And now, the end is near; and so I face my final column. After eight years at the good ship Computing, I am sailing for pastures new.

Well, I don’t have a boat ­ – so, I won’t actually be sailing. But I am leaving. In fact, by the time you read this column I will have already gone.

So, you are now reading something by an ex-employee. Maybe I should write something outrageous?

Computing receives stacks of press releases claiming that is what workers tend to do when they leave a firm.

And after eight years of meeting and greeting technology experts, just imagine the exhilarating stories I could tell you about 802.11b and network attached storage.

But two factors preclude me from dishing the dirt. First, there is no exciting muck concerning wireless standards and storage systems. Second, I have no desire to sully my current employer’s name.

So, now that I am already 150 rambling words into this column, what am I actually going to write about?

To be honest, I don’t know. In an attempt to seek inspiration, I had a look through some of my earliest attempts at writing.

The first column I could find was an attack on the customer service at e-commerce site Letsbuyit.com.

The cheeky scamps had failed to fulfil my order, you see. And there is nothing like journalistic power ­ – for that statement, read taking advantage of your situation ­ – to right any wrongs.

I got a bunch of similar complaints from similarly irked readers and ­ – eventually ­ – a refund.

This was nice, because charity begins at home. Except when it doesn’t, such as in the case of the charity shop near our offices which is having a closing down sale.

I am not sure if that is one of those faux closing down sales that shops use to entice customers.

Very unlikely, I’d think ­ – and I guess proof will come if the charity shop is still trading in a couple of weeks.

But my departure from Computing means I will not be able to provide an update.

Regular readers ­ – hello Mum ­ – should seek solace in knowing a better person will soon be along to do a much better job. See you around and let’s be careful out there.

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Editor's note: After eight years at Computing during which he became something of an institution, Mark Samuels has sadly moved on from Computing to pastures new - so this will be the last ever entry on his blog.

Regular readers should look out for the new Computing Business blog coming soon...