I take Minneapolis Wi-Fi network for a drive

The citywide Wi-Fi network nearing completion in Minneapolis has been promoted as one of the few such municipal wireless services worth a heck, so I wanted to see for myself.

I spent the better part of a workday in downtown Minnepolis, with a MacBook Air laptop and an iPod Touch handheld, to see what life would be like on the go with Wi-Fi all about.

It didn't go perfectly, but I had fun. Fellow tech reporter Les Suzukamo wrote a companion piece for our biz section. Get both articles in PDF form here, or in iTunes once you've subscribed to my podcast feed.

Here are a couple of geeky tips for other road warriors availing themselves of this service for a day or a month:

• Laptops work better than handhelds. The latter are best use outdoors; even laptops should be used by a window while indoors.
• Can't get the initial splash screen to appear? Be persistent (I had to be). Type "login.usiwireless.com" into the browser address field.
• Have multiple devices? You may need to log off one before using the other. This is easy, type "logout" (without the quotes) into the browser's address field.

On a semirelated note, the pineapple-curry lunch special at Sawatdee on Washington Avenue is killer (and don't forget the fresh spring rolls).