(yellol)

the freebie blog


A “Free” One Year Subscription to PC Magazine

Alright, this isn’t really a free offer. As I’m sure most people already discovered, PC Magazine has discontinued its print edition of, well, PC Magazine and is going completely digital. However, they will continue to make the print edition of PC Magazine available online, and you can get a one-year “subscription” for free through GoReadGreen. Although magazines are getting outdated (and are bad for the environment), I still like having a paper version to complement the internet.

I guess we should be content, since this online version is the best we got (and it’s free).

Sign up for the offer here.

Need to make a quick (free) call to Europe?

This site is actually surprisingly helpful. I’m sure that there are those times where you want to check on your grandparents but are limited because of those ridiculous international call rates. Well, VOIP technology has largely resolved that issue but what if you don’t happen to use Skype? Well, you can always download Skype and buy a few minutes, but I know that my dear readers are too cheap to. :-P

Evaphone is an online service that allows you to make free international calls from the comfort of your computer. The service is streamlined and simple as well. However, it has one major fault. You are limited to a certain time before you either purchase minutes or your call will be ended. Now, before you get all disappointed, first check out the available free time. For example, calling a mobile phone in Algeria, you are limited to eight seconds. :-( On the other hand, a call to Estonia gives you almost two minutes. The average is around a minute or so, not to shabby for a quick call.

The only requirements is a broadband internet (which you have…of course :-D ) and a microphone. If you don’t have a microphone, you can get a cheap bluetooth headset with an adapter for less than ten bucks nowadays. So what are you waiting for, check out Evaphone right here (and go buy that headset)!

Watch out, Skype!

Skype has got some serious competition now, as of this week. Released in public beta, VoxOx has great potential. Loaded with features like call encryption, the service gains some big momentum in that area. Possibly the best feature of all would be the free phone number. Yeah, you heard that, a phone number with no strings attached. The only downside is that you can’t pick your phone number, but I suppose that I shouldn’t be complaining since it is free. To top that, you get two hours of free calling (120 points)! Along with cheap calling rates, you can “earn” minutes by referring users over to VoxOx, an extra two hours for every new user. There are also rumors that they’ll have an ad system, where users can earn points by viewing advertisements.

All of this is pretty sweet stuff, but in the end it comes down to quality. Can VoxOx match Skype’s relatively high-end call quality? And to answer myself, it would be yes. During some test calls I made, VoxOx has solid quality, whether I called landlines or mobile phones going sixty miles an hourĀ  down the freeway. The only time quality lagged was against some poor VOIP services I put it against, but it was completely the fault of the other provider and definitely not VoxOx.

If you’re still reading this and not already signing up, stop waiting and get to it! To sign up, just click here! By the way, if you want to get me two free hours of calling time, enter your email in the comment section and I’ll email you an invite as soon as possible! I remember favors… :-D

Downloads videos from the internet in one handy app

Orbit Downloader is a free application that allows you to download videos from many sites without the hassle of downloading many individual programs. If you do a quick Google search for “downloading YouTube Videos”, you’ll get hundreds of results, varying from applications, like YoutubeGet, to Web 2.0 sites, likes File2HD.com Unfortunately, those methods usually only work for YouTube and downloading from Dailymotion would be a whole other thing. That’s what makes Orbit Downloader so great! It’s compatible with HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, RTSP, and MMS protocols, which allows Orbit Downloader to download virtually any video! The only big fault is that it misses support for the RTMP protocol, although Orbit Downloader says it well be available soon.

All in all, Orbit Downloader is a solid and free application that allows you to download a variety of video. As I always say, the best things in life are free. This is a great example because I just purchased YoutubeGet for $29.95 and it can only download Youtube videos. Yet with Orbit Downloader, I can download virtually anything and for free!

So, what are you waiting for? Download Orbit Downloader here!

How To Download Games For Free

EDIT: A friend mentioned that this can be time-consuming for the first time and that if you don’t understand some “technical” terms, you might not fully grasp the usually brief “readme” files. I thought that this link might help you guys too. It shows some basic problems and the staff is very accommodating in the comments section of that post.

This is going to be another one of our few P2P/Warez posts, second actually. I’ve compiled the data from the internet and have not actually downloaded any of these games. It’s illegal, no question about it. However, it has its uses. For example, you can “test run” a game before purchasing a legit copy. I don’t recommend you doing any more than that, as you are already treading into a risky area!

There are several different methods in downloading “cracked” video games. Note that this is one of the more time consuming methods as you have to download several, usually up to fifteen or so files. However, this is probably the safest method out there, so the extra effort is well worth it. I also recommend that you aren’t a complete noob and have some experience in following instructions. :-D

For this “guide”, I am going to use TotalGamersDownload as an example. Note that there are thousands of these types of websites out there, although this is probably one of the best ones out there. (Many “free” download websites are SCAMS, so be careful!) I’m only going to work with PC games today. I don’t know how to create console game rips, nor have I ever done it, so don’t ask me. All I know is that it involves modding your console: ripping it open, adding some “parts”, etc. You get the point.

So, visit TotalGamersDownload and select “Free PC Games” from the sidebar section, Labels. If you can’t do that, then forget it and don’t read on.

Click "Free PC Games".

Click "Free PC Games"

Now that you done that, select a game that you would like. We’ll use World War II: Tank Combat. Please note that we are giving you instructions to downloading games and we are not actually going to download any game, as it is clearly illegal. Sorry about the repetition, I’m just trying to make a point. :-)

Now, scroll down and find where all those files are.

Make sure your computer meets the requirements and then download the links. In this case, there are three.

Now, you’ll need Winrar. This, I have used. :-) Visit rarlab and download it. Once you have it, run the installer.

