Be Air or be square

Interesting, to say the least, all the buzz about the new MacBook Air just unveiled at Macworld. And this fanperson thinks it'll be at least as interesting to see just how many of them start showing up at hotspots around town, and how soon.

I've got to say that the fast fingers of yours truly won't be flying over one of those keyboards. After popping for an almost fully tricked-out MacBook Pro last summer, I don't plan to be in the market for another computer for quite a while. In fact, I haven't even gotten around to upgrading to Leopard.

Besides, I really don't see just how the Air would fit into my lifestyle at the moment. For those of you wondering, it gets its name from the fact that it has Wi-Fi connectivity exclusively-no Ethernet port, no modem, nothing besides Wi-Fi. I mean, I like hotspots (why else would I be writing here?), but I'm not exactly keen on the idea of being totally dependent upon being within range of an access point. Sort of negates the advantage of all that vaunted thinness and light weight, doesn't it?

Speaking of which, guess how they got it so thin and light? By not including an optical drive of any sort, that's how! They expect you to use a shared drive on another computer via a convenient nearby wireless network when you need to access something on a CD or DVD. Hovever, if this is simply out of the question, don't fret-Apple willl be happy to throw in an external drive for a crisp C-note. Oh, and did I mention that the battery, a la the iPod, is built in? So much for the Air being of any use to real road warriors. And with only an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a single USB port, it's hard to see it being of much practical use to anyone else-especially for $1800.

But, of course, we all know that no one buys Macs because they're practical, right?

But if they catch you looking at something they deem you shouldn't...

...I would imagine the penalty would be too horrendous to contemplate.

Interesting tidbit that Wi-Fi Networking News' Glenn Fleishman found about the haj-the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia's holy sites-unwiring for free.

I've never been over there-and from what I've heard about the place, I'm not particularly eager to book a trip anytime soon-but it just struck me as ironic that a nation seen by many as reactionary, to say the least, would embrace a technology often held up as one of this era's potent tools against repression.

Start the presses again...

Not only is the KCK Public Library's Wi-Fi network closed (and thus beyond this blog's scope, meaning we won't be reviewing it), but even if you have a library card there I'm going to recommend you not attempt to use it, at least until they fix their insecure login page.

Memo to the library IT department: There's a reason browsers warn users about improperly configured SSL installations, you know. Google "man in the middle attack" and you might get a clue-before one of your unsuspecting patrons gets rousted out of bed in the middle of the night by the police wanting to find out why he or she checked out those umpteen DVDs and never returned them. Of course, it will be because the patron didn't check them out. Rather, it will have been the identity thief who cloned a phony library card with the patron's number and then absconded to eBay or a pawn shop with the stolen discs. Don't think so? It's happening elsewhere.

And memo to the rest of you. Don't ever-ever-EVER!!!-proceed with entering any sensitive information of any type on an encrypted page once your browser has given you any warning about the site's certificate. Your browser is grabbing you by the lapels and shaking you while shouting "Hey, buddy, I don't know if this really is the library (or your bank or credit card issuer) you're connected to; it could be someone in a cave in Afghanistan for all I know. You want to go ahead, I can't stop you, but if you end up living on bread and water in a cage at Gitmo, don't say I didn't warn you."

Be smart. DON'T go ahead.

Stop the presses! KCK Public Library unwires!

http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/WifiAccessAtKCKPL.html

Before we pop the champagne corks, perhaps some caution is in order. Although the announcement looks pretty much like the same boilerplate most libraries put on their websites to trumpet their Wi-Fi, the declaration that only "web access" is available is a bit troubling. Of course that may be boilerplate as well, and only a visit to one of the branches will tell for sure. Look for a full report later this week.

Wouldn't it be nice...

...if we could say that the announcement in this morning's Kansas City Star that Starbucks is bailing out of its Westport location-where it went head-to-head against a local cafe right next door and not only lost, but saw its competitor open a second location a block away!-was the result of free trouncing fee? Perhaps, but I can't conclude for certain that was the case. I sort of "war-walked" both the "David" locations this afternoon, starting with the one adjacent to the vanquished Goliath. While I did see several laptop users there, what I didn't see at either site were any open access points, so if either or both locations are unwired, they're either play-for-pay or otherwise restricted-and thus beyond the scope of this blog.

However, the Westport Coffee House a couple of blocks away isn't-or at least wasn't when I reviewed it a year and a half ago. Neither were TeaDrops around the corner nor Panera Bread down the street the last time I was there. So it's not like Starbucks and T-Mobile didn't have to compete against the free world for supremacy in Westport.

By Jove, I think they GET it!

JP Wine Bar Coffee House
1526 Walnut, Kansas City

802.11g
SSID: jpwine

From the shaded windows to the convenient power outlets installed along the front of the bar (there are others serving the seats along the north wall), it's apparent this is a place set up by 21st century thinkers for like-minded customers. The only quibble I have is with signal strength; my AirPort is only showing three bars, and iStumbler, my new toy, is showing the percentage varying between 30 and 50, but it's not having any noticeable effect on connectivity or speed.

Now that I think about it though, it may be due to interference more than anything else. There are perhaps five other laptoppers here at the moment. After all, when you're doing something right, word gets around.

Bank-Fi?

No, more like "Gee, this access point is open so I guess it's okay to use...right?"

Sorry, folks, but that's not how it works. And you'd think anyone submitting locations to JiWire and WiFiFreeSpot to add to their listings would know better, but it appears one local contributor doesn't-and it also looks as if neither site bothered with verifying the submission before posting it, which is simply frightening.

Anyway, here's the straight dope with regard to the Northland bank branch currently listed on both sites. According to a staff member I spoke with there, they DO NOT offer wireless Internet access. Therefore, any open networks you may see while on those premises are owned by someone else, and if you connect to them you will be using them without authorization unless you took the time to obtain permission beforehand.

Besides, why would a bank offer Wi-Fi anyway? It's not really a place customers are inclined to hang around, is it?