Pixel-stained what? It’s a little complex; it all got started when Dr. Howard Hendix, the current vice-president of the Science Fiction Writers of America, posted a rather ill-advised rant about the members of his profession who choose to make their work available for free on the internet; as one of many voices of dissent, Jo Walton declared April 23rd as Pixel-stained Technopeasant Day, and now here we are. What does this mean to those of you who haven’t even heard of the SFWA, let alone care about its internal political wranglings? It means that the internet has been veritably flooded with loads of great genre fiction for you to read for free. Here’s hoping this becomes an annual festival!

As an added bonus, here’s a podcast of a panel from last weekend’s Penguicon, featuring John Scalzi, Charlie Stross and Futurismic’s very own Tobias Buckell talking about the pros and cons of giving fiction away for free.