Amongst the stuff up there is a veritable museum of computer history: twenty years of accumulated electronics, including my Commodore 64 (top right), Acorn RiscPC (top left) and Acorn A3010 (bottom). Also up there but not pictured: my Super NES.

Just for giggles I connected the C64 up to the TV, and it still works! Within minutes I was happily loading programs via Datasette at 300 baud, partying like it was 1989. There’s a smorgasboard of ancient games up there too.

I’m something of a hoarder when it comes to stuff like this. Each of the above machines has a special place for me. The C64 meant hours of time spent making extremely chunky sprites in Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit, giggling at crap jokes in Commodore Format, and singing along, karaoke-style, to the Ghostbusters title screen.

The others spark similar memories. The A3010 inspired many hours of BBC BASIC hackery, but is also associated in my mind with staying up all night to finish school essays that I could have had done weeks earlier. The RiscPC, meanwhile, was the first computer I ever got on the internet with, and I still remember vividly the frisson of excitement on that day in August 1997 (the day before Princess Diana was killed, fact fans) when I installed the ArgoNet software and heard the ear-splitting screeching of my 33.6k modem for the first time.

So there’s a lot of history there. Realistically though, all this stuff has been in the loft for 5 years, and they’ve never been touched in that time, so I think it’s time to put sentiment to one side and flog them on eBay. Now, does anyone want a pristine copy of PipeDream 4 (copyright 1991 Colton Software)?

Will this drive away punters? Almost certainly, and the Guardian wasted no time publishing a (slightly smug) “welcome” message to disaffected Times readers.

I’m guessing from the tone of that piece that the Guardian are sticking with the “free” model for the foreseeable future, but how long can that situation continue? Most newspapers are losing money and online advertising does not bring in enough revenue to compensate. New revenue sources will have to be found somewhere. Good journalism is not cheap, and it does seem a bit commercially suicidal of newspapers to give away their content for free.

On the other hand, hiding articles behind a paywall means that same quality product is at risk of being ignored by the wider internet. There will be no Google News alerts pointing to Times articles; bloggers will no longer have the option of linking to a Times article to back up their views; on Twitter, there will be few bit.ly short URLs going to The Times. Overall, there will be a big drop in traffic: will there be enough people paying money to the Times to justify taking their web site out of the global conversation?

In fact, with so many other free news sources online (for now, at least) will anyone be prepared to pay? The Financial Times has charged for some time, but that’s a specialist publication for a niche market, offering in-depth coverage not provided elsewhere. The Times, on the other hand, is a mainstream newspaper — who will pay to access the Times when the same news can be found on the BBC, Telegraph, Guardian, New York Times and a thousand other sources on Google News? Is Jeremy Clarkson’s column a sufficient draw to tempt people to pay £1?

In summary, I’m sceptical. But if it stops overseas bloggers referring to “The Times of London” in their links (that’s NOT what the paper is called!) I’ll be happy.

Enter the Commodore VIC-20:-

This picture released under Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence. Original by Pixel8/Cbmeeks.

By the time I got my hands on one, the VIC-20 was already yesterday’s news. Even by the standards of the time (it was introduced in 1981) it was somewhat underspecified. A whopping 5 kilobytes of memory and a chunky display which could only fit 22 characters on a screen line meant that this wasn’t exactly a power user’s machine. It was, however, a brilliant idea from Commodore Computers: a cheap computer which cost roughly the same as a games console but could be used to learn computing as well as playing games. It was a massive success, with a William Shatner-fronted ad campaign helping to sell the machine. The VIC-20 became the first computer to sell over a million units.

Despite the limitations (and an annoying fault on my machine which meant the TV display disappeared unless the video cable was positioned in exactly the right spot), I was thrilled to have this machine to play with. In the box, along with a lot of primitive arcade games on cassette tape (tape!), was a BASIC programming tutorial book, no doubt hoping to inspire generations of children to create their own wondrous video games.

