The WT Blog

Don’t have airconditioning? Hate being cooped up at home, tied down by your need for a reliable internet connection, while the city and outdoors beckon?

Well, quit your whining, grab your laptop, and get outside!  As many of you know, you can alreay enjoy free wi-fi at Dufferin Grove Park and St. Lawrence Market. 

There’s now¬†another (somewhat more central) location to choose from – Yonge-Dundas Square!¬† The “official” launch of the hotspot is in July, but the¬†wireless network¬†is up and running (for testing, but it seems fine), as of today.¬†

Cool down at one of the tables by the water fountains,¬† watch the tourists bustle around the Eaton Centre, or bring your laptop to Google factoids about The Blob¬†or The Birds while you take in the Square’s (Tuesday) City Cinema nights.

One more hotspot on the Wireless Toronto map today. I’m pleased to announce that The Rice Bar in Kensington market went live today.

If you haven’t been yet I’d suggest checking it out, the food is great, especially if you like rice.

Just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who came out to the Wireless Toronto first anniversary party this week. It was a great crowd and everyone’s support and interest is really appreciated. There’s a set of photos online here and more photos here.

Conversations were had, beer was drunk, t-shirts were sold. It was all good.

Don’t forget, Wireless Toronto is launching it’s first outdoor hotspot this weekend, at Dufferin Grove Park (map).

A bunch of volunteers will be hanging out in the park Saturday and Sunday, so why not come by for a chat and see what’s going on. More details on upcoming.org.

To find us just look for the orange balloons. Today (Saturday) we’re down near the children’s playground at the south end of the park, Sunday we’ll probably be near the pizza oven at the North end.

As a special bonus offer, Sunday is Pizza Day in the park, so you can drop by, pay a couple of bucks for ingredients and have fresh baked pizza for lunch.

Note: We’re going to set up on Sunday at the south end of the park, near the playground, again. Though I’m sure regular visits to the pizza oven wil be scheduled.

We’ve been working on this for a while, but this is our official announcement. Wireless Toronto are installing a free hotspot in Dufferin Grove Park (map) with the launch scheduled for the weekend of May 27th, 28th

We’ve been working closely the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park and the generous sponsors of the Dufferin Grove hotspot, Kijiji.ca ‘your free, local, community classified ads website’.

There’s going to be lots of fun stuff going on the launch weekend and Wireless Toronto and Kijiji people will be in the park to talk to you about what we’re up to. Hope to see you there.

We’ve added another new hotspot at the Axis Gallery and Grill, 3048 Dundas St. West (at High Park Ave.) It’s a really great spot, a genuine neighborhood hub. A lovely patio too, which will be perfect for some sunny summer surfing.

Located in the new art district and historic Junction neighbourhood, Axis Gallery and Grill has warm ambiance, friendly staff, great food and rockin’ live music.

I also spotted some interesting local art on the walls, and their weekly open mic “jam” seems fun. Since this spot is in my neck of the woods, I went to help (does holding cables count?) Michael do part of the install. It was the first one I’ve been to, and it was pretty straightforward: take “flashed” router, find a good spot to position/house it, test signal range, and voila – free WiFi. Amazing.

On Thursday we launched the latest free Wireless Toronto hotspot, this one at Rustic Cosmo Cafe, 1278 Queen W.

I didn’t get much chance to check the place out, mostly I was trying to get the router working. But it seemed like a friendly space, with plenty of tables and booths.