Caveat emptor - Part ll
Never judge a company by its website
Caveat emptor - Part ll
Never judge a company by its website
- by Thomas Caldwell -
Privacy. Privacy. Privacy. A famous author once said this is an age in which nobody is allowed to mind their own business. One major magazine had a cover story entitled "Is Privacy Dead?" not too long ago. Privacy has become the hot issue of the day and has been brought to the front and center of public discussion due to the creation of - you guessed it - the Internet. Until recently, the terms "privacy" and "commerce" were a concern only to people purchasing bizarre sex toys. Now it seems to be the chief concern of everybody involved in e-commerce. Unfortunately, this should not be the case. Although a concern, privacy is not the main issue. Honesty is. I had left this part of my series until the end in the hope that I would be able to locate a trade organization dedicated to policing e-commerce operations and protecting consumers from rip-offs and scams. Although I was given many names and websites to check out, I found none of them to be particularly well organized. Most were still under construction from both the Web and administrative perspective. This will no doubt change over time as e-commerce evolves, but it hasn't happened yet. If anyone knows differently, please let me know. For the time being, the one organization I can recommend for people with e-commerce-related problems with North American companies is the good o'l Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org). If privacy is an issue for you and you want to get involved, there are a host of organizations for you to check out. Some of these organizations may also be into consumer protection before long:
In closing out this series, just remember to use your head when giving money to anybody. Robbery is the world's second oldest profession. Caveat Emptor: let the buyer beware. Routers With the aim of drastically speeding up one's Internet connection, as well as further complicating one's computer set-up, many of you are getting into the wonderful, magical world of routers. I currently don't use one, but those who do have told me they are the ultimate Internet toy. Installing your own router might also be a productive time killer for Golden Week. Routers are becoming easier to use, but although I can't make a formal recommendation (yet), I've been told Yamaha is a good company to check out if this sort of thing appeals to you (http://www.yamaha.co.jp). Please note that as of this writing most of the company's top computer products are only available in Japan. (For more on using ISDN in Japan, check out the ISDN mail list hosted by the Tokyo PC Users Group at http://www.tpc.ml.org/tpc/newsgroups.html, or see Paul Findon's ISDN-FAQ at: http://www.infopage.net/myspace/internet/ isdn-j/index.html - Ed.) Linux Questions Although I really dig the enthusiasm, please stop sending me Linux support questions. I've been FLOODED with them over the last several months. Besides still classifying myself as a novice, such detailed technical questions on any subject are never answered in this column (see this month's accompanying story on page 38). Check out the Tokyo Linux Users Group (http://tlug.linux.or.jp) if you live in the area and/or http://www.linux.org for getting answers to your questions. The Tall Tale It's a lot of fun when people drop me notes saying how much they like a story. Special thanks to all of you who enjoyed the story of the old programmer and the sea (CJ, December 1998), especially the fellow who lives in Alaska. To answer your questions: yes. It was a story based on a real event. There is such a person. He is a professional programmer and he does live and work on his sailboat. However, many of the details were changed to protect his identity. As you might imagine, he attaches great value to his privacy. Those of you living in Japan who are now dreaming of living and working on a sailboat, forget it. It is prohibitively expensive due to the Japanese government's desire to prevent people from living on the water like in Hong Kong. If such a lifestyle appeals to you, consider the United States and United Kingdom. Equipment Racks Every so often I am asked where one can find high quality equipment racks in Japan. In this country they're VERY expensive but, if you have a lot of equipment and very little space, they're REALLY worth it. Try to get them used if you can. New, a professional 2.2 meter tall rack will cost more than ¥200,000. If used, the owner may pay YOU to take it away. Recording and TV production studios are good places to find bargains. Just make sure you have a friend with a truck to help you move it. For new racks and accessories, the top brand name in Japan is IDEAL. Check out their website at http://www.settsu.co.jp. Thomas Caldwell is a freelance journalist working and living in Tokyo. He can be reached at caldwell@gol.com. |
