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Talking About High School Musicals

The Selection This Month for Families: High School Musicals

This working mom with two small children could not even imagine living in a world that didn’t have Netflix as a part of it. That was actually the case prior to my beginning working here. Now, to showcase precisely how Netflix positively affects lives we’ve put together, “This Month’s Picks For Families”. Each month we will offer ideas and recommendations that might fit well in the routine of your family that month. In addition, we will also include some recipe and craft ideas, but don’t fret, they will be kept practical and realistic.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was very early in the journey of parenting that it became apparent the awesome power music holds to alter the mood not only in the house, but especially in the car. My kids got to meet Michael Buble and Stevie Wonder at an early age, so I am able to listen to Superstition almost as often as I am Let It Go. And even though I classify myself as 100% tone deaf, it doesn’t prevent me from breaking into a song at the same time I am attempting to get my kids to follow my instructions and get something done.

To get both older and younger kids into the spirit of the musical feeling as we prepare for those spring musicals seemingly popping up everywhere, we’ve put together a list of some movies to aid the cause.

For the older kids:

1. Camp Rock
2. The Phantom of the Opera
3. Footloose
4. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
5. Grease
6. High School Musical
7. Shrek the Musical

For the younger kids:

1. Rock-A-Doodle
2. Leap Frog: Numberland
3. The Prince of Egypt
4. Pochahontas
5. Mulan

I am fairly certain my children inherited my two left feet and tone deaf ears, so we’ll have our fun at home watching musicals. You can see how simple it is to put together your personal No Sew Stage Curtain by clicking here.

You might also want to click here to find out just how to put together your personal Shrek-inspired parfait.

Perhaps with these title suggestions, you will be able to simply Let It Go out of your mind and thoughts.

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Is the Netflix Free Trial Worth Trying?

Is the Netflix free trial worth trying? I get asked that question a lot. In fact, it’s been put to me so many times that I’ve decided to write an article to explain my stance on the situation. That way, the next time someone comes up and says, “Is the Netflix free trial worth trying?”, I can simply direct them here.

When you sign up for the Netflix free trial, you’ll receive a free membership to Netflix for the amount of time stated on their website. As of this writing, the free trial runs for 1 month. In other cases, the trial has only lasted for two weeks. If you’ve ever taken advantage of the free trial before, or if someone in your home is currently a Netflix subscriber (or has been in the last 12 months), then you won’t be eligible. You will also need to enter a valid method of payment in order to get started.

Once the free trial is underway, you’ll be able to log in to the Netflix website and choose which movies you would like to have delivered to your home. You will also have the option to watch an unlimited number of streaming movies over your computer.

When you take part in the Netflix free trial, you’ll be able to participate in the lowest rung of their standard subscription service. This means that you’ll be able to have one movie at a time in your home, but you still have access to an unlimited number of streaming movies through their website.

If you don’t wish to become a regular Netflix subscriber, you’ll need to cancel your free trial before the one month period is up. If, for example, you joined on January 15th, you’ll have until February 15 to cancel. If you fail to cancel your membership, you’ll automatically be charged $9.99 for the next month of service (which will continue until you cancel). If you cancel, you’ll have seven days to return any outstanding DVDs. A reminder email will be sent if you fail to comply. After a period of time, Netflix will charge your credit or debit card for their lost items.

For those who like Netflix well enough to become full-time subscribers, you’ll be able to choose from the following subscription options:

$7.99 – No DVDs are sent to your home, but you have access to an unlimited number of streaming movies.

$9.99 – Unlimited streaming and 1 DVD at home

$14.99 – Unlimited streaming and 2 DVDs at home

$19.99 – Unlimited streaming and 3 DVDs at home

$27.99 – Unlimited streaming and 4 DVDs at home

$34.99 – Unlimited streaming and 5 DVDs at home

$41.99 – Unlimited streaming and 6 DVDs at home

$48.99 – Unlimited streaming and 7 DVDs at home

$55.99 – Unlimited streaming and 8 DVDs at home

So to answer the question “Is the Netflix free trial worth trying?”: Yes, it’s worth the minute or two it takes to sign up. You’ll have access to everything that a regular subscriber does, plus you’re not paying a penny. Few things in life are free, but this is one of them.

Shane Rivers lives in Texas and writes for Only Good Movies. He’s written about Netflix free trials and Netflix pricing plans there too. In his spare time he watches movies.

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Instant Netflix’s Internet Takeover

For several years, it seemed like Netflix was in the process of merely killing off the brick and mortar video rental store. As it turns out, this was an understatement: Netflix is in the process of consuming not just video rental stores but the entire internet. With 16 million subscribers as of this October, Instant Netflix is now responsible for 20% of all primetime internet traffic. The service streams video to computers, handheld devices such as the iPad, video game consoles, set-top boxes, televisions, and just about anything and everything else with a screen and an internet connection. Furthermore, out of the 16.9 million people subscribed to Netflix, only 1.8 percent are responsible for this huge amount of bandwidth being consumed every month.

