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Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle is currently in its fifth year of existence. What started out as an idea I talked Chris Pirillo into letting me experiment with in January 2001 is something I've remained extremely passionate about through changes in format, changes in location and subtle changes in my personal interests. I enjoy the continual re-education and conveying of information associated with publishing new material every week.

Throughout this stretch advertising provided the sole means of revenue. I'm very grateful for the advertisers who support my efforts. Most of the advertisers appearing in the newsletter are products I recommend or would use if I didn't already use a competing product. I've rejected advertisements from companies that didn't seem like they had the best interests of you, the reader, in mind. I've taken some advertisers to task when readers like you inform me of customer service concerns. I hope to continue the relationships I've maintained with many advertisers throughout the changes to my publishing efforts.

There are certain compromises made in relying on advertising to support my efforts to bring you the reviews and tutorials published. You currently click through several pages to get to the sites and topics discussed in the newsletter. You also get exposed to multiple advertisements in the newsletter and RSS feed, as well as various contextually relevant advertisements on the site. I try to provide enough detail in the newsletter to make it worth clicking-thru to the site, but that's a fine line. There's also a continual negotiation process where I'm faced with deciding how much you are worth to each advertiser. This approach to advertising is necessary so I am able to meet all the expenses associated with keeping the information current, maintaining a business infrastructure and keeping a roof over my head.

Today I'm announcing a change in the status quo. The way you are reading this right now, whether it's as an email message, RSS feed or on the Web will remain unchanged. If you'd like something a little different, I'm offering a second option. I'm offering what I know is something better. In addition to the current offering, I'm adding a premium section.

What's different about the premium section? Full text of each review and tutorial, complete with the relevant links to the application, free service or topic discussed will be included in the email newsletter and RSS feed for your premium version. That translates to convenience of reading each full posting offline, without needing to visit the site. No advertisements will appear in the premium version of the email newsletter or RSS feed. As a premium subscriber you have the option to download each newsletter as a PDF, in addition to email and RSS alternatives. Quarterly PDF compilations of reviews and tutorials, organized by subject area, are a complementary bonus for premium subscribers, with a PDF annual of articles from 2004, organized by subject, available immediately upon subscription. As a premium subscriber you receive published email newsletters a full day ahead of free subscribers. Exclusive freebies and discounts will be available to you in a special section of the subscriber area.

As part of the premium subscription, each new member gets an official MediaBlab T-shirt adorned with the logo depicted here. The first 1000 people who upgrade to the premium version will be part of a random drawing for an additional free gift, selected at random, from a collection of offerings I hand picked. Among the list of available offerings:

MixMeister Express creates the perfect soundtrack or mix CD for your party or your life. Pretty Good Solitaire provides over 600 different solitaire games, which is much better than pretty good. Disk Triage helps you get a handle on what is really stored on your hard drive with the best disk information tool I've ever used. muvee autoProducer 4 automatically makes movies from your raw footage. Xilisoft DVD Ripper converts DVD movies to digital formats ready for playback on your PC or burning to disk. TextAloud converts text documents and email to audio files so you can easily listen to anything you normally read. An autographed copy of Easy Digital Home Movies will help you turn those home movies into cinematic masterpieces. The full list of potential gifts is available on the registration page along with more details about the premium subscription.

Upgrade your Digital Lifestyle with a premium subscription.