Slashback: Wal-Modem, Culpability, Misquotes 470
There must be some mistake; this is what I wanted. Masem writes: "The review of the OS-less PCs sold through Wal-Mart brought out a lot of comments on the inclusion of a WinModem, effectively requiring Windows to make the computer work correctly. However, NewsForge reports that shortly after that posting, Microtel, the makers of these computers, wrote back to the reviewer and indicated that new versions of the systems will ship with Linux-friendly modems from now on. Nice to see a company that knows its target audience and how to make them happy."
Thanks, Microtel!
Next: ethernet cable manufacturers. cpt kangarooski writes: "For those tuning in late, Harlan Ellison sued AOL (among others) for having the temerity to permit users to upload copies of his copyrighted works across their networks on the Usenet. As it turns out, AOL was in the right, and got a summary judgment against Ellison.
The opinion by Judge Cooper is located here in PDF format Given his reputation, Ellison will likely appeal."
Welcome to Ix, please take off your shoes. cayle clark writes "A few months back I asked slashdot about shopping in the Akihabara, Tokyo's famous "electric town," and got lots of good advice. Well, now I been and went there, took some pictures, and posted an illustrated account here. Netting it out, it's a keen place to wander, and prices are in some (but only some) cases lower than in the USA."
Hacking at the ties that bind Following up on the new venture in wireless from the LinuxCare crew, Dave Sifry writes "802.11b Networking News wrote up a summary of the new Sputnik Gateway release today, codenamed Stagecoach. The Community Gateway code runs from CD and turns a computer with an ethernet card and Prism 802.11b card into a secure authenticating firewalled 802.11b Access Point. New features of this release include support for desktop cards, like the Linksys WMP11 PCI card, which means that you can turn your old 486 in a closet into a cheap secure wireless router."
I'd rather they save Futurama, but gift horse, teeth, etc. Remik writes "Yahoo News is carrying this story letting Simpsons creator Matt Groening set the record straight that the Simpsons isn't winding down and that it isn't on the ropes. He claims he was misquoted and misunderstood in a Financial Times of London article that came out earlier this week and that he does indeed has stories for years and years. What if Marge became a robot? Hmm..."
Has anyone detected the envelope with the winner's name yet? SoundGuy666 writes "Looks like SETI made it past that 500 million milestone - wonder who won the $500 prize..."
Microtel (Score:3, Informative)
Bart on the Chalkboard... (Score:4, Informative)
Gotta love finding out like that!
Now, that said,
I WANT MY GOD DAMNED FUTURAMA BACK YOU BASTARDS!!!
Nobody reads articles... (Score:5, Informative)
If you actually read Ellison's original rant, he sued AOL because the infringing postings were "received as part of his subscription to AOL."
That's right kids, Ellison was connecting through AOL. The alleged infringer's ISP (Tehama County Online) rolled over immediately, and was thus spared inclusion in the lawsuit. AOL got sued because they carried the infringing bits to him at his request.
At worst, they failed to proactively remove the posts from their news spools.
Re:Stay away from Wal-Mart (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, it is a well known fact that the Duron is manufactured in AMD's Fab 25 in Austin, Texas. I'm sure the residents of Austin will be suprised to know that they are now citizens of "Maylasia". Or did you perhaps mean Malaysia?
But hey, smart folks like you have no need for verifiable facts, right? So much for that "no toleranse for stupidity" thing. I guess Mensa'll hand out a card to any retard willing to take their asinine brain teaser test...
Oh and, by the way, it's spelled "tolerance". You might want to fix that one of these days. But then again, since I already pointed that out to you several months ago, maybe you enjoy looking like an idiot?
Akihabara -- Japanese Keyboards (Score:2, Informative)
I'm typing on a Japanese computer right now. The keyboard is just fine for typing in English. I don't understand the problem with getting a Japanese keyboard. There are a few extra keys and Japanese letters (hiragana) in addition to the usual letters, but I'd say it's way cooler, not a problem.
Japanese Windows, of course, requires you to be able to read, but all good geeks can install an English operating system on their computers.
Re:Who is Harlan Ellison? (Score:3, Informative)
Well, strictly speaking, he wrote a script that contained the nucleus of "City...", but had creative differences. The script was extensively reworked into what appeared on film. And despite what Ellison screams, loudly, the script also massively improved once he was no longer part... I had the opportunity to read his script (in a book published, what, five years ago, I think), and it stank. IMHO and YMMV but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Akihabara (Score:4, Informative)
The Akihabara district of Tokyo is world-famous as a shopping district specializing in electrical and electronic equipment. I had the chance to visit the Akihabara while on an Elderhostel tour of Japan in April, 2002. (The name is pronounced ah-kee-ha-ba-rah, with no stress on any syllable. It is not, as English speakers want to say, aki-HAbara or akiha-BAra. The syllables just roll out all at the same level.)
Not really. Spoken Japanese does not use stress as a marker, but rather pitch. 'Akihabara' declines in pitch towards the end of the word.
Akihabara is a station on the Japan Railways line and on the Tokyo subway. The railway station is a bit more convenient. This is what you see as you start down from the station platform.
A bit more convenient, if you happen to be using a JR line - if you're on a subway line, the subway exit is the way to go.
