Free TimesSelect for students and faculty

March 13, 2007 7:42 AM

If you have a *.edu email address, you can now access the normally for-fee New York Times TimesSelect service for free, which gets you access to archived articles and special content.
posted by Blazecock Pileon (52 comments total)

Cor, it works with .ac.uk addresses, too.
posted by handee at 7:47 AM on March 13, 2007

Neat-o. Thanks.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:52 AM on March 13, 2007

Great.
posted by Aloysius Bear at 7:52 AM on March 13, 2007

That's cool.

Many schools have an alumni account (like post.harvard.edu, those jokesters) - I wonder if they attempt to filter those at all?

Hopefully this is the first step toward freeing all their content.

I have select access because of a home subscription, but I often consider canceling the home subscription (it rarely gets here before 8am on weekdays or 10am on weekends, which is pretty useless) and just using select, even if I have to pay for it.

I wish the Times would be more consistent in their photography between the paper and the web site. Some pictures in the paper will make my jaw drop, but might be smaller or just less impressive on the web site. Meanwhile, some of the pictures in the paper are B&W but when I see them online they're in color.

I don't begrudge the Times their profit (and I've got a friend who works there). I just get very frustrated when I want to send an article or op/ed to a friend and have to worry that it'll expire before they read it or will be behind the Select wall. Of course, to get around this I just send the complete article text, which 'robs' the Times of their ad impressions anyway.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 7:54 AM on March 13, 2007

My alma mater uses .net for student e-mail addresses. I never tried using it to join Facebook, but I wonder how widespread that practice is. Enough so that these databases recognize it and code for exceptions, or are you just out of luck unless you've got .edu?

I'm not plugging my spam-free e-mail into the NYTimes to find out. I like the free site just fine. Krugman and Dowd can go screw.
posted by cribcage at 7:54 AM on March 13, 2007

I'm not calling you a shill, I'm just pointing out that a (non-ironic) post about a product, particularly a product where the marketing is clearly designed to "get 'em while they're young" (a la Microsoft targeting college CS departments), is pretty lame.
posted by DU at 7:57 AM on March 13, 2007

I'm just pointing out that a (non-ironic) post about a product, particularly a product where the marketing is clearly designed to "get 'em while they're young" (a la Microsoft targeting college CS departments), is pretty lame.

Then flag it or take it to Metatalk?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:59 AM on March 13, 2007

And I just turned down an .edu alumni account. Darn it.
posted by amro at 8:01 AM on March 13, 2007

I'm just pointing out that a (non-ironic) post about a product, particularly a product where the marketing is clearly designed to "get 'em while they're young" (a la Microsoft targeting college CS departments), is pretty lame.

i'm just pointing out that this is a pretty asinine objection. it's a pointer to free stuff. what's your problem with that? "get 'em while they're young?" you have a problem with young people learning about the world or something?
posted by sergeant sandwich at 8:03 AM on March 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sweet. Thanks.

DU- Keep fighting that establishment buddy. [Jon Stewart] Damn you, establishment! [/Stewart]
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:04 AM on March 13, 2007

They wouldn't accept my alumni account either (format: [e-mail]).

That'll teach me to graduate.
posted by a young man in spats at 8:05 AM on March 13, 2007

Meanwhile, some of the pictures in the paper are B&W but when I see them online they're in color.

This might be due to printing press configuration and/or cost. If they have no color ads on that sig, it doesn't make financial sense to print photos on that sig in color.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:07 AM on March 13, 2007

Brandon Blatcher:

Yeah, I figured that to be the case. That doesn't bother me so much; I expect photos and graphics to be as-good-or-better online. It's when they're less useful online (smaller, especially in the case of their infographics) that I get more annoyed...
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 8:09 AM on March 13, 2007

They wouldn't accept my alumni account either (format: [e-mail]).

Another data point: the alumni address for my rinky-dink Midwestern undergrad school didn't get me in, but my major university grad school address did. Not sure which factor is determinative.
posted by rkent at 8:11 AM on March 13, 2007

you have a problem with young people learning about the world or something?

I sure do. I am young, and the more I learn about the world the angrier, sadder and more crotchety, and in general, older I get.

But you can take my Legos from my cold dead arthritic hands.

(Thanks for the free times, I got really mad (older) when they made themselves select)
posted by Faux Real at 8:13 AM on March 13, 2007

Well it's pretty cool. I actually work in a K-12 organization, so I had to fib a bit.

But, oh, to avoid sloppy seconds with Maureen. . .

(jk)
posted by Danf at 8:21 AM on March 13, 2007

Many schools have an alumni account (like post.harvard.edu, those jokesters) - I wonder if they attempt to filter those at all?

It worked for me. I had to click through the registration page three times (when it said it wasn't a valid college/university)-- and viola -- it eventually went through.
posted by ericb at 8:22 AM on March 13, 2007

Many schools have an alumni account (like post.harvard.edu, those jokesters) - I wonder if they attempt to filter those at all?

Nope, works just fine. Of course, you've got to be a bit creative with your graduation date...

In any case, thanks, this is super-awesome; it seems like whenever I want to read something from the Times, it's pay-per-view.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:25 AM on March 13, 2007

And voilà, 'NYT's Select' taught me how to play the viola!
posted by ericb at 8:25 AM on March 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Apparently... you only get the TimesSelect service for free if your university/college has a bulk student subscription to the NY Times print edition. Otherwise (as I just found out trying to use my alumni email addy from Cornell) you still have to pay 50% of the usual cost. Ah well.
posted by aught at 8:26 AM on March 13, 2007

Do they have an option to only keep Thomas Friedman columns behind the Select Wall? That way I can ensure I won't get irrationally enraged by accidentally reading one of his columns.
posted by Falconetti at 8:36 AM on March 13, 2007

They asked me when I'm going to graduate - think they'll revoke my subscription when I do?
posted by jourman2 at 8:51 AM on March 13, 2007

Yes.
posted by mendel at 9:12 AM on March 13, 2007

At Florida State University (and possibly other universities as well), the NYT also has their paper edition available free to students.
posted by Cookiebastard at 9:16 AM on March 13, 2007

It also rejected both of my alumni accounts.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:39 AM on March 13, 2007

Awesome, worked like a charm! Many thanks for posting, BP.

