Throw away the Times and win

Today the Times transforms itself into Britain's biggest freesheet. The newspaper is being given away as part of a marketing campaign by Microsoft, the American software company.

To mark this auspicious occasion, and to help Mr Murdoch dispose of the 1.5 million copies he is printing, the Independent has a particularly tedious competition. There will be a prize of pounds 117, representing a year's subscription to The Independent, for the reader who sends in the largest number of Times mastheads cut from page one of today's paper.

Any group of readers inclined to assemble a larger pile of this value- free material, is warmly invited to do so. We suggest any location adjacent to a recycling point. The Independent picture desk would be happy to hear from anyone whose stack reaches, say, 15 feet in height.

Entries for the "collect a worthless masthead" contest should be sent to:

Waste Paper, The Independent, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5DL.

Envelopes should be marked in the top left hand corner with the total number enclosed and arrive by last post, Tuesday 29 August.

Windows 95: the hype behind the claims, page 5

Freesheets face hard times, page 8

Bryan Appleyard: the Bill Gates phenomenon, page 23