Lam1969 writes "From Robert Mitchell's blog on Computerworld: '... Wallace, IT director at AAA Reading-Berks in Wyomissing, Penn. has been bringing a card reader with him on business trips to see what's on the magnetic strips of his hotel room access cards. To his dismay, a surprising number have contained his name and credit card information - and in unencrypted form.' " Update: 09/20 19:10 GMT by J : Snopes, as of two months ago, says this is false.

Those who've moved to broadband connections and wireless links to each PC on their home or office network are unlikely to look back fondly on the days of 56K (or the not-so-snappy 300 baud of my first modem). Still, even if most Internet users really do have broadband, and (unless you've forsaken a landline telephone completely), dialup is a useful adjunct to even the spiffiest broadband access. And sometimes, it's the only access available. Most city dwellers don't face the distance limits of DSL (or even the geographic limitations of cable service), and cheapskate travelers know that free local calls are more common than hotels with free WiFi. However, wireless access and modems aren't the most common combination (especially when you're talking about laptops with a built-in modem port), and it's not fun being tied to whatever length of phone cord you have to hand. AlwaysOn Wireless's device called the WiFlyer (about $150) combines a wireless access point, a DHCP server, and a modem to make dealing with dialup a bit easier, and tosses in a few other features as well. The WiFlyer is a brilliant device, with some limitations; read on for my review.