Shannon Jacobs wrote:
> In spite of the overwhelming evidence that y'all have pretty much succeeded
> in killing this newsgroup, I'll go ahead and include a copy of this query
> here. Reminds me of the kind of tiny bar that's basically 'owned' by a
> couple of drunks. I know it's wasting time to attempt to reason with drunks,
> but if the bar had more business, then maybe the owner could lower the
> prices?

Don't be silly. When a bar is busy, the prices go up, and a bouncer is
hired to keep the riffraff out.

> Currently my communications costs in Kanagawa are running about 8,500
> yen/month. This includes regular phone service, an ISP, a linked ADSL
> service, and a mobile phone, but it still seems somewhat expensive.

Seems fairly reasonable to me. I average about 22,000 a month for
telecoms, though that includes a very substantial amount of business
use. If I cut out all telecommuting I still think it would be hard to
get costs below 10000/month.

> The simple summary of goals
> is that I'd like to minimize my costs while maintaining "sufficient"
> service, but that notion of "sufficient" is difficult... Last year I was
> hoping to consolidate everything on a wireless network, but the wireless
> network I'm using now is so slow that it can barely handle streaming audio

Fairly stable 100MB in this part of Aichi - no problems with streaming
(via my wireless network), even when I'm upstairs. Where exactly are
you in Kanagawa?

> Yahoo BB looked
> interesting, but like my current ADSL and mobile phone providers, English
> support is an afterthought. I can get by on Japanese, but it's enough of a
> nuisance that I've been uninterested in Yahoo BB so far...

When are you going to get around to learning Japanese properly like the
rest of us? It could solve your communication and library problems, and
generally makes life in Japan a little easier.