The reason why it appears dead is because those who go smoothly do not always post updates here (like the two non-Regina applicants above that just passed tests), but those that have delays in their processing come here to complain, ask questions etc. So this is why this forum appears like a collection of horror stories - citizenship judge hearings, RQ's, lost files, residence calculation errors made by agents etc.etc. The bottom line is that there is nothing we can do to speed up the bureacracy. And nobody really cares about our painful wait...