RE: [tlug] Linux

[Stuart Luppescu <s-luppescu@example.com>]

On æ, 2006-11-09 at 19:55 +0900, burlingk@example.com wrote:
> 2) Can a hard modem made in the US be used on the Japanese 
> > teleco system??
> > Are any changes or mods required in the hard modem??
> > 
> > If anyone can help, sure would be appreciated!
> > 
> > Thank you y'all and have a great day!!
> 
> I don't THINK there should be any differences.  I could be wrong.  As
> far as I know though, the basic hardware is the same. 

This really takes me back. You young whippersnappers may not remember,
but back in the early 1980's we used 300 bps (we used to say, ``baud''
back then) acoustic coupled modems. You could buy cheap ones in the US
but they were built to US communication standards back then (``Bell''
standard), while the rest of the world, including Japan, used CCITT
standard. There was a hack going around that enabled you to install a
toggle switch on your modem that would switch between Bell and CCITT. I
signed up for international data service from KDD so I could access
Compuserve. It was *very* expensive, especially considering the
ridiculously low data rate. I would regularly have bills from KDD for
10,000 yen to 15,000 yen a month. But I digress.

I think all modems these days are built to international standards so
you shouldn't have any trouble. But why not sign up for broadband? Even
my brother-in-law who lives way out in the ãçè of Saitama has DSL.
(Are all telephone calls in Japan still timed, so you're paying a
per-minute phone charge as well as an internet access charge?)
-- 
Stuart Luppescu -=-=- s-luppescu <AT> uchicago <DOT> edu
CCSR at U of C ,.;-*^*-;.,  ccsr.uchicago.edu
     (^_^)/    ææãæåçãç
Thank God I'm an atheist!

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