The NerdLounge Free File

[WJMorris3]

I'm thinking we should have a place for us nerds to pass on deals that we happen to find, preferably for free things. (Who doesn't like free, after all?) Note: I'm not asking for the bots to spam this thread - this is just for normal free things.

As a start:

Anyone remember BOOK IT!? Pizza Hut used to (and still does) have a program to promote reading in schools. Well, the program celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and they're looking for BOOK IT! alumni. They're putting together a map to show all the cool things that BOOK IT! alumni have done.

So if you're a BOOK IT! alumnus or alumna, they're looking for you. Plus, you'll get a trip down nostalgia lane - they're offering a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza (just like the old days) for carryout only when you redeem online. Just sign up at:

http://bookitprogram.com/bookitalumni/

I remember being a BOOK IT! participant back when I was at Malaga School in the 1988-89 school year. While my first grade teacher and I didn't get along, mainly because she had never come across a kid who hated to color, I had no problem collecting my free pizzas every now and again. (Oddly enough, said school closed after that school year and now it's a jughandle.)

What say you?

[eselle28]

I remember BOOK IT! I'm also not opposed to free pizza. Thanks for the share!

Oh, and here's my contribution, also with a literary theme! For people who like their books in audio form and want some freebies, LibriVox has a collection of public domain books (both classics and things I've never heard of) read aloud that can be downloaded for free: https://librivox.org/

[fakely mctest]

Oh wow, BOOK IT! I'm not sure if I was in that one or another local free pizza-based literacy program.

In the spirit (badum tish) of Halloween: here's a site where you can listen to a big chunk of the old radio program, Quiet Please. As a connoisseur of OTR, particularly the thriller programs, Quiet Please is one of the better ones when it comes to making the whole "we have to describe this thing because radio even though no one would ever bother to describe it IRL" thing as natural-seeming as possible. In particular, I recommend The Thing On the Fourble Board, which is considered by many people to be the scariest episode of any OTR program ever.

Larry Fessenden (one of my fave indie horror directors), does Tales from Beyond the Pale, a modern audio horror anthology. There are a couple available for free listening here.

[reboot]

Project Gutenberg is a great source for free ebooks: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Category:Bookshelf

They are especially strong on classic literature and off copyright texts

[Enail]

Because no one seems to know this: your public library system probably has ebooks available!

[fakely mctest]

Because no one seems to know this: your public library system probably has ebooks available!

I find the public library's situation when it comes to ebook rights incredibly frustrating.  My library does have some, but they've rarely got licenses for more than 3 copies of any one book so the waiting lists for popular books are quite long.  And because there are no renewals you can only have the book up to 21 days.  I have heard that this is mostly because Amazon is being a butt about pricing for libraries which...I understand that their bottom line would probably benefit if all libraries went away, but it just seems incredibly petty and they're passing up a lot of nice publicity they could get by just giving an underfunded public resource a break.

/amazon rant

AND, to be helpful: Coursera is a legit source for free university classes online (usually involving a fair amount of work, so be prepared).

[Mel]

Along the free books line, there's a huge archive of religious, spiritual, mythological, and folklore-related texts from all different cultures available for reading here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/

And on a different note, I haven't used this myself but I know other forum members have found it helpful: MoodGYM for free self-directed CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)

[eselle28]

Because no one seems to know this: your public library system probably has ebooks available!

I find the public library's situation when it comes to ebook rights incredibly frustrating.  My library does have some, but they've rarely got licenses for more than 3 copies of any one book so the waiting lists for popular books are quite long.  And because there are no renewals you can only have the book up to 21 days.  I have heard that this is mostly because Amazon is being a butt about pricing for libraries which...I understand that their bottom line would probably benefit if all libraries went away, but it just seems incredibly petty and they're passing up a lot of nice publicity they could get by just giving an underfunded public resource a break.

/amazon rant

I'm not even sure I'm on board with the assumption that libraries have any sort of substantial impact on their bottom line. It's presumably in their interest to have successive generations of young people become interested in reading as opposed to other interests and also for people to explore new authors, and I suspect libraries are helpful on both counts while also not making a huge impact on the number of books sold. I also agree it would be helpful, non-controversial publicity for them to ease up on libraries a bit.

[Mel]

I'm not even sure I'm on board with the assumption that libraries have any sort of substantial impact on their bottom line. It's presumably in their interest to have successive generations of young people become interested in reading as opposed to other interests and also for people to explore new authors, and I suspect libraries are helpful on both counts while also not making a huge impact on the number of books sold. I also agree it would be helpful, non-controversial publicity for them to ease up on libraries a bit.

Depending on what the source was, I wouldn't assume it's definitely Amazon. Many of the major publishing houses have total control over what their ebook prices are even on Amazon's website, so it wouldn't make sense for them not to have control over library pricing too. Also, the publishers have total control over whether the "lending" function on their ebooks is turned on, and I've noticed that basically all of the major publishers have it off, which suggests to me that they're paranoid about how many people can access a book after one purchase too.

There are many things I dislike about Amazon, but being familiar with the publishing industry, I think they take often take an unfair share of the blame when it comes to ebook issues.

[eselle28]

Depending on what the source was, I wouldn't assume it's definitely Amazon.  Many of the major publishing houses have total control over what their ebook prices are even on Amazon's website, so it wouldn't make sense for them not to have control over library pricing too.  Also, the publishers have total control over whether the "lending" function on their ebooks is turned on, and I've noticed that basically all of the major publishers have it off, which suggests to me that they're paranoid about how many people can access a book after one purchase too.

There are many things I dislike about Amazon, but being familiar with the publishing industry, I think they take often take an unfair share of the blame when it comes to ebook issues.

Ah, that makes sense. It's probably a little too easy to blame Amazon, since they're more visible to consumers than the other players in the industry.

[Wondering]

Yeah, my one librarian friend is always ranting about Harper Collins and their rules about library ebook lending. Harper Collins apparently only allows 26 ebook checkouts before the library has to buy a new ebook. A lot of libraries use the ebook service Overdrive, and Overdrive is the middle man that has to enforce the checkout rule, not Amazon, even if they have Kindle versions of the book available.

It is quite frustrating, along with the limitations on how many ebooks can be checked out at a time. Almost every one I want to check out from the library has a waiting list, but if I could get down to the actual library, the hard copy would usually be available.

[eselle28]

Revealing just how much of an office drone I am, and also not free:

Sale stuff at Ann Taylor is an extra 75% off with the code FALLSALE right now. I got three sweaters and a dress for $109.

[Wondering]

Oh, nice! Ann Taylor is one of the few stores that actually has petites.

[WJMorris3]

Been awhile for this BUT...

If you have Auntie Anne's, Philly Pretzel Factory, Wetzel's Pretzels, or PretzelMaker shops in your area, they're giving freebies tomorrow!

[Sponsored content]