34. SAVE ON CINEMA TICKETS
What: Money-saving discount packs and memberships make movie-going easier on the wallet. The free GV Movie Club membership offers discounts such as $2 off on Mondays and $6.50 tickets on Tuesdays.
Arthouse cinema The Projector offers gift packs (pictured) of 10 tickets for $105, translating to a saving of $3 a ticket.
How:
1. Sign up for the GV Movie Club at gv.com.sg
2. The Projector gift packs can be bought at the cinema's box office. Each ticket is valid for 10 months from the date of purchase.
35. WATCH NETFLIX WITHOUT MOBILE DATA
What: A few months ago, Netflix introduced a download feature in its app for phones and tablets. This lets users store television shows and movies for on-the-go watching without incurring mobile data charges.
Previously, Netflix shows could be streamed only.
How:
1. Make sure you have the latest version of the app on your mobile device.
2. Within the app, you can browse the 'Available For Download' category. Titles that can be downloaded will also have a download button on its main page.
Not all shows can be downloaded, but most Netflix Originals (such as Narcos and Daredevil ) have this feature.
Tip: Make it a habit to delete old or unneeded shows to free up space on your device. Android users with an SD memory card slot can go to the App Settings page and choose to save files to the SD card instead of to the phone or tablet storage.
36. GET REVIEWS YOU CAN TRUST
What: There is wisdom in crowds, right? Not for opinions about certain movies. If you browse review score aggregators, such as Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB, you will see that movies with built-in fan bases have more polarised scores, either towards the positive or negative.
Remakes of popular films, comic-book superhero movies and films based on young-adult bestsellers are prone to partisan voting. For instance, fans of the 1984 Ghostbusters disliked the 2016 remake while professional critics were fairly positive. Online campaigns criticising the film were grounded on reasons that had nothing to do with the film's quality.
How: Films that can muster passionate pro- or anti-factions skew online voting sites. For these films, it is a better idea to rely on a select group of judges you trust and not averaged scores.
37. APP WAY TO BORROW BOOKS
What: The National Library Board's (NLB's) e-book and audiobook loan system removes the biggest obstacle to borrowing: showing up at the library.
All you need is the app OverDrive and you can borrow books on your mobile phone or tablet from any place with an Internet connection.
If a title has hit its borrowing limit, you can set the system to send you an alert when it becomes available.
How:
1. Register for an NLB myLibrary ID and password.
2. Install the OverDrive app on your mobile phone or tablet.
3. Add "National Library Board, Singapore" to the app, log in with your NLB account and start borrowing.
John Lui
