Recently I had the opportunity to visit friends in Silicon Valley. While riding the light rail in Mountain View, I experienced a moment of revelation of how life differs between the shores of Lake Superior and Silicon Valley. Six young men boarded the train ... all obviously geeks in their young 30's ... their laptops (all Apples) were already fired up and ready. They proceeded to have a LAN party while riding the light rail on the way to work. Why was this possible?? You need to understand that Google provides free wireless to the entire town on Mountain View. The world is connected ... and interacts in different ways ... at least in Silicon Valley.
Now on to Lake Superior. I am sitting in my car while parked at the beginning of the Duluth Lakewalk. Lake Superior stretches out before me in her morning "blueness". I happen to know that I can hack into a wireless connection at this location. My thanks to the family which does not secure their wireless. I will not explore their hard drives, etc, but I will use their connection.
Thus, life is different on the shores of Lake Superior. I am a lone software nerd looking for a wireless hotspot ... not a light rail rider with free unlimited access anywhere in my community. Out in Silicon Valley I tried Google's connection; it worked fine and did not ask for anything beyond my normal Google account.
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