ALLAN Miller is no ordinary man. At 101, the centenarian spends most of his time not in bed but in front of his desktop computer where he plays games, sends instant messages, reads emails and does personal research.

His vocabulary includes expressions like “IM” (instant messaging), “search engine” and “email”, which is surprising considering that the information age and the Internet technology took off in the 1990s, when Miller was in his 80s and already past what some would describe as his ‘prime’.

He spends long hours on the computer, he says, mostly chatting with his daughter Peggy who lives in the United States. At other times he plays his favourite games, solitaire and free cell, or reads about subjects in which he’s interested.

“Sometimes I don’t know how I don’t fall asleep (in front of the computer). Sometimes when I look at the clock mi shame,” said the old man, laughing. “I do everything, sometimes I talk to my daughter for all two hours on IM”.

“I have a good brain, the brain is 100 per cent. The flesh is a little weak but the brain is good,” said Miller who wears tested glasses and who is slightly hard of hearing.

On Wednesday, telecommunications company Cable & Wireless Jamaica presented Miller with free lifetime high-speed Internet acccess which will allow him to use the phone and browse the Net simultaneously. The company got wind of Miller’s love for the ‘Net through Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal Phillip Paulwell.

“It’s admirable that someone at that age is embracing the technology especially when some young people can’t do it,” said head of corporate communications at C&WJ, Errol Miller, at Wednesday’s presentation at Miller’s Bray Street home in Kingston.

On Wednesday, C&WJ’s Miller was quick to declare that his company’s gesture was not “a cheap publicity stunt”.

“The fact is that we just heard about it. If we had heard of a 95-year-old doing that kind of thing we would have done the same,” he assured.

The centenarian expressed appreciation for the telecom company’s gift and with his monthly dial-up Internet bill totalling just over $1,000 and the phone bill coming to roughly $2,000 each month, his gratitude is understandable.

“Dat ah big ting because sometime mi bill come to $2,000… now I’m free,” he said, standing in the doorway to his bedroom.

So just how did Allan Miller become technologically savvy?

His granddaughter Sharifa Murdock explained that about six years ago, her father and Allan’s oldest son, Orville, taught himself to use the computer and decided to initiate his father.

She said Orville first taught his father how to play games, then how to design birthday cards and from there, his interest ballooned.

“He’s a JP (Justice of the Peace) so he uses it to write his letters and he has told me he is writing a book on how to live to be a 100,” Murdock told the Observer Wednesday.

“He’s amazing, I’m so proud of him. He has definitely inspired me. He caught on so quick,” she added.