One of the locals mentioned doing a bit of "war driving" around town
just for curiosity. About 80 to 90% of the networks heard were
unencrypted AND over half of those _still_used_
the_default_name_and_PW.

Yep ... really bad ... shame on the wireless hardware companies!
========================
You probably mean 'shame on the users' who haven't got a clue.

By the way it is the same situation here in the north of Scotland .
Driving in Inverness you can freely access WiFi points allover town
,from commercial companies to hotels..........but not at locations where
you would expect it ....like 'Starbuck' and bookshops like 'Borders'
Also in California you have to pay for WiFi access at
Starbuck.........must constitute a increasing part of their
income,considering the number of people with laptops.....usually without
a coffee..

I know ,I know ...life isn't a freebee

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH