It is hard to escape from computers. Although I like parks for their ability to separate me from mine, I understand how the shade of a tall oak could be much nicer than a dark apartment or lonely office on a bright sunny day...
The Dept. of Parks and Recreation currently provides free WiFi connections in select areas of parks throughout the boroughs. It's a chance to swap your indoor computer space for the great outdoors. Follow this link for directions on how to locate an active area and connect to the network.
In addition to the Parks map, NYCwireless, a non-profit organization providing internet access, has an online searchable map that has many other free WiFi spots throughout the city.
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Comments (5)
In NYC's case, Nokia and other companies are donating the Wi-Fi - for their own understandable economic reasons - so I'm not sure that there's a causal effect on other city prirorities going unfunded...
as I was scrolling down reading the first post, I knew without any doubt who I would see after the "posted by." lol
boomer -- are you a member of freerepublic by any chance?
you would love it there.
I was very interested to find out that this existed. It is a service that you never would know is there unless you really searched for it. I have not yet seen any signs in the park to mark the hotspots (has anyone else?).
Boomer has a good point about questioning anything that is 'free', but I think that in this case it is more about using wireless without knowing more about it. As campari pointed out Parks access is provided by Nokia and WiFiSalon, and NYCwireless is run by volunteers.
As far as getting people out to enjoy the parks I am all for it. Reading over the NYCwireless site, however, provides a lot of information on wireless in general. One point that I brought away was the fact that wireless is not necessarily secure.
It is fantastic to read the NY Times or browse the internet, and for students doing research for their classes, but would not be the best choice to do your internet shopping or reading your personal/business e-mails. There are services that NYCwireless mentions that will encrypt your data, but then you are talking about a monthly service charge.
Also one interesting note from WiFiSalon's press release says:
“Wi-Fi can be more than about Web surfing and checking e-mail,†noted Marshall Brown, founder and CEO of
WiFi Salon. “What if a hot spot was not just a gateway, but a destination? What if it offered rich multimedia
experiences based on the neighborhood where you are located? As prime neighborhood meeting grounds, parks are
ideal places for people to experience this new approach to public Wi-Fi.â€
It could be that individual WiFi access becomes one small part of a much larger picture. It also shows how, as campari alluded to, it is in Nokia's best interest to provide this service.
Good? Bad?
boomer -- WEP encryption has been obsolete since 2003. And we're talking about a local network here, no need to do that in the first place since everyone would be sharing a mac address at a free wifi spot anyway.
Sure, if someone set's his or her mind to it, they could probably crack a target, whether it be your home network or your laptop on a shared public network.
But seriously, if you're smart about it and turn off file and printer sharing, use a vpn or login to your isp's https webmail instead of using a pop client for email, and save the online shopping spree for later when you get home, you should be ok. If someone's out there in a park or cafe looking to compromise a machine, chances are they'll be looking for easier pickings than a person who's done the above.