If you went out on Black Friday and snagged a cheap e-reader, it’s time to load it up with as many free e-books as it can hold. The amount of free stuff out there is astounding, ranging from public domain classics to new releases you can borrow from libraries. [More]
free stuff
Cold Stone Treats Only 'Free' If You Make A Mandatory Donation
By 9.28.11
There’s an annual event at Cold Stone Creamery outlets called the World’s Largest Ice Cream Social. Part of the chain’s September fund-raising drive for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, it’s billed as an event offering free ice cream during a three-hour period on a certain day. Melissa had put this on her calendar weeks in advance, because she’s on a budget, and hey: free ice cream! But she arrived at the mall to find employees posted at the Cold Stone door, not allowing anyone in unless they made a donation first. That’s not free, that’s a cover charge. Isn’t it? [More]
Consumer Reports: Are New LED Lightbulbs As Good As The Inefficient Incandescents?
By 8.30.11
Our scientific sisters over at Consumer Reports have set out to answer the question that’s on everyone’s minds lately: Is an LED lightbulb really a viable replacement for the controversial-and-soon-to-be-phased-out inefficient incandescent?
CR says: [More]
Audit Stanford Computer Science Courses Online For Free
By 8.22.11
Those who always wanted to tell people they studied at Stanford but lacked the grades or money to apply are in luck, because professors there have made some classes available online for free. Anyone can watch lectures and view class materials, submit assignments and receive feedback. Those who make the grade can receive “statements of accomplishments” from the instructor. [More]
Today Only: Get 24 Hours Of Free Access To Consumer Reports
By 7.5.11
If you’ve ever wanted to check out the all the product ratings published online by our smarter siblings at Consumer Reports but were hesitant to subscribe, you might want to keep reading. [More]
Free Stuff You Can Find At The Library
By 6.24.11
When you think of libraries, you think of book shelves. Well, book shelves and creepy dudes on computer terminals. But there is also a whole bunch of publicly-funded free stuff you can use and borrow if you know what to look for. [More]
Remember To Score Your Free Donuts Today At Krispy Kreme And Dunkin' Donuts
By 6.3.11
In case you’d forgotten to mark it on your calendar, today is National Doughnut Day, a day on which we remember the true meaning of Christmas that we work hard and deserve a free damn donut every once in a while. Luckily, the folks at Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts are willing to oblige. [More]
Yelp Elite Reviewers Engage In Degenerate Feeding Frenzy, Terrify Waitstaff
By 3.23.11
The phrases “elite Yelp reviewer” and “ravenous horde” do not normally go together, but this e-mail from Yelp to its most insightful and prolific New York City users makes us wonder. In the e-mail, members of the Elite squad are scolded for poor etiquette, auctioning off their event invitations to the highest bidder(!), and swarming on trays of free food like a swarm of highly opinionated locusts, terrifying waitstaff and keeping less ravenous partygoers from tasting the snacks. [More]
At Subway, 'Any Purchase' Only Means A Sandwich
By 2.17.11
Maggie stopped by Subway on Valentine’s Day for a free cookie promotion. Mmm, cookie. While the promotion ostensibly was for a free cookie with any purchase, Maggie wanted to purchase a one cookie to get her free cookie. According to the Subway franchise she visited, this doesn’t work. [More]
Target Cashier Didn't Charge Me For DVD. Should I Tell Them?
By 12.21.10
Reader Steve had every intention of paying for the two DVDs he purchased at Target the other day. Problem is, the cashier only rang up one of them and now he doesn’t know what to do. [More]
Guy Gets $273 Worth Of Free Stuff From Various Companies Just By Asking
By 11.16.10
A blogger decided to stage an experiment, buying $39 worth of stamps to send letters to random companies asking them for free stuff. His haul justified the up-front expense several times over, netting him $273 worth of freebies. [More]
Pepsi Giving Away 10 Million Cans Of Sierra Mist Natural This Weekend
By 10.8.10
For years, Sierra Mist has toiled in the shadow of Sprite. But as we reported last month, PepsiCo is hoping to give the lemon-lime drink a competitive edge by replacing HFCS with real sugar and changing the name to Sierra Mist Natural. In an effort to win people over to their product, PepsiCo plans on giving away at least 10 million cans of the drink to Walmart shoppers this weekend. [More]
B&Bs Offering Free Rooms To Veterans On Nov. 10
By 10.7.10
As a special thank you to members of our armed forces, more than 500 bed and breakfasts in the U.S. and Canada are offering free rooms to veterans on Nov. 10, the night before Veterans Day. [More]
FedEx Office Now Has Free WiFi
By 10.6.10
While a FedEx Office might not be as comfy or aromatic as a Starbucks, free WiFi access is still free WiFi access. And as of today, around 1,000 of the printing-and-shipping shops (formerly known as FedEx Kinko’s) have begun offering what they claim is free and unlimited internet access from the folks at AT&T. [More]
Papa John's Gives Me Free Pizza, Soda To Make Up For Closing Early
By 9.21.10
Mike’s late-night call to Papa John’s yielded no immediate cure for his munchies because the store had closed early. But due to a guilty employee and a screw-up the next day, the call yielded a bounty of free lunch. [More]
Check Out These Sites For Free Audio Books
By 8.24.10
Who says story time has to stop when you exit kindergarten? Audio books provide all the stimulation of reading without that annoying reading part. And the internet is full of avenues to get them for free without having to resort to piracy. [More]
More People Getting DVDs From Library Than From Netflix Or Redbox
By 7.29.10
Why rent the cow when you can borrow the milk for free? That seems to be the mindset of many Americans, as a new study claims that more DVDs are borrowed from libraries each day than are rented via Netflix, Redbox or Blockbuster. [More]
Valve Gives Unfairly Banned Players Free Zombie Game
By 7.29.10
To make up for mistakenly banning 12,000 Steam gamers from playing Modern Warfare 2 online, Valve served up a peace offering of up to two free Left 4 Dead 2 downloads. [More]
