While having Wi-Fi everywhere is a great way to offload traffic from its 3G network, AT&T's hard Wi-Fi push strikes me as a little anachronistic. Shouldn't we be talking about super fast, ubiquitous 3G, 4G even? Its $US275 million pickup of Wi-Fi provider Wayport now gives AT&T customers Wi-Fi access at McDonald's, Four Seasons, Marriott and Wyndham hotels, in addition to everyone's standard Wi-Fi leeching spot, Starbucks.

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I haven't eaten at McDonalds since July 2001. Let's just say a Quarter Pounder meal didn't agree with me for a few days. And while I probably still wouldn't eat there, I might just start going into their "restaurants" to hang out like a 16 year old on school holidays (it's the place to be, apparently) so I can start using their new free Wi-Fi networks.

While a number of McDonalds "restaurants" have had free Wi-Fi supplied by Telstra for a while now, they're now planning on rolling out their own networks across a majority of their stores across the country. The rollout has already begun in NSW and the ACT, and will progress across the other states, with an expected completion date of late February 2009.

There's no fudging around with logins or any need to actually buy anything (phew!), but there is a 50MB data limit, so no bittorrent for you. Hopefully we'll see all the other fast food stores join McDonalds on the free Wi-Fi bandwagon.

[Free Wi-Fi - Thanks Nathan!]

Zune owners are getting free Wi-Fi access at McDonalds, as well as the 3.0 software today. It's using the Wayport Wi-Fi system at about 10,000 stores, and as a Wayport spokesman puts it, it lets them "attract new customers whose digital lifestyle extends beyond their home and office." Yep, out of the home and office...and into the burger joint. Great if you've got a Zune, and were jealous of the Starbucks/Apple Wi-Fi tie-up (which, and it may be just me, is a far "classier" deal, no?) [Zuneboards. Thanks Joel!]

AU: Totally awesome if you happen to own a Zune and happen to live in the US - in other words, even if you do own a Zune (lucky you), this won't be happening in Oz anytime soon...

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Soon you'll be able to skip the lines at Korean McDonald's. Instead, just sit down, pull out your cellphone and pop in an RFID adaptor to place an order. All you need is a phone that is compatible with the RFID adaptor and can download the McDonald's ordering application. The idea of a fully autonomous Mickey D's is getting closer and closer every day. [KoreaTimes via The Raw Feed]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is dedicated to global health issues among other philanthropic causes, revealed yesterday that it just so happens to hold 740,000 shares of McDonald's stock. Wait, the same McDonald's that contributes to the obesity epidemic in our country? Doesn't that seem, I don't know, counterintuitive? You're paying for both the problem and the solution. That's just poor business sense, Bill. [Reuters via The Raw Feed]

Our videographer Richard Blakeley and his partner in crime Sarah Meyers caused some trouble using the Optimus Prime helmet at a McDonalds drive-thru this weekend. Apparently it's against the law to order a fajita as Optimus Prime. Who knew? I guess the manager wasn't a fanboy, although he looks to fit the part.