Freebies

What price freedom -- I mean, freebie?

Suppose, for example, I told you you get could five bucks' worth of music free of charge, but you'd have to fork over a bit of time and personal info. Sound like a fair trade?

Here's the deal: Scott Products (makers of Scott paper towels, toilet paper, and whatnot) is offering a $5 Amazon MP3 credit when you sign up for Scott Shared Values, which is basically the company's coupon/reward service.

As these things go, it's actually pretty innocuous. Just supply your name, date of birth, gender, ZIP … Read more

Given the recent spate of seemingly instant sellouts and the risk of boring everyone with "yet another tablet/TV/flash drive," I'm going to broaden my focus here a bit and share the occasional niche deal.

Today, for example, I bring you something that won't appeal to everyone, but will definitely satisfy creative types. Today only, BitsDuJour has Pixarra's TwistedBrush Pro Studio 17 (Win) absolutely free. It normally sells for $79.

Update: If that link brings up a different program, use this one instead.

TwistedBrush Pro Studio is a sophisticated paint/image-editing program that gives … Read more

So my wife and I just discovered what all the "Downton Abbey" fuss is about. We've been zipping through the first season on Netflix every night for the past week. I must admit, I don't like it -- I love it. (Yes, I realize I may have to turn in my Man Card.)

Alas, Season 2 isn't available for streaming on Netflix -- not yet, anyway. But you know what does have it? Hulu Plus.

Typically you can get a one-week Hulu Plus trial free of charge. Occasionally you see a special for two weeks. … Read more

Your tax dollars at work.

How better to describe Aesop for Children, a new iOS app (update: it's also available for Android, though not through Google Play) offered free by the Library of Congress?

I'm sure there's a debate to be had on whether the government should be in the app-development business, especially when there are competing commercial apps like Aesop's Wheel of Fables.

Personally, I don't mind seeing my taxes used for education, literacy, reading, and all that good stuff. But, like I said, it's open for debate.

In the meantime, let's … Read more

So, yeah, that 32GB flash drive I posted yesterday sold out pretty quickly -- just like I said it would. If you missed out, here's a decent consolation prize: Today, and again while supplies last, Newegg has the 64GB Team Group Color Turn flash drive for $27.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code EMCNBNG24 at checkout. This one's purple.

Getting back to today's deal, videos come in all shapes and sizes (make that formats and sizes), and they're not always compatible with your mobile devices. To make them compatible, you need a video converter.… Read more

When it comes to security software, there are plenty of perfectly good freebies. Avast Free, Microsoft Security Essentials, Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition...the list goes on and on. You really can safeguard a PC without spending a dime.

That said, why not use a full-featured, support-backed security suite if you can get it for free as well? Every so often I see a deal on one such suite, but today, Newegg has nine Windows security programs for free (after rebate).

Scroll down just a bit and you'll see the various choices, all of which show their regular prices … Read more

Happy Friday the 13th. Let's celebrate this no-different-than-any-other-day-on-the-calendar day with a great freebie!

Cubby, the new file-syncing and -sharing service from LogMeIn, has been running a closed, invitation-only beta for the past few months. It's still closed, still invitation-only -- but I've got invites just for you, Cheapskate readers.

In other words, you can now get a free 5GB Cubby account. Just type in your e-mail address and presto, you've got access. (Watch your inbox for an activation e-mail. Mine arrived almost instantly.)

Quick caveat: This is capped at 5,000 users. If the limit is … Read more

Despite recent advances in streaming media, when it comes to watching movies, you still can't beat Blu-ray.

Indeed, it's precisely because of Blu-ray's unsurpassed picture and sound quality, to say nothing of its copious extras, that many movie lovers still prefer to own their favorite films on those shiny silver platters.

Shiny, expensive silver platters. I kind of feel like now that I've bought and paid for a Blu-ray of "Despicable Me," I should be able to make a backup copy -- just in case the original gets scratched. And what if I want … Read more

If you somehow managed to avoid buying Angry Birds Seasons over the past 20 months, your patience has paid off.

Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Seasons HD (for iPad) are the iTunes free apps of the week. They're normally priced at 99 cents and $1.99, respectively.

Apple's "week" began yesterday (Thursday), so you've got roughly six days to take advantage of this offer.

True to its name, Angry Birds Seasons is a theme-oriented spin-off of the original game -- that theme being, well, seasons. Thus you've got level collections ranging from summer and winter to St. Patrick's Day and Halloween.… Read more