£20 iPods
There is a bizarre trend on eBay. Several items purport to be selling a link to a website where you can buy an iPod for £20. Is this a scam? Doug Small
Jack Schofield replies: It is connected with "matrix selling" schemes, which will not become illegal in the UK until the gambling bill becomes law this autumn. If you go to a site such as The Phone Matrix, you will find you can get an iPod or other goodies not for £20 but free. However, you must purchase a CD or other item for £20 and add your name to the list of people who want an iPod, or whatever. You get your "free gift" when your name gets to the top of the list. In other words, it works like a pyramid selling scheme, though technically you are not buying what you hope to get, and you are not obliged to sell the idea to anybody.
If the site works, simple economics suggests that iPods will be despatched only when the cost has been covered by new people buying things they don't want at £20 a shot. The Phone Matrix site, for example, says: "The Apple iPod requires 19 purchases before an iPod is sent out. So if you are 16th on the list, you will have to wait for 19 x 16 purchases." If the site is a fake, no iPods will be sent. Either way, you should be pleased you didn't pay £95 for a link to www.thephonematrix.co.uk.
No WMA
A couple of years ago, I bought an Archos Jukebox Recorder 2.0. At the time, I only needed MP3 com patibility, but with the advent of Napster, it appears WMA [Windows Media Audio] is the only way I can legally buy tunes from the web! I want to be legal but don't want to fork out for a new machine, as otherwise it works fine. Jenny Leacroft
JS: It is possible to update the firmware or add software to some music players, but Archos has no plans to support WMA and other formats on the Jukebox Recorder. Also, to be compatible with download services, it would not only have to support the file format, it would also have to support the DRM (Digital Rights Management) scheme involved. We are now entering a formats war between the Apple (AAC/Fairplay), Sony (Atrac) and Microsoft WMA systems, so it's probably better to stick with MP3 until the shooting stops. Although Napster is very nice, you can still download MP3s from AllOfMP3.com, Bleep.com, AudioLunchbox.com, eMusic.com and similar sites.
Rogue Diallers
Can rogue diallers affect you if you use broadband, or is it just dial-up modems that can be affected? Tom Painter
JS: Rogue diallers only work if they have access to a modem attached to a voice line. They will still try to dial out, even if you have broadband. It is possible to dial out on a second line, even if you have a broadband internet connection, but this is not common.
Lost games
I have accidentally deleted all Windows games from my computer (FreeCell, Solitaire, Minesweeper). Is there any way to reload them? Adrian M Lenton
JS: Go to Start|Settings|Control Panel and run the applet for Add/Remove Programs. Select the option to add or remove Windows components, the double-click Accessories and Utilities. Tick the box marked Games, click OK, and Windows will re-install these from your Windows CD.
Printing problem
I started out in January 1987 with an Amstrad 1512, and while I'm now running a Windows XP machine, I'm still using the dear old dBase database in a DOS window. The problem is that I have a USB only printer, but dBase insists on printing to the old printer port, LPT1. Robin Cherney
JS: Most applications will "print to a file" - in other words, send what they would have sent to the printer to your hard drive instead. Try loading this file into a word processor and, if it looks OK, printing it that way. However, in the long run you will probably need to upgrade, and you are fortunate that the dBase file formats became de facto standards and are still widely supported. A good upgrade would be Alpha Five v5, which is available in a $99 home edition. You can download a 30-day trial version from www.alphasoftware.com. You may also be able to find shareware or even freeware alternatives.
Backchat
· Kirk Hammett is setting up a business and asked about "online printing sites" such as Surfprint.co.uk. Leigh Garland, a freelance graphic designer, says he has used Digital-print.co.uk with great results. Iain Row used Printingdirect.co.uk for materials to promote MyWorldJournal.com and found it excellent. David Otoole went to VistaPrint.com in the US for business cards and says it was "very prompt, very inexpensive and good quality. Delivery from the US was not a problem." Martin Warne used VistaPrint.co.uk for three jobs and recommends the company to friends.
