Digi-quest

DQ: The quick answer is: buy 'land' and learn how to script. Second Life creator Linden Lab has done a terrific job creating 3D worlds with limited technology. Unlike a video game, where all the 3D rendering is done by a player's personal computer or games console, Second Life handles everything. Consequently, the visuals are rather primitive and Isaac Newton would have trouble recognising all the laws of physics in play, but serious users don't seem to mind. They just jump in and interact with the 3D images - avatars - of other online users. Creating your own world is not impossible, but if you do not pay for land - using the internal currency, Linden dollars - what you create will disappear. You can fool around for free but if you are serious - and many people are - you must also invest a great deal of time and effort, and master Linden Scripting Language, which is used to make objects move. Details can be found at www.devx. com/opensource/Article/33905.

DQ: Your problem has little to do with the operating system. Most of the time, when a simple task cannot be performed, it is a sign that something has been installed that is stopping a function, such as printing, from working properly. The culprit is almost certainly software accessing so-called low-level code. Some software needs to talk to code deep inside the system to function. It only takes a small error for it to go wrong. Anti-virus programs are notorious for this. Most operating systems keep a log of what has been installed and when. If there is a problem after installing software, look at the company's website. The site may already have posted information about it. The fix, unfortunately, may take longer. Visit http://forums.techarena.in/vista-security/964352-2.htm for a discussion on the problem.