The internet grew out of ideas that people started implementing in the 1970’s. The first web browser appeared on my old operating system of choice, NeXTSTEP, in 1991. It grew slowly into something useful, and by the end of the 1990’s had already become an indispensable part of our lives.

I had grown up around Apple ][’s, even though my parents never owned one. By the time I got out of high school I had a TRS-80, which I never found particularly useful, and much preferred spending my time with game consoles. I missed the whole Commodore/Amiga thing. If I hadn’t, perhaps I would have fallen in love with computers sooner.

By the end of the 1980’s I had a 386, running MS-DOS. I have to admit that aside from playing Wing Commander and Leisure Suit Larry games I never did find it very useful. The mystique of the text based adventure game was lost on me, and I much preferred the arcade for games. Of course, I had owned every videogame console since the Mattel Intellivision, and by 1990 thought the Sega Genesis provided a vastly superior gaming experience to my clunky, expensive 386.

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You’ve probably heard about EA’s latest RPG “Mass Effect” for Xbox360, but did you know it’s coming out for PC very soon too?

Ok, but did you also know that you’ll need to activate the game in order to play it? Oh yes, Mass Effect (PC version) is using SecuROM, which requires online activation.

But it doesn’t stop here, 10 days after the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check the CD-key. If the key isn’t private, the game stops working. It does this every 10 calendar days.
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Poker must be one of the biggest underground crazes on the internet, with millions of people playing for fun and also to try and make a quick buck.  I haven’t learnt how to play Texas Hold Em, but I was pretty good at standard poker at uni and made a bit of cash, until my friends worked out I could count cards!

If you want to see how the pros do it, then tune in tomorrow from 8PM GMT when 888.com have asked me to let you know that they will be broadcasting live the final of the World Poker Crown. If you’ve been living on another planet for the last couple of years and don’t know who 888.com are, then they are one of the biggest online gambling companies out there.

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Marriage. Like death, it is inevitable. Ultimately you will encounter that one “right” person and make the leap, or maybe you will simply reach that point where it dawns on you that if you don’t hurry up and pair off with somebody you are going to grow old and die alone.

We are all selfish creatures, to one degree or another. Marriage will drive that last trace of selfishness out of you like nothing else. It’s like going from a dictatorship to a democracy, and those who aren’t prepared to learn the subtle arts of compromise and diplomacy are headed to divorce court. As Connected Internet’s primary focus is technology and the internet, I have compiled a short list of Tech And Internet Don’ts For The Newlywed Or Soon To Be:

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The toy company Lego is working intensely on a multiplayer online game or MMO. The game is launched in 2009. Children all over the world can now play with Lego bricks across boundaries.

The game is called Lego Universe and it’s said to be part World of Warcraft and part playing with toys. Virtual Lego bricks here we come.

You control a classic Lego figure, your avatar, that develops his or her skills as you play.

Lego Universe is built like a just like a classic MMO with missions, that earns you money and bricks, but the social and creative part of the game is what drives it forward. You will be rewarded extra for solving missions creatively.
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