The Best Things in Life are Free – Part 1

Free is favorable these days. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two months, you’ve probably heard something about the economy melting down, with hyperbole about imploding real estate markets, skyrocketing unemployment, and senior citizens heading back to work as they see large chunks of their retirement savings vaporize. If the numbers are to be believed, retail spending has fallen off a cliff. In style: coupon-clipping, knitting , made-from-scratch meals. Out of style: looking at your quarterly mutual fund account statement.

In honor of the newfound frugalista mentality, I’ll be highlighting a series of resources that are both useful and 100% no-cost. Some will have a regional (Madison, Wisconsin, or Midwestern) connection. The vast majority will involve science, technology, and/or intellectual property. And all are resources I’ve personally found useful.

At the top of my list is Wisconsin Technology Network News. It’s a free news service for the life science, business, and IT sectors in Wisconsin. I started subscribing when I was a postdoc and was curious about life outside of the ivory towers, but had no meaningful connections to anything outside of .edu. Voila – generally great content, analyses, and event info updated every few days.

So there you have it. Because even in an economic downturn (and maybe especially in an economic downturn), you need information and perspective.