FREE/BARGAIN — Media Deals (non-eBook/non-audiobook)

[GtrsRGr8]

Get the new 1 hour and 25 minute comedy movie Ghost Team from Google Play, free, before it hits the theaters.

Louis is a regular guy. He runs a small print-and-copy shop in a Long Island strip mall. He drinks beer with his best buddy, Stan. He hunts for evidence that ghosts exist. Believe it or not, Louis is normal, one of many thousands of people who consider themselves amateur ghost-hunters. It’s an escape from the drudgery of his daily routine and a reminder that there may be more to life than he knows. When a customer walks into his print shop and mentions possible paranormal activity at an abandoned farm outside of town, Louis sees a chance to finally indulge his hobby for real. With the help of his depressed best friend, a screw-up nephew, an overly-vigilant mall cop, a hack cable-access psychic, a whip-smart beautician and a van filled with amateur equipment, Louis is determined to catch some ghosts on film. But poltergeists are the least of what the team finds in the abandoned McIntosh estate. What begins as a bumbling attempt to explore the farm soon becomes a hilarious and terrifying race to escape it alive.

Read more about it and/or get it from here.

[GtrsRGr8]

Get Erik Satie's Avant-dernieres Pensees (Penultimate Thoughts) from Alexander Street as their free download of this two-week period.

This week's download features Avant-dernières Pensées (Penultimate Thoughts), a piano suite by French composer Erik Satie (1866–1925). This recording is performed by France Clidat.

Here are the pieces/movements:
- Idylle (dedicated to Claude Debussy)
- Aubade (dedicated to Paul Dukas)
- Méditation (dedicated to Albert Roussel)

To get Alexander Street's free downloads, you mut be on their mailing list. If you are on their mailing list, look for the announcement of this free download in your inbox. Then follow the prompts. If you are not yet on their mailing list, here's their homepage.

[GtrsRGr8]

Ostensibly to commemorate or celebrate or something else Windows 10's one-year anniversary, Microsoft is offering 4 months of free music. It is connected with Microsoft Groove and their "Music Pass." It looks to me like "Music Pass" is basically a music subscription service like Pandora or Spotify.

I don't quite see how there ends up being 4 months of free music in the deal. There's certainly not 4 sequential months. But I'll just quote what they say:
Up to 4 months of free music

From now to July 31st, get up to 4 months of music for free when you sign up for a Music Pass.* If your're brand new to Groove, enjoy your free month-long trial. After your first billed month, we'll email you a code for 3 more months - 90 days - of music, on the house. Get millions of songs wherever you roll, plus artist radio, playlists, and custom mixes made just for you. But hurry - this deal ends in a flash.

Are they saying that you get a free month, then you pay for the second one, and then when you do pay for the second one, you'll get a code for the next 3 months free? If so, that means that you will get five months for the price of one. But I may not be interpreting correctly what they're saying. What do you think?

Anyway, here's a webpage where you can go to find out all about it and sign up if you're so inclined.

Speaking of Windows 10, tomorrow (Friday) is the last day that Win 8/8.1 users can get Windows 10 free.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Ostensibly to commemorate or celebrate or something else Windows 10's one-year anniversary, Microsoft is offering 4 months of free music. It is connected with Microsoft Groove and their "Music Pass."

I don't quite see how there ends up being 4 months of free music, but I'll just quote what they say:
Up to 4 months of free music

From now to July 31st, get up to 4 months of music for free when you sign up for a Music Pass.* If your're brand new to Groove, enjoy your free month-long trial. After your first billed month, we'll email you a code for 3 more months - 90 days - of music, on the house. Get millions of songs wherever you roll, plus artist radio, playlists, and custom mixes made just for you. But hurry - this deal ends in a flash.

Are they saying that you get a free month, then you pay for the second one, and then when you do pay for the second one, you'll get a code for the next 3 months free? If so, that means that you will get five months for the price of one. But I may not be interpreting correctly what they're saying. What do you think?

