There is a common view that I am some kind of technically proficient person with a good grip on all things with plugs and flashing lights. I have been referred to by some as ‘our computer friend’, which quite apart from being a serious demotion is a very bad way to describe me.

I use computers because they are the tools of what I do. I prefer the title of ‘creative professional’. That makes me sound less like a geek and more like the person that I am. A computer user out of necessity rather than desire. I’d even correct the term ‘computer user’ with the more accurate and perhaps a little snobby ‘Mac user’.

The thing is, computers, be them Mac’s, PC’s or nasty boxes with four letter commands, constantly confuse and perplex me. Just a few weeks ago while preparing the final version of Reality Radio ready for the web, my computer decided to stop allowing me to launch the application I needed to complete the task. Just a few weeks after this little dilemma (which had to be fixed by an engineer!) had been resolved, some virus called MDEF infected my server. I thought it was called ‘M Death’, but no, even the title of the nasty little bugger made no logical sense. MDEF… I mean, who thought of that one?

So now, at ten to eleven on a Sunday night, right about the time I start to think about jumping into a nice hot bath with a copy of something interesting to read, my normally trusty G3 has decided to create a little vortex for me to figure out. What? did I look like I needed a challenge? Was my computer looking at me thinking that life has been a little too kind to me recently? Or is this just part of what life is like as a citizen of the new age of information and communication?

I’m no techno wizard, no expert on computers, I only watch Star Trek if it’s on, I don’t make a habit of it. When it comes to this technological revolution and the whole internet community thing, I am very much an accidental citizen. I am the lost tourist of the 1990′s, a guy not lacking in purpose but lacking a map… [Click here to continue reading this article at 'Meanwhile']