How I Get Free Music, TV Shows, Movies, and More (Legally)

As a broke college student it’s hard to legally get a hold of the digital products I want. Luckily, over time I have stumbled across ways to get these products legally and free or very cheap. This article discusses how I currently get my digital products.

Music
I have always preferred online streaming services like Last.fm and Pandora over purchasing albums or songs. However, the one thing I hated was the audio quality. When I listened to music in my car, the bass was painful to listen to. Additionally, deafening screeches or squeals commonly appeared when I turned up the volume. Luckily, I stumbled upon an application called HitBliss a couple weeks ago. HitBliss is an application that gives you rewards for watching ads. It took me just a few minutes after downloading the application to my phone to get a month subscription to Pandora One absolutely free--the high quality, ad free version of Pandora. I’ve been using Pandora One for a couple weeks now, and it has been wonderful. Now I am able to turn up the volume in my car without the deafening screeches or squeals and pretty decent bass.

TV Shows & Movies
Between school and work, I rarely have a chance to watch a show or movie when it airs on TV. Additionally, I don’t want to pay to stream something online if I’ll probably only watch it once. HitBliss saved me again. Not only can you order a Pandora One subscription on HitBliss, but you can also rent movies (including new releases) and purchase TV shows (usually the day after they air). It took less than twenty minutes of watching ads (I was actually watching YouTube on my computer while HitBliss ran on my phone) to earn enough credit to purchase three episodes of Suits and rent a movie. The application links to your Amazon account to make the purchases and rentals. One downside is that you are limited to four Amazon purchases/rentals a week. However, I've decided that there is no reason for me to watch more than four shows/movies a week, so I'm currently okay with this limit.

Applications

Honestly, most of the applications I use are either freeware or free web apps. However, this doesn't help for my phone. For that I use Google Opinion Rewards. Google Opinion Rewards is a free app in the Google Play Store that gives you Google Play credit for taking short surveys. About once a week a notification will prompt you to take a one to ten question survey. Afterwards, credit will be applied to your account. I’ve bought several Android apps this way. Additionally, this credit works for anything in the Google Play Store, including movies, TV shows, comics and books.

Books
I've never been much of a casual reader. If I read, it tends to be technical books that are hard to read digitally to start with. I've noticed that I can read these books much faster and comprehend a lot more when I have a tangible copy. Now I take advantage of my local library if I decide it’s not worth paying for. Furthermore, if my library doesn’t have the book I am looking for, they have a lending program where they can borrow books from participating libraries. I just tell them what I’m looking for, and they will have it shipped from a library that carries it at no cost to me. It is definitely work checking to see if your library participates in a program like this one. Not only is this program available for books, but also audiobooks and movies.

Audiobooks
Audiobooks are very important to me. I commute to work and school, so I like to listen to them during my drive. This wouldn’t be a big deal, but I listen to audiobooks at twice the normal speed or higher just because the readers talk so slow. Doing this allows me to listen to two or three full Audiobooks a week during my commute. However, there is no way I could pay for over a hundred audiobooks a year. The library has become my best friend again. Additionally, if I ever find myself waiting for an audiobook to come in, I just listen to public domain content through ezPDF Reader’s read aloud feature.

Video Games
Console gamers, I can’t help you. I'm a PC gamer and always will be. One of the reasons I’m a PC gamer is because it is so cheap. I've decided that I have no problem waiting for a new release to come on sale. I never buy a game if it isn't on sale or in a bundle. After all, my Steam library is packed for of games I haven't even downloaded yet. If I feel tempted to purchase a game at full price, I just get myself sucked back into TF2 and forget about the other game.

Conclusion
Overall, I’m happy with my methods for acquiring these products. Some of these methods have worked great for me for a long time. Have another method not listed here? Let me know in the comments below.

6 Tips to Becoming a Better Scout in Team Fortress 2

The Scout, an agile asset to any side in Team Fortress 2 if played correctly. Otherwise, the Scout can easily became a nuisance their own team. Here are some basic tips to improve the skills of anyone interested in the Scout.

1. Aim with the Keyboard. An untrained Scout can always be identified by its spastic motions and inability to hit their target. This is commonly because they are darting their mouse all over the place, trying to get the shoot. Instead, the mouse should generally be used for small motions and the majority of aiming should be done with the keyboard while moving. This will give you a much steadier and accurate shot. 


2. Don't Stop. With a base health of 125 HP, one good hit could (probably will) kill you. The best preventative measure for this is to not give your enemies a chance to line up a shot. Even when nobody appears to be around, keep moving.


3.  Don't Be Predictable. I told you to always move, but that doesn't mean to move in a predictable manner. Add some zigzags and spontaneous jumps. If the enemy can determine where you're going, they can set up a shot before you get there. 


4. Get Close and Get Out. Shooting a Scattergun at an enemy halfway across the arena is not only a waste of ammo, but also leaves you vulnerable while you try line up the shot. close in the space between you and you enemy in order to take a shot, and get the hell out of there. Your job is to deal damage, distract, and then get out of site before you die.