Anyway, here's a webpage where you can go to find out all about it and sign up if you're so inclined.

Speaking of Windows 10, tomorrow (Friday) is the last day that Win 8/8.1 users can get Windows 10 free.

Win 7 users too.
And yes, I think you read that correctly.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Win 7 users too.
<snip>

I either forgot or didn't know to begin with that that applied to Win 7.

If I had Win 7 I might be tempted to stay with it. Personally, I prefer it over Win 10. But Microsoft will "support" (with upgrades, bug fixes, etc.) an OS for only so long. After that happens, getting adequate security, protection, etc. is a little dicey.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Ostensibly to commemorate or celebrate or something else Windows 10's one-year anniversary, Microsoft is offering 4 months of free music. It is connected with Microsoft Groove and their "Music Pass." It looks to me like "Music Pass" is basically a music subscription service like Pandora or Spotify.

I don't quite see how there ends up being 4 months of free music in the deal. There's certainly not 4 sequential months. But I'll just quote what they say:
Up to 4 months of free music

From now to July 31st, get up to 4 months of music for free when you sign up for a Music Pass.* If your're brand new to Groove, enjoy your free month-long trial. After your first billed month, we'll email you a code for 3 more months - 90 days - of music, on the house. Get millions of songs wherever you roll, plus artist radio, playlists, and custom mixes made just for you. But hurry - this deal ends in a flash.

Are they saying that you get a free month, then you pay for the second one, and then when you do pay for the second one, you'll get a code for the next 3 months free? If so, that means that you will get five months for the price of one. But I may not be interpreting correctly what they're saying. What do you think?

Anyway, here's a webpage where you can go to find out all about it and sign up if you're so inclined.

Speaking of Windows 10, tomorrow (Friday) is the last day that Win 8/8.1 users can get Windows 10 free.

RE: MUSIC
Upon rereading this, more carefully this time, it DOES seem one gets a free month, and then upon paying for one month, receives a code for another 90 days free.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I either forgot or didn't know to begin with that that applied to Win 7.

If I had Win 7 I might be tempted to stay with it. Personally, I prefer it over Win 10. But Microsoft will "support" (with upgrades, bug fixes, etc.) an OS for only so long. After that happens, getting adequate security, protection, etc. is a little dicey.

I have Win 7 and am staying with it till after updates stop in 2020. After that I'm going to move to Linux. This is all happening because of Microsoft's shenanigans trying to force (and I do mean force) people to upgrade to Win 10. I no longer trust them at all.

The truly sad part here is I had installed the pre-release version in January of last year and liked it for the most part. But then we get to full release and find out you can't disable auto-updating unless you have Pro or Enterprise editions. That's a big deal to me, I can't have my PC randomly rebooting when MS thinks it should. So the "free" upgrade became a non-free upgrade, requiring me to pay to upgrade to Pro for every machine. But then we get the non-stop parade of outrages done in the name of forcing people to upgrade, and I lost all interest. Once we got to the point that they were redefining clicking X as accepting the update, they'd gone into full-blown malware territory.

I have used every version of Windows from 3.1, even the NT family. I've had to support every version up through Windows 7 (since I worked as a Sysadmin before my health disabled me) I cannot recommend anyone use Windows 10.

Also, I suspect they will bring the free upgrade back after the 31st. They're nowhere near hitting their one billion PCs on Windows 10 target, so they'll probably be bringing it back to try to hit that target. I just hope they don't bring back the forced upgrade shenanigans too.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Froide

RE: WINDOWS 10
Since Windows 10 sneakily installed itself on my laptop months ago and caused problems with my cursor, I uninstalled it and am now dreading having to reinstall it this morning. I pray the bugs I encountered then have now been corrected but feel I have no choice but to proceed; I dread more the consequences of NOT "upgrading" (e.g., lack of Microsoft support for older Windows versions; decreasing security of older, unsupported Windows versions; and incompatibility of various apps, software, streaming services, and software with older Windows versions).

