Maybe I shouldn't mention this...

...but it appears that all of AT&T's play-for-pay locations are free from now through the end of the year.

I discovered this by searching for new free Wi-Fi locations at jiwire.com. They're listing all of the AT&T sites now with a link below the AT&T logo that takes you to a page with a coupon code. As far as I can tell, the code is the same for all of their locations, but I've only actually tried it at one local hotspot-the Blue Springs South branch of the Mid-Continent Public Library. It worked, but this particular location really doesn't have much to recommend it as a hotspot. Signal strength wasn't all that great, and there appear to be absolutely no available power outlets anywhere.

Again, I'm no fan of play-for-pay...but if some of these locations-particularly businesses-should see a sharp spike in patronage from computer-toting customers between now and Christmas, there's a chance that maybe, just maybe, whoever's running them will be inclined to ask why.