I must take a moment to thank people (yes, again) for their fantastic feedback ? it is this feedback that keeps this column thriving. I?m going to answer some of the questions I get sent here ? please note: I do endeavour to answer any and all technical questions that people ask me, so if you?ve a question about IT, no matter how trivial or silly you may think it, I won?t. Write me at bobbmg.bm

Wow! Good question. I have always noticed that advertisements for PCs will hitch on to a new technological buzzword and use it in their advertisements without the slightest explanation ? and I know it can be frustrating. Put simply, a dual-core processor installs two processors in the same footprint as one. Previously we would set up one processor on one chip. Now, with clever technological advances, we can put two processors on the same physical chip, meaning that because the two processors share the same socket connection to the motherboard they are much faster, and less expensive in terms of power. They are often advertised as being double the speed which is incorrect ? with a dual-core processor, you should expect up to 50 percent improvement in performance, but not much more. Watch this space for multi-core processors, perhaps as high as eight-core processors, in the near future.

Skype is an internet technology that allows you to make phone calls from your PC. By utilising technology which you may have seen called VOIP (Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol), you can use a little piece of software on your PC to talk over the Internet with another PC with the same software, and the call is free.

A word of warning: I am not entirely sure of the legal position you would be in if a telecommunications company were to discover its use ? there is some dispute in certain countries about the legality of it. My experience here is that telecoms companies cannot ?put the bullet back in the gun when its been fired?, but you should check your personal legal position before just going ahead and using it. Download it at www.skype.com.

Bitcast radio is basically the ability of a radio station to broadcast over the internet. Websites like www.live365.com provide endless lists of radio stations broadcasting over the Internet, with all kinds of genres, and simply selecting one will ? provided you have sound capabilities on your PC ? allow you to hear the radio station through your PC.

Be aware that, for example, many employers do not allow this kind of radio to be listened to at a workplace. This is because, the music is ?streaming? in its nature - that is it must utilise an amount of your companies web connection constantly in order for the music to continue in a continuous, uninterrupted stream. The requirements, therefore dictate that you will be ?stealing? a little of your companies bandwidth for each PC that is listening to bitcast radio.

Virus decontamination is a complicated issue, which I will be looking at in a few weeks time, but, for now, know that none of the anti-virus vendors can guarantee they know about all viruses. At Bermuda Microsystems, I can tell you first hand, that one virus-engine will tell me that a computer is virus-free, but if I run a different virus vendor software straight after it, I will find some. The same is true ALL ways round ? whichever I run first will find one some viruses, and the one I run second will find many the same, but a few different, and completely miss some that the first anti-virus software found. It is an unfortunate fact of life that this is the case ? and when you throw in spyware and adware (which I will also deal with in a few weeks time), the situation gets much worse.

Next time, we?re going to start a four-part topic, looking at the fascinating topic of multimedia ? video, pictures, sound and music played on your computer.