Get Rewarded with a Medium Slush from Sonic Drive-In

Sonic Drive-In logo.svg
Sonic Drive-In logo courtesy of Calibrador

Who would turn down a free beverage from a drive-in restaurant? No one, it’s FREE!

To get this offer, simply download the Sonic Drive-In App from the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. Now you have it. Nothing else is required. You get rewarded just by opening it up! Unlike the Steak ‘n Shake offer, you have the choice of receiving either a medium slush or a medium drink free of charge.

Not only do you get one of those, but every time you “order ahead” using their app Sonic will let you get drinks and slushies for 50% off every single time. You can also use the app to “personalize every order just the way you like, according to their website.

Learn more about the Sonic App on their official page.

Get a Free Milkshake at Steak ‘n Shake

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Steak ‘n Shake logo courtesy of Corkythehornetfan

Just by downloading the Steak ‘n Shake Rewards app on your smart device, you’ll get yourself a coupon good for a single free milkshake from the famous burger diner! To get the coupon, you have to complete your first in-app order. This is the only prerequisite to getting that sweet treat free of charge.

The app also boasts that for every $50 spent (presumably using the app), you’ll get $5 back. That’s not a bad deal for those of you who frequent Steak ‘n Shake when the urge for a good burger bites you.

Just go to their official rewards page to learn more or download their app from the Google Play Store or the App Store on your Apple device!

Get Never Alone for Free with Xbox Live Gold

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“Never Alone” art courtesy of E-Line Media

If you have an Xbox Live Gold membership, you can download Never Alone on your Xbox One for free until January 15th! This puzzle/adventure game was released by the publisher E-Line Media on November 18, 2014 and is rated T for teens. The PC version holds a solid 9/10 rating on Steam, so you know you’re getting some bang for your bucks (or lack of bucks).

Keep in mind that you do need to have the paid membership for Xbox Live Gold to gain access to it, which is $60 for one year and $24 for a quarter year.

Play Dragon Ball FighterZ on Nintendo Switch for Free this Weekend!

Dragon Ball FighterZ for Switch box art courtesy of Nintendo

The popular fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ is releasing on Nintendo Switch on September 28, but Bandai Namco has released a playable Open Beta on the eShop, available for download right now. The Beta will be open from 9:00 PM on Thursday, August 9 to 11.59 PM on Saturday, August 11.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 2.5D fighting game published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and has taken the competitive fighting game scene by storm since its release in January of this year. It uses characters and settings based on the show Dragon Ball Super. It is rated “Teen”.

The Open Beta has a surprising amount of features for a limited time demo. It includes four modes: Arena Match, Ring Party Match, Ring Match, and a tutorial mode that will let you experiment with any character to your heart’s content. The game currently boasts “23 characters and 13 stages”, with more features to come. Two characters included from the get-go are Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta, two characters who must be unlocked in the actual game.

Just remember that you need a Nintendo Switch, an account on the eShop, and storage space to download the Beta. That’s all you need to jump into the fight!

TFSS-18 – Free stuff from Podfest 2018

Free stuff from Podfest 2018, a free Xbox One game, and a free ebook of travel tips.

Teaser :00

Intro :09

Show Sponsor 1:20
Looking for your next career? Look no further than JobCastCentral.com. Employers, list your jobs for FREE, at Jobcast Central! No charge, no limit! It’s free! Go to www.jobcastcentral.com.

Discussion Topic 1:40
We were at Podfest Multimedia Expo 2018 in Orlando and were able to snag all sorts of freebies. We also tell you how to get a free XBox One Game and a free ebook on travel tips.

Our First Giveaway! 6:47
We’re giving away a 15 CD order of our promotional CD duplication service! Listen to the show for details.

Free XBox One Game 9:16

Free eGuide – 100 Travel Tips 10:29

Wrap up and Close 12:19
Comments, questions or suggestions? Do you know of some freebies to share? Send them in to comments@thefreestuffshow.com, rick@thefreestuffshow.com, or tommy@thefreestuffshow.com. You could also submit them to our web site at thefreestuffshow.com! Like our show? Take our Audience Survey!

©2018 Savoia Media. All rights reserved.

Get “Assault Android Cactus” Free on Xbox One

If you have Xbox Live Gold subscription and an Xbox One console, you can download Assault Android Cactus for free off of the Microsoft Store until July 15. The game normally sells for 14.99 digitally and holds a Metacritic rating of 85% and a 10/10 rating on Steam.

