A three-day-a-week paper in North Carolina decides to serve its community with Wi-Fi, too: The Pilot will add free Internet access starting in Southern Pines, where it's based. The paper will put a Wi-Fi node on its roof and then expand from there into town squares. The paper has an extensive Web presence, with blogs, podcasts, and multimedia, so it seems like a natural extension for them. Their site receives 5,000 unique visitors a day. Later, they'll add a wireless broadband network that will charge a fee.
The man behind this is Eric "Zonker" Harris, which makes me imagine him as his sobriquet's inspiration from Doonesbury, with a pointed Van Dyke beard scurrying around rooftops. Hey, Zonker! Be careful on rooftops, or this could happen to you.