|
Name of Site: MySiteSpace
URL: http://www.mysitespace.com/free.asp
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: In the world of free services on the Internet it's important to
be careful what you're getting yourself into. MySiteSpace, along with
providing its regular web hosting packages, offers a free service that
allows users access to a good solid 20mb of web space, 1Gb of data transfers,
a free guestbook, Web-based file manager and page builder, instant activation
and best of all, your address will be "yourname.mysitespace.com"
meaning you escape the usual absurdly long URLs so common to free hosting.
The catch? A text link at the bottom of your pages and a pop-under ad
when visitors exit your page. Not too intrusive, compared to some of the
garbage we have to contend with. A great way to launch your new manifesto.
- SS
Name of Site: 1stHostWeb
URL: http://www.1stHostweb.com/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Although what 1stHostWeb offers is technically a free service,
there is a small catch... you need to pay for a domain name. If you were
planning on having your own domain name anyway and don't mind paying what
is a reasonable (but certainly not the cheapest) rate, then the benefits
of using 1sthostweb are many, including no annoying banners or ads, 25Mb
of space, 1Gb of data transfers, FTP access, a Control Panel, Sub Domains,
support for FrontPage Extensions, PHP, Perl, Real Video, VRML, Java, Python,
TLC, C/C++ applications, MySQL, unlimited email addresses, a shopping
cart and a host of other features - and I just signed up with my $50 a
month host for another 12 months - Damn it! - SS
Name of Site: Free-Webhosts
URL: http://www.free-webhosts.com/
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: If you type "Free Hosting" into a search engine you
are likely to be smothered - and not necessarily by anything worthwhile.
So what you'll need is a good map and a guide. That's where Free-Webhosts.com
steps in. With a directory of over 900 free web hosts, categorized up
according to features and with reviews and user ratings for most of them,
you're sure to find what you need. The site also features discussion forums
- where you can chat to other users - informative articles, extra tools
and resources for webmasters. So whatever your reason for justifying the
fact that your boundless creativity deserves to be broadcast to the world
as a public service, this is the right place to start out. - SS
Name of Site: Fairmount Web Hosting
URL: http://www.fairmount.nu
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Of all the free web hosting companies I've ever come across, Fairmount
is easily the most interesting. Before I tell you why, let's look at the
features you get: You get to use your own domain name or a Fairmont sub
domain, 100Mb of space, 2Gb of bandwidth, 5 mailboxes, 5 MySQL databases,
FTP access, FrontPage 2002 support, CGI, Perl, PHP, SSI, nightly backups,
customizable error pages, Control panel and a whole lot more. For all
of this, there are no ads, no banners, no extra features, nothing. So
what's the catch? You have to compete with other applicants, all judged
on various criteria like design, originality, creativity and content.
There are literally thousands of applicants and applications take 48 hours
to process. If you really feel that your website will be judged worthy
of such a gratuity, why not give them a try? - SS
Name of Site: Hot Dockets
URL: http://www.hotdockets.com.au/
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: If you've ever been to Coles, Woollies or any other major supermarket,
you've no doubt seen those "Shop-a-Docket" offers on the back
of your receipts. Well, no longer do you need to go and buy 10 packs of
chewing gum in succession in order to get that Black Stump "buy one
get one free" meal deal. By logging on to the Hot Dockets website
you can simply enter your location into the search criteria and get access
to all the deals in your area which you can then print off and use at
participating shops. It's that easy, and not one tree was harmed in the
making of this site. - SS
Name of Site: iFree
URL: http://www.ifree.com.au/
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: One of the problems with websites that give you everything for
free is that typically you need to reside in the US to cash in the offers.
Now I don't know about you, but living in a country with a spuriously
elected president, where your average waist size is 15cm bigger than the
rest of the world and your risk of getting jailed or shot is 20 times
what it is here... well it's just not worth it. Rather than miss out on
all that wonderful free stuff out there, why not make use of ifree.com.au
- rampant consumerism Aussie style! With everything from beauty products
to magazines, email accounts to clothing, there is sure to be something
you never knew you needed, right here. God bless Australia! - SS
Name of Site: Freebies Down Under
URL: http://aussiefreebies.freeservers.com/index.html
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: From a web design perspective I have to say this site really ought
to catch up about five years to stay hip, but what do you expect when
you came here to milk them dry? When you start clicking around you will
find a decent selection of promotional kits, samples, offers and catalogues,
with the occasional contest to whet your freeloading appetite. The categories
range from email/web storage and food through to movies and vouchers.
Each link provided has a small blurb on what to expect when you click
it, so you don't have to waste too much of your oh so valuable time pilfering
free stuff even you don't want to bother with. Bookmark the site and check
the new additions regularly and your house should be full of junk in no
time. - SS
Name of Site:
URL: http://www.shopfree.com.au/
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: The brainchild of Aussie web veteran/guru Brendan Yell, Shop Free
is a serious, professional and comprehensive free stuff portal. His cred
has attracted a strong team and a whole bunch of willing participants,
ready to throw their wares at anyone who asks. There are about 25 categories,
all well populated with things such as newsletters, software, MP3s, gift
packs etc. From a consumer's point of view it is a treasure chest of wonders,
from the vendors' side, it is an excellent "lead generator".
Win-Win. Everybody's happy, and the guru Brendan's mastery of the web
continues to reign supreme. - SS
Name of Site: Free Stuff Central
URL: http://www.freestuffcentral.com/
Load Time: Medium
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Though this site is US-based, there may still be quite a few goodies
you can collect here. A mix of genuine offers, slightly dodgy-sounding
schemes, like "Foreclosed Homes, No Money Down" and "Win
a Million Dollars" and more reasonable nice little trinkets should
satiate your desire for donating to the church of you. Come to think of
it why don't you start your own free stuff site, link to these guys and
all the rest of them, and share in the joy that is affiliate marketing.
If you build it, they will come, just like you did. - SS
Name of Site: Free DVDs
URL: http://www.freedvds.com/
Load Time: Medium
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: This is a great concept and perfect for the Internet - a "fly-buys"
scheme with DVDs as the reward payment. Once you sign up you become part
of an army of shoppers spending your money at a huge range of participating
stores/service providers. As you spend, your points mount up, fly-buys
style, and when you have enough, you board the DVD airbus and are transported
to all the magical lands of Hollywood without leaving your chair. Such
a simple scheme and by the looks of it a lot of merchants are jumping
on the bandwagon. What better way to build up your DVD library than doing
nothing more than what you normally do - spend all your money on stuff?
- SS
|
