationales du Québec
Pavillon Louis-Jacques-Casault, Cité universitaire CP 10450, Sainte-Foy, QC G1V 4N1
Phone 418-643-8904  FAX 418-646-0868  Email anq.quebec@mcc.gouv.qc.ca

Saskatchewan: http://www.saskarchives.com/
Saskatchewan Archives Board, Regina Office
University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Phone 306-787-4068  FAX 306-787-1197  Email info.regina@archives.gov.sk.ca

Saskatchewan Archives Board, Saskatoon Office
Murray Building, University of Saskatchewan, 3 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A4
Phone 306-933-5832  FAX 306-933-7305  Email info.saskatoon@archives.gov.sk.ca

Yukon:
Yukon Archives
Box 2703, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2C6
Phone 867-667-5321  FAX 867-393-6253  Email yukon.archives@gov.yk.ca

Canadian Archival Resources on the Internet: http://www.usask.ca/archives/menu.html

Library and Archives Canada: http://www.collectionscanada.ca/index-e.html


In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is a most disquieting loneliness. - Alex Haley

Friday, September 24, 2004

Call to Action


Let's get moving!

Quote from Despair Is a Lie We Tell Ourselves:
I do not believe the wicked always win. I believe our despair is a lie we are telling ourselves. In many other periods of history, people, ordinary citizens, routinely set aside hours, days, time in their lives for doing the work of politics, some of which is glam and revolutionary and some of which is dull and electoral and tedious and not especially pure – and the world changed because of the work they did. That's what we're starting now. It requires setting aside the time to do it, and then doing it. Not any single one of us has to or possibly can save the world, but together in some sort of concert, in even not-especially-coordinated concert, with all of us working where we see work to be done, the world will change. And we have to do it by showing up places, our bodies in places, turn off the fucking computers, leave the Web and the Net – and show up, our bodies at meetings and demos and rallies and leafletting corners.

Because this is a moment in history that needs us to begin, each of us every day at her or his own pace, slowly and surely rediscovering how to be politically active, how to organize our disparate energies into effective group action – and I choose to believe we will do what is required. Act. Organize. Assemble. Oppose. Resist. Find a place a cause a group a friend and start, today, now now now, continue continue continue. Being politically active is for the citizens of a democracy maybe the best way of speaking to God and hearing Her answer: You exist. If we are active, if we are activist, She replies to us: You specifically exist. Mazel tov. Now get busy, She replies. Maintain the world by changing the world.

Read then entire essay at http://www.alternet.org/story/19867. See Michael Moore's take on the same subject - Put Away Your Hankies!: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/092204W.shtml. More on Politics: http://valoriez.blogspot.com/2004/01/politics.html

Action Item: Alert the Senate Judiciary Committee to Reject the Nomination of Thomas Griffith to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

In the next four years, Americans can expect to see lifetime appointments to many of the vacancies in our country's highest courts including, potentially three vacancies in the Supreme Court. ...A progressive judiciary is key to securing the safety and equality of our loved ones. ...

Now is the time to act to help defeat an extremist judicial nomination. President Bush has nominated Thomas Griffith, General Counsel of Brigham Young University, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, widely considered the second most important court in the U.S. after the Supreme Court. As a member of the 2002 Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, Griffith not only supported the Commission recommendations that would have reduced opportunities for women and girls, but he also opposed Title IX which since 1972 has been instrumental in expanding opportunities for women and girls in education and sports. Griffith's opposition to Title IX, which seeks to compensate for societal discrimination against women, puts into question his ability to enforce and expand civil right's law. Griffith's stance on the separation of church and state is equally troubling. According to Alliance for Justice, "His (Griffith) record indicates that he believes that the rule of law is based in faith and that lawyers should work to build a religious community."

Write your Senators to oppose Griffith's confirmation. You may find your senators' email address and telephone number at http://www.senate.gov. More information here: http://www.capwiz.com/pfaw/issues/alert/?alertid=6653076


Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. - Anais Nin

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Win PC Essentials


Running your computer with the Windows operating system, and connected to the Internet? If so, you will find the following products necessary to the safe operation of your machine.

1. Virus protection. If you cannot afford a commercial program, try AVG: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/. Occasionally stop by Pandasoft, and run their free scanner, also: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/. This is a great backup between updates of your main virus software. If you have a suspect file or two, try Kaspersky Lab: http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus. Another free antivirus program is Avast Home Edition: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html.

2. Firewall. If you have no firewall hardware, use software: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

3. Popup blocker. Makes web browsing safer, and easier. Google makes an effective one, built into their Toolbar: http://toolbar.google.com/

4. Spyware tools. I've found that one is not enough. Run both Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html. They will catch different junk. A good new one is BHODemon: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download.asp?fid=23611&fileidx=1

5.Get Firefox!  Download and install a safe web-browser! Try Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox or Opera: http://www.opera.com. Both Opera and Mozilla offer an integrated safe email program, which is also important. Other secure email programs are Eudora: http://www.eudora.com, Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird and Pegasus: http://www.pmail.com/.

