IS and I had been invited to the party of the year – a school reunion hosted by an England football manager at his mansion. We arrived early in order to secure the best accommodation for the night, and were the first to grab towelling dressing gowns from the hook on the back door.

You could tell that this was a celebration for the mega-rich. Everyone had brought at least one iPad, and some were equipped with MacAirs as well. Tablet PCs and laptops were so abundant that people were quite happy to leave them unguarded at their tables when they got up to dance or collect food from the buffet. I “borrowed” one so that I could demonstrate Blipfoto to a stranger.

The highlight of the evening, however, came when JB flew in from California. She came straight over to me to ask when I could visit her in San Francisco. “Not in the near future”, I replied, “Unless you know of a way to diminish my hideous workload, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave the country again.”