Don't know if this helps, but it sounds like if you did allow it to install once, you'll be able to redownload later (you don't have to do it by this week).

http://www.howtogeek.com/253901/get-...ttle-prep-now/

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Froide

RE: MUSIC
My understanding: subscribers automatically get month 1 free upon registering, then they'll receive an emailed code whose use entitles them to another 90 days (i.e., months 2, 3, 4) free. No purchase required.

RE: WINDOWS 10
Since Windows 10 sneakily installed itself on my laptop months ago and caused problems with my cursor, I uninstalled it and am now dreading having to reinstall it this morning. I pray the bugs I encountered then have now been corrected but feel I have no choice but to proceed; I dread more the consequences of NOT "upgrading" (e.g., lack of Microsoft support for older Windows versions; decreasing security of older, unsupported Windows versions; and incompatibility of various apps, software, streaming services, and software with older Windows versions).

There is a way to do a clean install instead of (as I understand it) doing what seems to be an upgrade kind of thing. I noticed back when the offer of the free Win 10 came out a year ago that some computer gurus whose emails I receive recommended doing that in order to prevent some potential problems. I'm sure that it wouldn't take much searching to find information on how to do it.

As for me, I've got one Win 8/8.1 machine that I have yet to convert to Win 10 today before it turns into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight. I'm going to go the simple way instead of doing a clean install, and cross my fingers . . . .

[Froide]

Thanks, FizzyWater and GtrsRGr8.

[GtrsRGr8]

Microsoft's free Windows 10 upgrade offer officially expires today at 11:59 p.m. UTC-10 -- that's July 30 at 2:59 a.m. PT, 5:59 a.m. ET, 10:59 a.m. UK or 7 p.m. AEST. After today, upgrading will cost you $119, £100 or AU$180. So if you're running Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 on a laptop, desktop or tablet computer, the time to act is now. --CNET

So, it's not exactly the stroke of midnight as I said earlier. Well, in some time zone I guess it is. Nevermind.

[alee]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Microsoft's free Windows 10 upgrade offer officially expires today at 11:59 p.m. UTC-10 -- that's July 30 at 2:59 a.m. PT, 5:59 a.m. ET, 10:59 a.m. UK or 7 p.m. AEST. After today, upgrading will cost you $119, £100 or AU$180. So if you're running Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 on a laptop, desktop or tablet computer, the time to act is now. --CNET

So, it's not exactly the stroke of midnight as I said earlier. Well, in some time zone I guess it is. Nevermind.

It's midnight in Hawaii, among other places.

People who use assistive technologies have more time for a free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/acce...ndows10upgrade.

[sufue]

My husband's Google Play account just now received an email about this (the 80s music sale) and at the bottom of the email there was a one-use account-linked code for 50% off any album through August 31. So check your emails, folks...

Strangely enough, none of our other gmail accounts got this offer, although they all got an almost identical email about the 80s music sale, just without the code at the bottom. I would have thought that maybe my husband's gmail account got it because he never (but never) uses it, so sort of a "come back" thing, but my son never uses his gmail account either, and I have a secondary gmail account that I don't use much either, and neither one of them got the offer either - just the one out of four. It appears just about as random as Kobo's "come back, we've missed you" codes, but I somehow have more faith that Google has some sort of rational marketing strategy behind this, even if I can't figure it out ! And more faith that the code will actually work !

I've used these sorts of codes quite happily in the past to buy some big multi-disk compilation albums (e.g. Rolling Stones Singles Collection: The London Years). Guess I'll have to go looking again some time soon.

One question - does anyone know a way to "gift" music in Google Play? If it were possible, I'd rather gift the album over to the account I use, rather than buy it in my husband's account. I can't see any obvious way to do it. It's just a minor thing, since the music is downloadable, but would be nicer to have it in my account than in his.

