Everyone knows there’s lots of great stuff – much of it free – on the internet.
But there’s so much good stuff that every so often it’s worth sharing some cool new discoveries. The List's Jimmy Rhoadeshas a few that have been around, but perhaps you haven’t yet discovered.
SELF-DESTRUCTING EMAIL
Let's start with a common problem: You want to sign up on a website you know you're going to use once, and in exchange for whatever service they're offering they're going to send you spam for the rest of your life.
The solution? Temporary email addresses!
10 Minute Mail creates email addresses that self-destruct in, you guessed it, 10 minutes. Plenty of time to retrieve a verification code and complete a sign up process. Then let their bots go crazy sending spam to the now non-existent address. Sweet revenge!
FREE AND LEGAL DOCUMENTARIES ALL IN ONE PLACE
We’re in a golden age of documentaries. And thousands of documentaries are posted by filmmakers all over the web, especially on Vimeo and YouTube.
Documentary Heaven simply aggregates documentaries posted elsewhere into a single, easy-to-browse, easy-to-search database. And they always follow the terms of service and the copyright restrictions of the creators, so it's all on the up-and-up.
FREE COLLEGE COURSES
Ditch the student loans and bad dorm food. Eat your own bad food and learn just about anything for free.
Class Central aggregates MOOCs – Massively Open Online Courses – from totally legit institutions of higher learning such as Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. You won't receive credit, although some certifications are available.
IF THIS, THEN THAT
Remember the “if-then” constructs in that college logic course? (If not, then check out the free online courses, above.) Turns out those cause-and-effect statements can be powerful tools.
If This Then That – or IFTTT – enables you to create simple connections – called “recipes” – between existing online services, apps, and app-enabled devices. Then, the recipes automatically perform whatever action you set up.
Have your Lifelog wearable automatically add the hours you slept to a Google spreadsheet. Send breaking news about your favorite sports team to your Reading List. Or automatically back up your Instagram photos to Dropbox so you can free up space on your phone.
There are dozens of apps and devices you can connect with IFTTT recipes.
