Comment Is that supposed to be cheap? (Score 1) 110
I haven't been to the US for a while, but is $60 supposed to be cheap?
My neighbors get 10Gbps for about $55...
Comment Re: Open source? (Score 4, Funny) 80
Right next to where they put human rights?
Comment Re:So much for the safety of nuclear energy (Score 1) 752
They're already using fire trucks and pumps in an attempt to cool it down, but they need more.
It's not a fire. They need enough water to emerse the reactor faster than the evaporation rate, and they may need additional equipment from both the Japanese Self Defense Force and the US DoD to accomplish that.
Feed The Register: IBM signs-in to OpenOffice.org (theregister.com)
Waves software sabre at Microsoft
IBM is joining the OpenOffice.org development community, kicking off its participation by donating code it has developed for its Lotus Notes project and promising to contribute to improving the "feature richness and code quality" of OpenOffice.org.
Comment Japanese Carriers are Strictly Regulated (Score 1) 925
I have one of the G-Shock cell phones from Casio myself. It's water and shock resistant, but its also extremely responsive (at least for the std phone, web and email features), and its been my primary /. reading device for the past year or so.
It seems that the Japanese telecommunications industry are under fierce competition between each other, but its also very heavily regulated. There are three primary cellular carriers, and the antitrust department seems to apply additional restrictions when one of them gets too powerful. Some of the practices that I've heard are normal in the States (such as huge fines for cancellations) have been ruled to be illegal (antitrust and consumer protection laws). Even if you sign up for an annual contract, the carriers cannot charge you much for the cancellation fee (about $30 fee for yearly contracts). Even if you buy a phone for 1 yen (less than 1 cent) with a 3M pixel camera, etc., you can still cancel the service on the next day. You may be charged apx $30 to cancel the discount options if you signed up for them, and you'll still be charged the initial registration fee (about $25), but the cancellation fee itself is free unless it changed recently.
Another big difference that I noticed is the attitude. The Japanese carriers seem to be willing to do everything in their power to make their existing and potential WANT to use their service. When I bought a phone in the US (Verizon), the retailer was nice (obviously to sell me a phone), but the carrier made it sound like they were doing me a favor for letting me have the privilege to use their service...
It seems that the Japanese telecommunications industry are under fierce competition between each other, but its also very heavily regulated. There are three primary cellular carriers, and the antitrust department seems to apply additional restrictions when one of them gets too powerful. Some of the practices that I've heard are normal in the States (such as huge fines for cancellations) have been ruled to be illegal (antitrust and consumer protection laws). Even if you sign up for an annual contract, the carriers cannot charge you much for the cancellation fee (about $30 fee for yearly contracts). Even if you buy a phone for 1 yen (less than 1 cent) with a 3M pixel camera, etc., you can still cancel the service on the next day. You may be charged apx $30 to cancel the discount options if you signed up for them, and you'll still be charged the initial registration fee (about $25), but the cancellation fee itself is free unless it changed recently.
Another big difference that I noticed is the attitude. The Japanese carriers seem to be willing to do everything in their power to make their existing and potential WANT to use their service. When I bought a phone in the US (Verizon), the retailer was nice (obviously to sell me a phone), but the carrier made it sound like they were doing me a favor for letting me have the privilege to use their service...
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