Amazon: 5GB of free Cloud Drive online storage.

This might be less tangible than some other freebies, but it might just be the most valuable one of all — Amazon is offering 5GB of free storage space when you set up a free Cloud Drive account. That's enough to hold about 1,000 songs.

Having an external drive to back-up your computer is nice, but unless you keep it in a separate location, it won't protect your data in the event of a fire/robbery/tsunami. Keep an extra copy of your precious photos, videos, or Great American Novel stored online and never have to worry about lost data again! 

Free Starbucks wi-fi starting July 1.

Starbucks is finally jumping on the free wi-fi train, bringing free one-click wi-fi to all of its stores on July 1. This will be followed in fall 2010 by something called the Starbucks Digital Network, availabled in stores only, where you can access paid sites for free and get news, downloads, and other exclusive special content.

More importantly, though, FREE WI-FI! Now you can loiter there even longer with your iced latte, just like they like.

Free Uni-ball Super Ink pen - 10,000 a day.

All right, the freebies are finally starting to pick up this week! First up, we have an offer for a free Uni-ball Super Ink pen, which evidently helps to protect against IDENTITY THEFT by forming an unbreakable super-science molecular bond with the very fibers of your paper. Sounds technical, doesn't it? Not to worry! All you need to do is fill out the form, and you'll receive your very own free pen in the mail.

Not sure how long this one lasts, but they're giving away 10,000 a day, so you should have a pretty good chance if you scoot on over.

iPhone: Free Puzzlings app - like Bejeweled, but cuter!

As promised, I'm going to start posting more iPhone/iTouch freebies on here, which will be free apps that I personally have downloaded and enjoyed. This time around, I'm recommending Puzzlings, a delightfully winsome little puzzle game with a sky-high cute factor.

You can watch a trailer, but the general idea is that you are a bobble-headed monster who has just learned about fashion, and you must solve Bejeweled/Tetris-esque block puzzles to win clothes and accessories to customize yourself with. You progress through stages in Mario-like worlds, each of which is pretty easy and quick to play, yet the game is highly addictive once you start collecting hairstyles, outfits, and goofy facial features to trick out your monster with.

It's totally free on the iTunes app store, so snag it and brighten up your grim bus commute or stultifying staff meeting.

Info: McDonald's to offer free wi-fi, starting Jan. 2010.

First Borders, then Barnes & Noble, and now McDonald's becomes the latest giant retailer this year to announce free wi-fi at all its locations. Well, to be precise, McDonald's free wi-fi starts in January 2010, replacing the $3-for-2-hours charge that they had had in place.

Evidently McDonald's sees itself as not merely a fast-food chain, but a "destination" where aspiring young authors will come and write their fictionalized memoirs on their netbooks, or something. Judging by the downtown Seattle McD's, they've already got the market cornered on people loitering for hours, but I guess the idea is to get people with fixed addresses in the door.

Amazon: Buy 2, get 3rd video game free.

Amazon is having a sale on video games for a variety of platforms: buy 2 and get the 3rd free. I just checked out the Nintendo DS section and it looks like they have some new and good titles like Scribblenauts, so it's not just a case of them trying to unload their dog games for cheap.

If you have some video game lovers on your holiday list, now might be the perfect time to knock some of those gifts out...

Top-secret super-spy 8GB flash drive bracelet.

OK, this isn't free (though it is on sale), but it's so weird that I just had to post it anyway. It is an 8GB Bracelet Wrist Band USB Drive Flash Memory Stick, and when you apply coupon code MLC40142835P you'll get 35% off, for a total of $12.35, with free standard shipping.

I'm not sure I agree with the website that it's the "ideal decoration for your wrist," but I guess if you needed to be somewhere that you had 8GB of data handy... and... you didn't have pants... this would be pretty useful?

Anyway, someone thought of it and now it exists.

Free wi-fi at all Barnes & Noble stores, starting now!

Finding free wi-fi in the city can be surprisingly hard, as I've recently learned. Barnes & Noble just made it a little bit easier, with their announcement this week that they will be providing free wi-fi to anyone who walks in the store, starting now. Their hope is that you'll download their B&N iPhone app or their e-reader, but you don't have to.

There is this slightly irritating paragraph, though (emphasis mine): "The existing AT&T Wi-Fi network at Barnes & Noble has been available to customers since 2005. Now, anybody walking into a Barnes & Noble store anywhere in the country will have complimentary and unlimited access to the network at all store locations." Wait... isn't anyone who walks into a store a customer? Just because you're not buying something at that precise moment doesn't magically make you NOT a customer, or less special.

I was about to feel a bit guilty for diverting all my business to Borders because they're so generous with the coupons and free beverages, but... not now! I will help myself to B&N's free wi-fi from now on, though, even though I'm evidently not a customer.

2,000,000 e-books for free!

Two million books, you say? Yes, it's true! The World eBook Fair is making several lifetimes' worth of books available online for zero dollars, now through August 4. One of the organizations contributing to this is Project Gutenberg, the online public-domain library of the classics that sustained me through many a boring job (and broadened my horizons on 18th-century gothic novels).

If you've been toying with the idea of an e-reader but didn't want to pay through the nose for reading material, worry no more! There are many other options for free e-books out there, but this one sounds like a bonanza, so you may as well go nuts with the downloading.

500GB Toshiba hard drive for $90.

Okay, I don't know if this counts as a bargain per se, but it is a pretty good deal if you were considering getting a portable hard drive: the Toshiba 500GB portable hard drive for $89.99 at Buy.com. Looks like it has pretty good reviews, and I like the sleek ribbon design on the black case.

I paid more than this for about half as much storage capacity about a year ago, so obviously the prices are getting better and better. By this time next year, they'll be throwing these things in with boxes of Cracker Jack.

Free flash drive with sweet eagle design.

Ca-caw! Want to easily download and transport pictures, music, and other data AND show your affection for America's freedom bird? Fill out this form to get a free 256MB flash drive. It does say it comes bundled with their downloading software, but those are usually pretty easy to delete or ignore.

Granted, 256MB isn't much in this crazy world of 16GB+ flash cards, but free is free! And America is free! And eagles are free, too! CAW!