I just cancelled my Roadrunner b/c it has never worked properly, and was costing a whoppping $50/month.
Anyone know of a decent provider that's less? Maybe a high speed DSL? Anything cheaper, but functional.

Do you have Earthlink in Memphis yet? I have heard decent things about them. But I use Broadband via Comcast..regardless of the price...

Bellsouth has dsl if you're within 20,000 (or 15,000 depending on who you speak with there) feet of their system,which the closest one in mid-town is Poplar/Holmes, I believe. Earthlink uses this same line, I think, and subcontracts from bellsouth. Unfortunately, it don't reach me so I'm stuck with the shitty roadrunner service.

i tried to get dsl in my last apt thru earthlink. after they said i was within the correct distance, i got set up and everything worked. for about 2 weeks. then it all went bad. no connection, or very irregular connection. after the usual utility co run-around, they said i was too far away from a hub or relay or whatever to get dsl.

thanks.

I'm hoping this glass thing mlgw has been laying for big business (networx) will eventually turn roadrunner's monopoly into an edsel. Don't know what the timetable is (probably same as the new trolley down madison...)...

that trolley actually would be great for me... it could be my own personal trolley going downtown! oh, and some japanese tourists won't have to walk 19 blocks from downtown to shangri-la... those are some big blocks we have in memphis. i'm willing to share.

Wow! Yer gettin' a trolley in Memphis?! Shit, where was that at when I was down there? I was a drivin' fool. Well, maybe when I'm down there next, I'll get to experience this great addition to the Memphis city life. By the way, just out of curiousity, what's the "mass transportation" like down there? Buses? If I can come still in October, I'm gonna need to get around and get to the hotel (or wherever I'm crashin'at) or from the hotel to the venue.

Rev--you're still gonna wanna drive...the trolley will likely go about 2 miles an hour.

How many miles is it from Downtown to Shangri La, Eric? About 2?

Yeah. I'm tryin' to avoid rentin' a car while I'm down there. I can' treally afford it. I mean, if I can afford to fly down there, that will pretty much soak my funds yet alone a car rental. How far is Hi-Tone from the closest hotel? I mean, I'm use to walkin'...

3.67 miles from main & madison to 1916 madison, according to mapquest.

Thanks for the tips. I'm getting by for now on a bootlegged AOL account that Sam somehow rigged for me. It's sloooow. But it works, and it's free.

Not as slow as the trolley though.

And to get my own thread totally off the topic, there's a guy downtown that started a rickshaw biz called Center City Rickshaws that is, according to him, up and running, and free for the first three months or so. I've been downtown at least 6 or 7 times in the last 2 weeks but still haven't spotted one. I have a feeling I'd be really uncomfortable watching someone pedaling me around, though. It seems kind of creepy to me, in a feudalistic sort of way.

i heard the Oscar's own CHUCK VICIOUS was gonna do some rickashaw a-driving during Memphis In May... any truth to that, chuck????

haven't seen 'em down by the Cannon Center.

i love it when those guys get stuck up in the air, legs kicking, can't get down. i'll take that over the trolley any day.

I can confirm re the expense of car rentals in Memphis - I coulda BOUGHT a car for what I paid. But wait, can I buy a trolley? Fuck rickshaw rides, is there room for a BBQ and cooler on them things!?

I still giggle everytime I see someone in a rickshaw in Downtown Anywhere, USA.

1) there is no public transportation in memphis
2) car rental taxes are paying for the new fatcat, er, heisley dome
3) current trolley ride will only take you from the pyramid to the new heisley dome
4) dutch people don't seem to mind the walk from downtown to mid-town and it's not so bad if it's not august. But dutch people seem to have longer legs than japs.
5) I'll pay to watch someone paddle you, what's the big deal?

fiery - you'd piss your pants at the rickshaw traffic here in Toronto. It's like they rounded up the homeless and made them pull unsuspecting tourists around town in exchange for a hot meal.

Good visual!
Here in Portland it is the people IN the rickshaw that are the most laughable--they look so confused and perplexed that people are staring at them and snickering as they get pedalled around from around Hung Far Low to El Gaucho...a distance of about 6 blocks!

And the attempts at public transportation in Memphis...oh man. Why don't they just throw the money at some homeless people to rickshaw everyone around? It would be as effective and cheaper. Rickshaw the maid from Westwood to Walnut Grove.

i think i saw a rickshaw tonight!

it was an old guy on a moped with a little 2-person carriage attached.

i thought that was cheating.

Rickshaws yes,LightRail no!