The official and long overdue Mulboyne appreciation thread

[kotatsuneko]

Hello everyone.It's certainly been a while.

Right, the wife is in Tokyo due to some pretty serious health issues.

She's not entirely happy with the hospital she's staying at and wants to research other options.All of her friends are in Sapporo, and so asking around people she knows for advice is not an option.

She has my laptop which has an onboard wireless card.The OS is Windows XP pro and is English.

Up until last week she was able to hop on to a neighbours net connection as he left his wireless router open to the entire apartment building, but has now moved.

Ideally she would like to either have a contract for 2 months or so for internet access at home.I'm pretty sure her aunt (whose place she is staying at when not at hospital) has a telephone contract with NTT.

She would like to know if she can either have a short term contract with someone like yahoo or other isps OR if she can rent or buy a usb modem to work with her Softbank phone and access the net via the laptop (bearing in mind the OS is in English and not being technically minded she would almost certainly be unable to create a second user account with Japanese settings over the phone).

If this is not possible, it would really help out if someone with knowledge of either Ogikubo or Asagaya could let us know if there is a internet cafe nearish to those stations.The local police have been entirely unhelpful when asked.

I really am quite desperate to help out, but being half way around the world am pretty useless and would really appreciate some help here...

Thanks for reading.

[Mulboyne]

I can't help you with the short term contract but there is an an internet cafe near the west exit of Ogikubo station called "Media Complex Space WIP". It's on the 3rd Floor of the Toa Kaikan, the telephone number is 03-5347-4588 and here is a map

There's also a Gera Gera which the map in the link shows to be across from the north exit of Nishi Ogikubo station. It's on the third floor of the Nishi Ogikubo Otani building above a drugstore called Tomods. Telephone 03-3397-6317.

Asagaya has an Aprecio near the station. The link shows a map. Telephone number 03-3316-6521.

E-World is near the south exit of Asagaya station. Map here and the telephone number is 03 5305 5330.

Good luck.

[kotatsuneko]

Thank you so much Mulboyne, that's incredibly kind of you and extremely helpful!

Also the extra details like phone numbers, maps, homepage even.Where do I send the cheque, seriously?

Previously owed you a beer, now its a slap up meal.

You've really come up with more than I could have possibly expected, seriously all I need to do now is text here these details and we can at least be in proper contact!

She'll also now be able to check in on-line and print her boarding card ^^.

I cannot possibly thank you enough mate you've really made my day and helped save my bacon!

EDIT:

I found that Softbank do indeed have a wireless card available for net access:
http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/en/product/connect_card/index.html

not sure if that no contract price for package usage is going to cost the earth or not though..Having an English page makes me a little optimistic about them having a cd with drivers for an English OS ^^ .
Was amazed in Yokohama how much Softbank had paid for famous faces, that Japanda bloke must be having a field day!

Thanks again Mulboyne ; ]

[kotatsuneko]

Just spoke to the wife and she went to one of the places in Ogikubo and managed to get a ton of research done, not to mention reply to a months worth of emails.

Thanks to your directions and contact numbers finding the place was a breeze!

I know it may sound ridiculous but even Japanese people often have a hard time finding what they are looking for in their own country.I remember trying to find a net cafe in Sapporo when I first moved there, took me ages and ages...Brings back memories of an NTT engineer when he was setting up the optical line on our tower and saying "don't use it too much" when seeing the kazaa tray icon ; ]

You really came up trumps in my hour of need Mulboyne, hopefully I can make it up to you one of these days.I cannot possibly thank you enough for your kindness.

By chance one of the mails the wife got was from an old mate from the UK and he's going to visit her in hospital next weekend and give her a wireless card which will let her get on-line via hotspots via his account which is great (though I don't know why the card is needed as the laptop already has wireless on-board, but hey as long as it works...).

She will still need to visit the cafes to print stuff out like her boarding card for the trip home, knowing she can do that and avoid the horrific queues is simply wonderful...

[ttjereth]

I don't know anything about the internet access, but you mentioned the PC is Win Xp pro which means it isn't language specific. She can set it to Japanese using the Regional and Language Options dialog.

Only problem would be if the east asian languages data wasn't installed she would need access to an XP pro install disc to install it.