5. Increase Mouse Sensitivity. As a scout, agility is key. If you don't take advantage of this, you die. Increase you sensitivity enough to have the ability to jump over an enemy, do a 180 degree spin, and shoot them on your way down.


6. Know the Arena. Most importantly, know where all the health pack are. If you're get lost with low health, you will die in an instant.

Have any more Scout tips? Or are you having trouble with one in particular? Let me know in the comments below.

How to Turn a Windows 7 PC Into a Dedicated Steam Machine

As most Steam users know, Steam is coming out with their very own console. However, those of us who want a Steam console experience still have to wait. Also, Steam Box will be Linux-based, which is a problem for those of us who own several Windows or Mac only games, and are not ready to part with them. Below are instructions to convert a Windows 7 PC into a Windows-based Steam Box.

These instructions will tell you how to make windows boot straight into Steam Big Picture, disable windows interface from loading and set Steam as shell, disable user interaction at windows logon screen, customize windows logon screen, and customize boot screen. Note: this is only if your computer is only going to be a dedicated Steam Box. I’m not responsible if you don’t like what you did or if you messed up your machine. Okay, so let’s start.

Part One: Set Big Picture on Steam Start

 This part will set Steam Big Picture Mode to startup whenever Steam starts.

1. Open Steam in windowed mode (not Big Picture)
2. Click on the ‘Steam’ dropdown menu in the top left corner. Then press ‘Settings.’
3. Click on the ‘Interface’ tab and check the box that says ‘Start Steam in Big Picture Mode.’

Part Two: Set Steam as Shell (Main Graphical User Interface)

In this part we will set Steam as your computers shell instead of what most people consider to be Windows. This will mean that as soon as your computer logs in, Steam Big Picture Mode will start. You will not see and Windows background, start menu, or anything of that nature.

1. Open the start menu. In the start menu search box type ‘regedit’ and press ENTER. This will open regedit.
2. Navigate through the folders to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]. 
3. Right click on the ‘Winlogon’ folder and select ‘New > String Value’ 
4. Name it ‘Shell’. 
5. Right click on the newly created ‘Shell’ and press ‘Modify’ 
6. Type in the path to Steam.exe on your machine. By default on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine, the path is ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe’ Press OK after you have entered the path.

You can stop here if you want and you will have a dedicated Windows-based Steam Box. The next parts just make the power up of the ‘console’ more elegant and beautiful.

Note: Now that your computer boots straight into Big Picture, you won’t have immediate access to you Windows Graphical User Interface. If you ever decide that you don’t want your computer to boot into Steam, just delete the ‘Shell’ entry that you made in regedit. Below are instructions in case you ever need access to windows.

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and Select ‘Start Task Manager’
2. Press the File dropdown menu at the top and select ‘New Task (Run…)’ 
3. Type in ‘explorer.exe’ and press OK

Part Three: Set Windows To Automatically Login

Since you’re making a dedicated Steam Box it makes sense to not type in your Windows password or click your user icon every time you turn on your machine. In this section we will set windows to automatically login so you don’t have to mess with unnecessary typing or clicking.

1. Open the start menu. In the start menu search box type ‘netplwiz’ and press ENTER. This will open regedit.
2. Uncheck the box that says ‘Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer’
3. Press ‘Apply’ and then press ‘OK’

Part Four: Customize Windows Logon Screen

Yes, you have already set Windows to automatically login, but your machine will still show the Windows logon screen while it’s booting. You can edit the background with registry edits, but’Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7’ makes it simple and does not require an install either.

1. Download ’Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7’ http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon/
2. Download or create a background. I suggest a good quality Steam background. 
3. Run ’Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7’ 
4. Press the ‘Change Logon Screen’ Button 
5. Select your new background and press ‘Open’ 
6. Press the ‘Test’ button to make sure it looks right

Part Five: Remove Windows Branding on Logon Screen

Two things you may have notice while customizing your logon screen are the Windows branding and ‘Ease of Access’ Button of the screen. For this step, I suggest just following the instructions from.

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-branding-logo-and-ease-of-access-accessibility-button-from-windows-vista-and-7-login-screens/

Part Six: Customize Boot Screen

When your machine boots up, you may have notice the Windows icon and text saying ‘Starting Windows’ below it. This can be changed to anything you want with a program called ‘Windows 7 Boot Updater.’ You can make animated images during the boot screen, but for this example, we’ll just use a static image.

1. Download ‘Windows 7 Boot Updater’ http://windows-7-boot-updater.en.softonic.com/
2. Download or create a Steam Logo 
3. Run ‘Windows 7 Boot Updater’ 
4. Under ‘Animation’ select ‘Static Image’ 
5. Select your image and press ‘Open’ 
6. Select the ‘Message 2’ tab and replace ‘Starting Windows’ with ‘Starting Steambox’
7. Change the text in the ‘Message 1’ tab to something clever. 
8. Press ‘Apply’

Part Seven: Time To Play!

You created your very own Windows-based Steam Box. Now it’s time to connect your new Steam Box to your TV, plug in a controller, and have fun!

Did you have any success with your Steam Machine project? Or are you having trouble getting started? Let me know in the comments below.