Like most people I planned to take a break from work over the Christmas holidays, but it didn't quite work out that way.

For the first time since I started writing this column I noticed that when I met new people at holiday parties and dinners, soon after introducing themselves to me they would tell me what kind of computers they used.

Also I experienced lots of requests for free advice which I quite enjoy.

When asked for general advice I found myself repeating over and over the need for users to somehow (there are so many ways to do it) back up the contents of their computer, download and install all the Microsoft Windows Updates that apply, keep up-to-date with their favourite antivirus software, run an anti spyware checker and to avoid like the plague ‘free' add-ons and features, since they are almost certain to contain spyware with some other nasty, hidden agenda.

Judging from the pleasure people seem to take in talking about their computer experiences, those diehard holdouts who aggressively proclaimed to me that they never use a computer (and never intend to) must be finding themselves part of an ever-shrinking minority.

One of the measures of the affluence of Bermuda as well as the now ready availability of computer hardware here must surely be indicated by the specifications of the computer that people happily abandon in my workshop.

Sometimes when my customers upgrade to a brand-new PC they are only too happy to give me their old computer to resell or to scavenge for parts.

It used to be that I only had a few old 486's, or Pentium I's and so on but nowadays I am finding new owners for P4 800/900MHz computers.

The most remarkable recent bequest was when a customer gave me his ‘old' 2.53MHz Pentium 4 with 1GB of RAM, CD-recorder and DVD player! It was six months old and he felt it was time to upgrade!

Last week, more for the fun of doing it than any other reason, for an old friend I assembled a very high spec gaming computer. By the way every single component was bought off-the-shelf in Bermuda.

The serious computer gaming aficionados of the world want only the very best, fastest and coolest equipment. When I say coolest I mean it in both senses of the word.

A top end gaming computer might contain eight fans including two attached to the hard drive itself and possibly even liquid cooling. Yes, you read that right. Overclockers, these are people who tweak the processors and video cards on their computer to run faster then their factory specifications, sometimes use liquid cooling inside their computers just like the engine in your car, to combat the enemy of all hard-working electronics, which is heat.

Apparently, Intel now makes a special processor chip available only to professionals who play computer games for their living.

Of course any really trick gaming computer also has interior lighting and can even be made entirely of clear acrylic.

The one I just built is completely transparent, others have clear cutaways and panels and multicoloured interior illumination. I'm not a gamer myself but to test out the newly built computer it was loaded with several of the very best World War II flight simulators.

When I saw these complex, tweakable combat programs running through a top processor and a leading edge video card with lots of its own onboard memory, using a force feedback joystick to simulate the feedback and weight of the actual controls of the airplanes or weapons being used, I couldn't fail to be impressed.

The action and graphics were almost like watching a movie.

It is in these machines that we glimpse the trends for the technology that will soon enough appear on the more ordinary computer.

As you can see, even at Christmas time it's hard for me to get away from computers and truthfully I don't really want to. It isn't difficult for me to find ways to combine Christmas activities and computers. During the holidays we played our approximately 120 Christmas carols off an MP3 CD made on one of our computers, playing through a DVD player and piped throughout the house. This single CD plays for six hours without repeating. Total cost of materials used - forty-four cents.

But perhaps the most telling experience of all was when, on Christmas Day my mother-in-law, living in England, telephoned to say that the following day she and our English relations would be in touch over live webcam from her house.

At the appointed time on both ends of the conversation we enjoyed live real-time video and audio feed, in other words we could see them on our computer monitor and hear them while simultaneously they could see and hear us.

Remember, no long-distance charges were incurred during this conversation. Both parties were using the freely downloadable Windows Messenger 4.7, over the Internet.

My mother-in-law was using a USB webcam which we bought in the City of Hamilton including bundled software and took to England. Total cost (excluding the cost of using the Internet which we are using anyway) - $39 for the webcam. Yes, you read that correctly too. The prices of simple USB webcam's have gone down that low. At my end I used a slightly more expensive Logitech ClickSmart 510 webcam.

This device, which looks like an ordinary point-and-shoot camera, can be detached from the computer and fits in your pocket, runs on two ordinary AA batteries, can shoot large numbers of 1.3 megapixel digital still photos as well as up to eight minutes of acceptable video with sound on an included SmartMedia card. How much? Off the shelf in Hamilton I paid $155.

If you have a kid at college or a friend or relative overseas who you are in e-mail contact with you should consider buying a pair of webcams and trying this method of Internet communication yourself. Until you do, remember, my 88-year-old mother-in-law is ahead of you in embracing new technology.

James W. Lapsley of ComputerWorks, specialises in PC repairs, upgrades and advice for the home and small office user. ComputerWorks welcomes your questions and comments. Send your PC questions by e-mail to computerworks@logic.bm