Japanese is included on all Windows XP Professional install discs and you can add it later and switch the OS between languages (without even needing to reboot in some cases) freely, unlike XP home were everything is fixed.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/lang_multilang_doc_overview.mspx?mfr=true
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/int_pr_install_languages.mspx?mfr=true

[omae mona]

The amount of help Mulboyne has selflessly provided over the years to FG members is nothing short of astounding. It may even balance out all the negative, cynical, discouraging comments that all the rest of us have been posting. In fact, I think Mulboyne may have single-handedly saved FG collectively from burning in hell.

[kotatsuneko]

Hi ttjereth, thanks for your message. I did set up Japanese language support on that laptop and it also has the latest ime installed. As she is used to working in English windows I just left it like that as it worked fine connecting wirelessley in Japan in the past. The thing is my better half wouldn't have the patience to sort out a second user account over the phone. If need be her mate will be able to do it I reckon as he apparently works in IT.

Cheers for the advice, much appreciated! At least I had the language support installed so thats one thing out of the way....Thank you also for the links, most helpful!

omae mona, not only has Mulboyne possibly saved this place, he's most definitely saved my bacon!

[Greji]

The amount of help Mulboyne has selflessly provided over the years to FG members is nothing short of astounding. It may even balance out all the negative, cynical, discouraging comments that all the rest of us have been posting. In fact, I think Mulboyne may have single-handedly saved FG collectively from burning in hell.

You're spot on, his contributions are great. If it weren't for the one shortcoming, the fact that he won't buy a pint for a thirsty man, I would immediately recommend him for Sainthood!

[halfnip]

Hello everyone.It's certainly been a while.

Right, the wife is in Tokyo due to some pretty serious health issues.

She's not entirely happy with the hospital she's staying at and wants to research other options.All of her friends are in Sapporo, and so asking around people she knows for advice is not an option.

She has my laptop which has an onboard wireless card.The OS is Windows XP pro and is English.

Up until last week she was able to hop on to a neighbours net connection as he left his wireless router open to the entire apartment building, but has now moved.

Ideally she would like to either have a contract for 2 months or so for internet access at home.I'm pretty sure her aunt (whose place she is staying at when not at hospital) has a telephone contract with NTT.

She would like to know if she can either have a short term contract with someone like yahoo or other isps OR if she can rent or buy a usb modem to work with her Softbank phone and access the net via the laptop (bearing in mind the OS is in English and not being technically minded she would almost certainly be unable to create a second user account with Japanese settings over the phone).

If this is not possible, it would really help out if someone with knowledge of either Ogikubo or Asagaya could let us know if there is a internet cafe nearish to those stations.The local police have been entirely unhelpful when asked.

I really am quite desperate to help out, but being half way around the world am pretty useless and would really appreciate some help here...

Thanks for reading.

Do they still sell those USB cables? That way you can use your phone as a modem to dial out to the internet. This automatically then gets billed to your cell phone bill, so there's really no need to sign up for anything. Not sure if Softbank still does this, but I know AU used to (along with Docomo) before everyone started offering wireless cards.

If contracts are not an issue (which unfortunately in your case it is!), I HIGHLY recommend the EMobile wireless cards.

[GomiGirl]

The amount of help Mulboyne has selflessly provided over the years to FG members is nothing short of astounding. It may even balance out all the negative, cynical, discouraging comments that all the rest of us have been posting. In fact, I think Mulboyne may have single-handedly saved FG collectively from burning in hell.

Indeed he has saved me and my family on more than one occasion. I am eternally indebted to him.

[kotatsuneko]

Hello there halfnip, thank you very much for your input and idea!

The wife said the lady at Softbank reckoned she could only get the wireless card for her phone if she was on contract (she's using a pay as you go with the cheapest phone available) and that her phone doesn't have the mini usb jack.

Thankfully her mate is coming to see her during the week to fit her wireless access card under his account.

He's from the UK and used to work for a large tech firm so I reckon he will know what he's doing fitting JPN hardware to a UK deck, at least I hope so ^^.

Thanks everyone for your help, it really is extremely kind of you.Am sure everyone has experienced at some point in Japan or some other foreign clime what it is to be like offline and seemingly no way to get back on!

I've changed the thread title as it looks like thanks to everyone here the problem has been solved, and all avenues explored.