Most signs point to this trend continuing as time passes. To watch Netflix develop as a business in the 2010s will be to watch Netflix cease to be a provider of physical media, moving entirely to the streaming media system it has made so popular recently. As of November 22, Netflix now offers a low cost, DVD-free rental policy for users solely interested in streaming the website’s online content, a marked transition from when the service was a convenient bonus of having a Netflix DVD or Blu-Ray rental account.

In addition, Netflix has raised the cost of its shipping plans, built on how many discs at a time one has (plans can range from 1 disc at a time to upwards of 10) by $1 for lower tiers and by several dollars for plans offering large amounts of physical media. All of this points to the fact that Netflix will gradually phase out the DVDs that it built its reputation (and remarkable selection) on and instead solely function as a provider of online content, an ultimately more cost-effective, environmentally sound, and—for many customers—preferred means by which to receive content.

As a consequence, Netflix will quite possibly face two major hurdles in the next several years. The first is the company’s risk of losing customers who opened Netflix accounts in order to receive actual DVDs. Many users prefer the fidelity and bitrates of DVD (and especially Blu-Ray) over streaming video which lacks the definition and resolution.  There are also those who will find themselves alienated by price increases and perhaps by increasing unavailability of certain films. Losing access to Netflix’s huge selection of films may quickly drive users to other similar services or to specialty physical stores where such shops still exist (I, for example, joined Netflix in 2005 originally so that I could rent movies that I otherwise couldn’t ever find in the town of 3,000 in which I was living at the time).

The real struggle for Netflix’s growth, however, will be the one over bandwidth. As Netflix’s streaming service’s market share continues to grow, its users will continue to move huge amounts of data—a problem considering the increasingly restrictive internet access policies that attempt to meter bandwidth.

Despite these potential hurdles, however, Netflix has found a way to capitalize on emergent streaming media and plentiful bandwidth, leading to a service that its customers have found more useful than the one that the company once offered, and one that still has a fair amount of room to grow. The company’s change in strategy has so far worked extremely well for them, and it’s likely to keep them going well into the next several years.

Andrew Hall is a guest blogger for Pounding the Pavement and a writer on the subject of technical schools for the Guide to Career Education.

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Watch Movies on the Internet

Did you know that it is actually very possible to watch movies on the internet? There are several services providers that offer this amazing service. You can actually watch all your favorite movies including TV stations online. You can watch movies that you would otherwise miss during lunch breaks at your workplace. Now it’s bye to missing out on those juicy and engaging movies that are aired during the day with this innovative service. Utilize all your lunch breaks and even the short breaks catching up on all your favorite movies. This service is also ideal at the home situation especially during those times when the TV is being watched by other family members. There also happen to be TV stations that are not available on cable but they are available online. In such a situation, the internet movies and TV service comes in handy.

Note: The best movie site is www.66stage.com

Despite these services being offered by many online broadcasting companies, there some which are rip offs. As a result, extreme caution is advised especially before paying for some service. There are those service providers who provide shoddy services and yet they charge you exorbitantly. However, if you do some careful research on the internet as well as use reviews of past clients, you are bound to find a very reliable service that will offer you great entertainment 24-7, 365 days a year. There are several requirements that are necessary before you start receiving internet movie streaming. The first one is a broadband connection. This is ideal due to its high speeds. Dial up connections are not advisable as they do not have the requisite speeds to be able to stream live video.

DSL connection is ideal for live internet video streaming. Really, a top notch service coupled with some really good software packages which are provided by the service provider is all that you need in order to be able to watch movies on the internet. Apart from the movies, you also get to watch lots of comedy channels, foreign TV channels, music channels, sports channels, reality TV and many more.

This depends to a large extent on the service provider that you are hooked up with. These services require the payment of entry fees which are guaranteed to have you receive the streams for a lifetime. You might be charged approximately $50 for these services and you literally get access thousands of channels. They are cheaper than most cable TV service providers who charge around $60.

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Watch Instantly With Netflix

Watch Instantly With Netflix

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) was established in 1997 as a flat rate rent by mail order system for DVDs and now Blu-ray disks. It has grown enormously in popularity and service offerings since that time, and now offers online streaming of blockbuster selections in addition to mail order rentals.

taro taking his pictures for netflix 'ads' (se...
taro taking his pictures for netflix ‘ads’ (see more here: tar0shiba.tumblr.com/post/967950437/shibaadvertisements2 ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To take advantage of the Netflix Watch Instantly service where no postman is required, you just need a computer hooked to the Internet and an updated web browser. But if you want to get fancy and watch things in slow motion or download the movie completely unattended, you need to purchase a Netflix enabled device like the Roku Digital Video Recorder (DVR).

A DVR is a device that you hook to your Internet line to store the downloaded movies from Netflix. The Roku DVR costs just $100. Check your newer high-end home entertainment systems, as most brands are now supporting Netflix downloads in the same way, with everything you need included.