I gotta make this quick. I may not have much time, because in thirty minutes I may not be be able to use my computer. Not because I'm going on a trip to some obscure location that doesn't have internet access. (Why would I do that?) Not because my internet connection is down, or because there's anything wrong with my computer.But because I might just decide to shut it down.

It's not that I can't shut it down. I mean, it's as easy as pressing a button or clicking my mouse, right? I can shut it down any timeI want to. I just need a good reason. You know, just to be sure I really want to.

It is obvious that people would find life extremely difficult without computers, maybe even impossible. If they disappeared for just one day, would we be able to cope?

Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate!

Shutdown your computer on this day and find out! Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?

Twenty-four hours? The whole day? And why, again? I thought I'd go back to the Shutdown Day website to see what it's all about. Would you believe they've already shut down?  Jeez. These people are hard core!  There's still … twenty minutes left! But at least they left a note.

We've teamed up with the National Laptop Foundation, a new non-profit organisation launching on World Earth Day, to help underprivileged children, the elderly and schools and doctors in third world countries have access to the internet, by recycling & refurbishing old unwanted & broken computers.

We want to raise $100,000 to help this cause and to start work on the next Shutdown Day and organise events in cities around the world. Please help be a part of this.

OK. So it's for a really good cause. One day without a computer so thousands of other people can have computers. Right? So, what's gonna happen? I've still got five minutes left to decide. Let's see what the folks at Treehugger have to say.

What will happen if we all participate? If we really do keep off the computers for 24 hours tomorrow, all Emails will go unanswered, and blogs won’t be updated. During lunch breaks, people might talk to their co-workers or go for a walk outside, or buy a newspaper. At home, computer games will cease and instead we will have lunch together and talk about the world. And then read a book in the afternoon. But the real issue is how addicted are we all to our computers?

 Read a book? Okay. Lunch? Check. Go for a walk? Sure. Besides, we're gonna take the kid to his swimming lessons in the morning and the library in the afternoon. Throw in grocery shopping and having dinner and that's the better part of the day.

But no emails? No blogs? No computer games? Can I just put it to "sleep"? Do I have to shut it down? What if I just say off the internet? Couldn't I just make a bigger donation? Really, I'm not sure I can do this. And I've only got a few minutes to make up my …