March 23, 2005

Geek On Wheels.

I decided to celebrate the arrival of spring by spending lunch time out and about rather than dashing home at a mad pace. For the most part, throughout the winter my lunch has been a relaxing exercise of shooting home at frenetic pace, eating lunch en route, petting the cat and surfing the ‘net and writing my latest piece of witty blog wonder and returning to work with two minutes to spare.

Anyways, today I needed something different. So I decided to go wardriving. For those not familiar with the exercise, wardriving involves bringing along a notebook computer or something else that can sniff out Wi-Fi networks and seeing if they’re available for public consumption. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a good guy in that I don’t try to crack the security of any networks I find. Serious wardrivers bring along their GPS units and write down the location coordinates, where you can submit the data to a mapping website for all the world to see. I would be doing the same, but I was stumbling around this morning at 5:30 and neglected to pack to the GPS hardware.

I did find a wonderful Wi-Fi spot at the local Radisson Hotel that is completely free. I tried to inconspicuously park outside the Radisson so that I could surf the internet but I felt somewhat dirty doing so, like I was stalking someone. Like I should be wearing a trench coat and holding my hand between my legs. I know that’s a weird thought that may offer insight as to what goes on in my head, but there you are.

So after the Radisson I moved along to a local Bagel shop who advertises free internet access. However, the hotspot was nowhere to be found. I considered going inside and peeking around but resisted the urge after deciding that I wouldn’t be able to leave without an “Everything” Bagel. Those “Everything” Bagels are wonderful, but they don’t fit the diet well and my breath afterwards melts anything within 10 feet of me. Not sexy but oh so good. Maybe next time.

Rumor has it that McDonald’s has internet access at its stores. As usual, our McDonalds must be left out of the loop as their was no access at the two stores I visited. Hell, we just got the Big Mac a couple of years ago. It was easy to resist any urges to visit that restaurant.

So now I’m at the baseball stadium parking lot that Earl and I eat lunch at in the summertime. I wonder if the house across the street figured out that their internet connection was completely insecure, because I can’t access it anymore. Maybe they just moved.