From time to time, I like to share with you some of the best non-buys on the Internet—“non-buys” because they are free. Of course, in the “dot-com” economy of the Internet, nothing is really free, but with various sorts of advertising revenues, you don’t have to pay any of your hard-earned lucre. Although some of these are repeats, all are worth your consideration. [2002 update: Considering the meltdown of the "dot-com" economy, some of these may be out of date, but it is intriguing to look back on the good old days of... just a year ago.]

Always check each website for current details. Just in the past month, many of the ad-supported free Internet service providers closed down, some with no warning. It might be a good idea, if you rely upon free services, to have a backup. There are so many free e-mail services that there is a Free E-mail Provider Guide online. Two of the best-known free e-mail services are Hotmail and Yahoo.

Fax service has become a necessity for many businesses, and I know many families for whom it almost is a necessity. You don't have to obuy a fax machine and add a second telephone line, however, since there are several free fax services available on the Internet. I know that some of these have changed recently, so, again, read the details before you sign on at eFax or Fax4Free.

The Internet Answering Machine is a free service that I have not tried, but I have two friends who use it with considerable satisfaction. Although the service itself is free, you do have to pay the telephone company a small monthly charge to use it, much less than the cost of a second telephone line, by the way.

I wrote an article raving about the joys of free long distance, but to tell you the truth, after the “new” wore off, I quit using it. I did not feel that the loss of quality was worth the savings, although there are several services available now, some of which may be better than the one I tried.

Using the Internet, you can easily avoid long distance information charges. Again, there are several choices for each of these, but here are the ones I use most often. First, here is a good directory for long distance numbers. A free directory of toll-free numbers is a double blessing. Even better than a paper directory is a reverse telephone directory, which returns the name associated with a telephone number.

For a great many options for free communications services, you can’t beat the Free eCommunications Guide.

The Internet began as a research tool, and you can still find an amazing amount of free information online. Just to get you started, here is a site that allows you to search shelves of dictionaries at a time.

The Encyclopedia Britannica sets the standard for encyclopedias on paper or online. When its resources became available for free last year, the site was so popular that it was weeks before I could log on. Now, you shouldn’t have any problems logging on. I always have difficulty logging off, because there’s always one more link that I want to follow.

Perhaps the best source of free information on the Internet that you can use in your daily life and work can be found at FirstGov, the portal site for all the federal government’s pages. Of course, again, we know this site isn’t free; it is supported by our tax dollars, so log on and get your money’s worth.

Of course, one of the very best “non-buys” in cyberspace is our own free-net, and, if I do say so myself, I think that the archives of R&R columns are worth the price of admission—that is, free. Here are three articles that will get you started on your search for good free stuff on the Internet. First, there’s "Your Free Internet Textbook."

The article "Who Wants to Be a Webmaster?" is the first of a three-part series on creating your own web pages. The three articles include links to a great deal of free programs, web space, graphics, and other materials so that you can create your own Internet presence for free. Free programs to create your own virtual books or “e-books” can be found in "Getting E-Booked for next Christmas."

I need to remind you that there is a great deal of free music available on the Internet, but I am not going to tell you where to find it, because so many of the free music sites violate copyright laws. If performers/composers want to post their own music on the Internet for you to access for free, just as many programmers post their own programs, that is their option. But, with the music sites, moreso than with any other, there are just too many problems with copyright. I know, I’m a cranky old so-and-so, but at least, I’ll admit that I’m a cranky old so-and-so who does not want anyone to violate the copyright on his creations, his writings.

I hope that the prospect of freebies motivates you to check out all the amazing resources that the Internet offers us. Keep your feet dry, your heart full of noble thoughts, and your browser pointed to some great new sites.

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