Absolutely Free Software -
Best Windows Freeware
September 26, 2005.
Hacking the Library - 3
Where information is already free
Music for Free - Movies for Free
Gone are the days when libraries only offered scratched, vinyl, classical records. Now they offer contemporary scratched CD's and DVD's!
You can never be sure of the quality of the physical media that's available at the library, but most districts have greatly expanded their collections to include a much broader range of music and videos.
Because of the rapid turnover of movies, most libraries will not allow you to place requests for DVD's. If you take the time to browse through the collections however, you can often find a surprisingly large amount of recent releases as well as a good chunk of films that your local video chain doesn't carry.
Music CD's usually can be requested, and libraries generally try to have a broad range of styles and tastes. Districts typically will have at least the Billboard top 40 and the top artists in every major category of music.
If you check out a CD and rip it to your MP3 player, you're on your honor to delete it when the CD is due.
Free Children's Computer Games
You probably won't find Half Life or Doom, but you probably can find the outstanding Jump Start series as well as dozens or hundred of other edutainment titles. It's also common to find Leap Pad cartridges and books, which can get very pricey if purchased. This is an excellent way to test out what packages your child likes before risking another twenty dollars on titles like "Scooby-Doo and the Reading Monster".
