I'm working late. There's nobody else in the building, it's nice and quiet, and I can concentrate on coding. But there's something slightly offputting.

Every time I go to the kitchen, the photocopier beeps three times at me.

Yes, it's got a proximity sensor so it can come out of powersave that instant or two quicker when someone approaches it. The thing is, it's right by the kitchen door, and unless I deliberately walk over to the left rather than in the centre, it will see me.

Why do I get this impression it's going to be reincarnated as a puppy in its next life?

Tonight (well, last night, but I'm still awake), I bought a new kettle.

The last one was nearly a decade old, and the filter mesh had gacked up with lime scale, and I'd broken it trying to get the scale off. So it was time for a new one.

Tesco only had one model available. Good size, large transparent window going right round the front so you can see the water level without a silly little floating ball, a base which the top could swivel on, and one extremely strange feature that I didn't immediately notice. And I bought it.

Home, replaced the old kettle with this new one, filled it with water, and then boiled the first jug full.

Let's just say that it's a real geek kettle. It glows in the dark. It glows blue in the dark. There's a light inside, and it shines out through that large window.

I can't see any good reason for this feature, but oh does it look cool!