(Photo: Labnol.org)

You may have heard the devastating news that The New York Times has finally plugged the famous paywall loophole that allowed users to access more than their monthly allotment of articles. Once you used up your 10 free articles for the month, you could just delete the "?gwh=numbers" part of the URL to easily and freely access the story.

Sadly, the Times confirmed that they've officially put the kibosh on this notorious workaround. "We have made some adjustments and will continue to make adjustments to optimize the gateway by implementing technical security solutions to prohibit abuse and protect the value of our content," Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy told New York Mag.

Lucky for you, there are still several workarounds you can employ in order to access premium content without paying for a subscription--but don't say we forced you to take the cheap way out.

1. Google the headline 

This also works for the Wall Street Journal paywall. Google the headline and click through from the Google search results page and you should be able to read the story.

2. Use an incognito window in Chrome

Incognito windows let you browse the web privately. Since cookies are deleted each time you close the window, you should be able to access stories to your heart's content.

3. Search for the link on Twitter

Copy and paste the link into a Twitter search and click through to the story from Twitter. Stories accessed via social media don't count towards your article limit.

4. Use the NYClean bookmark

The NYClean bookmark is an easy way to skirt the paywall. When you hit a paywalled story, just click the bookmark and it unblocks the story for you. Magic!

5. Quit complaining and pony up the $15/month for quality journalism

Nobody likes to hear this option, but there is a reason the Times is the paper of record. Digital subscriptions for unlimited access to content on NYTimes.com and the NYTimes app cost $15/month.

New York Times Co., bringing the hot new revenue fire, as ever.

“It’s working from a revenue perspective,” Ms. Robinson said of the paid online subscription model introduced back in March. By September, digital subscriptions were up to 324,00o. The Boston Globe, also owned by the Times Company, introduced paid subscriptions in October. With that money, the company has been paying down its debt. Coupled with reduced costs, they now have the finances to start buying growth. And what better place to look than the bubbling tech sector?

The company, whose stock has been down more than 20 percent this year, will likely be looking for acquisitions that can counteract sliding ad revenue, which was down 8.8 percent in the third quarter.

Now that About.com, another property owned by the Times, is trying to shed its spammy image for the world of premium online video, perhaps the New York Times might be in the market for another content farm?

Gives new mean to the phrase "just Google it"

One of the more interesting dichotomies to develop in the software ecosystem over the past few years has been the open nature of Google's app stores versus the closed and controlled marketplace maintained by Apple.

A new app in the Chrome store, Read WSJ, lets users get access to stories protected by the paywall without paying for a subscription the Wall Street Journal. It's the perfect example of the sort of viral application that a permissive marketplace fosters.

It's also the sort of thing that is going to produce big headaches for Google, which has had little luck in securing partnerships with the music, television and publishing industries. 

Several studies have shown that Apple ends up producing more revenue for developers and has a lower attrition rate. On the other hand, Google's approach has led to explosive growth, helping Android to overtake iOS as the largest smartphone platform.

The "Read WSJ" app grabs a cached version of the story and delivers readers the unlocked article.

No doubt someone at News Corp. is on the phone demanding Google take it down right now. But the app has already proliferated to several smaller markets and sites, ensuring it will live on no matter what action is taken.

The Chrome Store offers no information on who created the app, although the developer has been keeping up a lively discussion in response to complaints and questions logged in the comment section.

Information prison. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digiart2001/

The New York Times paywall dropped today! Local taste mapper Hunch took a look at who is trying to avoid the fees by navigating to articles through the @FreeNYT Twitter account (the Times is letting social media traffic in) and compared the freeloaders to readers of The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal.

Not surprisingly, money is very important to @FreeNYT's 4,200-some followers. ("Money is a thang," Hunch wrote.) Hunch found that @FreeNYT subscribers consider themselves average tippers, for example, believe money governs society most, and most desire obtaining wealth for themselves. They also think the world needs more equality, would rather steal than beg and prefer crunchy tacos (Spot on! --ed.). They prefer getting news online over newspapers and magazines.

Note: @FreeNYT has a fraction of the follower counts of the other two publications, which means the data is less accurate. So what do we now know about the other two pubs? New Yorker readers had a manicure in the last month and haven't downloaded music illegally. (Really?) WSJ readers have an accountant do their taxes and prefer Veronica over Betty. (Really? Is it just because she's rich?)

Hunch's insights are based on its taste graph, developed using the social media graph and via questions users answer on its website.