No not your last chance, mine. Having received a free iPod from freepay in December, it looks like with their new 3 month time limit (and my ignoring it for a month and a half) I'm not going to get an Xbox (everybody say aww). Looks like I'll just have to make a real effort when they do something really good (like a PlayStation 3 or PSP - here's hoping).

Of course you can still sign up for your free Xbox 360, and check out my previous advice on the matter if you've any questions.

Sign up and complete your offer today, and get 6 months free hosting at BeezerHost.

I stumbled across NorthernIrishBlogs.com this morning, which led me to this post at United Irelander (surprisingly, since I thought UI was Dublin-based, but I digress). Apparently United Irelander is concerned that us Nordies are being ignored by our countrymen on the mainland following reports about the Britain's new charities lottery, Monday. According to PlayMonday.com, "To play Monday you must be resident in England, Scotland or Wales". (On asking why this was so, I was old "Play Monday is a society lottery. Government legislation prevents us from operating in Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. This is not our policy...")

This led to a warning from UI for unionists that "The British want nothing to do with [Northern Ireland] yet the South continue to offer help". Touching (and misguided) though his concern is, it did lead me to think about something. In practical, everyday terms (in other words ignoring abstract concepts like freedom and my British citizenship etc) what consumer goods and services are available to us in Northern Ireland precisely because we are a part of the UK?

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It's that time again - time to support Everything Ulster by helping Beano get a new toy as Everything Ulster goes into shameless sales mode.

If I told you you could get an Xbox 360 for $1 you'd say I was mad. Then again, back when I talked about a free iPod, people thought it'd never work. Yet in December I received just that!

My free iPod held up in front of my monitor displaying the EU home page.

Since I wouldn't believe me either, if I wasn't me, I've provided pictures here. Some of you may recognise David Healy's goal against England being played on my beautiful new video iPod, others may recognise said iPod resting on my spide spotting t-shirt.

Now the same company behind free iPods are running a similar deal with Premium Xbox 360s. Sign up, complete an offer, refer some friends and voila!

The Offers
You can choose from long time favourite 1 month free trial of DVD rentals from Screen Select* (which I used to gain my free iPod) or a new addition - a 1 day trial subscription to "freebidding" - a rather shit website that links to other online auction sites - mostly US ones - including government/police seized property auctions. Not a lot of fun, but simple! Sign up, pay $1. Look at the site for 5 minutes and if you don't like it email their payment company Paycom.net (or phone Paycom's US number: (888) 968-5834 which I did) and cancel your subscription. Warning: do this in the first couple of hours so you don't forget. If you go over your day's trial you get billed for your first month's access at $39.95.

I really recommend this FreeBidder offer because you get your credit right away instead of waiting for 2 weeks wondering if it's "worked" or not.

My free iPod laid on my spide-spotting T-shirt - only 2 ever sold

I'd be skeptical myself had it not been for the fact I'd already received my free iPod. I won't say that freepay or 'Gratis Internet' (the company behind it) are the most pleasant company to deal with. They're polite and all, they just don't make things easy (took me a while to get a tracking number for the parcel, and then to find out who their courier was - it was ParcelForce). They obviously do things on the cheap - but for $1 it wouldn't seem right to complain too much.

By the way, I'm still seething that the video iPods (generally, not just the free ones) don't include a mains charger and instead have to be charged through your PC, but that rip-off's another story. Oh and I'd rather have a PS3 or Nintendo Revolution (they'll maybe do those too when they're released) than the Micro$oft Xbox, but there's always eBay!

It's THAT easy - sign up now!

Cancelling Your Trials
If you go for the Screen Select offer, make sure and cancel at least a full working week in advance of the end of your trial if you don't want to go onto their monthly subscription. If you take the free bidding offer, I advise you to cancel it straight away if you don't like it - it'd be an expensive thing to forget.

I think it's worth it though, given that with a little care you can get yourself a £250 Xbox 360 Premium Pack for $1!

Some of you may remember a while back I posted about an offer where you can get a free iPod. One of the conditions was that you took part in a 21-day free trial of a DVD rental company. You can cancel before the 21 days is up and pay nothing and it still counts - but it just got better. If you don't fancy the DVD rental, they've now added eBay to their list of offers - and you can now get an iPod Nano!

So let's recap. Sign up with freepay (formerly "Free iPods") and choose the eBay offer. The deal is you sign up to eBay and place a bid (you have to click through from their site to eBay - no worries there). Then all you have to do is place a single, solitary bid. It doesn't matter what you bid on or how much, you can bid a penny on a laptop PC or a car - it still counts!

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You really can get a free iPod, even colour iPods

You may have read the post I made at EverythingUlster.com a few weeks back called "Free Colour/Photo iPods Hit UK" where I explained how you could get a free iPod by signing up to a free trial. If you haven't read it already, you might want to read it now.

In short you get a free iPod for signing up to a free trial with an online DVD rental company called ScreenSelect (it really is free, even the return postage on the DVDs is pre-paid by them). Like any TGTBT offer, there are catches, but if you follow a few simple steps you can make sure your iPod really is free.

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Yes, I know what you're thinking - another scam. That was my first reaction too. Why so sceptical?

Scam Sites
I've come across sites before offering ipods/mobile phones/games consoles etc. for £20. The way it works is you sign up by buying something silly like a blank CD for £10 or £20. As a 'free gift' you're entered into a queue for a free ipod/phone/console, with no guarantee you'll ever make it to the top of the queue. You can often jump places in the queue by referring friends but rarely will you see your gift and you're out of pocket £20!

What's different?
This site won't cost you a thing if you do it right, which is a good start. That, coupled with the apparent endorsement of BBC website readers following an article there, not to mention reports on CNN and MSNBC and many blogs around the world but the best endorsement I read was at Wired. These guys know their internet and I'd trust them to spot a scam a mile away. freeipods.com actually seems reliable. They even have a good customer service setup where you can send a message via an online form if you've got questions. I did this today and got an answer inside 4 hours.

Yes, Completely Free!
To get your ipod, you join freeipods.com, take part in one offer and sign up 5 friends or "referrals" to do the same. One of the offers for us lucky UK surfers is with DVD rental company ScreenSelect.co.uk where you can sign up for a no-obligation free trial and this counts as your offer. You have 21 days or 6 DVDs (whichever comes first) free and after that it's between £9.99 and £19.99 a month, or, and here's the key, you just cancel as soon as your participation has been registered (it says it can take up to 15 days but mine took one week). So not only do I get a free ipod (hopefully), I've already got a free rental of Lord of the Rings part one (I hadn't watched any of the trilogy up until now) and am expecting Michael Collins, Bill Bailey and Lord of the Rings Part 2 (the two towers).

It's that easy! Get your free ipod
Why am I telling you all? Aside from providing a service, I need to, like I said above, refer 5 other people to the program. In return for signing up via Everything Ulster, once I've got my 5, I'll change the link on the site to give YOU* credit so you might not even have to refer anyone! I'll also post updates on the status on here so you can all see what's going on, including pictures when the ipod comes.

So what are you waiting for?

Get your free iPods now!

* Links on Everything Ulster will only be changed to help my first 5 referrals.