If you're anything like me, you're probably at least a little bit addicted to your internet connection. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my email and RSS feeds, and it's also the last thing I do before going to sleep. But that addiction can sometimes be a problem.

Staying on-task these days is not easy, particularly if you work at an internet-connected computer. The possible distractions are virtually limitless. So what is a geek to do? One option is to simply pull the plug. The network plug, that is.

But of course, these days almost all computers have wireless capabilities, so turning off your internet connection isn't quite as simply as just pulling the plug. If you're on a Mac, you can use Freedom.

Freedom will turn off all of your Mac's wireless and ethernet networking for a set amount of time. So if you need to put your head down for an hour and get some work done, you can set Freedom to an hour, and know that you won't be tempted by any distractions.

If you absolutely need to get back online before the chosen duration is up, the only way to do so is to reboot your computer.

This is one of those apps that will be a life saver for some people, and seem totally ridiculous to others. Which are you?

A lot of highly-caffeinated people were made very happy yesterday, when Starbucks announced it would be partnering with AT&T to provide free WiFi. About 7,000 locations nationwide will carry the new service. Now we can finally take our laptops into Starbucks without feeling like we're stepping through a time portal to the 90's.

There's a slight catch to the free WiFi deal: you get two hours free, but only if you buy coffee with a Starbucks card. This doesn't sound like a total scam to us, though: just put your coffee money on a gift card instead of handing it over directly. After the first two hours, you can get additional hours at a rate of $3.99 for two, and the unlimited monthly plan is $20. If you're already an AT&T customer, you can log in and use the new Starbucks hotspots for free.

T-Mobile, the current wireless provider for Starbucks, looks like the big loser in this deal. If you already bought a T-Mobile plan, though, you're not out in the cold: AT&T is allowing existing customers to use their accounts on the new hotspots. Welcome to the 21st century, Starbucks!


[Via Switched]

If you live in Portland, Oregon or Oakland County, Michigan you could soon be surfing at high-speed from the comfort of a parkbench without paying a dime. Microsoft has teamed with JiWire to begin testing municipal wi-fi deployment with ad revenue as it's primary funding source.

Ad delivery technology by JiWire will be used to really squeeze every last dollar out of the valuable eyeballs of wi-fi users. Google, already offering a somewhat similar service in San Francisco, is handling their own ads, and Microsoft's partnership could signal a larger push to compete head-to-head in yet another market against the Google kids.

It only seems to make sense, why not get free Wi-Fi access to the over 10,000 hot spots AT&T runs if you currently subscribe to DSL?

AT&T is rolling out the free Wi-Fi to subscribers of the 3 megabit per second or higher. The lower service subscribers still get stuck with a $1.99 fee for unlimited Wi-Fi access. Why not just allow all AT&T subscribers to get this as an added benefit to being a customer?

AT&T has been expanding its 2.5G and 3G cell networks, but is seeing a place for expansion into the Wi-Fi market as it evident with Apple's iPhone. Data downloads on a 2.5G network peak at about 200 KB, and hooking onto their Wi-Fi networks can see data downloads hit broadband speeds.

With all the new and shiny Web 2.0 applications coming out, one may easily be convinced that desktop applications are breathing their last breath. At least that's what Google would like you to think about Google Apps, and its chances against rival Microsoft Office.

On the blogging front, most of the popular blogging systems (Blogger, Vox, TypePad, WordPress, etc.) have incorporated some degree of rich/WYSIWYG editor to make life easier for bloggers. Some of them integrate with other Web 2.0 applications (e.g. Vox with Flickr and YouTube, Flickr with blog systems) to allow users aggregate their disparate content. Does this mean the slow death of desktop blogging clients?

For anyone who uses the T-Mobile wi-fi HotSpot service inside Starbucks, Kinkos, airports, and other places, this little free download comes in handy. I use the HotSpot service quite a bit, and generally it is pretty reliable, at least the Starbucks I frequent have it working well. For the first time the service continued to kick me off every few minutes for some reason. I use the Windows Zero Configuration wireless networking service, since it is often easier to use and requires no intervention on my part.

Not very happy with the quality of service at the moment, I downloaded the lightweight T-Mobile Connection Manager client. These proprietary clients are a dime a dozen, heck every wi-fi card maker has their own. This one isn't anything special except it did actually make my connection stay on and not drop me after I installed it. The client also manages any access point you might have nearby, including EDGE/GPRS and VPN networks. Why it works better, I don't know exactly, but it does. If you use the T-Mobile service in Starbucks or elsewhere, I recommend it. Less frustration equals happy bloggers. We don't want no mad and road-raging bloggers. That would be messy.