In practice, many probably never got past 10 PRINT”YOU SMELL OF POO”:GOTO 10. However, I read the manual from cover to cover, carefully typing in the example programs, soaking up the wonders of GOTO, INPUT, POKE and PEEK; and cursing when I got an “?UNDEF’D STATEMENT ERROR” message. The BASIC was… well, basic, requiring screenfuls of confusing symbols to do something as simple as moving the cursor around the screen, but at the time I thought it was marvellous.

My own enchantment with the VIC didn’t last long. The following Christmas my parents upgraded me to a Commodore 64, which had vastly better graphics and sound. I ditched the VIC and never looked back, preferring to make crap games on the Shoot’Em Up Construction Kit instead.

Despite the low-tech nature of the era, it was a great time for computers. The 8-bit machines with built-in BASIC programming language encouraged a generation of bedroom programmers to experiment with their machines, burning the midnight oil hunched over their keyboards, their work illuminated by the glowing screen. Only a few managed to make the leap from amateur hacking to producing professional quality software and games, but for those who did the rewards could be huge.

Now, of course, Commodore is no more and the PC is ubiquitous. Few computer users these days will ever tinker with their machines the way I did. In a way the current situation is the natural next step of the evolution of the computer’s role in the home: the VIC-20 and its ilk were the first attempt to open up computing to the masses; modern systems like Windows and MacOS with their focus on user-friendliness are a continuation of that process. It’s sad though that many users have no understanding of the internal workings of their machine.

There is a coda to the VIC-20 story: Linus Torvalds took his first tentative steps into the programming arena on a VIC-20. Years later, he created the Linux kernel, the basis for the various Linux operating systems which threaten to change the face of computing as we know it.

The VIC obviously looks a little embarrassing now, but that hasn’t stopped someone from creating a Twitter client for it, proving that even the most ancient technology isn’t entirely useless (depending on your opinion of Twitter).

Details are in the link above, but in a nutshell: the web site ReadWriteWeb posted an article with the title “Facebook Wants to Be Your One True Login”. That page quickly rose to the top of Google’s search results for Facebook login. Soon RWW were inundated with confused facebook users who believed that they had landed on Facebook’s login page and thought that they had fallen victim to one of the frequent redesigns that people love to complain about so much. The comment thread to that post is a sight to behold.

The question is: why didn’t they just type facebook.com into their browser’s address bar directly? The answer, I suspect, is that a lot of people simply don’t know how to do this. For many people “Google = Internet”, the same way “Microsoft = Computer” is commonplace (or certainly was until recently).

They never bother to bookmark sites, preferring to use Google to find everything. This fiasco has demonstrated, in the most hilarious way possible, why that it is a bad thing, especially when the same users seemingly believe Google even when it throws up an obviously bad result.

It’s no wonder phishing and other scams are so commonplace with this level of internet literacy. It would be a good idea for Google and other big players on the Internet to embark on a programme of education in this area.

So does the iPad bring us one step closer to Gene Roddenberry’s utopian vision? Maybe. But I wish we were getting the full blown MacOS rather than the iPhone OS, with its dependence on the locked-down App store which means that Apple, and Apple alone, decide which apps you can and can’t run on it. It also looks a bit underspecced and underpowered for what it is. A netbook or a cheap laptop still might be a better bet for lots of people.

I remain to be convinced that this the quantum leap forward for computing that the pre-launch hype promised us. But it’s Apple, and the brand name and lovely design will surely mean that 100 billion are sold within the first 20 minutes.

Now, speaking of Star Trek technology: when do we get a working Holodeck?

Why not? Everyone else is doing it

I wasn’t sure I’d stick at it — many people who sign up to the site post a few Tweets and then never use it again. Nevertheless, I persevered and am glad I did, for Twitter has now become a genuine phenomenon. It’s proved to be a valuable source of immediate news during major events; has changed the way we interact with celebrities; been a focal point for public outrage, and even (nearly) started a revolution.

So, ignore the idiots (most of whom have never used the site) who say the site is pointless and nothing more than ego-stroking for self-obsessed nerds, and may those 140-character messages continue to entertain, until the inevitable day when Twitter is sold to Google.

First impressions: I love it! The motion control is marvellous and used to great effect in the bundled games (Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort) are great fun. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an amazing game, taking the classic Mario formula and adding a really enjoyable multiplayer mode. I’m looking forward to building up my catalogue of games.

