• Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
    0·
    8 个月前

    Making sure to keep it legal, right?

    Let’s stick with Project Gutenberg - Public domain ebooks and other media, spanning centuries. They’re incredibly important for keeping our literary past alive.

    I might have more later.

  • YaksDC@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    8 个月前

    Very location locked, but all Smithsonian museums in DC are free. Even special exhibits that require timed ticketing.

    • Revv@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      0·
      8 个月前

      Better get while the gettin’s good on that one though. Even if the price stays the same, the value of that free admission appears to be set to diminish rapidly.

  • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
    0·
    8 个月前

    Your local city college may or may not offer free classes (in San Francisco, you just need to show proof that you live in the city with some legal status).

    Some public transportation is free for certain groups (youth and folks experiencing homelessness can get free passes here).

    “First X of the month” at the zoo/a museum/whatever — lots of venues have free events.

    A jog, bike ride, hike — lots of great stuff outside!

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 个月前

      I live in the Philly area. Senior citizens can use SEPTA (buses and commuter trains) for $1 a ride.

      I second the biking … but that shit ain’t free. Even used bikes cost some money to buy and maintain, and brand new bicycles are solidly in the “insane” category these days.

      • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
        0·
        8 个月前

        Good point — it is “incrementally free,” although I guess if you count tire wear and tear that’s not even true.

    • loopedcandle@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      0·
      8 个月前

      Adding the library-libby nexus. Most libraries have an eBook collection connected through Libby. I’ve got a Kindle and zero books bought from Amazon. It’s great.

      Protip, if you went to any form of formal education (college) then you probably have alumni library account access. My Libby has three library cards logged in. I never wait for a book.

    • duckworthy36@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      8 个月前

      Our library loans out state parks passes for a month so you can go to parks for free. It also loans out hiking gear, provides immigration resources, and oddly, a ukulele.

    • starlinguk@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 个月前

      Nope. 15 Euro a year (Freiburg, Germany), which doesn’t automatically renew and it’s a bloody pain.

    • Steven McTowelie@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      8 个月前

      On a whim I googled my city’s library and “tools” and I found a non-profit society that specializes in lending of hand and power tools! This is incredible and I wouldn’t have known about it without this prompt: thank you!

      • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
        0·
        8 个月前

        Can you share the name of this non profit society, is it a part of your local public library or it’s own independent thing?.

        I need a spanner for like single hex nut and I don’t want to buy one for it to collect dust in my drawer lol

        • Steven McTowelie@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          8 个月前

          Yeah mine was called the [City Name] Tool Library, and it was a non-profit that was independent of our local library. I imagine that they receive donated tools from contractors and companies around the city.

          As an example, I googled a random city name (Calgary) and found one for them as well: https://calgarytoollibrary.org/

          There are likely tons of similar organizations throughout Canada (and probably your country as well!)

    • the_q@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      8 个月前

      Technically not free, but because so many people think it is it’s a great poster child for proper use of tax dollars and socialist programs. Libraries rock.

  • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    8 个月前

    In most eu countries the law requires businesses that give out food to also allow you to order free tap water. If youre in a city and dont want to spend money on a bottle of water, walk into mcdonalds and ask for free tap water. A lot of european countries also have strict laws about tap water so for example in france unless otherwise indicated with a warning, tap water is always potable.

    • ripcord@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 个月前

      Here in the US, this seems so normal that it didnt even occur to me that this may not be true everywhere else. And not need to be enforced by law.

      • d0ntpan1c@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        8 个月前

        Arizona has several long-standing laws on the books requiring both public government properties and businesses to provide drinking water without cost or other barrier to access. Businesses can’t even charge for the cup.

        Common courtesy unfortunately doesn’t go far enough, especially when it matters most, so law is required.

        • ripcord@lemmy.world
          0·
          8 个月前

          Ive definitely never, ever run into that. But I’m sure it happens.

          Edit: I guess ive seen places that charged some nominal fee for the cup but it’s so rare

          • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            0·
            8 个月前

            I went to Philadelphia and there were hardly any places to get water at all. There were always stores selling water bottles literally $8 in one instance around nearly everywhere you looked

    • taxiiiii@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 个月前

      Not true everywhere, actually never heard of it here (Germany and Austria).

