AT&T brings free WiFi to eleven NYC parks

There was once a time, believe it or not, when New Yorkers would go to public parks to engage in long strolls, unfettered cigarette smoking, and neurotic conversations with Diane Keaton. Recent years, however, have seen a sudden change in this behavior due to a variety of factors -- including AT&T. Yesterday, the provider announced an expansion of its ongoing New York City WiFi initiative, bringing free connectivity to eleven new sites across the five boroughs, including Prospect Park, Tompkins Square Park and Marcus Garvey Park, among others. With these new additions, AT&T inches closer to its stated goal of bathing 26 park locations in WiFi, though the Grand Poobah, Central Park, remains in the dark. As with its earlier rollout, visitors won't need an AT&T account to get online. In fact, they won't need any contract at all -- just a WiFi-enabled device, a cozy bench and bountiful downtime.

Transportation : Amtrak to finally launch free WiFi for regional trains on October 1st?

Rumor 'round the Twitterverse has it that Amtrak may finally be implementing free WiFi on October 1st -- finally seeing the bet laid down by various plane and bus companies over the past couple years. The casual conversation between conductor and passenger yielded the information that the system is finally ready to extend beyond Acela, apparently "ready to roll and it's just a matter of 'flipping the on switch.'" This comes as great news for commuters who spend their mornings and evenings stuck on slow, old, often curious smelling Regional trains. Unfortunately, other than the tweet, there's no word (official or otherwise) whether net surfage will be possible beginning next month. Regardless, looks like the "I didn't have internet access" excuse is still valid for a little while longer for all you nine to fivers.