I ought not, but I'm going to (among other things).

Yes, I really shouldn't-but five years of waiting for these nice folks down here at Crown Center to get their Wi-Fi working consistently as it's supposed to is long enough.  Perhaps, on this Friday before we celebrate the life and achievements of that most Gandhi-like of Americans, it's time for a little not-so-civil disobedience.  

So...okay. For those of you who've come down here and run into the problems I did again tonight with not being able to go anywhere after connecting and wondered about my previous allusions to being able to get around the problem myself, here's what you do:  Manually configure your TCP/IP (look in help for whatever operating system you're running for how to do this) to give yourself an IP address somewhere around 192.168.2.100.  In other words, set it to not use DHCP and input the above address instead.  If it asks for a router or gateway try putting in the router's address of 192.168.2.1.  Don't mess with the netmask if it's there; the default setting should work.  For your computer's address I'd start with 192.168.2.100 and go up to maybe 110 or even higher depending on whether there are other users around who don't appear to be having problems.  By the way, for those who don't know, change only the last three digits.  Try surfing after each address change.  If five to ten tries don't get it, you probably need to also make an entry for a DNS server.  Google now offers a pair of these for free public use at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.  You can also try Open DNS at 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220.

Oh, I almost forgot-remember to change everything back to where it was originally just before you shut down to leave.  Generally this means simply re-enabling DHCP and deleting any DNS servers you entered.  Might make connecting again at home or work a tad easier.

And should anyone with Crown Center's management take exception to the above-well, bring on the dogs and fire hoses.  Better yet, do what your conscience ought to be telling you to do about right now-go hire a kid who can fix this network and keep it fixed.

And with that, on to tonight's hisses and cheers.  Cheers for Microsoft, who now gives you the option of setting Hotmail accounts so that they can be accessed with full, Firesheep-proof HTTPS-on-every-page protection if you try to access the login page that way.  It'd be better if they'd just do this by default, but at least it's a start.  Hisses however for Lycos and NetZero, both of whom are still way behind the curve on this.  Lycos seems to think there isn't a problem, while NetZero offers only a partially encrypted login page-to which you must specifically navigate-and nothing beyond that.  I guess there are going to have to be some high-profile Firesheep shearings before some people get the message.

The opposite side of the equator-and the wrong side of history as well?

Well gosh, I'd have made mention of Wi-Fi-related news closer to home than either New Zealand or California had there been any, but these two tidbits do make something of an interesting juxtaposition.

I've come across rumblings from the New Zealand town of Nelson before about the local public library offering-horrors!-free and open Wi-Fi for everyone, which doesn't set well with at least one local businessman who's apparently still able to sell play-for-pay sessions for $4 (I assume that's in New Zealand dollars; I have no idea of the current exchange rate). Now, according to a local newspaper over there, he's steamed that operators of tour buses cruising through town make a point of advising laptop-toting backpackers of the library's access. Like they'd cram into his place to fork over for his overpriced sessions instead, rather than find another free venue run by a true competitor of his. Yeah, right.

As for why the town government should perhaps listen to him with a jaundiced ear, consider the following newspaper item from Lodi, California. While I personally would feel a bit better if a person in the protagonist's situation were a bit more inclined to use the library's access as a means toward getting out of it, it is heartening to know that free and open Wi-Fi is, at least in this one case, really helping to narrow the digital divide.

Oh, I almost forgot-Happy New Year!