I was reminded of the importance of learning when, on booting up just now, princess discovered her laptop to be throwing the most unsuitable of fits.

"Profile not found", it bleeped, unhelpfully. And proceeded to create an entirely new 'profile' apparently in place of the one she had expected to see. Expected: a desktop rammed with all manner of colourful icons. Reality: RealPlayer, VLC Media Player, and a Recycle Bin.

Had learning not been invented I wouldn't have known where to find her hidden gear. And she would have remained in that foetal position, gently rocking, for the rest of the long, dark night.

Learning has only recently become a friend of mine. Fortuitous in that I now acknowledge the absolute importance of freshening up the brain cells with new stuff as often as is humanly possible, but at the same time, it makes me sad I didn't recognise its worth at a much earlier date.

So as I start this brave new year with a brave new mantra I pledge to constantly remind myself of the critical nature of cerebral pleasures. And the 10 best ways, in my experience, to intellectually indulge in 2010:

1. lynda.com. How I fantasise about the plain Jane bespectacled and silhouetted character peering across this site and heading up an video coaching empire spanning every conceivable computer application. How she holds me in raptures with her mastery of recruiting star tutors to explain, quite incredibly, to a level suiting beginner to expert, the most important elements of Photoshop, CSS, PHP, iPhoto and every other thing you could do with a keyboard and screen. I only wish someone like Steve Jobs would come along, buy Lynda, clone her and produce a life coaching site in the same vein. Until then, we have Lifehacker - and more about that, later.

2. LibriVox. Many worship at the font of audible.co.uk for audio books, and I, too, suspect that company to be laudable. That they can turn around mp3s of the very latest blockbuster wrapped in the honeyed tones of our finest orators is no mean feat. But it costs money. My pick of audiobook sources is LibriVox.org - freemium product at its cleverest. All the titles are in the public domain, so you'll find some exquisite classics ready to come into your ears, and the readers are as unfamiliar as the site to most of mankind. And in a gorgeously different kind of way this makes LibriVox adorable. If you have a gob and you want to share the joy of literature with other people's ears, you can pitch in and read a book yourself. Love it, love it.

3. Podcasts. I'm still baffled why most of my friends look at me with a regard customarily reserved for the lobotomised when I mention the word 'podcast'. Podcasts just haven't gained the traction they deserve. I want to help Leo Laporte change that this year. I want podcasts to be the most awesome learning experience the world never knew about. I want this, and I want someone to invent a global mobile network with one SIM card and one flat-rate tariff. But back to podcasts. As a podcaster, I get all too passionate about the pleasure the medium can bring. An on-demand alternative to radio but with meaning, podcasting delivers content on every subject. And the best stuff is definitely free. iTunes will let you subscribe to the work of individual podcasters, while Gigadial combines all your favourites into a custom channel to share with others. My podcast recommendations are well-known and shown here.

4. LinkedIn. Fisher Price for adults, this networking site is cool for letting you know when your hateful boss was sacked and last spotted queueing up for handouts, but there's a feature you may not even be aware of - since it's effectively buried in the menus - that makes LinkedIn, for me, even more potent than Twitter. LinkedIn Answers lets you pose questions to millions of clever people. And because the sense of community and kinship is so strong here, you're virtually guaranteed a response that matches your needs to a tee.

5. School of Everything. If you want digital photography lessons, just ask for me. Otherwise, search the tens of thousands of people who can teach you a new skill, hobby or craft. Embroidery? Monkey tennis? Chances are there's a specialist waiting in the wings to change your life.

6. Tony Robbins. I woke up from a 34-year sleep on January 28, 2009, and Tony Robbins was my prince. There were no tongues, and the awakening was delivered in my ears as I began his 30-day Personal Power course. Tony Robbins is the master motivator, and his courses are familiar to millions. He makes people walk on coals, and his Basket Brigade does astonishing things for the needy. But more than this, he makes you realise your potential. If everyone listened, the world would be a truly incredible place. As it is, your world will be if you take a little time out to hear his rousing calls to action.

7. TED.com. Tony Robbins is on here. He's joined by hundreds of other people who have sculpted the world we live in today. Visionaries, luminaries, Academy Award winners, Nobel Peace Prize recipients. Gordon Brown. All sermonising in unique and amazing ways about their take on the universe. Just got one on now about musical conductors. Before, oscillation. To hell with the subjects, the presentations are goddamn crazy fun. Seriously - check it out. But don't figure on spending a day there - in digital terms there's over 26Gb worth of video on that site, which probably amountsff  to just about a lifetime of end-to-end visual candy.

8. Lifehacker. Together with Mashable, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Arstechnica, The Register, Ideas Sandbox and ThisWeekInStartups, Lifehacker leads the pack in providing essential guff to dictate the very path of my existence. Lifehacker is like Viz's Top Tips but with a purpose. Want to know how to build a living rabbit out of cornflakes? Zero problem. An Ikea shelf remixed to smell like George Clooney? Check out the top right feature.

9. Meditation. If you want to do stuff right; if you want to be the most receptive you can be to any brain biscuit that comes your way, you absolutely need to take time out from the daily routine. 15 minutes is all you need to channel your energy into the meaningful, rather than the mundane. Find a quiet space, relax, close your eyes, focus your breathing, clear your head of thoughts (picture yourself looking through a window on to a snowy mountainscape with each thought a cloud floating by until you have a perfect view) and just soak up the moment. Do this a few times a week, and your incredible lightness of being will be matched by a new vim for creativity.

10. Pick up a camera. I learn more about nature through a lens than by discussing its beauty for hours with professors and others of the expert ilk. Why? I think it's because nature only talks to you in silence. The most appealing experiences take place when you're left to your own devices. My device of choice is a Canon 400d. It has travelled more widely than Phileas Fogg, dragging me along with it on indescribably pretty hikes, through lowlands and peaks, cluttered cities and charming villages. Nothing speaks of our world so vividly as a picture shared with friends, so long as you don't go on about it. That just makes it dull.