Wouldn't it be nice to be able to head to a park or someplace relaxing just to browse the web? There has been a few cities that have done this, but only Mountain View, CA gets to say that Google is footing the bill for the service! Last year, Google made an announcement that they will be setting up access points all throughout the city for people to use for free. If anyone would like to use it, all they have to do is select GoogleWiFi from their wireless card, and then sign in using their Google account. Google accounts are free, so all anyone has to do is sign up for it if they do not have one yet (same account used for gmail and other products.) Everyone has their own ideas as to why Google is doing this, but I feel it is just a small way of giving back to the community that has been very good to them. Other ideas that I have heard (and go against the "don't be evil" motto) is that Google is doing this to be able to watch what people go to and from where, and that they will start putting ads up with every site you visit that are related to that site's content. In the future, I can see Google creating 2 accounts...1 for free with ads, and 1 for a monthly fee that is ad-free and faster. I will be keeping a close eye on Mountain View, CA to see how this free service does!

Google map image: Mountain View, CA