Nice. Real nice.

N.O. to get free wireless access:

"Achieving a technological milestone it has been striving for since Hurricane Katrina, the city has reached an agreement with EarthLink Inc. to provide free high-speed wireless Internet access for a large portion of the repopulated city.

The service will be available in Uptown, downtown, the French Quarter and Algiers by Sept. 1, and eventually could be available to the entire city. The free service will be provided as long as the city rebuilds, and EarthLink hopes to profit from the deal by selling higher-speed wireless service to those who want it.

The city views the Wi-Fi access as an important tool for business owners and residents throughout the city, who in some cases don't have telephone or cable service.

'It's more important than a gee-whiz factor,' said Greg Meffert, the city's chief technology officer. 'Wi-Fi is a pretty geeky thing to get hugged over, but I've been hugged in the street over this.'"