Recently it's come to our attention that some viewers are slightly dissatisfied with our occasional "Get A Free iPod" tips; apparently some of you feel that the methods of qualifying for the free 'Pods are either too difficult to accomplish (e.g. performing onstage at the 2002 Grammy Awards) or too expensive (e.g. purchasing a BMW motorcycle). A recurring theme when people make complaints in this vein are questions such as, "why would I spend thousands of dollars on a motorcycle I neither want nor need just to get a free iPod, when I could skip the whole motorcycle-buying bit, take part of the money I would have spent on the bike, and just buy an iPod with that?"

Because then it wouldn't be free. Duh.

But okay, never let it be said that we don't aim to please; have it your way. What follows is a 100% no-cash-outlay, no-talent-required method of scoring a free iPod, but of course there's a catch: it's not actually guaranteed to work. In fact, your odds of actually walking away from this with an iPod are pretty darn slim, which is why we tend to skip mentioning these so-called "great deals" in the first place-- but the audience has spoken and we're compelled to pander. So take a look-see at Apple's new iPod-a-Day Giveaway, as pointed out by faithful viewer Badtz Maru; it sounds like it's right up your alley.

The deal is this: if you create a new iTunes Music Store account between now and September 20th, you'll automatically be entered in a daily random drawing, and if you're the type of lucky jerk who actually gets picked in drawings like this, you'll win a 10 GB iPod, free of charge. Apple's giving away one a day for the next month, and by creating your account now, you're automatically entered in each day's drawing until the promotion ends. So fire up iTunes and create an account. Already have one? That's apparently not even a problem, since all of us do, too, and we were able to make new ones with different email addresses (c'mon, everybody has at least eight these days) pointing to the same credit card data. Piece of cake.

Of course, like we said, this isn't anywhere near to being a foolproof method of getting a free iPod, since your odds of winning are determined entirely by how many people enter. (Hmmm... maybe we should have kept this to ourselves...) Our advice? Stick with the sure-fire technique: build a time machine, travel back to 2001, land a role in a "prestige" feature, act really well, get nominated for an Academy Award, go to the Oscars, and pick up your free iPod. But if you want to go the half-assed route and sit around in the present waiting for your name to be pulled out of a hat, well, that's your prerogative, we suppose. Slacker.