The theme for PC Forum this year is "Users in Charge." It's a noble and interesting challenge. But like the Demo conference I went to a month ago, I'm reminded how tenuous our individual commands are: without the capability to connect to the Web, our authority is nonexistent. Here at PC Forum, the wireless network isn't working reliably. So I can't post my opinions when I want. Meanwhile, The Man is hardwired into the Net, posting whatever he wants, exercising his command. Me, I got bupkis.

One alternative is to bypass the cute little Wi-Fi networks that keep people like me in touch, and arguably in charge, and get a cellular data connection, such as one by Verizon. What price this command? Eighty bucks a month. Ouch.

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