My nephew visited. He has a laptop and with an 802.11b wireless card. This card enables him to link to the Internet over a radio connection. At his motel, for example, he can connect from his room without having to plug in any wires. People in marketing often call this kind of connection `WiFi'.
Today we flew around the local area. He took his laptop. To my surprise we were able to pick up a great many access points even though we were flying a 1000 - 1500 feet (300 - 500 meters) above the ground. (We did not pick up anything when flying higher.)
Even more amazing, many of the access points were `open'; that is to say, they were not encrypted. Anyone not moving — anyone on the ground within range — could themselves access the Internet though the points. Moreover, I think of my teen age grandneices. If they sent messages over such an open point, a local 13 year old boy could read them. Are there any messages they would prefer to keep private?
People do guard against dangers they know. However, a wireless connection is not visible. A person can be robbed without learning about it. Until people have more experience, crooks or neighborhood boys will have the same advantages that their city ancestors had when people from the country who never locked doors first moved to the city.
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