OpenWireless.org

The waters from Hurricane Sandy have rendered some telecommunications networks about as useful as the rudder on the Titanic. As city-dwellers have begun to seek an internet connection, finding a wifi hotspot has sometimes become almost as important as securing non-perishables and batteries for flashlights.

AllThingsD has collected a good deal of information on where to find wifi in areas where even strong cellphone signals may be in short supply:

In New York City, free Wi-Fi is usually available in city parks in partnership with AT&T, but since the parks are closed, and just getting close to one isn’t exactly a good idea right now what with the falling trees and all, that’s not much of an option.

There is a network of free and documented open Wi-Fi hotspots all over the city at NYCwireless.net, but the map appears not to be working. Instead I found a link to a PDF document that claims to be updated as of today, showing known hotspots around the city. Know this: Your mileage may vary.

Relevant to civic wireless needs, AllThingsD points out that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has just announced the Open Wireless Movement.

The website for the Open Wireless Movement is openwireless.org. The Open Wireless Movement wants to see a world where we can find the following in "any urban environment":

• Dozens of open networks are available at your fingertips.
• Tablets, watches, and other new devices can automatically join these networks to do nifty things.
• The societal expectation is one of sharing, and, as a result, wireless Internet is more efficient.
• The false notion that an IP address could be used as a sole identifier is finally a thing of the past, creating a privacy-enhancing norm of shared networks.

AllThingsD also noted that Boingo Wireless has a “Free AOL Wifi” deal in conjunction with–obviously–AOL, which will last all day Wednesday.

(via NYC EDC Tumblr)

Did you know that the New York Public Library's Science, Industry Business library in Murray Hill is the quietest spot for fast Wifi in New York City? Did you know that the NYPL even had a Science, Industry, and Business library? (Hence the quiet, we guess.) What about the fact that Kaffe 1668 in Tribeca has better Wifi than its East Village competitors, Ost Cafe and Blue Spoon Coffee?

Well, stop groping for Wifi in the dark!

On the New York City Economic Development Corporation's Tumblr today, the agency linked to a super-handy infographic that pulls a jumble of data from Open Wifi NYC and displays it in pretty form over maps made by Susana Siman.

The only drawback? Each of the maplets are there own separate square, but you can click over the EDC's Tumblr to view each individually.  Somebody ping us when they do this for Brooklyn. In the meantime, happy signal hunting!