We win!

Hooray! After two years of annoying its readers, the New York Times announced that it is ending its "premium content" subscription model, and once again giving online readers access to all the news that's fit to print. For those of us who enjoyed the Times' stable of columnists, it was a sad day when the paper decided to keep some of its very best and most influential writing walled off from the free Internet.

Of course, bloggers regularly reposted every single column, so that a simple Google search was usually all that was required to find the "Times Select" content. Normally I'd cry foul at trampling over the rights to the copy, but in my mind the whole point of an opinion piece is to influence the public mind. The columnists at the Times are influential and persuasive, and it was sad to see their paper limit their pulpit compared to lesser columnists, in an attempt to milk readers' wallets.

Goodbye, Times Select, and good riddance. Tomorrow will be a good, newsy day!