Freebie Friday

Freebies and the way of the internet have changed over time. For example, back in the mid 1990’s you could get free packages of JellyBelly just for filling out your mailing address (no email was harvested to be sold to spammers). JellyBelly doesn’t do that anymore, but that gesture still rings loudly for large family penny-pinching dads.

Most results when searching for freebies online take you to participation businesses. You sign up for 9 credit cards (along with your soul) and they (just might) give you an iPod. I’ve been instructed to be wary of such ventures.

Fortunately, there is a site which tracks down the old fashioned freebie forms, though most forms require eMail these days. Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder provides a list of sites where you generally enter in a short form and wait for the goods to roll in. Just like the good ol’ days.

It’s even cheaper than the $39 Experiment since you don’t spend money on postage, though Tom Locke gets double-snaps for his humor and creativity. Someday I’ll do the same with my children to teach them the value of humor and not being afraid to ask.

What makes Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder really stand apart is that it has a mixture of free Christian resources side by side with fizzy bath tablets, McGruff (the Crime Dog) Trading Cards and a Monkey Brains (oatmeal) goodies bag. Fun stuff for kids, useful stuff for families.

Read the instructions on each site for privacy policies and restrictions. For example, there’s a limit of one Monkey Brains Goody bag per household, but each child’s name may be submitted for the McGruff trading cards.

Have Fun!

QTVR of Rock Ledge Ranch

Rock Ledge Ranch 180 degree Panorama June 3, 2006

Last summer during a visit to one of my favorite living historical museums, Rock Ledge Ranch, I decided to make a QuickTime VR of the entrance.

This was done using all open-source tools that are far more advanced than the originating QTVR tools a decade ago. Back in 1995 when you wanted to try this you had to be very careful with the nodal point while panning the equipment. The QTVR software ran somewhere between $600 and $800. It was very technical and you had to tilt your head sideways to view the flow as it cut and restitched photos. I think you even had to do all this on a Macintosh, too – though shouldn’t everyone be using a Mac (grin)?

Since then, people have reverse engineered how QTVR works and have created some very slick open source tools that allow us to build these on a PC and at much less than the $600+ original software price. Even better, some of the software is extremely good at cleaning up our angular distortions from bad nodal points. That means even simple tripods (like the cheapo walmart brand used for this photo shoot) can be used without the expensive $100-$500 bracket solutions.

I meant to post this up ages ago. I also meant to post every weekday evening, feed the homeless and save the whales. While you’re waiting for that surge in whale population, enjoy the virtual panorama past the entrance across the bridge of Rock Ledge Ranch.

Microsoft EULA Haiku

Microsoft EULA Haiku
Microsoft EULA Haiku takes text directly from Microsoft’s End User Legal Agreement (EULA) for Windows XP Home Edition and forms it into beautiful, if not disturbing, poetry.

Click on the image to the right to get started.

Some of my favorite results are:

contact Microsoft
for loss of business profits
serving your country

There is no software
please see the “Consumer rights”
legal agreement

you are not allowed
refund, if applicable
shall be limited

they supersede all
courts sitting in Toronto
to use the Software

Software is designed
if failure of the Software
you are not using

accident, abuse
limited to the greater
U.S. Government

Suppliers shall not
copy, or use this software
you do not agree

and the very succinct:

in accordance with
the written materials
legal agreement

local law applies
one copy of the Software
License Agreement

Have Fun. If you find a result that is particularly amusing, please comment.