Hoxton Square: getting wired now unnecessary
If you’re one of the people who follow my photo blog, you’ll know from the map that I don’t get down to the south of Hackney very often. It’s not that I don’t like the area - after all, it’s the only place I’ve heard builders’ dialogue as fine as this exchange on a scaffold:
“Oi! Crispin! I can see your ringpiece.”
“Oh, you can see that far then?”
It might, though, be worth taking a trip down to to the area soon, especially as Rachel Jay from The Shoreditch Map tips me off that Hoxton Square is going to become East London’s first public space with free wi-fi. This means that, from 6 June, I can wander round Shoreditch picking up snippets of amusing dialogue, and then go straight to Hoxton Square and blog about them. For free.
Of course, I’d have to be quick because the battery in my laptop is almost completely shagged; but that’s hardly anyone’s fault except mine. And Apple Computer, Inc.
Bastards.
Anyway, if you’re in the area, all you have to do is spread yourself out on a patch of grass, crack open a bottle of Tiger Beer (they’re one of the sponsors, dontcha know?) and point your browser to www.hoxtonwifi.com. And there, no doubt, you will find all the instructions you need, along with lovely details about the other sponsors and upcoming events that I’ve omitted to mention.
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Wow.
Thanks for that, Locker.
My train to work (on the c2c line) is sometimes wi-fi enabled (I just wish they’d announce in advance which trains this applies to, rather than it being essentially random, which rather defeats the purpose of having free wi-fi on trains). And I do work v. close to Hoxton Square.
So - after this has taken place, I wonder, will Hoxton Square have a higher proportion of either (a) pretentious preening ponses on the web or (b) well-armed muggers and looters of laptop computers than it currently does?
Or (c) both?
Comment by Venichka — 24th May, 2008 @ 11:53 am
We have free wifi at 7-11s in Hong Kong. The other day I saw a Western tourist sitting on the pavement outside a 7-11 with his laptop and backpack. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. I guess this is the uncomfortable transition from home computing to computing in the the public world.
Comment by Dominic Harvey — 25th May, 2008 @ 12:43 am
I’m always wary of free wifi in public. Not because of potential for information theft, more the potential for physical theft.
I don’t think there is anywhere in Hackney, or anywhere else in London for that matter, that I’d feel very happy whipping out the laptop and displaying it to every mugger within range.
Comment by Dave — 26th May, 2008 @ 10:00 am
In my experience Hoxton Square is busy and well policed, especially on sunny days. I’m looking forward to using it - hate the idea that criminals could stop me from using a public space - it makes it feel like they’ve won.
Comment by Louise — 7th June, 2008 @ 3:44 pm