Thursday, February 12, 2009

Red Tape Me to the Poor House, Service Canada (virtual-like)

Well, I finally navigated through four pages on www.servicecanada.gc.ca to get to a login page (to save you the trouble, it's here). Not that that will be of much help to anyone who is careful enough to use an updated browser for their own personal computing security. Here is the text of the bypass page I was redirected to:

At this time, epass Canada does not officially support your browser, your Java Virtual Machine (JVM) or your operating system. However, you may still be able to access epass Enabled Services by clicking Continue below.

If you encounter difficulties, please Contact Us for assistance.

Browsers and operating systems currently supported by epass Canada:

Windows 2000:

* Internet Explorer 6.0 (Sun JVM versions 1.5.0_12 to 1.5.0_99 and 1.6.0_03 or higher; IBM JVM version 1.4.2 or 1.5.0);
* Firefox 2.0.0.7 or higher (version 3.x is not supported at this time) (Sun JVM versions 1.5.0_04 to 1.5.0_99 and 1.6.0_03 or higher).

Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional:

* Internet Explorer 6.0 (Sun JVM versions 1.5.0_12 to 1.5.0_99 and 1.6.0_03 or higher; IBM JVM version 1.4.2 or 1.5.0);
* Internet Explorer 7.0 (Sun JVM versions 1.5.0_12 to 1.5.0_99 and 1.6.0_03 or higher; IBM JVM version 1.4.2 or 1.5.0);
* Firefox 2.0.0.7 or higher (version 3.x is not supported at this time) (Sun JVM versions 1.5.0_04 to 1.5.0_99 and 1.6.0_03 or higher).

Windows Vista:

* Internet Explorer 7.0 (Sun JVM version 1.6.0_03 or higher);
* Firefox 2.0.0.9 or higher (version 3.x is not supported at this time) (Sun JVM version 1.6.0_03 or higher).

Mac OS X version 10.4:

* Safari 2.0.4 (Apple JVM versions 1.4.2_07 to 1.4.2_16 and 1.5.0_05 or higher);
* Safari 3.0.4 (Apple JVM versions 1.4.2_07 to 1.4.2_16 and 1.5.0_05 or higher).

Mac OS X version 10.5:

* Safari 3.0.4 (Apple JVM versions 1.4.2_16 and 1.5.0_13 or higher).

Linux (Red Hat Fedora Core 8 and Ubuntu 7.10):

* Firefox 2.0.0.6 or higher (version 3.x is not supported at this time) (Sun JVM versions 1.5.0_04 to 1.5.0_99 and 1.6.0_02 or higher).

For more information about supported browsers, operating systems and JVMs please refer to our Technology frequently asked questions.

Please click Continue to proceed or click Cancel to end this process and return to the department.
Interestingly, I am using the same version of the same browser (Firefox 3.0.6) that I used two weeks ago with no problem at all in creating my original request.

Grumbles...

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3 comments:

Rural said...

Yep, tried to acess "service canada" also and it did not like somthing in my system, the interesting part was that I had no problems with EI application and reporting on line or for that matter on line banking and the like. In my case it is not that I have a fancy uptodate OS but more probably the opposite, when are these folks going to learn to use the Keep Things Simple rule and make things usable for the Lowest Common Denominator?

Scott in Montreal said...

Thanks for your comment, Rural. You pose an excellent question. I think this is what the ITIL people mean with their recommendation in version 3 with "Continual Service Improvement".

As you can see in my most recent post, talking to an actual human being can be the most expeditious way to find out what one needs to know. Thank goodness the advent of the personal touch hasn't been lost altogether. When have you ever had the same question as any seen in a "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" link? I know I'm still waiting.

Mike D said...

uhmmm.... I am getting the same when i tried to login, I dont get it, I can't do my reporting either seeing as how its saturday... i will have to wait till monday, Ahhh i didnt need the money right away..... I can afford to wait longer for my EI payment.... seeing as how I have bills and they dont mind waiting for their payments....... I hope the government workers get their pay on time! with this inconvenience someone got a self proclaimed raise or a big 6 figure bonus!!!!!!