Copyright © 2002, 2000 by
Michael Segers, All rights reserved
[2002 update: Following the meltdown of the "dot-com" economy, many of these links are now dead, or the services offered there are no longer free. I decided to leave them unchanged (with one exception) to give an almost archeological view of what the 'net used to be like, way back in the year 2000!]
So
here’s another Internet scam, like those free trips to Disney World and free
clothing from the Gap: free long distance calls to any telephone in the USA.
Just remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The
problem is, no matter how good it sounds (or how bad it sounds, read on), it is
true, no strings attached, no long strings of numbers to dial, either.
Lately,
I have come up with so many good, useful things on the Internet that this time,
I'm going to share with you the practical reality rather than the virtual
reality of the Internet. You do know what virtual reality is, don't you? Well,
if not, you can check it out at this very practical reference, Webopedia:
The Only Online Dictionary and Search Engine You Need.
Let's
say you are a business owner, or maybe you just want to run the business of your
home more efficiently. May I suggest a free fax machine, free voice mail, free
second telephone line, and free postage meter--yes, all for free--as well as
free long distance calling? Take a deep breath, and repeat, these are not scams.
These are not scams… because, they aren’t!
You
can receive faxes in your e-mail from your own free fax number at two different
web sites (and there probably are others):
But,
from the first, you have to download a program to view them, and you have to
have fax software in order to send faxes. If you do not have fax software, then
register for your free fax number at the second site, which enables you to send
and receive faxes through your e-mail account with no additional software
required--and also gives you free voicemail.
Households
with computers online have a problem: the connection to the Internet is through
the telephone line. That means that when Aunt Lucretia calls her favorite
nephew, she gets a busy signal—again. You can get a second telephone line, but
a cheaper alternative is to check the free service at:
Notice
that this requires you to have Busy Call Forwarding service on your telephone,
which according to this site, costs only a couple dollars a month. I have not
used this Internet Answering Machine, but I have seen it referred to several
times, and so, I call it to your attention.
To
turn your computer into a postage meter, go to:
Again,
I have not used this service. With e-mail, I don't use many stamps. But, if you
do, this is your site. If you use snail mail very often, you will also find the
U.S. Postal Service's information-packed site very helpful:
About
those free long distance calls: this is no joke, and I have used this service
almost daily since I learned about it from my brother a couple of weeks ago. You
will need a microphone and either headphones or speakers to plug into your
computer. Then, log onto:
Sign
up for the service as you would for a new e-mail account. That's it. The quality
of the sound is not as good as on regular commercial telephone service. Since I
hear the voice of the person I am calling over my computer's speakers, the voice
actually sounds better than it does over the telephone. People whom I call, who
receive the call on their telephones, sometimes have a little difficulty
hearing. But, it is certainly worth a try. A hint: speak a little more slowly
than usual.
Now,
with all this enhanced telephone use, you need to have good telephone
directories. I have previously told you about an online directory:
I
especially appreciate Lycos's directory of toll free numbers:
www.whowhere.lycos.com/TollFree/search_tf.html
But,
here is a new treasure, a reverse telephone directory. If you have the telephone
number, then you can find the name of the person who has that number:
Having
outfitted your home office now, let's turn to the library you can create for
your children. Although I've mentioned these sites before, they are worth
calling to your attention again. You already have the web-dictionary. How about
access to hundreds of dictionaries with One-Look?
For
your encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia Britannica is nice:
If
you need materials in other languages, you can get free translation services at:
http://babelfish.altavista.com
Of,
if you want to find language lessons and dictionaries, so that you do not need a
translator:
www.ilovelanguages.com
[2002: This is such a worthwhile site that I corrected
this URL.]
Current
events are an important part of the curriculum, so for news magazines, add Time
and Newsweek for free:
www.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/toc
For
free newspapers, how about The New York Times and The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution?
www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/index.html
If
you need more newspapers, in fact, more than five thousand newspapers, head for
Australia, to the Webwombat, which has over 5000 newspapers from around the
world waiting for you:
www.webwombat.com.au/intercom/neewsprs
And
that site, by the way, has the honor of being linked to more often than any
other in the distinguished history of Rovin’ & Ravin’. But, you don’t
have to rove all the way to an Australian (.au) site to find a lot to rave
about. Right here, at Peanut.org, the good folks at the Worth County Board of
Education provide such excellent educational resources and libraries for
students and teachers that I have, ironically, referred home-schooling friends
of mine to it:
www.peanut.org/wcbe/resources.htm
With
that fantastic library, the kids are going to do so well that you will surely
want to take lots of pictures of them as they receive scholarships, diplomas,
and perhaps a Nobel Prize or two, so you might as well check out a recent R
& R article on digital cameras and such, "Giving
Your Computer Eyes."
Now,
look back at what you’ve gotten from this article, and do a quick calculation
of the price of all the free stuff you’ve been given. Fax machine, postage
meter, answering machine, long distance calls, hundreds of dictionaries in
English and other languages, an encyclopedia, Time, Newsweek, The
New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and assorted
directories, guides, and so forth. Aren’t you feeling a little warm and cozy
about Peanut.org—the warmest, coziest spot on the Internet? Why don’t you
take out your check book and do something good for your home town in cyberspace
and for yourself, because all too soon, you’ll be logging onto—
Keep
your feet dry, your heart full of noble thoughts, and all that money that this
column has saved going to worthy causes. Remember, in the next installment,
Rovin’ and Ravin’s first annual Golden
Goobers will be presented by
the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, and… talk about Internet
hoaxes. Please don’t report me to:
Rovin' on the Internet: Online Adventures