Mulboyne is certainly a rare beast, someone that posts a constant supply of interesting bits of pieces online, and is a great example of mankind offline. I'm sure though because there's also a good number of really interesting, talented and warm-hearted people here, that's why he perseveres where lesser souls would have long given up.

Being a tight bastard myself and a master of minesweeping I can totally understand about the beer issue!

[amdg]

Don't know anything about 'puters, but Mulboyne does deserve a round of applause. I'm frequently amazed by the quality of information he has on all sorts of topics.

Here I am giving him the clap

[gkanai]

Here I am giving him the clap

I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it if you gave him the clap

[kurohinge1]

The amount of help Mulboyne has selflessly provided over the years to FG members is nothing short of astounding. It may even balance out all the negative, cynical, discouraging comments that all the rest of us have been posting. In fact, I think Mulboyne may have single-handedly saved FG collectively from burning in hell.

He'll probably decline to wear the lycra superhero outfit I have in mind for him, but at the very least, I think he needs a cape - "Super F G" or something.



Thanks Mulboyne-san.

We may not say it often but your considerable efforts and timely wisdom are always appreciated.

[Greji]

He'll probably decline to wear the lycra superhero outfit I have in mind for him, but at the very least, I think he needs a cape - "Super F G" or something.



Thanks Mulboyne-san.

We may not say it often but your considerable efforts and timely wisdom are always appreciated.

As soon as he shouts at the pub, we can present it!

[Catoneinutica]

The amount of help Mulboyne has selflessly provided over the years to FG members is nothing short of astounding. It may even balance out all the negative, cynical, discouraging comments that all the rest of us have been posting. In fact, I think Mulboyne may have single-handedly saved FG collectively from burning in hell.

Hear hear!

-catone
-and Taro's no slacker either

[omae mona]

-and Taro's no slacker either

My next message was going to be about that topic! If I counted who saved my ass more times, I'm not sure whether Taro or Mulboyne would win.

[Taro Toporific]

...she can either have a short term contract with someone like yahoo or other isps

Sorry this is not of any immediate help, but in 2008 this will be good news for travelers and business people just passing through....
[INDENT]
Conexus Mobile Alliance Announces the Launch of Asia's First Pay-per-day Flat-rate Data Roaming Tariff Plan
Tokyo, Japan, Nov 13, 2007 - (ACN Newswire) -Conexus Mobile Alliance ("the Alliance"), one of the largest mobile alliances in Asia with a combined customer base of around 160 million mobile subscribers, today announced the launch of Asia's first-ever pay-per-day data roaming flat-rate tariff plan and a host of member privileges, with an aim to deliver ground-breaking, genuine and tangible benefits to international roamers and realize its vision of offering the highest level of customer satisfaction in mobile services to corporate and consumer markets.
Since the Alliance's establishment in April 2006, the seven member operators, including Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd. in Taiwan, Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited in Hong Kong, PT Indosat Tbk in Indonesia, KT Freetel Co., Ltd. in South Korea, NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan, Smart Communications, Inc. in the Philippines and StarHub Ltd. in Singapore, have worked in concerted and unwavering efforts to ensure that all members' customers are able to experience seamless and hassle-free mobile-related services when they roam into members' networks. In the first quarter of 2008, the seven member operators will jointly roll out the first pay-per-day data roaming flat rate plan in Asia...
[/INDENT]

[amdg]

Well, if we're going to be sucking each others' dicks now, ....

Taro certainly mobilized forces to try to help me out once before. I think he deserves a gaijin distinguished service cross at least.

[Jack]

Mulboyne is perhaps the most level-headed and articulate person in here. He's the only one who hasn't insulted me.

[Tsuru]

gaijin distinguished service cross

If there was such a thing Mulboyne and Taro would definitely be in the FG [i]lè].

Having had the opportunity to meet both of them in Tokyo means a lot to us.

[Greji]

Having had the opportunity to meet both of them in Tokyo means a lot to us.

Did you notice that neither would spring for a pint?

[GomiGirl]

Did you notice that neither would spring for a pint?

Neither have you!! *ducks*

[Greji]

Neither have you!! *ducks*

That's not true, I just don't hang out in certain low rent sections of Kabuki-cho!

[Tsuru]

Did you notice that neither would spring for a pint?

Well, actually....