Free Music for pledging to fill out the Census

From their web site:

I ask that you take a stand and pledge your participation in the 2010 Census today on our site. By pledging, you will also receive 25 free songs from major artists like Pitbull, Aventura, Morrissey, Mos Def, Jaguares and Los Tigres del Norte.

*Thanks FSF*

*I don't have a clue who any of these guys are. If you do, fill me in. But it is a cool deal to get free music (I bite my tongue) by doing something you are required to do in the first place....::shruggs::*

Doggie download

No kidding! Stop over HERE for free MP3 downloads from Through A Dog's Ear - Music To Calm Your Canine Companion.

You're welcome.

*Thanks MomsByHeart!*

FREE Laurie Berkner download!!

Laurie Berkner (of Noggin and Nick Jr fame.. AND Jack's Big Music Show!) has tamed up with Pajama Program and written a song to promote their mission. It’s called Open Your Heart and you can download it for free right here.

The Pajama Program is a non-profit that provides a new, warm pair of pj’s and a book to children in need.  So many children don’t have some of the basic things that we take for granted.

(Thanks Maven of Savin’!)

Free Music Download

For all the Taylor Swift fans here is a free MP3 download of her song “Love Story.” Free Taylor Swift Download. 
I LOVE TAYLOR... so I already have all the CDs :-)

FREE - Country Music

People Magazine is offering a FREE Country Music Sampler of 11 songs using iTunes.
Thanks CouponPro!

Kim Komando - Free Download

Tag, organize and prioritize your notes

Your computer is a great place to jot down quick notes. You can copy a URL you want to remember. Or, you can type up a quick to-do list. And, unlike with scraps of paper, you'll always know where they are.

Windows comes with a handy program for taking notes. It's Notepad. It works. But it's about as barebones as a program can get. And it's lacking in one key area - organization.

CloudPad is a good note-taking alternative. Creating notes is really simple. Write them up, give them a title and set their priority. You can also tag them with descriptive words and phrases.

CloudPad uses all this information to organize your notes. You can view them by priority level. You can search for both note titles and content. And you can easily locate common note tags through a tag cloud.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Download HERE

Kim Komando - Daily Download

Check your spelling, grammar and style online

The Web has had an interesting effect on how we read and write. We do it so much more than we used to. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mail and instant messaging all rely in the written word.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad writing online. In fact, some of the stuff out there is almost unreadable. We could all benefit from a little editing.

After The Deadline makes it easy. This Firefox add-on checks your writing all over the Web. It works almost anywhere you enter text. That includes comment sections, forums, social-networking sites and more.

It'll fix any spelling and grammar faux pas. But you can also have it check your style. That includes pointing out passive voice, clichés, double negatives and more. It'll help you say exactly what you mean to say online.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X
Download HERE

Kim Komando - Daily Download

Easy ways to save money on digital goodies

Along with cool and useful technology come additional expenses. Our digital lives aren't cheap. We pay for entertainment and communication. We buy expensive little gadgets. And don't even start on what we shell out for printing.

Unless you become a cave-dwelling hermit, these expenses aren't going away. But maybe you can reduce them. A number of helpful tools can save you money. Some might help you dump a few bills entirely.

GreenPrint World – Printing costs a lot. Ink and paper aren't cheap. So, what's the solution? Stop printing. Well, at least cut back. Anything you print can be saved as a PDF on your hard drive. Or, you can at least remove extraneous pages before you print.

Hulu Desktop – Your cable bill can definitely dent your wallet. You may be able to get favorite shows online for free. Hulu offers tons of full-length shows and feature films. Hulu Desktop is a slick way to access it without a browser. You can also control it with a remote.

textPlus – Text messaging can be expensive. Adding texting bundles to your cell plan helps. But going over still costs an arm and a leg. This app lets you text for free. It works on the iPhone and iPod touch. It takes a little getting used to. You have a user name rather than a phone number. But it's hard to argue with free.

Skype – Are the kids off at college? Do you have family overseas? Don't cut conversations short because of long-distance phone bills. You can make PC-to-PC calls for free with Skype. You just need a microphone (most laptops have them built-in). Add in a Webcam to make video calls.

InvisibleHand – This Firefox add-on is your shopping assistant. When you land on a product page, it automatically goes to work. It scours a number of online stores for that product. And it will tell you if you're looking at the best price. If not, it'll provide a link to the better deal.

