Newsflash: People Work with Computers in Cafes

Prepare to be shocked: the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that people work on their computers in cafes! I realize this bizarre new trend sounds unbelievable, but it's all true. Dan Fost, investigative reporter extraordinaire, has uncovered a strange subculture in San Francisco coffee shops: people use what's known as "free wifi" to do work that involves something called "the internet." My favorite part of the article is when Fost brings in an "expert" who identified the phenomenon -- in 2001:

The move toward mobile self employment is . . . part of what author Daniel Pink identified when he wrote *FreeAgent Nation *in 2001. "A whole infrastructure has emerged to help people work in thisway," Pink said. "Part of it includes places like Kinkos, Office Depotand Staples."

It's so bleeding edge! Just like dot-coms and Web sites! Apparently this wacky new group of latte-slurping geeks prefer to be called Bedouins. One of the chief Bedouins is Kevin Burton, owner of trend-tracking site Tailrank. Fost interviews Burton extensively, portraying him as a hard worker who codes for long hours in a caffeine-fueled haze. But, dear readers, I have the real story behind why Burton loves to work in cafes. He picks up chicks by snarfing their AIM passwords on the cafe's wireless network and messaging them. In an article I wrote for Wired a few years ago, I interviewed Burton about his high-tech girl-chasing habits. Find out more below the fold.

Here's the truth about what the *Chronicle'*s "Bedouin" poster boy does in cafes:

He often finds he wants to introduce himself to "a cute girl with alaptop" but is too shy to make an approach. That's where [his hacker tool] the Sniffercomes in handy. If a hottie fires up her AOL Instant Messenger client,
Burton sees her login name and can send her an IM. "I've gotten severalfirst dates that way," he says. "Women think it's cute when I can makea message pop on their machine as if by magic. Now that so many womenare online, it's our chance as geeks to start getting more dates."

He calls the process wardating, in homage to the old-school hackerpractice of wardialing, calling every possible combination of numbersto find open computer networks.

"IM is my medium," Burton says with a laugh. "If I can get a girl torespond to my chat message, I'm golden." The trick, he confides, is todeploy certain "social hacks" in the instant message. "Like smiley-faceoptimization," he says. "You can say anything to a girl if you put asmiley face or a wink after it. I've said things like 'You should comeover to my house and have sex with me. :) :) :)' and it's fine becausethey just think I'm joking. And then, more often than not, they'll comeover and have sex with me!"

Now you understand why the Chronicle is writing about this guy. First he invents a cool way to pick upchicks, then he invents the idea of working in cafes with free wifi! I love a good news story, don't you?

One of the coffee shops featured in the article is a favorite haunt ofmine called Ritual. The day after the article came out, Ritual coveredover most of the power outlets in the cafe to prevent people from plugging in their laptops.

Neo-Nomads' Ideas Percolate [via SFGate.com]