Fresh from the foundry: a new version of HotSpot Confidential, optimized for ePub.

Download it, and try it out in Digital Editions.

Trying to keep your e-mailbox empty? Subscribe to the HotSpot Confidential RSS update feed here, or via the RSS icon at the bottom of the front page. Your browser will know what to do.

I just noticed that Meraki, the wireless mesh service featured in HC, has upped their advertising presence on the free version of the network.

There's now a large advertising spot on the splash page; the "messaging bar", which sits on top of the page, has also been beefed up with content and "advertising opportunities".

Meraki, which is a business model in progress, must be feeling the pressure to squeeze some revenue from their free mesh service.

You can now get email updates to HC. Just click here and punch "Subscribe".

Early readers of HotSpot Confidential (both of them) may have noted how I tried to
walk the tightrope between online and offline. The first edition of the ebook
contains just three or four lifelines to the Internet. I blame the Kindle, my
original platform, which doesn't make linking easy.

But from now on: no more Mr. Nice Guy when it comes to coddling unconnected

Adobe's simple, solid, unglamorous Digital Editions software is your gateway to HotSpot Confidential if you're packing a Sony Reader Digital Book.

It's also a solid choice for the digital deviceless. Adobe has versions for both the Mac and Windows.

You get started by clicking on this download mini-banner:

iPhone/iTouch

Your best bet, if you want to read HotSpot Confidential on an iPhone or iTouch: leverage the ePub format and the Bookworm ebook reader.

First, download HotSpot Confidential: The ePub edition.

Then, once you've got it on your hard drive, register with Bookworm (all you need to enter is username + email), and upload the .epub file.

At this point you can read HotSpot Confidential on your desktop computer, as long as you are connected to the Internet. This is actually a good way to read it. Check it out.

To read it on your iPhone, just log into Bookworm via the mobile link, again, as long as you are connected to the Internet.

Great excitement here in the HotSpot Confidential studio. Because this ebook is now available in the .epub format.

The cause for the high spirits: it's possible that this may be the last format/platform I have to learn.

It may also be the last ebook format/platform that the publishing industry has to figure out.

The primary reason: .epub is an open standard. It was established to be a lingua franca for the ebook community.

How to get HotSpot Confidential in the .epub format, plus background on the standard, after the jump.

Reading an ebook on a PC is convenient and accessible, particularly if you don't own a mobile device. It's just not very fun.

You can read HotSpot Confidential on a Windows PC via Mobipocket or Adobe Digital Editions

I'm on the fence on the topic of hyperlinks and the Kindle. The Kindle's browser almost works, so it's tempting to include links. But very few sites display properly in the Kindle's rude browser, in 4 shades of gray.

And you can't assume that Kindle readers will be connected (I primarily use mine on the subway, which except for one bridge, is one long tunnel of by yourself, electronically).