Farm Country More Wired Than Rest Of State

I wish this was happening in our neck of the woods, but a few hours Northeast of here there’s a gigantic Wi-Fi hot spot, some say the largest in the world

This is cowboy country, where the rodeo is coming to town, the high school’s “kiss the pig” contest involves a genuine hog, and life seems about as high-tech as the local calf-dressing competition, when teams race to wrestle protesting calves into T-shirts.

But Hermiston is actually a global leader of our Internet future. Today, this chunk of arid farm country appears to be the largest Wi-Fi hot spot in the world, with wireless high-speed Internet access available free for some 600 square miles. Most of that is in eastern Oregon, with some just across the border in southern Washington.

Obviously, the money to fund this came because of the fact they have a large chunk of hazardous government property up there that they want to keep safe, but it’s still nice to know that I could (if I was so inclined) fly down Interstate 84 and browse the ‘net.

Thanks Blake for the link.