No, I’m not commenting about that awful Fantastic Four film from a couple of years back. Instead, a couple of stories have caught my attention today, and they both seem to point to a greater usage of the internet by older folks.

Specifically, much older folks.

First, from the BBC, is a story about a group of Cistercian Monks who have had broadband installed on their remote island. They live on an island three miles off the coast of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, and their reliance on dial-up internet was hampering the Monk’s work: selling home-made perfume and sweets over the internet.

The monks now hope that their increased connection speed will drum up more business for the self-sustaining community and, if there’s ever an economic venture I’m likely to support, it’s one that wants to feed the nation more sweets.

Even more startling than the religious – and now broadband-connected – monks is that of a survey that’s just been conducted in America.

Catchily titled 100@100, it’s canvassed the opinions of a centurion of centenarians to find out what keeps them improbably healthy. Fantastically, some of them say that technology is keeping them young: plenty of older folk sit back and surf Google, Wikipedia, Amazon and political websites, do their shopping online and research their favourite topics.

They’ve even been dating, with 3 out of the 100 respondents saying that they’ve hooked up with someone else they’ve met online. I’m guessing that they went to a lovely, secluded tearoom – after checking out a local garden centre – before whipping out their Eee PCs and checking their emails over a scone or two. Fantastic.

No mention of them defecting to Cuil yet, though. Funny, that.