After surviving the torturous flight and the airport interrogation, we threw our bags into a Kiwi version of a Toyota — yes with the steering wheel on the right side of the car — and headed into Christchurch. Cool little city — “The Garden City” as it is known. We saw some signs of earthquake […]

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It seemed like a natural that my second blog, PingWi-Fi.com, would take on a corporate sponsor. My first blog garnered $2 million in publicity for the sponsor (in three months). But … this time, the corporate sponsorship didn’t happen. So, to keep this PingThing going, I had to find a way to “moonlight.” What job […]

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In my formative years, my best friend’s dad owned a community newspaper — The Enterprise. Another friend owns that very publication today. Leon, the editor then, not only wrote the most biting pieces in the paper, he also snapped photos of the football team and the track girls, in between selling advertisements and subscription renewals […]

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Typically when I review a Wi-Fi hotspot, it is a solo act … I mean, it would have been quite difficult to take the PingWi-Fi gypsy caravan entourage on the PWF tour, which now includes 47 states, 65 cities, 30,000 miles, hundreds of Wi-Fi hotspots and several cups of coffee. So … my one goal […]

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Today the PingWi-Fi gypsy caravan is hosting a PingThing … tweeting, blogging, streaming, updating from The Omni Fort Worth … high atop a balcony suite in one of the best addresses in Downtown Fort Worth.  Rock on! Your thoughts?  Hit “Ping Us” on this Web site, or follow us on Twitter: @pingwifi … Roger that? […]

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What are the odds that a kid growing up near Route 66 — “The Mother Road” — would fall in love with the automobile? I’d put money on that. But what about the chances of a guy from Albuquerque becoming a television network newsman? … Still within the realm of possibility. Now, how about the […]

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“Are you an Indian?” Let me start by saying I have the greatest respect for Native American peoples — both for their enduring the invasion of their homeland, and for their ability to take dusty reservation land and turn it into ski resorts, billion-dollar casinos, oil/gas well bonanzas, art and more … I get all […]

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As we continue to ping Wi-Fi locations on this ongoing tour, it is tough to decide which is best — the consistency of corporate chains or the charm of the mom/pop shops. (Note: moms get top billing. Who said chivalry is dead?) Anyway … corporate consistency is nice in its own right … I don’t […]

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The idea for my first blog, The Wi-Fi Guy back in 2002 or so, came to me when strangers continually approached me in Starbucks and asked how in the world my laptop was on-line — there among the coffee grounds and the pseudo intellectuals. Now I have a new icebreaker. Not since the infancy of […]

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Back in my newspaper days, occasionally the editor would give me “Man on the Street” interview assignments. “Great! Where can you find 20 people who have enough spare time to comment on celebrity gossip, trade embargoes or a new strain of e-coli?” The first time I manned up on the street, it took me about […]

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