Courtesy of steampowered.com

Speaking of Steam, the game is also a part of the Steam Summer Sale and is cut by 60%, bringing it down to $5.99. It’s soundtrack also benefits from this sale, going from $24.99 to $9.99. The Steam Summer Sale ends July 5.

Assault Android Cactus is a shoot-em-up developed by Witch Beam and originally released September 23, 2015.

You can find it on the Microsoft Store here or head on over here to it’s listing on Steam.

Free Game “Tumblestone” for Xbox One

If you’re an Xbox One owner with Xbox Live Gold Membership, you can download a FREE copy of Tumblestone. Tumblestone is a puzzle game released on July 16, 2016. This deal is a part of Xbox’s Games With Gold program, which award free games to members with an Xbox Live Gold Membership. Keep in mind that you DO need an Xbox Live Gold Membership though, and it costs around $40.00. Along with free games periodically you can play games online and stream videos. To obtain this deal, you will also, obviously, need an Xbox One.

The file size is 958.47 MB and the game normally sells for $19.99. If you’re interested in this offer, you can head on over to Microsoft’s official website and download it now, or use your Xbox One to obtain this offer. This deal is good until August 15, 2016.

Have you tried Tumblestone? Do you intend to? Let us know in the comments!

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum V7.5.15 FREE until July 15

Winx DVD Ripper Platinum
Winx DVD Ripper Platinum

Digiarty is offering a copy of WinX DVD Ripper Platinum V7.5.15 FREE until July 15! This software is a $39.95 value and is available as a FREE instant download from Digiarty for a very limited time.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is an all-in-one DVD ripping & backup application for Windows. According to the publisher, it can rip any DVDs to hard drive, including strongly encrypted DVD discs and ISO images Digiarty also claims it can rip and copy DVDs with Intact Videos Audios and Subtitles in 5 minutes! It supports a number of popular video formats, including AVI, DVD to MP4, H.264, MPEG, WMV, MOV, FLV and M2TS. and to nearly all mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad , Android, Surface and Windows Phone. Now you can play your favorite videos anywhere and anytime without the actual DVD discs.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum includes the following features:

  • Rip all kinds of any DVDs effortlessly with highest possible quality.
  • Rip DVD to be fit for Apple, Microsoft, Android mobiles & devices with 350+ ready profiles.
  • All-in-one. Rip DVD to almost all video formats, like MP4, H.264, AVI, WMV, MOV, etc.
  • Four copy modes: Clone DVD to ISO image/DVD folder; copy full title/main content.
  • Deliver No.1 fast speed, 3x to 5x faster speed than average DVD rippers, use-friendly interface makes ripping done in a few clicks.
  • erge/crop/trim videos before ripping; select subtitle track (incl. forced subtitle); add the downloaded SRT subtitle files in any languages.

This limited time offer expires July 15, 2016, so get it now! Download WinX DVD Ripper Platinum V7.5.15.

Windows Live Movie Maker Review

To make a good video, you need good editing software. Though sometimes that software may cost you a pretty penny, so there are times where you will want to opt for some free versions. Windows Live Movie Maker happens to be one of those free versions of video editing software. Is it worth downloading?

Keep in mind that Windows Live Movie Maker is an editing software ONLY. It cannot record footage off of your computer. First, use different software to record the footage, then either send it directly to Movie Maker or save the file and open it up in Movie Maker. You can also load in static images, and you can change the time in which the image stays up.

Once you’ve loaded in any necessary videos or images, editing them is pretty simple. And I mean simple. Tools-wise, you get the bare minimum needed to adjust the length of your video, add music, and add credits. You won’t be doing any fancy editing with this program.
Here is a screenshot of me editing an episode of my Youtube channel, Antio Plays.

 

MovieMaker4

As you can see from this screenshot, Windows Live Movie Maker supplies you with five tabs: Home, Animations, Visual Effects, Project, and View.

