Job Discussion Forums

[Mavis the Fat Fairy]

Hi, I've just arrived here in Japan, and so far so good - I think my jet lag is over-riding any culture shock i might feel. Although saying that, I'm sat here eating something which looks (and I'd imagen tastes) like wall paper paste in batter, and thinking a yorkshire pudding or two wouldn't go amiss.

Anyway, i just wanted to ask those more technically minded than I about my internet connection. Basically, I just turned on my laptop and it asked 'do you want to connect to this wireless network?' I clicked yes, and here I am. I was just worried incase there is something wrong with doing that - presumably it is one of my neighbours who has installed wireless internet but not encrypted it. I just want to check that my logging on with it wont be detected by (or charged to) who ever it belongs to, and wont put my computer at risk (from bad internet virus type things)?

Also, what is with all the loud-speaker announcements that go past my appartment all day (starting at 6am!!!)? And for one of them in particular, what can they possibly be saying that requires them to sing it???

[Like a Rolling Stone]

[Rorschach]

I wouldn't worry about leeching your neighbour's bandwidth - so long as all you do is browse the net and read emails it should barely register. Also, the upload/downloads here are unlimited so it doesn't really matter - it only becomes an issue when you use bandwidth intensive programmes like Bittorrent or gaming and then it only affects download speeds, not download caps. They only thing I would worry about is whether your computer is secure on the network. Be sure to setup a personal firewall if you want to leech - I knew a guy who leeched bandwidth from a neighbour only to come home one day to find his HDD loaded with gay porno (no joke) courtesy of the guy he was leeching from.

[seastarr]

The loud speaker announcements could be for a local election, or because its garbage pick up time. It could also be for food, although that would be a bit off at 630am. They freaked me out a bit when I first got there too. As for the internet, if you aren't using too much bandwidth I wouldnt worry about it too much.

[Mavis the Fat Fairy]

Thanks for the advice. Just to clarify, if I do a bit of online banking through this unsecured network, my neighbour isn't going to be able to run off with my bank details, and things like that?

please excuse my computing ignorance

[Gordon]