Well, my car would go faster (probably more than 2%) without the brakes and seatbelts, but that doesn't seem like a good idea. The question should be is there a cheaper, easier way to achieve the same security as SSL.

I understand that people like to be able to touch history - but I find it a bit ironic that people are willing to pay so much for the physical paper and ink these were written on. The value of the papers is in the ideas, and those can be downloaded for free - thanks to many of the ideas in those papers.

I think the summary has mis-characterized the note. #5 of several, fairly good, security suggestions was to "Turn off your wireless network when you know you won’t use it. " This hardly seems to be saying that the victims are to blame.

I personally keep my wifi on all the time (with other protections), but there's no question it would be a whole lot safer unplugged.

As pointed out, this is in the consortium's advice. And, to be fair, the paragraph above does basically state you should use encryption, which is presumably why they left it out of the list: "Manufacturers often deliver wireless routers with the encryption feature turned off, Jepsen said. Consumers should consult the instructions for their wireless router or obtain additional information from the manufacturer’s website to enhance the security of their home networks."