During my forced foray into the world of leisure and unpaid broadcasting, I've had to make certain economies. One of these economies, was to give up my broadband internet connection.

By a happy coincidence, those geniuses at Qwest (note no hyperlink, so they're less likely to be alerted to this article) failed to delete my user account. So, equipped with the Qwest dial-up numbers, and a bit of reprogramming of my wireless router, the phone line here provides a bearable connection, supplemented by visits to coffee houses with free DSL.

Tonight, things are improving. One of my neighbours has been kind enough to start up a wireless network in his house, and not password protect it.

So here I am, sat on the couch, watching Inspector Morse ambling around western Britain (and making me homesick for a land awash with decent pubs, and populace not afraid of a pint or six), and my iBook picks up both my wireless network, and a neighbour's one.

Better yet, said neighbour seems to have a broadband connection. DSL, for free, from home. You can't beat it!

I have no idea which neighbour it is, nor am I about to name the network. But thank you, whoever you are!