Anyone who has used Microsoft Word will probably have come across the built-in assistant known as Clippy. That’s the animated paperclip which pops up and offers what is called context-sensitive help, such as “It looks like you’re writing a letter. Would you like to …”

With computer applications popping up in places like telephones, refrigerators and car GPS units, it might only be a matter of time before computer screens start appearing in toilets (sponsored reading matter, perhaps?). My imagination ran away … what sort of online help would Microsoft offer to toilet users?

The image on the right is one possibility I came up with when I should have been doing something more important like studying. I don’t know where I made it - probably on one of the many image-generator websites around. I just re-discovered it while searching my hard drive for something else, and thought I’d share it. Considering how thoroughly computers are infiltrating our lives, it may not be as far fetched as it looks, which is a scary thought.