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So I noticed my partner's younger brother (13) gets asked questions like, "Are you on the computer again?" and other naggy-like comments as he will spend a lot of time at the computer playing video games. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, he is engaging his brain, socialising and having some fun at the same time. 

This got me thinking as I experienced the same sort of nagging when I was a child at home living with my parents. They would complain about the amount of time I spent at the computer and the amount of time I invested in video games - in fact they still do this. This is totally understandable, as hacking around on a PC and playing video games isn't for everybody so I wouldn't expect anything else. I feel the same way about TV; I do not understand the draw it has and wonder how people can sit and watch so much television.

So from whatever age I was when my parents first brought home a games console, and brought home a PC I was hooked on hacking, learning and gaming. As I grew older, I spent a larger portion of time at my PC learning new skills and leveling up - and this has continued right up until now. I don't regret any of it, not one bit.

So here is a list of some of the stuff I learnt and did whilst not watching TV (in no particular order)

• Learnt GFA Basic
• Played Final Fantasy VII three times (possibly one of the best gaming experiences ever)
• Learnt how to make visualisations for Winamp
• Learnt Python (£££ this now pays my bills)
• Learnt PHP (this does not pay my bills)
• Learnt to write Javascript and later use awesome libraries like jQuery
• Learnt about servers, how to build websites and services (£££)
• Discovered loads of awesome music using last.fm
• Played with and discovered many distributions of Linux including Fedora, SuSe, Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo
• Maintained and improved a private Bit-Torrent tracker website
• Learnt to use CVS
• Learnt to use Git :)
• Learnt how to configure, maintain and modify various game server software
• Played Chess with Chinese people
• Learnt how to build a computer from a set of components
• Learnt about disk partitioning - sounds boring but incredibly useful
• Learnt to administer Linux and Windows systems
• Leartn to compile from source (used to be very important a few years ago, almost never do it now)
• Played Phantasy Star Online (maybe the first MMO on a console?)
• Played Crazy Taxi (a lot)
• Learnt how to sample, create waveforms, tempo match, and use a tracker to create music
• Improved my questionable guitar skills by downloading tabs
• ...

There is loads more, but this is the stuff at the top of my head. Of course I have learnt a lot and done a lot of other stuff whilst away from the computer in this time but I am just writing to say I am sooo glad I didn't watch TV and beer is good.