Stuff I like and think ya’ll will like too is usually on Thursdays. But, the post I had planned for Wednesday isn’t ready. I’ve spent too much time fighting with my comment section software and fell behind schedule (more on that at the end). But Thursday’s post is ready! So today let me pass on a few tips that will have you swimming in free movies, TV shows and audio books.

Why is it so critical that we crafters have a supply of media on hand? Because it helps us make progress on our WIPs of course! The US federal government commissioned a study (not really) with $86.4 million of tax payers money (but they probably will one day) to study the effects of entertainment on crafter efficiency (because they always need new ways to blow the budget). They found that knitters and crocheters will work longer on their projects and get more done if they have something going in the background to keep them company. Next up will be a $200 million study on the effects of caffeine and sugar.

I’m at the middle part of my Trickery stole. Its the brainless part of the pattern and for me that means TV time. I load up some media and start a round of binge-watching. Except I’m not really watching too hard; brain priority goes to the knitting. It doesn’t make sense for me to spend money on a download of something I’m only going to kinda-sorta watch. I go for the free stuff. Here are three places I know of to get the free movies, tv and books. And its legal.

 

Getting Free Movies and Such the Legal Way

When it comes to pirated, illegally downloaded media the internet is pretty much the wild, wild west. Almost any digital product can be ripped off and almost everyone gets away with it. But I’m betting that’s not who you are. I’m betting you don’t want to be cyber criminal. I’m betting you obey traffic signs too.

S’ok. There are places you can get plenty of free media that won’t make you feel like a sleazy late-night hacker who lives off Cheetos and Red Bull. These places are 100% legal. I pinkie swear!

Free Movies and TV

Have you heard about Crackle? Its owned by Sony. Its a multi-entertainment platform, which is a fancy way of saying they have apps for all your mobile devices. You can watch it on a regular old-fashioned computer too. Its all Sony products and its free. You just have to put up with some commercials.

Crackle started with free movies and expanded into TV shows. Lately they have been adding exclusive series. Is just like a premium cable channel but for the web. And its free. Try a few of these links to see how it works:

The Cable Guy

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Cleaners – This is a show I very much recommend. (Insert the sound of me cackling in an evil way right here.)  Its an original series about two gorgeous babes that just happen to be assassins. They are kind of clueless. They are constantly in trouble… and one of them is a knitter. In one episode, the knitter assassin kills a man with her knitting needle. Its a very satisfying scene.

The selection on Crackle is small but that is because Sony is always rotating movies and shows out for new ones. It really is just like a cable premium channel. Every month or so there is something new to watch.

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Hulu is probably something you’ve all heard of and they do have plenty of free movies and shows. They also have not-free movies and shows. The free version has commercials and is constantly harassing the viewer to upgrade. The free version is always teasing you with stuff that is not free. If you have an ad blocker it will make you turn that off. That’s why Crackle is my first choice. But Hulu has a bigger selection of stuff to watch. And by bigger I mean HUGE.

Also they have new/current TV series. Check out Sleepy Hollow, currently in its third season. Or you could enjoy the drama and cat-fights on Project Runway.

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Free Audio Books

Maybe tv and movies aren’t your thing. Maybe you just want to listen. So check out LibriVox. They take books that are in the public domain and record them. The readings are done by volunteers from all over the world. They have 700 titles and counting.

These are all older titles. The books have to be in the public domain and that means older than 1923 or not published prior to 2003. But don’t let that put you off. Lots of Zane Grey books fall into that category. Love his stuff. Then there is all the Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and some Robert Howard.

By the way, not every book is read in English (of course!). They have Don Quixote is a dozen different languages. What a great way to practice your… German. And not all of it is fiction. There is an in progress version of A Cursory History of Swearing by Julian Sharman. I betcha that it will be a big hit when its finished!

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I hope you find something you like. Something that will keep you entertained and stitching along at a good clip. I’m working my way through Stargate Atlantis. I know that I probably should not admit that in public because the show is pretty silly. But I LOVE the Dr. Rodney McKay character. He is such a sarcastic meanie and such a hopeless dork and his one liners are simply wonderful. He makes it all worth it.

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And the comment section looks different. Again. Sorry.

The old comment section has defeated me. It took me out back to the woodshed and whooped me but good. I tried to call for help but the tech support crowd was not up to the task. I had one software developer actually tell me that his product had been purchased, that he no longer provided support, and wasn’t particularity surprised that it didn’t work any more. A second tech support geek spent two hours trying to get comment pictures working. Not only did he fail to do so but he managed to break several widgets that had been working just fine. Ack!

So I threw in the towel and went with a big-package comment management system. There isn’t much customization allowed but it is loaded up and in use on over one million other websites. With that many users I’m sure its very stable and very tough and will shrug off all of my hapless blogging boo-boos.

I’m working on a short guide for How To Get The Most Out Of Comments. It will be up sometime in the next few days. In the mean time, here is the short version:

• it only needs a name. You don’t have to register or give an email…
• unless you want to be notified of future comments. Then it will need an email. You can get notifications for every comment made on a post or just the replies to your own comments.
• it says you can share comments to your social media thingys. I haven’t tried that so let me know if it works.
• you can load up an image… if its already hosted somewhere on the web. Yeah. No direct upload from your computer, which is what I really wanted (but I give up). But if you have a picture in ravelry/flicker/imgur or whatever, you can copy/paste the image’s URL and it will show up.
• also you can link to other webpages. Like your ravelry page or your own website. 🙂

So this is it. No more changes. And if anything else stops working I may need to be bailed out on a homicide charge.

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