Master your domain
I didn't really understand your answer about mail forwarding. How can one "log on and redirect email from a blocked service to an unblocked one"?
Peter Davis, Nigel Anderson and others
Jack Schofield replies: One advantage of having your own domain name, eg myname.com, is that you can change your mail service without changing your email address. This involves registering your own domain name, having it hosted somewhere, and setting a mail forwarding address. Domain name resellers may offer name hosting, mail forwarding, web forwarding, a mailbox service and sometimes other facilities, and these will be reflected in the price. The main thing to watch is that the domain name is registered in your name, not theirs. Your name and address should be the ones listed if you look up the domain name using a Whois server. This avoids being held to ransom if you decide to move your name to a different host.
Now, I have a domain name registered with Easily.co.uk, and this includes hosting (on Easily's domain name servers or DNS) and mail forwarding. I can log on to my Easily account and paste in an email address that specifies where to send any email addressed to me@myname.com (or whatever). This could be an ISP account such as me@ntl.co.uk or an independent service such as me@hotmail.com or me@bluebottle.com: it's my choice. All mail to me@myname.com will arrive in the specified mailbox, and will be sent from that mailbox, not from Easily's mail server. It's just a redirection service.
At some point I will change my ISP, or have another reason to use a different mail server. For example, mail to or from NTL or Hotmail or Bluebottle might be blocked. If so, I can log on to my Easily account and paste in a different address, such as me@gmail.com. This takes a minute. Any mail addressed to me@myname.com will now be forwarded to me@gmail.com and will never go anywhere near (say) me@ntl.co.uk. To continue to collect and send email, I will also have to set up the new account (me@gmail.com) in my mail software, such as Outlook Express, Thunderbird or Eudora, etc. However, the thousands of people who use my personal email address (me@myname.com) will not have to change anything. In effect, I will have changed my mail server but kept the same email address.
DVD hazards
I've read about copy-protected CDs affecting one's computer. My question is, should one avoid playing copy-protected DVDs?
Name withheld
JS: At the moment, DVDs do not seem to be a problem, but Heise Online recently reported that "Two German Video-DVDs use a new copy-protection scheme which creates a security risk on Windows machines. The copy protection mechanism called Alpha-DVD was developed by Settec, a Korean company spun off from electronics giant LG" (www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/69608). To protect your PC, turn off the AutoRun feature so that copyprotection software cannot be installed without your agreement. If you right click your drive and select Properties, there is a tab for AutoPlay: select the action: "Prompt me each time to choose an action." Sadly, turning it off properly means editing the Registry. For details, see Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q155217).
Cheap printing
With the price of printer ink exceeding that of blood, I have thought of buying a dot matrix printer once again. My last one used only one ribbon in five years! Have you any suggestions?
John Russell
JS: Good dot matrix printers are still available. However, prices are relatively high because the hardware is not subsidised by excess profits from expensive ink-jet cartridges. The Epson LQ-300+ is a good choice, though the FX-80 - an immortal classic - continues in the form of the Epson FX-890. But dot matrix printers are still slow, noisy, dusty and don't do decent graphics.
Why not consider a personal laser printer instead? Prices start at £60-£80 (Samsung ML-1610 aka Dell 1100) for monochrome models and about £220 for colour (Epson AcuLaser C1100). The HP LaserJet 1022 looks good value at around £125, and there's a 1022nw with built-in wireless. The Kyocera FS and Brother HL ranges are also worth a look.
Backchat
· Nicolas Blaza asked about being redirected to Google.co.uk and people asked "How do they do that?". In general, it's done by compiling a database of IP addresses, the companies that own those addresses, and then the locations where they are generally used (see the Geolocation FAQ at www.dnsstuff.com/info/geolocation.htm). It's an inexact science. For examples, try www.ip2location.com and www.dnsstuff.com/tools/city.ch
· If you'd like to comment on any aspect of Technology Guardian, send your emails to tech@theguardian.com