 

MovieMakerToolbar2

 

The Home tab is where the meat of the editing will be done. I lets you cut/copy/paste parts of the video, and you can add music and images from your documents folder from here, too. They work as expected, except my only gripe with adding pictures is where they’re added. Say I’ve got a long video, and I want to add an image to the beginning. When I open up an image to add it, the image gets dropped right smack at the end of the video, and it won’t let me cut/paste it to the top. I have to manually click and drag that sucker to the very top of my video as the screen scrolls up very, very slowly. It’s hard to explain, but to put it simply, it’s a pain putting images in the front of your video. I found that a way around this is to cut a sliver from your video, click on that section, and add the image there. Then you can easily click and drag the image over to the top, no hassle. Yes, it isn’t the end of the world that I have to do this, but it is pretty annoying.

The last thing on the Home tab is Theme, which to be honest I didn’t really mess around with that much. They let you put an opening title or credit to the beginning of your video in a fancy way. I didn’t feel a need to use them because of the next tab – Animations.

If you’re making a video with multiple segments, then you’ll want to put some transitions in them. This is what Animations is for. You can choose a wipe, fade, or open, among others. To place it, all you have to do is click on the segment you want, and choose the desired transition. Pretty simple. You can also change the duration of the animation if you wish.

The next tab is a bit similar, Visual Effects. Unlike Animations, this tab lets you choose a filter to last throughout the entire segment. You can make your video black and white, fuzzy, fade out, etc. It works the same as with Animations. Click on the segment and choose the filter. The filters provided are really simple, but it isn’t too bad for free software.

The next two tabs are Project and View. Project lets you line up the music with the video, of fit the screen to your liking. View is pretty self-explanatory. It lets you zoom in or out of your video.

The last part of the toolbar is the Edit tab. There are separate Edit tabs for music, video, and text (captions), depending on which one is selected at the moment. Fundamentally, they are all the same. It lets you choose the speed of which the media fades in or out, or lets you decide the volume of the video/music. You can change the duration of the selected media and at what part of the video it starts. For video and music, this is where the trim/split tool is located for simple edits. Caption edit allows you to also choose how the text enters the screen. You can also change the font, color, and duration of the text, as expected. All of these features are simple and easy to use, and they are very accessible to someone who is inexperienced with video editing software. My only complaint is that you can’t stack captions, such as putting on a caption, and keeping that one up while adding another one on the screen. Mover Maker only allows you to put up one caption at a time, which I found disappointing.

Once you have finished editing your video, you can head over to the File tab to save it, post it directly to social media, or render it for high-definition display. Rendering the video will vary in time, depending on the length of it. I’ve found that 20-30 minute videos will take between half an hour to a full hour to render.

In summary, Windows Live Movie Maker is a very simplistic, yet useful free video editing software. It is best used as an introductory to video editing. The tools given are the bare minimum needed to make a video, but as a result aren’t too hard to grasp. Using it over time, you will learn what certain edits do and can develop your own editing style to use in more advanced software. I don’t use Windows Live Movie Maker anymore, but I can say that when I did, it showed me what the fundamentals to making a video are so I could learn more complicated techniques down the line. If you’re itching to make flashy videos, Windows Live Movie Maker will disappoint you. If you just want a free way to edit videos on the fly, then you’ll find that Movie Maker does the job.

Windows Live Movie Maker is part of Windows Essentials 2012, which includes Windows Live Mail, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, Messenger, Writer, and OneDrive.

Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is a great suite of programs for creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, but it’s costly. Some people may not be able to afford it or simply don’t see a point in spending money on it. Fortunately, there are some great free alternatives!

Free Office Productivity Suites

OpenOffice.org is the premiere alternative to Microsoft Office. Also known as Apache OpenOffice, this suite of programs empowers you to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and more. You can also edit existing files created by Microsoft Office and other office suites with little or no difficulty. It’s also open source, which means it is free to download and use.

LibreOffice.org – LibreOffice.org is another free alternative to Microsoft Office and is very similar to OpenOffice.org. Check out this feature comparison between LibreOffice 4.4.3 and Microsoft® Office 13 .

Zoho.com – Zoho.com is a web based system used for creating and managing documents, e-mail and projects for your business. It is available in a free and paid version.

Google Docs – Google Docs is yet another great way to make documents similar to OpenOffce.org. The link above will bring you to the Google sign-up page. Keep in mind that you will have to create a Google account or use a pre-existing one to access Google Docs.

These free productivity packages are great ways to create and edit your documents or spreadsheets if you are unable to purchase Microsoft Office. If you’re in need of productivity software for office applications, any of these will help get the job done!