[Peltz:] We've all heard the old adage, the best things in life are free, but who really believes that? Well, "PC World" reviewed some of the free stuff on-line and actually came up with some real deals. James got together with Kim Zetter, an associate editor with the magazine. Here are some tools for all of us free-loaders.
[Kim Zetter, "pc World":] There's tons of free stuff. Just in general, the Internet is growing daily and Web sites are constantly being launched, and, you know, a lot of sites have discovered that they are getting more visitors if they offer free stuff, so that's bringing a lot of traffic to their site.
[Hattori:] Free ISPs seem to be catching on. Companies like NetZero offer you free access in exchange for you looking at their ads.
[Zetter:] Right.
[Hattori:] And they're all pretty similar?
[Zetter:] They're similar. Freei.net was one that didn't require you to actually quick on the ads. You saw a tremendous number of ads, which were annoying, but you didn't have to actually click on them in order to stay on.
[Hattori:] There is also a lot of information that is available to be tapped for free.
[Zetter:] There are a lot of services, such as reference tools, on the Internet. Sites like Brittanica.com, which give you an entire encyclopedia on-line, as well as other content that they take from periodicals. A site that we really like is Howstuffworks, which is, basically, it solves the mysteries of the world. It covers so many things from telling you now bread rises, to how the animators on a "Star Wars" flick, for instance, make the sabers shine, to how engines work, and how a Web page operates, or how your VCR works.
[Hattori:] Some other sites that are popular and free are the game sites.
[Zetter:] Well, the Internet is always fun, and there are a lot of games and entertainment sites that are out there, a lot of major sites. For instance, ESPN offers fantasy games that are available to anyone. This is a Sandbox.com, this is a game site as well, has a lot of casino games, blackjack, poker, has arcade games, a great time- waster.
[Hattori:] There's all sorts of free services that some sites offer.
[Zetter:] Right. This is AllHealth.com. It allows you to upload your health documents so that you can access them from anywhere in the world, and it also encrypts the documents so that there sit sure as well. If you find yourself in Bora-Bora and in an emergency room, then, yes, you don't have to someone fax them or to locate your doctor, they're available for you. There are a lot of legal documents, legal advice sites. We found one that actually lets you download legal forms, so that you don't have to pay a lawyer to go get the forms. Legaldocs.com will provide you with documents on how to write a will or how to rent property. In many cases, you can just fill out the information here and it will provide you with the filled out form that you just printout or download to your computer.
[Hattori:] This is Productopia. What's free here?
[Zetter:] Productopia is advice on consumer goods. You don't know which camera to buy, which digital camera to buy. They have reviews from normal people, but they also have expert reviews, so that you can balance a recommendation from someone who actually knows something about cameras with maybe four or five other consumers who bought the camera that they liked the best.
[Hattori:] This is the total trivia search engine, Absolute trivia.
[Zetter:] Right. This is another great way to waste time. Random trivia tidbit: Hens do not have to be impregnated to lay eggs. The rooster is necessary only to fertilize the egg. Give me another one.
[Hattori:] A male emperor moth can detect and find a female of his species a mile away. And that's free.
[Zetter:] That's free, yes, you don't have to pay for it.
[Hattori:] For information on how to get more free stuff on-line log onto to idg.netfreestuff. When the dot continues: If you enjoy life in the fast lane, slowdown for the lowdown on a Web site that could keep you from getting pulled over.