The Wii is the console that might get me back to gaming full time. The last full console I owned (as opposed to a handheld) was a SNES. For some reason when the consoles went 3D, I lost interest. That, and I had no money. Me and video games went our separate ways, until now.

Still haven’t tried the Virtual Console feature, but I will do soon — I really fancy playing Pilotwings again.

In London, the Police proved once again what a wonderful organisation they are. In Rome, a swimmer suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.

Gents — ever wondered what it would be like to wake up with a vagina? YouTube was on hand to envisage that scenario.

My sister graduated from uni, proving that they’ll give degrees out to ANYONE these days (only kidding, sis!). I also wasted a whole day playing Atari 2600 games, and I still have the Pitfall II music stuck in my head.

August saw the first Adventures in Public Transport post for quite a while, as yours truly hunted for a lost Saveaway ticket in the rain. I had a much better transport experience a few days later, as I cruised to Salford on a Mersey Ferry. The peace was shattered – literally – on my evening commute when my train was bricked.

I celebrated the Internet’s ability to create new friendships as I met up with the Mersey Tart for the first time — a meeting surely up there with Livingstone and Stanley’s encounter on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

The Echo cemented its local credentials by relocating scores of jobs to Oldham. PowerPoint celebrated 25 years of making already tedious office meetings absolutely unbearable. Channel 4 axed Big Brother, meaning I can now watch television during the summer without feeling the urge to kill.

September saw me considering Macs again. I still haven’t decided whether to switch to a Mac or not — never let it be said that I’m impulsive. Then I decided to go on strict diet, a process which went quite well over the following months, until Christmas intervened and ruined it. The London tube map was redrawn to remove the River Thames; I thought this was a huge improvement, but TfL did not consider my views during their consultation process and swiftly moved to put it back. I also bemoaned that society seems reluctant to pay for anything these days, although I felt some sympathy for that view as my Railcard expired and I resigned myself to paying full fare on the trains.

October saw the Tories proving they’re crazy. BBC4 dramatised the rise and fall of Sinclair and Acorn in Micro Men. A-Ha split up, shocking people who didn’t realise they were still together. Royal Mail workers went on strike, thankfully AFTER I got all my parcels. That woman wrote that article in that paper about that singer, and that man from that party went on that programme.

I finally joined the iPod owners club with a purchase of a new 5th gen Nano. Sun and Cloud made a welcome (it says here) reappearance.

In November there were fireworks-a-plenty when the Government sacked its drugs adviser for… advising on drugs. Morrissey walked off stage at the Echo Arena after being hit by a bottle, Rupert Murdoch launched all-out wars against Gordon Brown and Google.

National Rail launched Stations Made Easy, allowing people to explore the nation’s railway stations without leaving their comfy seat. Anyone using that site to look at Liverpool Central could understand why it is one of the top ten worst stations in the UK. One station that definitely wasn’t on the worst list was Workington North, a temporary halt which opened to serve the flood-hit town after less than a week of planning.

December contained the story of the year for me. Never mind Jacko dying or bombers with explosives in their underpants, the toy mouse that sings “paedophile”, as featured on the Today Programme(!), was a highlight.

Christmas came and went, and I explained why people complaining about “political correctness” are missing the point. The BBC proved its worth by having 9 out of the top 10 programmes on Christmas Day.

Otherwise it was a quiet month. I checked out the Take That musical, Never Forget, lamented the fact that The X Factor had a stranglehold on the Christmas number one spot (except when it didn’t) and mocked an LFC player’s sincerely held religious beliefs.

Thanks to my regular readers (all four of you!) and Happy New Year.

January started out with one of my favourite shows being revived. Despite being up against EastEnders and being hosted by Ben Shepherd, the Krypton Factor did well enough to be recommissioned for a second series. We found out Who would replace David Tennant, and a year later we still haven’t actually seen him in the role. ITV’s latest attempt to ape the success of Doctor Who was Demons which failed spectacularly; the only creative thing about it being the number of different excuses the writers found for Christian Cooke to remove clothing.

