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I found a good article about how to keep youself safe while using public wireless Internet access (or WiFi). Here's some of the key points:

1. Don't use Internet Explorer - Use Firefox or some of the other more secure web browsers.
2. Don't visit web sites that require you to log in or enter sensitive information. It's very likely that your data is traveling in plain text and can easily be picked up by other WiFi users.
3. Only enter sensitive information on web sites that have https at the beginning of the URLs in the address bar. The "s" means your data is encrypted on those sites.
4. Gmail is currently the safest web based email, but you have to make sure to use the https version of the URL, https://mail.google.com/. But the article is a few months old, so most likely the other webmail services have implemented this too, but I haven't tried it. Last time I used Hotmail or Yahoo Mail they only encrypted login information, not actual messages. Gmail always encrypts login information, but I think it only encrypts messages when you request the https version of the site.
5. Using email from a program, such as Outlook, is a little trickier to do safely, but it's covered in the article. Most likely your email login information and messages are sent in plain text.
6. There are a few ways to do secure instant messenging. One way is to use Skype, but the other person must have Skype too. Another way is to use GAIM and an encryption plugin for GAIM. Both solutions are covered in the article.

The last two points involve installing programs and messing with settings, so at least stick with the first four, and just don't send any IMs with anything important. Although using Firefox means you have to install it, it's not so bad and it'll go a long way towards safer web browsing.

Here's the article. It includes a few more options and a lot more details.

I always heard that joke that Al Gore invented the Internet, but I never knew the story behind it. It turns out he didn't invent the Internet (obviously) and never claimed that he did. He just got misquoted and everyone blew it out of proportion to make him seem like a liar. He was just saying that when he was in Congress he knew that the Internet was going to be big. Here's the full story.

Here's some links that I wanted to share.

Sprint won't help find a baby in a carjacked SUV.

Don't Click it. This one is pretty neat.

The Universal Decision Maker. This is great, it's like flipping a bunch of coins quickly.

Super duper deguassing your monitor. That video is cool.

Man dates his mom on the Internet.

Internet phenomenon. In case you're way behind on all the exciting and crazy things going on in the Internet, check out everything on this link and you'll be super cool instantly.

Kodak's Top 10 Tips for taking Great Pictures. I think I saw this before a long time ago, but it has some good info, so here it is.

Go ahead. Call the Internet. I wonder what it says? I didn't know the Internet lives in Washington DC. Or maybe he got his cell phone number there. Oh yes, the Internet is a he. Was there any doubt? I should've called him when I was in DC. Maybe we could've hanged out.