GET MY FREE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO YOUR NEW COMPUTER
Getting a new computer is always fun. That is, until it's time to set it up! You have to create user accounts, install security software and more. It's easy to overlook a task. Or, maybe you're unsure how to secure your machine.

That's why I created my Guide to Your New PC or Mac. It includes step-by-step instructions to get you up and going on your new computer. You'll also find an easy-to-follow task list. You won't overlook anything! My guide is free for the taking. And it is only available on my site. Click here to get it now, compliments of Carbonite!

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X, iPhone
Download HERE

Kim Komando - daily download

Learn Microsoft Office with a game

Microsoft Office is a powerful suite of programs. In this case, “powerful” means very useful and very confusing. These programs contain an incredible number of tools. Most people barely scratch the surface of what they can do.

How do you learn to use complex programs like Word, PowerPoint and Excel? You could just poke around and see what happens. You could read through nearly endless manuals. Or you could play a game.

Ribbon Hero makes learning to use Office fun. No, really! It challenges you to use the available tools. Exercises encourage exploration. Or use the helpful hints if you get stuck. Every completed challenge earns you points.

On top of that, everyday use will earn you points too. Your point total sits in your ribbon’s Home tab. Click it to launch challenges. Word, PowerPoint and Excel all have separate challenges.
(Ribbon Hero only works with Office 2007 and 2010.)

Cost: Free
System: Windows Vista and 7
Download HERE

Kim Komando - Free Download

Quickly remove empty folders

Maintaining a computer is a little like maintaining your home. Both could use a little tidying up occasionally. It's important to remove clutter.

You probably have empty folders on your computer. Maybe you created them,  but never filled them. Maybe you moved their contents to other folders. Maybe they're remnants of uninstalled programs.

Finding empty folders isn't always easy. They can be nested inside other folders, a dozen layers down. They could be in out-of-the-way places.

Vanity Remover quickly finds and deletes them. Start by selecting a top-level folder. Vanity Remover will dig through its contents and delete empty folders. It will then report how many folders were checked and removed. It's quick and painless.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Download HERE

Also, sign up for her Daily Download Email HERE! She really will keep you up to date on the latest gadgets and best ways to protect you and your family online! TRUST ME ON THIS! I LOVE THIS LADY!

Kim Komando - Free Download

I use a reader in my feeds and you can get my reader too just by clicking on my subscribe button and then entering your email address and choosing how you want it to show up to you. I LOVE google-reader! Subscribe to me!

All your interests on a magazine-style page

Google Reader makes it easy to gather posts from your favorite sites. These can include news and entertainment stories. They could be photos or the latest episodes of your favorite shows.

You can get it all with Google Reader. But its presentation leaves something to be desired. You essentially have to dig through lists of posts. That's not the most enjoyable way to consume information.

Feedly gives the whole thing a facelift. It's an add-on for Firefox and Chrome. It accesses RSS feeds stored in your Google Reader account. But it organizes them like a personalized magazine. Stories are sorted by category, popularity and media type.

All of it is displayed on a single page. Popular stories include attached images. Videos are directly embedded. So, you can watch them without leaving the page. And you can open the page with a button in your browser toolbar.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X
Download HERE

Kim Komando - Daily Download

Combine multiple MP3s into a single file

Not every piece of audio is a two-minute pop song. Think about a 45-minute symphony. Or what about audiobooks that can span dozens of hours? They are meant to be listened to over long stretches.

These are usually broken up into shorter pieces.   For some people, that works great. But sometimes, it can be easy to get lost. And what if your MP3 player is set to shuffle? Finding your place could be difficult.

What if you could combine those separate MP3s into a single track? You could listen in one large block. You could see how far you had listened. And you could accurately tell how far you had to go.

That's exactly what MP3 Album Maker does. Make multiple MP3s a single file. But you won't lose individual file data. You can break them out into the original files if you want.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Download HERE

Kim Komando - Free Downloadssss

Cool freebies for digital photos

There are plenty of photography programs for sale. But I wouldn't spend money on them. Lots of great tools are free. These will help you manage and edit your photos like a pro.

PhotoFilmStrip – Slide shows have been around since, well, photos came on slides. They're still a great way to share photos. And constructing them is easier than ever. This program produces high-quality slide shows.

