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I love sharing great finds. Here are a couple of free things I find great. Don’t you love when I share?
I spend a lot of time online. I don’t spend a lot of time reading magazines. Hence the pile of magazines I haven’t gotten through since January. (No, I can’t cancel the subscription. I really want to get through them I just haven’t had made the time.) And no, I’m not giving away my magazines for free. Well, I will give them away for free. But not until after I’ve read them.
Geez, give me a chance to explain.
I was reading a magazine (in a waiting room, not much else to do when waiting) and came across an interesting article by Christina Tynan-Wood. She’s a software/gadget/techy geek type who wrote about great free tech gear. (She called herself a geek first, I have the utmost respect for geeks.) Here are some from her list that I plan to check out:
openoffice.org – if you’re picking up a used computer and need just the basic word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and drawing programs this could be your thing. These products are open source software, hence the free to be. Windows may be a monopoly but that doesn’t mean you can’t pass GO.
youmail.com – this is top of my list to check out. What if your voice mail recognized who was calling and even sent you an email when you had a message? Even better, what if the service could welcome a caller by name or hang up on that telemarketer you just can’t shake? I would even consider paying for this much goodness, but no, it’s free. I likey.
free.avg.com – back to that used computer that doesn’t need to do much but the basics. How about a basic, but free, antivirus tool so you can still get online without worrying about horses and worms?
picasa.google.com – this is one I can attest to – awesome. If you have pictures spread all over your hard drive this beautiful program will search them all out and organize them into an easy to view catalog. Add to that basic editing features as well as the coolest email functions around. If you take pictures you should use picasa. (I don’t know about you Mac people, I’m still in the PC dark ages.)
hulu.com – if you haven’t already heard about this you probably will. And you probably don’t have cable. Hulu is a great website operated by the networks themselves to bring TV to your computer. Movies too. And good stuff. Old stuff (WKRP in Cincinnati). New stuff (Lost, Heroes). If there’s a movie you’re on the waiting list for at the library or Netflix it might be worth searching the Hulu catalog. They even advertise on TV. I haven’t seen the ads since we don’t have a TV, but I hear it’s some of Alec Baldwin’s best work.
quicken.intuit.com – I can’t say much about this one as I happily leave the bills and budget headaches to the husband. But for those of you who could use a few Tylenol over the monthly accounts it might be worth taking it online. Quicken will track monthly spending, pending bills and will even help you create a budget so next month you might be able to skip the pills entirely.
Well, I had planned to give you some more free stuff. But I am out of free time.
We’re off to a symposium on jobs in our greener economy. Yeah, free food.
If you have favorite free goods, please feel free to share. Sharing is good.
A while back I was wondering if giveaways would be permitted by the San Francisco Compact originators. And then I wondered what I would do about the issue. I have to admit I’ve put my name in for several online giveaways since that post. I figure, if I win a gift card is it really any different than being given a gift card as a gift? But I do limit those entries to stores I would really, really want stuff from. Not just plastic cash to rush out and buy crap. This is me holding to the “what are we spending our money on and is it really necessary?” aspects of the Compact.
- Jonathan Adler
And if it’s a giveaway for actual product, 90% of the time it’s for handmade stuff being given away by the artist or on their behalf. So I think that’s okay too. On a good day I consider myself an artist. So if I can support another artist I’m all for it. The more entrepreneurial the better. I love Jonathan Adler’s stuff but I’m not running out to get it saying “he’s an artist, it’s okay”. I like the little guys. And gals. You know, Jonathan Adler 20 years ago. This is me holding to the “what are we buying and bringing into our home?” aspect of the Compact.
This change in the rules, or bending of the rules, or lack of fortitude on my part is due in large part to Sommer Designs. Well, that may be passing the buck a little bit. It goes back to my need to recover those pesky chairs. I’ve been looking and looking but I haven’t found any fabric that I like in the used market. There was one piece today that came really close but the chairs are (an awesome!) bright green so not the easiest to work with. But back to the blame game.
- Erin McMorris – Park Slope
While I was doing everything but writing a post last night (which basically means I was spending way too much time on Twitter) I was reminded of a blog I like. As I was wandering around the blog I ended up on Sommer Designs’ main site. Which led me to her Etsy shop. Specifically her fabric remnants shop. So, see if you can follow my logic here. I need fabric. (And rather quickly, I’m a procrastinator.) Can’t find anything at the used shops. I found an artist who is based nearby. She has scrap fabric that I really, really like. (No this picture isn’t what I chose, but don’t you just love it? I do.) I can pay a nominal fee for her extra yardage and pick it up tomorrow morning in person. It works for me. Maybe if you’re really lucky I’ll finish the project and show you pictures tomorrow. Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do ya?
And maybe if I get lucky I will get one of her great bags for the days I don’t have to carry O’s, animal crackers, diapers, sippy cups and all that other fun stuff!
[image: bingo card no. 1 by michele bosak]
There are so many things for me to still figure out about how this year is going to work. I do my best to hold seanses and go back to the night the San Francisco group began The Compact in 2006 to see what they were talking about. It hasn’t worked yet but I’m still trying. To me, they were like the tribal council. The rules were set and if you wanted or needed something you could present it to them and yea or nea you could get it. I know the exceptions of The Compact are individual and what you need them to be. But what would they think? I miss that tribal council. Now the followers have grown in such large numbers it’s hard to get a consensus. I love the story of how one of the original group needed to buy a new shower curtain liner. The council said “no”. Word was put out among the tribe and a liner was found. I know, I know, there’s Craigslist, Freecycle, thrift stores… But it’s not the same as working within a small community.
define free
I would love to ask that original group “what about giveaways?” I know The Compact is about not spending as much money but isn’t it also about addressing our overtly consumer-istic ways? Yes, a giveaway is getting something for free. Always nice. But doesn’t it also say “Go ahead, keep producing mass quantities of stuff, we’ll take it if it’s free”? Or is this one of those be strong, become a better person life-lessons where I’m supposed to only put my name in if it’s something my family really needs? I don’t know if I have that much restraint. Have you seen some of the giveaways today? Just today I put my name in for a beautiful Whustof Santoku knife (it’s an investment piece, a need really) and a Wii Fit (I didn’t know I would still have to buy the Wii. Now I hope I don’t win.)
Obviously I haven’t made the decision whether giveaways count for me. I’m still struggling with that. Maybe another seanse will help. Will you hold my hand and say “Ooooohmmm”?
WHAT’S BEEN SAID