IF you think there’s no such thing as a free lunch, you haven’t been on the Web recently. There are thousands of websites just waiting to point you to pages of product samples, computer utilities, music, e-books, T-shirts, services and other treasures, all at zero cost. What’s the catch? For the most part, freebie providers are out to draw you to their site to drum up a little business so they can sell you something else. That said, there’s still an enormous number of great free stuff and useful services just a mouse click away.
Nojunkfree.com claims to filter out all of the “junky” free stuff to provide you with a service that selects the best of the freebies on the Net. They argue that all of the promos mentioned are totally free. Plus, they won’t list offers requiring shipping and handling charges, credit card information or self-addressed stamped envelopes. Tips are cataloged as “best, okay, and regular” according to how interesting they are. There are also links to online sweepstakes, invaluable e-newsletters, freeware (software that costs nothing) and a host of services to help you with your website.
Momsview.com lists 1001 free things for parents and babies. Download printable coupons and rebate forms for Kellogg's, Keebler, Huggies, Mott’s and other well-known brand named goods. Scroll down the page for links to printable birthday invitations and calendars, and even a one-year free subscription to American Baby Magazine.
PC owners one-stop freebie shopping begins with PC World magazine’s download center at pcworld.com/downloads. Though not exclusively free, there’s a lot to be found here, including quite a few freeware offerings such as demos and shareware in all categories from utilities to games... For instance — audio, video and image banks, screen savers and wallpaper, as well as word processing, databases and spreadsheets.
Not a PC person? Download plenty of email applications and other bonuses. There’s Acrobat Reader, for your Mac at the Freeware Network (fwnetwork.com/mac). They also have a truckload of files and useful browser accessories for both platforms, along with desktop, voice and video utilities. In addition to security tools, arcade and shockwave games, skins and animation... and, flash software.
You’ll find other great free computer stuff on the Web at staroffice.com (free word processing/spreadsheets/presentations), linux.com (for an operating system combined with free software designed for it), zonealarm.com (free firewall to protect against hackers and other evil-doers) and www.housecall.antivirus.com (a free online virus scanning and cleaning service).
