I often hear the lament from people I meet that they feel left behind by technology; they are struggling to keep up and fear that they are losing touch. Good for them, I acknowledge that fear. If we are not careful we will see a chasm form between the technically literate and the rest. The problem is we are looking at a moving target to be considered technically literate these days; being able to program the clock on your VCR does not certify you as a card-carrying member of the digital age, in fact the very presence of a VCR puts you at risk!

So, consider me your personal trainer making sure you keep up with the rest of the technical world, and here are 3 things you can do to start your journey:

Learn to text. Texting is the communication tool that is growing at an unprecedented rate. It has been completely embraced by most of the world and all of the youth. While we are still struggling to come up with good etiquette around texting (it is rude to be texting friends while at dinner!), it is in other ways a brilliant, subtle and terrifically effective form of communication.

I can assure you that if you master texting you will be in more constant communication with your loved ones, and you will feel far more connected to your world.

Sign up for Facebook.  Your friends are on Facebook, your kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, co-workers, neighbours, postal delivery person, mayor and even the clerk at Safeway.  It is time you put aside your concerns about privacy or time wasting. Join, and figure out Facebook. Don't worry if you don't see the value right away, stick with it and get comfortable with the culture of Facebook.  Social networking is not going away, much of our future communication and even governance will be done with the social model, so you need to master it.

Take a picture, share it, tag it, comment on a friend’s photo, post the fact that you are “happy it is not raining” and you are off on your totally excellent Facebook adventure!

Spend a little time with Google, and I don't mean just searching the web.  Go to Google and play with the different tools they have - maps, Gmail, calendar, and most importantly, Google Docs.

Look at these tools and then marvel at the fact you didn't install anything on your computer to use them; they are all being delivered over the web. The simplest and most basic computer out there can use all these tools, they are free and they work very well.

The future of technology is in the network more so than in hardware. Google has the whole high tech world by the scruff of the neck currently; go and see if you can figure out why.

These three little tasks will help alleviate any concerns you have of being left behind by technology, but remember, we are dealing with a moving target; in a few months I will probably have a whole new list, so get moving!