Today’s Circuits section of the New York Times focuses on The Wi-Fi Boom and the slow arrival of the unwired future. There are several articles about the topic, somehow not easily accessible on the site. So Many Nodes, So Little Security, Tapping Into Public Wireless Networks, In the Home, a Tool Kit for a Wireless Network and the collection of related links could only be found by using the search function and the paper version of the paper. (Or is it just me?)
If you have WiFi installed in your laptop, you might want to look at 802.11Hotspots.com, a directory of public 802.11b hot spots for finding WiFi wireless Internet access network nodes and NodeDB.com.
Or if you would really like to pay for your cordless internet access out there, take a look at Welcome to T-Mobile HotSpot, Boingo Wireless - The Nation's Easiest-To-Use Wi-Fi Internet Service Provider, Welcome to Surf and Sip, Waypoint.com, WifiMetro.com is now HotSpotzz.com, Welcome to hereUare.com, GuestTek High Speed Internet Access for Hotels.
The favorite site to visit is again a little New York Specific. Take a look at NYCwireless, those are the folks who made Bryant Park and Tompkins Square here in NYC accessible. (For free.) Way to go.
There are so many more links I could have posted here. So please add some in the comments section, thanks.
(A first one could be: AirPort).