      But if you walk into a place and ask for a paper cup of tap water, a lot of workers are willing to give it to you, regardless of the laws.

      Vienna has tap water straight from the mountains btw and it tastes amazing. Recommended.

  • thermal_shock@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    8 个月前

    What3words.com and app

    Basically the earth has been segragated into 10 foot x 10 foot squares that are easily identified by 3 words, super accurate, easy to tell emergency services. No more need to know lat/long to tell someone where you’re at.

    • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
      0·
      8 个月前

      earth has been segragated into 10 foot x 10 foot squares

      I think you’re inadvertently advertising a cylindrical model of the earth 😁

    • unsettlinglymoist@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 个月前

      I learned about this from a can of ///Fear.Movie.Lions beer from Stone Brewing:

      What 3 words pinpoint where this indelible beast was born? The location is printed on the can. There’s a 3m x 3m square in our Richmond, VA brewery with these three words painted on it. What three words? Exactly! For the uninitiated, that’s What3Words.

    • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
      0·
      8 个月前

      Not working.

      ///life.before.death doesn’t exist

      ///journey.before.destination took me a couple miles east of Pittsburgh.

      I was expecting Urithiru :<

      • randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyzEnglish
        0·
        8 个月前

        unfortunately the people at What3Words excluded words people might find offensive from the word list, so that place does not exist

          • randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyzEnglish
            0·
            8 个月前

            I just looked it up, and apparently “impregnate” isn’t in the list either. Yes, the word isn’t offensive by itself, but I think they remove quite a lot of words that might cause problems in the what3words address. There is way more than enough words anyway.

            This is from their FAQ:

            How do you handle offensive words?

            A what3words address is made up of 3 random words, and they are not intended to convey any meaning to a location. However, we know that the nature of using words means that unexpected interpretations can crop up.

            For each new what3words language, our team consults a broad range of native speakers. We then work together to remove rude and offensive words from our word lists, navigating cultural sensitivities wherever we can.

            Some users feel that certain words in our lists are unsuitable or inappropriate, so we always take feedback onboard. However, one of our key features – that our addresses are permanently fixed – means that it is not possible to update the word list. Instead, we can look for opportunities to adapt our approach when developing future languages.

            Tip: if you’d rather avoid a certain what3words address because of a particular word or combination of words, we’d suggest you use the next square along.

  • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 个月前

    CBC Gem, which is our country’s public news corporation’s streaming service which is a catalog of Canadian television. There’s also CBC Music which is the radio app, and you can even listen to the live streams of the Metropolitan Opera on Saturdays.

  • rational_lib@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 个月前

    A little late but OpenTaxSolver - free desktop tax software that gives you a printout of tax forms that you can mail in. And it includes a few states too. Way easier than the annoying corporate sites that constantly log you out and charge a fee for every little thing.

    • Hyphlosion@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      8 个月前

      Thanks! I was pretty annoyed at having to pay TurboTax over $100 something to have my taxes filed. Opportunistic assholes.

    • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
      0·
      8 个月前

      Since you mention states and the site mentions federal taxes and the IRS, I assume this is for the tax system of the USA, it’s funny that it isn’t stated anywhere though.

      • nylo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        0·
        8 个月前

        the USA is the only country that I know of that requires such ridiculous measures to file your taxes tbh

        • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
          0·
          8 个月前

          Here in Switzerland, tax law is different per canton. So for our ~9 million people we have 26 tax laws! We pay taxes on three levels, communal, cantonal and federal taxes. And who collects which part depends on your canton. In mine the commune collects the communal and the cantonal part, and the canton collects the federal part. Yeah… it makes no sense to me either.

          Though regarding the filing that part is not so bad;you only make one tax declaration from which the taxes on all three levels are calculated. And as far as I’m aware each canton offers a free software application for filing. The filings are a little complicated compared to some European neighbours from what I hear. For instance we aren’t source taxed directly out of our pay-checks, so we have to list our earnings and possessions manually and list various deductions.

          Still, from what I gather we have it a little better than the US Americans