ThePudding.com - Get free long distance online
SpiralFrog.com - Get free music online
Sling Box - Watch your TV virtually anywhere in the world
MAXroam.com - Use your cell phone abroad for a low cost
AT&T High-speed Internet Service for $10 - The latest on the deal they keep trying to hide!

Clark has two free deals to share that each comes with its own catch. The Internet has been through so much in its brief history. In the "dot.bomb era," as Clark calls it, practically anything you wanted could be found for free online. Back in the mid-'90s, Clark mentioned during an interview that free long distance would be coming soon. The interviewer scoffed and thought he was crazy. Today we have various compromises where you can get free long distance if you pay a monthly or annual fee. The latest development now comes in the form of ThePudding.com, a new website that offers free long distance with one slightly strange catch. There's no software to download and it's all completely free, but ThePudding.com has artificial intelligence that listens in to your call and uses keywords to feed ads to your computer while you're using the service. Joel of Clark's team has volunteered to be the guinea pig and taste some Pudding. We'll let you know how it goes!

The second deal comes from the world of online music. Clark previously predicted that SpiralFrog, a company promising free music downloads, would hit his Internet graveyard before it even had a chance to launch. But now SpiralFrog is up and running and it offers what it promised -- in return for watching ads while the music downloads. There's so much pent-up demand for a service like this. Clark couldn't even get on the SpiralFrog site for the first few days after launch. This is a great way to legally get music for free. On a related note, Amazon has begun selling music downloads for 89-99 cents/song and they have no digital-rights management (DRM) restrictions. That means the music will work on an iPod or any other music player of your choice.

There's a new product that could impact the way you watch TV. While TiVo allowed people to alter their viewing schedule, Sling Box allows you to change where you watch TV. This should really appeal to travelers. Here's how it works: Say there's a football team you love and you're on the road when a game is being broadcast locally at home. By synching up your computer and your TV with the Sling Box, you can watch the game on your computer wherever you are in the world via your Internet connection. This idea is so strong that Dish Network just paid $380 million to buy Sling Box from the two brothers who founded the company. People who own vacation or second homes also are poised to benefit from the Sling Box. While they previously had to pay two cable or satellite bills, Sling Box will soon allow them to only pay for service at their main home and then get the programming at their second home for free!

In the latest installment of Clarkonomics, Clark discussed some predictions about the price of oil. The current price is about $83/barrel, while a gallon at wholesale costs an average of $2.08. Now Clark is hearing some predictions of prices hitting $100/barrel. Meanwhile, Forbes recently ran an article suggesting that oil will go down to $45/barrel -- rather than up to $100/barrel. The reason is that there's new supply coming out of the ground that will drive prices down. Another story Clark saw predicted $50/barrel. All this could, of course, change if we have another episode of world turmoil or terrorism. But the fact remains that we in America use way too much gasoline for our population numbers.

There are three ways to deal with our over-consumption: drive less, buy a more fuel efficient vehicle or develop more technology that will allow vehicles to transport us more efficiently. GM is hot on the heels of a plug-in hybrid, which uses practically no gasoline. You plug the car in overnight and then your first 40 miles of the day are generated from electricity. When you go over 40 miles, the vehicle automatically kicks over to gas. This system would work well because most people drive less than 40 miles a day. On a related note, Clark is upset that special interests have gotten tariffs on sugar. The sweet stuff can be used to produce the most efficient gas alternative known right now -- much more so than the corn ethanol some people are pursuing here. The injustice of the situation is that sugar is not a viable solution for U.S. fuel needs because of the ridiculous tariffs in place that protect special domestic business interests. Our energy needs go hand-in-hand with our national security. Isn't it time to start making smarter choices?

During Clark's recent trip to Montana, he was talking with a waiter who is engaged to a Peruvian woman and went down to Peru to meet her family. The waiter found that his cell phone worked in Peru so he used it as he normally would. When he got back to the U.S., he had a cell-phone bill of $800/day! Clark just discovered a service called MAXroam.com that could have helped the waiter. MAXroam sells a SIM chip that's compatible with unlocked T-Mobile and AT&T world phones -- it doesn’t work with Verizon or Sprint phones. You just put the chip in the back of your phone, and then you can travel anywhere in the world and enjoy rates that are about one-fifteenth of what U.S. companies charge you overseas. Please note that you have to be 90 days into your contract with T-Mobile to get them to unlock your phone, while AT&T requires you to have completed your initial contract. If you're in the market for a world phone, check eBay and try to get one for about $50.

Clark also provided an update about his FCC inquiry regarding AT&T's compliance with the $10 DSL deal. AT&T is contractually bound to provide $10/month DSL for customers in a 22-state region as part of its takeover of Bell South. But the problem is that AT&T keeps unethically hiding the deal on its website. Clark asked the FCC to look into this, but they didn't give him a straight answer. Later this year, AT&T will be required to offer naked DSL. Let's see if they're more forthcoming with that deal.