Pictomio – This is an attractive tool for organizing and viewing photos. You can create photo albums without moving or copying files. And its geotagging features are really well done. You can plot entire trips using photos and Google Maps.

Google Picasa – Taking and editing photos is fun. Keeping them organized is not. And digging through folder after folder looking for photos is the worst. Google Picasa makes organizing them easy. You'll never lose your photos again.

GIMP – Some photo-editing software is extremely powerful. Photoshop is the standard. But it's expensive. Try GIMP instead. It can handle nearly any editing task. Advanced users will feel right at home.

virtualPhotographer – You may be really into photography. If so, paying for a photo-editing program might make sense. But they include so many tools. Even pros get confused. This program plugs into tools like Photoshop. You can apply professional effects with a single button.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X
Downloads HERE 

More freebies:
iBin – Accidentally deleting a file you needed stinks. Luckily, your computer has a fail-safe called the Recycle Bin. Deleted files are stored there, rather than being permanently deleted. But portable drives have no fail-safe. Now, you can add one.

Quix – Surfing the Web is not a linear process. You jump around a lot. That means many trips to the address bar. But could there be an easier way to do it? Yes. Access multiple sites with one click.

AppUp – It seems like everything needs an app store these days. What about your netbook? Isn't the entire Internet one big app store for computers? Yes. But netbooks are a special kind of computer.

FacePAD and PhotoGrabber – Facebook is one of the most popular places to share photos. You can easily view friends' photos. But what if you want a copy for yourself? There is no built-in way to do it. Luckily, there's an easy fix. In fact, there are two.

Seesmic Look – Twitter is a cool social-networking tool. You can use Twitter from its Web site. But most people prefer a program. This is the best-looking desktop Twitter application I've seen.

Freebies for digital photos – Taking photos is a lot of fun. Working with them on your computer can be frustrating. But using the right tools makes things much easier. I've found five programs that are worth considering.
 

Free Baby Einstein downloads

Two free Baby Mozart downloads HERE and HERE!

Kim Komando - Free Download

An app store for your netbook

Everything needs an app store these days. There's a different one for every smartphone. You can get apps for your iPod. Now, there's an app store for your netbook.

But wait, a netbook is just a computer, right? Isn't the entire Internet one big app store for computers? Yes. But netbooks are a special kind of computer. They're small, portable and don't have a lot of power.

They can't run every program as well as a regular computer. Scouring the Web for netbook-friendly programs can be hit or miss. The solution may be Intel's AppUp.

This app store is full of netbook-friendly programs. You'll find games, utilities and social-networking programs. Some of the programs are free. And you can buy others right from the store.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Download HERE

Alice.com on your iPhone!

I clearly don't have one of those fancy iPhones.. or even any blackberry service on my blackberry... but if YOU do, you can now put the Alice.com application on your iPhone. Go HERE to download it!

Kim Komando - Daily Download

What exactly is in your computer?

I have a little exercise for you. List the components in your computer. How far did you get? You probably know the CPU and how much RAM it has. What about the motherboard, hard drive and graphics card?
I don't know all of my specifications, either. But being able to find your detailed hardware configuration can be important.

Speccy makes it easy. It will list all the important components in your computer. You'll get manufacturers, model numbers and speed ratings. With the right equipment, it can even check component temperatures.
This is important if you're looking to upgrade your computer. Model numbers are necessary if you're trying to get technical support.

Speccy is still in beta testing. So, you may run into a few bugs. However, I saw no problems when I tested it.

Cost: Free
System: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Go HERE to download

Facebook - iTunes free music!

Become a fan of iTunes on Facebook and get a 20 song sampler for free! This free sampler features music from Sting, Moby, Iron & Wine, Metric and more.

Click HERE and then click on the "Become a Fan" button. They will give you a code you can redeem at iTunes for the sampler!

*Thanks SwagGrabber*

118 songs from Amazon

Sure.. it may be the BeachBoys unheard hits... but they're still free!
Stop over HERE to view the list of songs and sampler albums available FOR FREE!!!
*Thanks MBH*

Free Book Download - 25 Sewing Crafts

OK you crafty women.... If you like to sew I have you a free book download!

In this eBook you’ll find tutorials and patterns for everything from practical and budget-friendly clothing patterns, holiday projects, lovely bags and clutches, and decorations for your home. If you’re feeling like your old clothes are piling up and need a repurposing idea, check out our patterns for turning old into new. Click HERE to download!