There will be no more pictures from now on as we didn’t download the game and we are compiling the steps from other resources.

Select all the files that you downloaded, all the “.rar” files should be blue, and then right-click. There should be an option that says “Extract Files”. Click on it and follow through with OK. If it asks for a password, type it in as given on TotalGamersDownload.

Once all the files are extracted, there should be installation instructions in a “readme” file. Every game should be slightly varying so I can’t give you much more detail then this. Just use your common sense and you’ll do fine!

That’s about it! Once again, I didn’t do this and can’t give you much further help. However, if isn’t related to the actual installation of the game, email us or leave a comment and we’ll do the best we can! I hope you don’t take advantage of this and start downloading content for free. :-) By the way, if this post is in anyway inaccurate, please leave a comment and we’ll gladly update this post!

Paranoid About Malware, Sandboxie’s Coming To The Rescue!

To those of you who download suspicious files, like “free” applications, you might want to run it through with Sandboxie first. Of course, I’m sure you know to only download from trusted source (no, that doesn’t include RapidShare) :-)

Sandboxie is an application that allows you to “test run” applications before actually downloading them to make sure they are safe. Or as Sandboxie.com puts it: “Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

Download Sandboxie HERE or visit Sandboxie.com.

Game Giveaway of the Day

I’m sure some readers read our previous post about Giveaway of the Day. Game Giveaway of the Day is a division of the same site that, you guessed it, has game giveaways. They usually aren’t the most exciting games but once again, it’s free. The selection isn’t terrible either and some games are actually quite fun and it can save you quite a few bills as it adds up. So check it out here!

Get Paid To Search

Now might be a great time to change your default search engine! Scour is a “dynamic” search engine that scours the internet…duh! :-P It combines the results of Google, Yahoo!, and MSN! The results are quite accurate and although Google is still the dominant search engine, Scour is getting there. What keeps it on the top is user input. You can review and give votes to results. You might wonder why people would spend the extra time. It’s what makes Scour the best; you get paid to search, vote, and review!

Sure, it’s a little off-balanced and getting a $100 Visa gift card will take a while, but if you use Scour as your default search engine and spend a little extra “review” time, it’s not as hard as it looks! An extra $100 Visa gift card in your wallet can really come in handy sometimes! So check out Scour and I hope you enjoy it!

Get Answers The Easy Way

Scenario 1:

You’re sitting in a classroom and you didn’t study. The professor leaves the room (I really doubt this is going to happen) and you have your cellphone. Of course, you can text your friend, but he might get the problem wrong. Then’s their ChaCha. You give them a text and you have a detailed paragraph only a few minutes later!

Scenario 2:

You’re out-of-state and you have twenty bucks on you. Your car is out of gas and you just pulled over. The gas station in front of you is too expensive. You can always call your family, 5 hours away, to come and bring you some money or you can ask ChaCha about the cheapest gas station in the area.

ChaCha is a service that you can call or text and ask questions. The service is completely free and the answers are accurate! You can text ChaCha (242242) or call 1-800-2ChaCha and get answers in minutes! The service is quite popular and has good reviews all over the internet! So even if you don’t need answers, check out ChaCha for the heck of it!

Get Free eBooks!

The new era of reading is going digital! With advances such as the Amazon Kindle, the only thing hindering the development of digital books is the pricing. However, like most digital products, there are freebies available on the internet. Classic Reader is a great example. You can read entire books online with minimal advertising! At the time of the post, they have 3,464 books available! This service is completely legal with no strings attached as the copyright for the writings has expired. You can even download the ebooks if you register (which is for free)!

Classic Reader is definitely worth checking out, especially if you love those old classics!

Hulu, Free Online Movies and TV Shows

Is there another reason why Bluray isn’t doing as well as expected? Maybe it’s not all about the ridiculous pricing. Online video streaming might just be the next generation of movies. Why go buy a disc when you can just watch it from your web browser? In fact, some people say that they have cancelled their TV subscriptions because they use Hulu now! Although the movie and TV selection is still on the relatively small side, they are beginning to expand rapidly. They already have some great movies, like Saints And Soldiers! Streaming is very fast and the buffering in the beginning usually takes 5-10 seconds. The only con about the service is the advertising. Yes, TV has advertising too and Hulu has a lot less and it’s for free but it still is annoying seeing those ads pop out.

Overall, Hulu is a great and solid service and definitely worth checking out!

WakeUpOnStandBy

I don’t really need this…but some people might find this software come in handy!

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to wake up your system from a Stand-by mode or Hibernation programmatically? The answer is yes, it’s possible. This simple utility will do it for you. Once activated it resides in the system and wakes it up at predefined time, runs a file and if necessary sends it into Stand-by mode, hibernates it or shuts it down. It can also be used to run scheduled operations every day, or on specific day(s).

Features

  • Can restore almost every Windows-based operating system from a Stand-by mode (and some from hibernation) that support ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) (For support check computer’s BIOS as well as Control Panel -> Power Options);
  • Can run a file or open a web page at a predetermined time after a wake-up event, during normal operation, or before performing power operation;
  • Can send system back to Stand-by mode (hibernate it, shut it down, or log off user) after a certain time interval;
  • Can detect if Stand-by mode (or hibernation) is supported by your system;
  • Can turn the monitor on and hold off screen-saver during the waiting time;
  • Can repair local area network and high-speed Internet connection upon waking up from a suspended state;
  • Can send system into Stand-by mode or hibernate it with more options than available through Operating System;
  • Can be incorporated into an in-car (entertainment) PC system to speed up booting time & save battery
  • Can be run from the Windows Command Line without user interaction;
  • Can be saved as a batch file for later use.

Download WakeUpOnStandBy.

Source: via [DennisBabkin]