(Though I am worried that my--mostly--spam-free work account might suffer.)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:53 AM on March 13, 2007

Most people here seem to be trying or hoping to use alumni accounts. The first page clearly states:

You must be a student or faculty member with a valid college or university e-mail address to be eligible for this offer.

It's eight bucks a month, and if you pay for a year in advance it's only four a month. Stop being such cheap bastards - either pay or don't use their service.
posted by Flunkie at 9:55 AM on March 13, 2007

Neat, I don't read the NYT much, but my alma mater doesn't distinguish between student and alumni email (not in the formatting anyway), so I'll pass this on to my college buddies who do.

I'm all for exploiting free stuff, I learned that in college.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:11 AM on March 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sweet, it worked for my Canadian university email too. (We don't have a special suffix here, it's just .ca).
posted by SoftRain at 10:14 AM on March 13, 2007

My alumni address didn't work, but my still-active university address did.

And yes, I am a cheap bastard who doesn't want to be nickel and dimed to death.
posted by malaprohibita at 10:26 AM on March 13, 2007

This is cool. I didn't know I could get an alumni email address - just applied for one so I could get free Bob Herbert!
posted by poxuppit at 10:30 AM on March 13, 2007

On a side note ... ruckus.com offers free music downloads to anyone with a valid college email address. They have a pretty large library to boot.
posted by itchylick at 10:52 AM on March 13, 2007

Cool -- my Canuck uni .ca address workee.
posted by docgonzo at 11:13 AM on March 13, 2007

It worked with my staff address from a university-affiliated research center, and did not require that I enter a graduation date. My member profile defaulted to claiming I'm a "Educator/Teacher/Professor", though. I wonder if they'll yank the account if I change that?

Funny thing: I've been using bugmenot-style fake accounts on nytimes.com since it started requring registrations, because it wasn't worth enough for me to register. Dangle some free editorials and archives in front of me, and all of a sudden, I'm right there.

We're all just sheep getting in line for the slaughter, aren't we?

Oh, well. I don't get all the perks a real university employee gets, so I'll take what I can get. At least this is better than when I joined Facebook: All I got from that was the depressing realization that most college students are better-looking than me and having more fun.
posted by faster than a speeding bulette at 12:21 PM on March 13, 2007

Sweet!!! Thanks BP!
posted by inconsequentialist at 1:32 PM on March 13, 2007

So ... ahem ... how does one acquire a .edu account now that he/she is well past the college years?
posted by frogan at 1:53 PM on March 13, 2007

One other side note, in case you've tried this, and had the same problem I had. After I signed up, I had to log out of NYTimes and log back in before this worked for me.
posted by .kobayashi. at 2:20 PM on March 13, 2007

Meh. My school uses .ca
posted by arcticwoman at 2:52 PM on March 13, 2007

All I want is access to the crosswords on-line - I already get the Sunday NYT on paper, which includes full Web access (including Select), but they still want me to pay extra for on-line puzzle access. Freakin' capitalists...

Frogan: sign up for a class at your local community college and then drop before fees are due but after you get an ID number/ID card/secret decoder ring...
posted by twsf at 3:15 PM on March 13, 2007

"...I had to log out of NYTimes and log back in..."

I've got an ac.uk email address (part time job), and the NYTimes site sorta automagically apparently overwrote my previously free details.

Very, very nice post - I can't even get some of the current articles on Athens. Many thanks!
posted by Mutant at 3:29 PM on March 13, 2007

Very nice. I'll sign up post haste!
posted by delmoi at 3:42 PM on March 13, 2007

Frogan: you could email me.
posted by whatzit at 3:44 PM on March 13, 2007

So ... ahem ... how does one acquire a .edu account now that he/she is well past the college years?

Having a spouse in grad school helps, but the perks aren't really "free" at that point.
posted by itchylick at 4:31 PM on March 13, 2007

Nice. Thanks a lot!
posted by switchsonic at 7:03 PM on March 13, 2007

Please tell us what kind of intimate favor you'd like in return for this information. Thanks muchly.
posted by moonbird at 8:10 PM on March 13, 2007

Looks like the "alumni" part is what causes rejection.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:16 PM on March 13, 2007

Thanks!
posted by reflection at 10:41 PM on March 13, 2007

Wow, this is brilliant. At the same time, I can't help but be a little cynical. Any decent university (in the U.S. at least) is going to have Lexis Nexis (meaning that students can already access any article behind the select barrier).

On the other hand, it's so much more practical to go through the Times website itself.
posted by timelord at 12:14 AM on March 14, 2007

Wooo! Just worked for my *edu.au email account! =]
posted by cholly at 1:23 AM on March 14, 2007

Ha, cholly, I came here to post that. Yay!
posted by divabat at 3:35 AM on March 14, 2007

I'm not plugging my spam-free e-mail into the NYTimes to find out.

A good five years in and the NYT is one of the few organizations that has never sold the address that I gave them or had it compromised in some way. The only thing that address receives are the mailings I've requested from the paper, like David Pogue's weekly tech newsletter. They're actually honorable in that respect.
posted by Dreama at 5:50 AM on March 14, 2007

Note: there are podcasts behind the Times Select barrier, too.
posted by buriedpaul at 6:39 AM on March 14, 2007