In the wider world, various eras were drawing to a close, as Woolworths closed its doors, Tony Hart kicked the bucket and Dubya left office. Meanwhile, yours truly had an enjoyable night in London Theatreland.

In February it snowed, proving that global warming is rubbish if you’re an idiot. Superlambanana was guaranteed a permanent home in Liverpool. BBC2 followed ITV’s lead in finding excuses to get people naked — although not Christian Cooke.

A right old slanging match developed in the Guardian between Hazel Blears and George Monbiot. The Government announced a new high-tech, high-speed train for the nation’s railways, leading me to complain (prophetically as it turned out) that money should be spent on electrifying the network. Milk won about 500 Oscars, but Dustin Lance Black’s heartfelt acceptance speech has now been blocked on YouTube by AMPAS. Boo.

Surely the most exciting moment though, was my public debut on Twitter!. 720 Tweets later, and I’m still going strong.

March saw me add another book to my Merseyrail-themed collection. I was depressed to read a study which concluded that brain function starts to decline at age 27 — on the bright side, I got an excellent pun out of it. Meanwhile, Merseytravel managed to tie the recent election of Barack Obama to their own integrated transport policy, and bravo to them for managing that. Useless Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was embarrassed by her husband’s viewing habits. He likes watching Second Homes Under The Hammer (SATIRE).

Also: Stewart Lee slagged off everything brilliantly and OK Magazine & Chris Moyles each did their bit to raise the standard of national discourse.

April started out with my irritation at the tendency for companies to say “search for us” instead of providing a proper web site address. The police proved themselves to be wholly unfit for purpose. Another Radio 4 stalwart was lost.

I visited Hall Road station and had an emotional and strangely cathartic appearance (plus I took a photo for the Friends of the 502 Group newsletter). I then linked to an amusing Daily Show clip, but I can’t tell you what it’s about because Comedy Central have blocked their videos in the UK, because they are WANKERS. It was something to do with mocking the elderly, which became something of a theme thanks to the residents of Frinton-on-Sea.

Oh, and that woman went on that show and sang that song. Trivia note: the girl in the audience who rolled her eyes when Susan Boyle first walked on stage is now world’s most hated person, just behind Osama Bin Laden, but ahead of Piers Morgan, oddly enough.

I linked to an excellent David Mitchell piece on the Sachsgate affair. Associated Newspapers attracted my scorn, not for the last time this year.

May brought the worst possible news, as FXUK dropped the Colbert Report from its schedules. Jacqui Smith proved what an asset to the nation she was on two separate occasions. The MP expenses scandal rumbled on, and I thought it would lead to disillusioned voters switching to fringe parties. Just as well THAT didn’t happen, eh?

Star Trek was rebooted and earned the coveted Hampo Seal of Approval. A man and a violin won the Eurovision Song Contest, while an even more interesting music contest was shaping up in the US. How come America gets Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, while we get Danyl Johnson and Joe McElderry?

I had a wander round the Wirral peninsula, taking photos of abandoned railway lines in Birkenhead. Surely I’m on a terror watch list by now. I also pondered why Merseyrail were stripping wall panels from Central station. The unexciting answer was: “to replace them with new wall panels”. Elsewhere on the railways, I had a good old-fashioned moan about pain-in-the-arse Advance fares.

June saw national joke Jacqui Smith resign at long last. The strictly London-only joke Boris Johnson continued to deliver what the public expected of him: amusing footage. Twitter proved an invaluable tool for anti-Government protesters in Iran, until they took the site down for maintenance.

Michael Jackson died, and my total commentary on this momentous event was two sentences. I was more concerned with the growing menace of dead animals getting inside food. I also asked if Australian TV viewers have no sense of humour. Network Rail closed my local railway line for three days, in what would prove to be the biggest flooding event of the year — right?

I was still not in possession of an iPod at this time, but the BBC thought it would be oh-so-amusing to give a teenager a cassette Walkman to try out — cue all sorts of isn’t-this-quaint style hilarity.

Well, that was 30 quid well spent on a wireless router, wasn’t it?!