Dan linked to a great article in today's Morning Links roundup about 'digital mooches,' aka the 20-somethings who may be leaving Mom and Dad's house in the coming years, yet seem to have no plans to leave their parents' cell phone contracts or Netflix subscriptions. I read this article with interest; I'd just read another about 'cord cutters,' aka the cable-free, and how the content industry is wringing their hands about what to do with these people. It seems these articles, read together, paint an ominous pattern: The kids aren't paying because they get it for 'free' at home. Then they turn...

Last week I discovered a new content curation service, Swayy. It's in beta right now, but at the end of this post, I'm going to give you a code to allow you to try it. So ... what exactly is Swayy, and why should you care? As you can see from the screenshot, you give Swayy access to your Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn accounts, and it gives you back content based on subject matter categories you select when you sign up for the service. Naturally, I selected Tech and Social Media. Don't worry. It won't tweet or post on your behalf, unless...

One of the anti-DRM arguments people often make is that if you make it easy enough for people to buy content legitimately, they won't need to pirate anymore. Here is a case study in favor of that argument: Thorin Kiosowski over at Lifehacker has a great essay up about why he stopped pirating media and started paying for it legitimately. Kiosowski begins by explaining why he pirated to begin with, namely that at the time, 'legit' digital media was confusing, expensive and failed to provide a good experience. He then lists three things that changed his mind: • He stopped feeling the need to own...

This story might need to be taken with a grain of salt based on its sources, but it could have some serious implications if true. Megaupload, like Rapidshare, is a cyber-locker site where people can upload files of any kind for others to download. Many of those files are illicitly-copied commercial material, which naturally gives Hollywood, record labels, and publishers (after all, this material does include both e-books and audiobooks) conniptions. Recently, a number of music celebrities recorded a music video in support of Megaupload. This was considered a newsworthy event, and covered by a number of places, but...

Despite Our Shadows is a revised re-release of an earlier title of mine, Lambs Hide, Tigers Seek, a noir mystery. Shadows is one of the sexiest stories I've written so far, and when I originally wrote it, I was concerned that the story would be too sexy for mainstream consumption. So I intentionally toned it down and put some of the more racy scenes through the "fade to morning" filter, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks. But when it came for the rewrite, I rethought the idea of editing out or glossing over the sex scenes. Though it may...