WEBWATCH: NET'S FREEBIE PAGES CATER TO PENNY-PINCHERS.Byline: Maureen Downey If you can't go a minute longer withoutthat mouse pad A fabric-covered rubber pad roughly 9" square that provides a smooth surface for rolling a mouse. There are also mouse pads that provide a better surface; for example, 3M makes the Precise Mousing Surface, an ultra-thin mouse pad that is engineered to reduce friction. , click away. Among the commercial sites, Fat Cat Free Cafe provides a smorgasbord sampler of sweepstakes, contests, cha rooms, coupons and cost-free baubles. With its pull-down menus, animated boxes and snazzy snaz·zy adj. snaz·zi·er, snaz·zi·est Slang Fashionable or flashy. [Origin unknown.] snaz design, Totally Free Stuff is among the most polished sites for cheapskates. It's also one of the most ambitious, announcing, ``We're trying to create the most comprehensive list of free stuff on the Internet.'' While the lengthy lists are impressive, the items aren't. You'd starve on the giveaways in the food portion - sea salt, wedding mints and tea. (How come nobody ever gives away a cheesecake?) Moe Hammy's Free-Bee Corner wasn't as slick, but it boasts a better slogan: ``You pay nothing or you pay too much.'' Its inventory falls into the usual grab bag grab bag n. 1. A container filled with articles, such as party gifts, to be drawn unseen. 2. Slang A miscellaneous collection: The meeting evolved into a grab bag of petty complaints. : mouse pads, suntan-lotion samples, shampoos and promotional tapes, videos and posters. The site concentrates on Internet handouts, rather than those that entail calling a toll-free telephone number A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, or 800 number is a special telephone number, in that the called party is charged the cost of the calls by the telephone carrier, instead of the calling party. or mailing in a request. Barbara's Freebie free·bie also free·bee n. Slang An article or service given free: "such freebies as subway and bus maps" New York. Page breaks down products by category, including health and beauty, Internet-related, catalogs and food. It further divides them by whether they're through e-mail or a toll-free number. The personal pages, published by serious skinflints, assemble the quirkiest assortments of gratis GRATIS. Without reward or consideration. 2. When a bailee undertakes to perform some act or work gratis, he is answerable for his gross negligence, if any loss should be sustained in consequence of it; but a distinction exists between non-feasance and gifts. At Next to Nothing, the selection includes a free sample of breath freshener - for your dog. Penny-pinchers thrive on spreading the gospel of giveaways, and their pages always feature links to kindred sites. Address book Fat Cat Free Cafe http://www.fatcatcafe.com/freemain.htm Totally Free Stuff http://adhere.on.ca/free/ Moe Hammy's Free-Bee Corner http://www.myna.com/(tilde A symbol used in Windows, starting with Windows 95, that maintains a short version of a long file or directory name for compatibility with Windows 3.1 and DOS. For example, the short version of a file named "Letter to Joe" would be LETTER~1. Then "Letter to Pat" becomes LETTER~2. )moehammy/freebie.htm Barbara's Freebie Page http://support.coe.fsu.edu/(tilde)brown/freebies.html CAPTION(S): box |
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