And I just got back from a trip to Germany – and I can strongly recommend that you go for SAS Radisson if you ever go to Dresden. They had free wifi everywhere and they made no fuss about it and it worked absolutely brilliant – just like the hairdryer – which we also didn’t pay extra for !

Then paranoia struck, and there was too much business in locking down and closing off. The Netgears of the world sold access points defaulted to WEP, Apple and Microsoft started asking if you want to join an “insecure network” or whatever, and the UK government made rulings that all but outlawed open access points as security risks.

Meanwhile, private access points have hardly gotten any better.

There are *some* hotels that are generally good. I’ve had luck with the Hyatts and Marriotts, fwiw.

What the hell. A grace of aging is taking the long view. This too shall pass.

I find myself using a Sprint PCS card most of the time, these days. Especially in airports.

Why doesn’t everyone just leave their access points open and cut out the admin and middleman? Game theory anyone?

Or is everyone petrified by drive-by pariahs? (hackers/id thieves/terrorists/paedophiles)

I’m generally slow to condemn when redemption or correction is still possible. I gladly crapped on the Thistle Kensington Park in London because they were both hostile and hopeless. (I ended up working with Visa to refuse the bill.) This hotel is neither. I also used the wi-fi yesterday. Tonight I’ll use Ethernet and see how it compares.

As for the rest of Amsterdam, you know more than I do. Connectivity at the show so far seems good, but there’s no multi-laptop load on it yet.