If every Windows computer connected to the Internet was regularly using (and keeping updated) these programs, the virus/worm/spam load would be reduced to nothing. Imagine how pleasant THAT would be! For more in-depth information, see Computer Internet Security Class: http://members2.1stnetusa.com/~a/comintsec.

In trouble, and need a boot disk? FreePCTech has all the MS operating systems: http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

Enough about safety. If you want to USE your computer, here are some great FREE programs:

1. Genealogy - Legacy: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/, Ancestry Family Tree: http://www.ancestry.com/ Embla Family Treasures: http://www.embla.us and of course the venerable PAF (Personal Ancestral File): http://www.familysearch.org

Genealogical Research Note-Keeping - Bygones: http://www.bygonessoftware.com/

General note-taking, to-do lists and so forth -EverNote: http://www.evernote.com/en/

2. Office - OpenOffice.org, hands down!: http://www.OpenOffice.org. Tutorials for OpenOffice: http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org

3. Graphics and Graphics Editing - Picasa: http://www.picasa.com/
IrfanView is also popular: http://www.irfanview.com/. The Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32 cross-platform.

4. Web Authoring - New! NVU: http://www.nvu.com/ (Win, Mac, Linux)

5. RSS Newsreaders - I use Bloglines online, but if you prefer to download a free program, there is SharpReader for Windows: http://www.sharpreader.com. More about RSS and readers: http://www.lights.com/weblogs/rss.html

6. Backup and Storage: Karen's Replicator: http://www.karenware.com, Yahoo Briefcase: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/ - 30 MB.

7. Have a website? You will need to up and download files. DataFreeway will FTP, SecureFTP, and SSH in an intuitive interface: http://www.enginsite.com/download/DataFreeway.exe

8. To Do lists: What To Do

9. File sharing (P2P), chatting/IM, voice over IP, even video-conferencing: Qnext at http://www.qnext.com

Many good free programs for the Windows OS are available from The OpenCD: http://www.theopencd.org

PCMag reviews 26 freeware packages, some of which are listed above: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1864515,00.asp


If your computer is hopelessly compromised by viruses, worms or spyware, it can be recovered with a Knoppix (Linux) disk: http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/


We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen


This document was published by the National Assembly of France, August 1789. English translation from http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/france/decman.htm

The representatives of the French people, sitting in the National Assembly considering that ignorance of, neglect of, and contempt for the rights of man are the sole causes of public misfortune and the corruption of governments, have resolved to set out in a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, constantly before all members of the civic body, will constantly remind them of their rights and duties, in order that acts of legislative and executive power can be frequently compared with the purpose of every political institution, thus making them more respected; in order that the demands of the citizens, hence forth founded on simple and irrefutable principles, will always tend towards the maintenance of the constitution and the happiness of everyone.

Consequently the National Assembly recognises and declares, in the presence of, and under the auspices of, the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:

I. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can only be founded on communal utility.

II. The purpose of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.

III. The principle of all sovereignty emanates essentially from the nation. No group of men, no individual, can exercise any authority which does not specifically emanate from it.

IV. Liberty consists in being able to do whatever does not harm others. Hence the exercise of the natural rights of every man is limited only by the need for other members of society to exercise the same rights. These limits can only be determined by the law.

V. The law only has the right to prohibit actions harmful to society. What is not prohibited by law cannot be forbidden, and nobody can be forced to do what the law does not require.

VI. The law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part personally, or through their representatives, in the making of the law. It should be the same for everyone, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all honours, offices and public employment, according to their capacity and without any distinction other than those of their integrity and talents.

VII. A man can only be accused, arrested or detained in cases determined by law, and according to the procedure it requires. Those who solicit, encourage, execute, or cause to be executed, arbitrary orders, must be punished, but every citizen called upon or arrested in the name of the law must obey instantly; resistance renders him culpable

VIII. The law must only require punishments that are strictly and evidently necessary, and a person can only be punished according to a established law passed before the offence and legally applied.

IX. Every man being presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it is necessary to arrest him, all severity beyond what is necessary to secure his arrest shall be severely punished by law

X. No man ought to be uneasy about his opinions, even his religious beliefs, provided that their manifestation does not interfere with the public order established by the law.

XI. The free communication of thought and opinion is one of the most precious rights of man: every citizen can therefore talk, write and publish freely, except that he is responsible for abuses of this liberty in cases determined by the law.

XII. The guaranteeing of the rights of man and the citizen requires public force: this force is therefore established for everybody’s advantage and not for the particular benefit of the persons who are entrusted with it.

XIII. A common contribution is necessary for the maintenance of the public force and for administrative expenses; it must be equally apportioned. between all citizens, according to their means.

XIV. All citizens have the right, personally or by means of their representatives, to have demonstrated to them the necessity of public taxes. so that they can consent freely to them, can check how they are used, and can determine the shares to be paid, their assessment, collection and duration.

XV. The community has the right to hold accountable every public official in its administration.

XVI. Every society which has no assured guarantee of rights, nor a separation of powers, does not possess a constitution.

XVII. Property being a sacred and inviolable right, nobody can be deprived of it, except when the public interest, legally defined, evidently requires it, and then on condition there is just compensation in advance.


When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us. - Alexander Graham Bell