There are lots of people on the street (but that's true everywhere in Tokyo). This was Sunday morning at 11AM.
Akihabara's main street is closed to traffic on most Sundays.
The district is roughly 6 city blocks square. Some of the streets are wide, as above, and some are narrow and have that "oriental bazaar" feel to them.
It's quite considerably larger than that - certainly, most of the larger stores are toward the station, but if you head down the road in the direction of the Suehirocho station, there's many smaller shops in the back streets.
This place also sold a variety of CPU and memory chips. Here is the price list. Multiply Yen by 0.008 to get dollars (as of 4/02). Thus the 2.4Ghz P4 was selling for about $575. These prices, as with most prices in the Akihabara, did not strike me as wonderful bargains. Good prices, but not good enough to cover the airfare to Tokyo!
Gee, I'm so sorry... strange as it may seem, shops in Akihabara don't take your plane fare into account when setting their prices.
Notice the number of clerks. Like every Japanese retail store, there are many, many clerks, all eager to be helpful. Japanese retail stores are grossly overstaffed by American standards.
...which could easily be rewritten to say, "American stores are grossly understaffed by Japanese standards." How often have I seen people complaining that they can't find a clerk in a US Fry's?
The prices for Apple stuff seemed to be about the same as US prices.
That's because Apple engages in price-fixing in Japan (they were actually convicted of it once, but it's obvious that it still goes on).
Many stores sold games. This one is advertising the Nintendo for about $200. There were also Sega and Sony game stores. I don't know what the game is that is featured in the window display. The box was all Japanese except for the line "The voices of a distant star."
It's called 'Hoshi no Koe' ('The Voice of the Stars' is close enough).
When I looked closely at these PDAs I found the screen display was all in Japanese.
OH MY GOD!!! You're KIDDING!!!! Japanese PDAs in Japan... who would have thought it?!?
Most of the larger stores devoted much floor space to items of interest to local people, especially appliances: washing machines, microwaves, rice cookers and the like. And some absolutely gorgeous, 16:9-format TVs, which, or course, would be useless in the US.
Obviously, these stores should immediately devote a minimum of 70% of their floor space to items that are of interest to Americans.
There were lots of laptops to be seen, but alas, almost all had Japanese keyboards and the Japanese version of Windows. The prices for most laptops seemed to be pretty close to US prices for comparable models. The only bargains were on closeouts (clearly marked in English, "last one").
...I don't need to hammer the point any more, do I? (BTW, the reason you didn't find any 'bargains' was because you were looking in the wrong place - if you want a cheap laptop, the best way to find one is either online or check some of the smaller shops for weekend specials).
The only place you find English keyboards is in the big stores, in what are advertised as "Duty Free" departments. "Duty Free" is a misnomer -- all the goods were made in Japan, so there is no question of avoiding an import duty.
The 'Duty Free' in this case refers to the lack of the 5% consumption tax on items (which he does mention later on, although he doesn't link the two facts).
All in all, about what I'd expect from a tourist on a quick spin through the larger shops...
Jeez Guys, give him a link already! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Stay away from Wal-Mart (Score:2, Informative)
In fact, some of their merchandise has been shown to be manufactured in first-world countries under sweatshop conditions -- and by children, no less (i.e., the Kathie Lee thing). And of course, there's always the Wal-Mart practice of enforcing their own moralist values on their inventory/ services (e.g., their decision not to carry the morning-after pill).
An MS-free PC is a very good thing...but the cost outweighs the...cost, or whatever it is I'm trying to say.
Re:Akihabara (Score:3, Informative)
Yes folks, most of the shops/shopping in Akihabara is in fact aimed at local Japanese (shock, horror!)
3 hours in Akihabara will just scratch the surface - there are heaps of small shops, many further away from the main train station where rent is cheaper, with more interesting bargains.
Anyway, Akihabara has variety but not necessarily the best prices - because it is 'Akihabara', rent is high, and shops price stuff accordingly.
I'm still laughing that this guy was actually surprised/disappointed to find lots of Japanese PDAs and PCs with Japanese keyboards in Japan of all places...
Re:keep the modem, lean on them for linux drivers (Score:3, Informative)
Just a quick summary of the types of modems (This probably has some errors, but I am sure I will be corrected :-) ):
- Hardware modem - This is the traditional modem. They usually contain a line interface, a DSP and a controller. The controller handles things like dialing, recognizing AT commands and transferring data to and from the DSP. The DSP does the modulation and maybe the data compression. The line interface is just a digital/analog converter and some protection circuitry. The modem connects to the computer with a serial link. Internal versions put a UART on the modem so it acts like a serial port.
- Controllerless - These modems leave off the controller. The driver handles things like dialing, monitoring status and sending data to the DSP. The driver also handles AT command processing and possibly emulating a serial port for DOS apps. The driver may also do data compression. The actual modulation is still done by a DSP.
- Host Signal Processing - The cheapest modems leave off the DSP too. These modems are little more than sound cards with phone line interface. The driver must do all the work. Obviously you wouldn't expect exceptional performance from these. AMR modems fit in this catagory.
Lucent modems fit into the Controllerless catagory. I have had good luck with them under Windows and Ok luck with them in Linux (All on Compaq Presario's. The modem is probably the only quality component in the whole machine...). Use the latest drivers for best connect rates.