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Google Play currently has Foreigner's album called Records marked down to $1.99. This is the direct link to the album's webpage.

The album is a compilation of their hits, but only through 1981. But arguably (I'm a person who would argue in its favor) those are the years when they produced their best stuff.

There are a few other albums on sale for $1.99. None of them are compilation of hits, just ordinary albums, unless you count the soundtrack to the movie Cocktail (link to its webpage). Sorry, there are no 99 cent albums at all this time (boo!, hiss!).

If you wish to view all of the albums from the 1980's that Google has marked down at the present time, head to this webpage. Ignore what it says about prices starting at $6.99--as I mentioned, there are several less in price than that.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I have Win 7 and am staying with it till after updates stop in 2020. After that I'm going to move to Linux. This is all happening because of Microsoft's shenanigans trying to force (and I do mean force) people to upgrade to Win 10. I no longer trust them at all.

The truly sad part here is I had installed the pre-release version in January of last year and liked it for the most part. But then we get to full release and find out you can't disable auto-updating unless you have Pro or Enterprise editions. That's a big deal to me, I can't have my PC randomly rebooting when MS thinks it should. So the "free" upgrade became a non-free upgrade, requiring me to pay to upgrade to Pro for every machine. But then we get the non-stop parade of outrages done in the name of forcing people to upgrade, and I lost all interest. Once we got to the point that they were redefining clicking X as accepting the update, they'd gone into full-blown malware territory.

I have used every version of Windows from 3.1, even the NT family. I've had to support every version up through Windows 7 (since I worked as a Sysadmin before my health disabled me) I cannot recommend anyone use Windows 10.

Also, I suspect they will bring the free upgrade back after the 31st. They're nowhere near hitting their one billion PCs on Windows 10 target, so they'll probably be bringing it back to try to hit that target. I just hope they don't bring back the forced upgrade shenanigans too.

I was going to upgrade my ASUS laptop/tablet combo that runs Windows 8.1, but finally decided not to bother after all. I use that computer basically just to run Word, and figured I might as well leave well enough alone. Partly I was worried that my older version of Office might not work properly; partly I was intimidated by the fact that I've never installed a new OS before.

My main PC is Windows 7, which I'm happy with. Since I had to replace the hard drive a couple of weeks ago, I considered installing Windows 10, but then found out Dell said it might not work properly with 10.

[gabby98]

Originally Posted by sufue

My husband's Google Play account just now received an email about this (the 80s music sale) and at the bottom of the email there was a one-use account-linked code for 50% off any album through August 31. So check your emails, folks...

Strangely enough, none of our other gmail accounts got this offer, although they all got an almost identical email about the 80s music sale, just without the code at the bottom. I would have thought that maybe my husband's gmail account got it because he never (but never) uses it, so sort of a "come back" thing, but my son never uses his gmail account either, and I have a secondary gmail account that I don't use much either, and neither one of them got the offer either - just the one out of four. It appears just about as random as Kobo's "come back, we've missed you" codes, but I somehow have more faith that Google has some sort of rational marketing strategy behind this, even if I can't figure it out ! And more faith that the code will actually work !

I've used these sorts of codes quite happily in the past to buy some big multi-disk compilation albums (e.g. Rolling Stones Singles Collection: The London Years). Guess I'll have to go looking again some time soon.

One question - does anyone know a way to "gift" music in Google Play? If it were possible, I'd rather gift the album over to the account I use, rather than buy it in my husband's account. I can't see any obvious way to do it. It's just a minor thing, since the music is downloadable, but would be nicer to have it in my account than in his.

I don't think they let you gift music just the cost of it but i have (at times) copied the link for offers from my daughter's email (she wouldn't use then) and then opened a private window, log into my Google play account, and pasted the offer URL and received the credit/special instead of her account receiving the credit/special. YMMV of course