The New York Times is launching a new experiment; buy a physical copy of the paper from any newsstand, and you'll be gifted full, unbridled access to NYTimes.com and the company's mobile apps for that same day. This marks the first time the Times is offering "day passes," as they're being called, and is meant to "provide newsstand customers with a similar benefit to that of home delivery subscribers." (Subscribing to the paper gets you 24/7 digital access.) It's also intended to showcase the worth of the Times' vast digital presence to people who've made reading the paper part of their daily routine. That said, it's not like the company is having trouble hooking online readers; earlier this year, the Times passed a significant milestone: 1 million digital-only subscribers.

The process of redeeming a day pass is slightly convoluted, though. Within the Times you'll find a keyword. Text that keyword to a mobile shortcode, and a reply containing a link for digital access gets sent back. You'll need to register an account if you don't already have one, and unlimited digital access cuts off at 11:59PM ET sharp. After that, you're back to the 10 articles per day limit. If you're still unsure whether the Times is worth paying for, there's always the NYT Now iPhone app, which remains a fantastic way to keep up with breaking news — without any subscription. It's updated constantly with hand-picked articles and an informative Morning Briefing that preps you for that day's biggest stories. Sadly, NYT Now still isn't available on Android.