Free Wireless

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Frank, Billy.

Subject: Free Wireless Zone

“Hey, did you know CBS has created a huge free wireless area from Times Square to Central Park South between 6^th and 8^th avenue? I love it!”

“No I didn't. That's pretty cool. It works everywhere?”

“Yup, laptops, phones, handhelds.. Can sit down anywhere and browse the World Wide Web.”

“Dude, no one calls it the World Wide Web anymore.”

“Oh whatever. I connected from a Starbucks just north of Times Square today. Screw you T-Mobile!”

“The rates for the T-Mobile hot zones aren't even good if it's your only Internet provider. It's crazy. Occasionally I'll utilize a free connection in the park, but not in the winter. I'll have to check out this CBS zone.”

“I was only on it for a little while, but there are some ads and all, which is no big deal. Oh, and in some cases there are zillions of wireless signals floating around midtown that you sometimes have to restart or refresh the search a lot to find the good ones.”

“Maybe I'll take my laptop out and do my job searches outside of the house. Make myself feel like I was productive if I'm not home.”

“I know the feeling, I don't think I could ever work from home.”

“I dunno, sleeping until noon. Making my own hours. Taking breaks whenever the hell I want. I dig it.”

“Your job is a lot cooler than ours though.”

“Well, that's true. Working distracted never cost either of you thousands of dollars either though.”

“Nope, not yet.”

“I wish I had thousands of dollars to risk!”

“Speaking of free wireless, do you know what I found out recently? Panera Bread's free wireless now has peak time limits! I was at one in the afternoon, and it kicked me off and said I'd used my 30 minute quota for the peak lunch crowd!”

“Oh, that sucks. No workaround? Restarting or anything? I wonder if you could use a proxy to trick it into thinking it's a different computer. Probably not.. Maybe it simply checks your computer name? Too simple..It probably checks your mac address. Oh well. Guess Panera Bread is off the midday wireless list.”

“I'm rarely up at that time anyway, but what if they do it during the dinner rush too? That's lame! It said something about wanting you to get up to make table space for other customers.”

“I guess that makes sense. It'd be nice if you could do something like entering a receipt number to get an extra hour or something.”

“Yeah. I'd gladly buy another mocha or a cinnamon bun to sit there longer. Now I'm just going to go there less in general.”

“That's what makes this CBS zone thing so great. Legitimately free wireless. I can deal with ads, there are ads everywhere. It's gotten to the point where things look weird without ads.”

“Yeah. I agree. I have to test it out more to see if it's really reliable. It's only been up like a month or two, so they probably still have some bugs in coverage or something.”

“Probably need some time to get the kinks out.”

“Maybe now I'll have less boring people hanging around in Starbucks nursing a latte for six hours on their laptops while I'm trying to get a table to hang with Scott on his breaks. They can all run away to Times Square. I'm sure they'll find plenty of inspiration there.”

“Six hours? That's kind of crazy. I usually at least order a second drink to nurse when I'm hanging out all day!”

“Scott tells me there are some that order plenty throughout the day when they hang out. I worry for their health though. Some of them easily ingest in excess of a gram of caffeine.”

“Damn. I don't know whether to be impressed or worried.”

“I don't know either, but now I want a mocha.”

“Let's go visit Scott and get some coffee.”