Jaunted

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Airports Say No Electricity for You

Alex Saunders notes that airports throughout North America have begun putting caps over all their electrical outlets, keeping the laptop and cell-phone masses from powering up.

For Cory Doctorow, trying to get a charge at London's Luton airport was almost impossible:

I got into a huge fight  . . . when I was ordered to unplug my laptop because it presented a "fire hazard." All the devices plugged into the outlets in the airport had to be "certified." I asked about the laptop adapters for sale in the Dixon's electronics shop beside me and was informed that they were certified, and I could plug back in if I bought a new adapter from them (imagine that -- a £50 electricty tax in the form of a mandate to buy a new adapter!). I'd just spent £13 on WiFi, so I kept arguing, demanding that they give me a quote I could publish in a magazine column about their policy, and they relented -- finally -- when I pointed out that the people in the first-class lounge visible through the picture window had all plugged their laptops in.