Yes I’ve definitely let this blog slide, but I just came across something that is truly revolutionary for the cafe commuter. It’s a hand held, 2 AAA battery powered, directional, wireless network detector with an lcd displaying network SSID (name), strength and whether or not it is open or not: Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter

This is the second version of this product. It provides more information about hotspots and has a backlight for the lcd display. I’m glad I didn’t know about the earlier version since I probably would have bought it but now I’ll get to start out with the new and improved gadget.

Now I’m not advocating using any network you find, though on the other hand I don’t believe it is actually illegal, and not necessarily immoral either, I’ll leave it up to the reader to make up their own mind. What I’m excited about is that this sure as hell beats searching for internet cafes on line. Now you can just walk down the street or ride your bike and bother locking up until you find some place with an open network. I might just mount it to my handlebars and/or devise a water resistant case for it!

There are tons of reviews already. The one that turned me on to it was published on my birthday, my lucky day! Wi-Fi Net News

I finally came across the whole coworking concept thanks to this Business Week article. There is even a coworking wiki that describes the concept as “start with a shared office and add cafe culture”. This sounds great though I think I’d prefer to start with cafe culture and make it a bit more like a shared office as suggested by Factory City.

The closest coworking venue to where I live requires a monthly commitment and security deposit. I like to be more spontaneous than that, though I’ve read that there are venues in other cities that offer space for $10 a day. Of course if I did commit to a coworking venue then maybe I could afford to move to a more trendy neighborhood and just rent a bedroom in a shared apartment since I wouldn’t need as much space without having a home office and there would be no question about what percentage of my home I’m using as an office when it come to income tax deductions. On the other hand I might miss the bike ride from my hood to the trendy neighborhood where the cool internet cafes are. I’ve got to get some exercise somehow…

From WorldatWork’s Telework Trendlines for 2006:

Public park wifi seems like a great trend for cafe commuters. I can’t wait to try the new free outdoor wifi in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park once the weather warms up!

Here are a few articles about laptops getting stolen out of cafes in San Francisco, sometimes while the owner is still using it!

Laptop thieves descend upon wireless cafes

Getting over laptop loss

Life is worth more than laptop

I don’t know if this is due to an extra high frequency of public laptop use in the Bay Area or what. Here in New York the common thieves have been known to be among the most cunning and opportunistic in the nation but we don’t seem to have quite as much of a problem. I’ve left my laptop unattended many times at Brooklyn cafes while going to the restroom. It just doesn’t feel like much of a risk though after reading these articles I’m going to start using my Kensington cable lock religiously just in case. Of course I’d never use my laptop in Manhattan without the lock, it’s a mad house over there!

I found a great article from last year in Ars Technica about working in cafes. The last paragraph summarizes things nicely:

Personal experience suggests that most laptop users who work at coffee shops don’t do so because they are too cheap to rent an office. No, people whose work involves the solitary punching of laptop keys enjoy being around other people, and coffee shops and cafes provide a comfortable and inexpensive environment where one can feel less isolated while working. Looked at in this way, the “WiFi wars” are less over Internet access and more about the type of jobs that we do—jobs that require little human interaction but do require the constant tether of a network connection.

Ars Technica article

…due to pending legal action by the RIAA?

If the judge rules that we’re each legally responsible for all of the traffic that comes through our ISP account, open, unprotected Wi-Fi hotspots would become a serious legal liability, the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people who depend on their neighbors for Wi-Fi will be out of luck, while altruistic (or ignorant) folks who leave their wireless networks open could find themselves embroiled in an RIAA lawsuits even if they’ve never shared a single song in their lives.

Wired.com blog post