Travelling with Wireless in Europe?

MMC asks: "Later on this year I'm going to travel in Europe for a honeymoon (specifically Italy and maybe others) and now that I have a digital camera I'm going to take a laptop etc. Dialing up is fine, but I'm really keen to find places which have publicly accessible wireless networks or somewhere I can plug the laptop in with Ethernet. I'm happy to pay for access in a Cafe or Hotel etc. Does anyone have any pointers (other than wandering around with NetStumbler)? Most Internet Cafe references seem quite incomplete and out of date."

Comments

Re:Beware of the 50hz/60hz power difference

[Papineau]

BTW, it'll also keep your BIOS clock running at the right speed. If you find it dropping 6 minutes an hour when you get to Europe, then that's why.

Huh? The only thing the electronics see is DC voltage. And this one is the same wherever you go; that's why you can pick a european video card (eg Guillemot) (or whatever other computer part) and plug it without problem in your computer. So given that, could you explain how the BIOS is supposed to drop 6 minutes an hour? Moreover, that drop is 10%, and the difference between 50Hz and 60Hz is 16.7% or 20%, depending on which one is the reference.

Ditch laptop, get a digital wallet

[Matthew Weigel]

Don't take the laptop; it's fraught with temptations for things you probably shouldn't do on your honeymoon (and I don't just mean pr0n).

But you do want to take a digital camera; and you don't want to run out of 'film.' So get a digital wallet, like the Terapin Mine, or the Minds@Work MindStor or Digital Wallet.