A virtual life...

With an ever increasing reliance on our computers and t'Internet, at what point does that virtual 'life' take over what's happening in the real world?

I (along with many others I'm sure) live very much in a digital world.
Where movies, music & photos exist in the digital ether. Where we communicate with online 'friends' on our 'social networking' sites, or contact them via email from a multitude of email accounts (one is just never enough is it?).

But...I also have to work...and in the "Real World" (I capitalise it because it's apparently important...it's where the physical, truly important stuff happens...or so I'm told).

However, I for one am finding it increasingly difficult to manage this physical/virtual life balance. I'm constantly trying to keep up with what's happening out there in the IT world, whilst at the same time perform well in my role at work and maintain real-world relationships with my wife, friends, family etc.

For example, just maintaining my video, music & photo collections must take at least 5 hours of my time a week, and for someone who is out of the house for 12 hours a day (Mon-Fri) that's a significant amount of non-work time to be used up.
I admit that I've a bit of an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to these things (quality has to be right, naming conventions need following etc. etc.)...but then if I wasn't, I'd be lost trying to find stuff amongst the 800GB of files I currently have.

Then there are literally hours minutes wasted on Facebook etc.
There's also the PS3 games that need to be played (well they're not going to play themselves are they!).

So do I want to give all of this up and concentrate more on the 'important things'?...Nah.
It's all about priorities...and unfortunately, being a geek, mine are all firmly fixed in the world of technology.

Geek Helpdesk

Why is it that all family members assume that because you work in "I.T." you are able to answer every single question they may have about their PCs?

Admittedly I do know a fair bit about hardware and software, but I'm by no means an encyclopedia of I.T. knowledge. But I am pretty good at "Google'ing" (the sacred art of putting a few words into a search engine to find an answer to make you appear more intelligent/knowledgeable).

Damn you Google for being so good at answering my questions!

Apple'gasm

With the Apple WWDC just days away the Apple faithful are in full foreplay mode ready for the build up to their 'Apple-gasm' at the arrival of highly anticpated new products/software.

Now don't get me wrong, I like Apple products. I just don't get as excited as some people out there appear to be about them. But Apple must love this sense of sexy devotion that they have somehow managed to instill in their fans/fanboys. It's obviously good for profits since they're doing better than ever, so why stop now eh?

Anyway, I look forward to the new iPhone announcement(s) coming (excuse the pun) soon...just won't be exploding in my pants over it!