Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Posts tagged free
One Man’s Trash Is Another’s Treasure: 10 Websites For Swapping Your Stuff
Oct 16th
We learn all about making swaps from our childhood.
Remember when you used to negotiate a trade for baseball cards or any other collector’s items? Heck, we used to swap lunches sometimes — almost nothing was off limits.
But when you grow up, that all changes for some reason. What’s mine is mine, what’s your is yours. We go to great lengths in today’s culture to make sure people know just how much *stuff* we accumulate, unwilling to share it.
Here’s where the Internet is helping to disrupt culture, at least in some corners of the world.
Perhaps it is the economy, perhaps it is the new generation. Perhaps it is the “green” machine that’s making all of notice things like the fact that the average American throws out 68 pounds of clothing each and every year according to Good Housekeeping Magazine. 10 years…that’s 680 lbs of unnecessary death to clothing. 20 years. . . 30 years . . . And it doesn’t apply to just clothes!
The Internet has taken the friction out of making swaps or just plainly giving usable things away for someone else to enjoy it. Here’s a bunch of websites including some Good Housekeeping highlighted in their recent November 2010 issue which you can explore so that those DVDs, you know, the ones you bought in the 90′s…the ones you can admit that you’ll *never* watch again, can be exchanged for a shiny new DVD movie you can watch an upcoming weekend (especially since the Blockbuster store has gone R.I.P.!). Got a book? Exchange it! Got some baby toys or clothes? Swap it!
Here’s a list of 10 websites you can start with to get a (re)newed collection of things. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Wake Up And Remember By The Coffee
Sep 17th
So I was headed into Starbucks for my Grande Pike Hazelnut Cold Soy and plopped down onto one of the stuffy armchairs to take a load off my heels.
I cracked open my laptop and started to wince because I didn’t remember if I used my Starbucks registered gift card within the last 30 days or not and I just paid cash.
Why is this important? Because you get up to 2 free hours of WiFi daily at any Starbucks if you just use a registered Starbucks prepaid card within the last 30 days. Otherwise, pay up pal.
But then it hit me and I remembered!
And in fact, there was no real need to remember, because my browser screen told me everything I needed to know right then and there:
YUP, Starbucks finally got rid of that last forced-loyalty obstacle and is giving away free one-click WiFi to anyone that seeks it out.
The connection is still on the AT&T Wireless network — which means my iPhone gets free coverage anyway there. But my laptop can now jump on the net instantly without any authentication nonsense.
Whew. One less thing between me and my emails.
BONUS TIP: When you’re out and about, Starbucks isn’t the only national chain to offer completely free WiFi these days. Check out McDonald’s too — you now have access to free AT&T WiFi at those locations as well. That’s not enough? How about Barnes & Nobles? More you say? Ok, stop by any Office Depot or Staples or even Panera Bread nationwide. Heck, you don’t even have to go into a store many times — like when you’re in the NYC metro area, you might find yourself in a free wifi zone in town. Enjoy!
QUESTION: What other national chains are offering free WiFi?
How To Get Free Access to 3 WiFi Hotspot Networks
Aug 12th
Last time, I blogged about getting access to Comcast’s WiFi hotspot network for free. It’s a little known secret that the marketing department over at the cable internet company hasn’t really pushed for some reason.
But today, I found out that there’s more to the story!
Comcast customers now get free access to two other cable internet wifi networks, completely free…and vice versa.
If you are a Comcast Internet customer like me, all you have to do is log onto one of the three wifi networks: xfinitiwifi, optimumwifi or timewarnercablewifi with your comcast email address and password like you do with your own Comcast wifi network
If you like Free, this is like FREE TIMES THREE.
If you don’t believe me, just look-up the coverage map for Optimum Online’s WiFi network and Time Warner see for yourself!
This is a huge win especially those that live in the tri-state New York City area since each company dominates different geographies around the City. So now when you travel about the region, you are most probably near either a Starbucks or McDonalds — or one of the three major wifi cable company wifi networks — You’re covered!
Check out this quick video that shares the details of the wifi network collaboration, worthy of to be called the real triple-play deal!
QUESTION: IS IT TRUE? DO YOU SEE ANY OF THE THREE WIFI HOTSPOTS IN YOUR AREA? LEAVE A MESSAGE TO SHARE THE RESULTS IN YOUR AREA!
How To Get Free WiFi Hotspot Access If You Are A Comcast Internet Customer
Aug 10th
Ever been out and about wishing you had a wifi connection?
Of course you have!
Instead of trolling for open wifi signals, you might want to consider a more reliable solution. Of course, you could sign-up for Boingo, Wayport or other WiFi networks, but if you are a Comcast Hispeed Internet Customer (randomly branded Xfinity recently to confuse customers as much as possible of course), you might want to check out this option before you go out and spend any more money.
I recently found out that I can get access to a free WiFi hotspot roaming account just because I’m a Comcast customer — and so can you!
In fact, through this largely unpromoted feature of Comcast Internet accounts, you already have it! There’s no need to turn anything on, upgrade or change anything on your account.
If you take a look at the coverage map of NYC and the Tri-State Area, you’ll see that there are TONS of Free WiFi Hotspots available for you to connect to in almost any general vicinity.
Check out the quick video blog update below which I recorded today and uploaded using the free WiFi connection that details how to get free WiFi access across town and while traveling:
Read the rest of this entry »
Deal Alert: Free Apple iPhone 3G 8GB (No Rebates Either)
Feb 27th
Here’s a straight-forward deal alert:
If you’ve been saving up for an Apple iPhone on the AT&T network, you don’t have to break open your piggy bank any more.
BestBuy usually sells the Apple iPhone 3G with 8GB Memory in shiny Black for $99 with contract or upgrade for existing customers.
In fact, if you want to shell out your 100 bucks for the iPhone, you can see the regular offer on their website right now. Just go to www.BestBuy.com and search for the “iPhone 3G”.
You won’t be able to buy it on the internet like you can from AT&T Wireless or Apple.com because Best Buy only sells the phone directly to you in their big box store locations.
But if you can get $100 off the price of an iPhone 3G, wouldn’t you be willing to drive to the store to pick it up?
This offer is extremely tempting. . . Read the rest of this entry »
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!