Wired Magazine sponsors Union Square Park Wi-Fi in Manhattan: Wired's biggest push these days is, in fact, unwired technology, and they've been covering it more and more thoroughly as the year has progressed. In this odd move, they're sponsoring Union Square Park's unwiring via Emenity, a company founded by some of the folks who also founded the community wireless networking group NYCWireless, which itself was behind the Bryant Park Wi-Fi. Wired has some sales offices in Manhattan in the Conde Nast Building.
Doesn't seem odd to me. Corporate sponsored free Wi-Fi in targeted areas. I guess Wired thinks that the people who frequent Union Square Park are the people they want to reach. Yes, it's probably branding/advertising driven but they get an added value of being associated with helping to provide a free service to the viewers/users.