Never been so popular !

Hours per week spent online may have been a meaningful measure when almost all home users were on dial-up connections - but with broadband, surely I'm 'online' whenever I'm sitting at my PC (or, if you prefer to measure it from my DSL router, 24x7).

These guys need to decide what they want to measure. Is it time spent using a web browser, playing interactive games, using IM, downloading media files, reading email? All of these are much more difficult to find out than 'time online', but at least they might mean something!

all over - not just over the internet. I cannot afford to buy anything anymore, whether from high street or net, as I now give most of my money to the government as tax in one form or another.

The article said how. First they selected a sample full of people with enough time on their hands to fill in an online survey. Next they asked them, do you piss your entire life away on the web? Lastly, they publish the results.

Don't knock it. Surveys like this let the El Reg team knock off easy articles on Fridays and get to the pub early! Surely they deserve it?