It's also buggy as hell (as all Japanese phones are), but I suppose if 3 inches of Japanese TV gives you a woody, get a plane ticket, man.

Don't know where you get that information from. I haven't had a single problem with mine. Early firmware was buggy, but that was two years ago for the P905i. Mine is rock solid, takes great pictures, and has a great music player.

Really, the only thing that got me was that the thing couldn't play mp3's. Only plays wma. Everything else was a slam dunk. It even interfaces tolerably well with my Linux machines.

It's all relative and relative to the US market the iPhone is not a piece of crap. It's great to talk about the Japanese market, the cool gadgets, and how much better they are. But guess what? If we can't get/use them here it's irrelevant.

It's perfectly relevant to TFA, which is discussing why the iPhone can't make it in Japan.

In Japan, there were already touch screen phones, and phones with full web browsers built in long before the iPhone was even announced. What you have on the iPhone now is about where Japan was around 4 or 5 years ago. The P905i mentioned in TFA was on the market in 2007 when Steve was making his iPhone keynote.

How long ago did you live in Japan ... 10 ... 15 years ago?

The P905i is already outdated. I've had mine for over a year now. Lots of the phones they have now make the P905i look like ancient tech. Motion sensors which rotate the clock display so it stays upright as you turn the phone 10Mpx cameras with touch screens for selecting your photo subject. 4 inch tv screens with multimedia capability that would make your head spin. You can record your favorite TV show while you're at work, bring your phone home, plug it into your TV and watch the show on the big screen. Complete webkit stack (Yes, that means you can become a walking web server).

Seriously, you're iPhone sucks compared to what's out now.

Isn't that what reference letters and a reference list is for?

Seriously, it's not like the internet invented corporate networking.

And if the voltage at the mains does change, so what? It's not like power can't be generated at whatever voltage is required.

I was able to terminate my 2 year contract (after one year) with Sprint for no charge. I just told them I was moving out of their service area. I assume this technique would work with other carriers (landline included) as well. This was about 4 years ago though ... YMMV.

Sorry, DirectX -> ActiveX

More info about the ActiveX component here: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r20521695-DSL-Activation-Crapinstallation-without-user-permission

Does anyone have more information about this? I don't live in Verizon territory, so I don't have first-hand experience. Presumably the username/password in question is for PPPOE, but I would expect them to simply tell you what it is, then have you type that into their Windows-only config program, not the other way around.

Here is a detailed explanation of the problem: http://www.humans-enabled.com/2007/06/verizon-dsl-doesnt-support-linux.html

TFS: Some (not all) Verizon PPPoE internet setups use a DirectX script to "assist" the user with modem setup. All queries to 192.168.1.1 are redirected to the DirectX setup. If you do not have DirectX, you are given a page that says your OS is not supported. To bypass this problem, you must disable the 192.168.1.1 redirect in Firefox before you can access the modem configuration page.

I was horrified when I went to Japan recently and had to let them take my fingerprints and a picture. I was even more horrified when I complained to my Japanese friends and they let me know that America has the same practice.

You have your friendly neighborhood DHS to thank for that one: http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/info/tinfo-customs.html

I think this program is security theater more than anything else but our entry/exit requirements still aren't that onerous compared to other countries I can think of.

Of all the countries (a lot) I've been in and out of, the U.S. has recently become the most troublesome. And, I carry a U.S. passport. I can't even imagine how difficult it is for non-U.S. citizens. It's embarrassing.

QR Codes are used extensively here in Japan, and have been for many years. I also have no trouble at all reading them. Takes less than a second, and I don't need internet access to read them. I've also been amazed at the kind of data: coupons, ads, Business card, small maps, flight information, restaurant food nutritional information, and that's just scratching the surface of what they're used for here.

Frankly, the thing I see killing this one that it relies on a central server. Man-in-the-middle anyone?

It's hard for 7 year olds to accidentally kill their playmate and have drive-by shootings when guns are

properly handled and locked up

Parent is clearly advocating gun safety here.

Work computers and school computers cannot be thought of on the same legal level.

Primarily because work computers contain gobs of intellectual property. That's to say nothing of all the sensitive security, passwords, and customer/client data that exists on corporate/company laptops. Whereas school computers (at least up through high school) do not have any of these risks.

The difference here is that corporations lock down computers to protect the corporate IP and sensitive data, whereas this article is talking about locking down computers to prevent it's user from using it immorally. This is a problem because the school can't implement moral restrictions with which all parents can agree, and that could become a legal quagmire.