Yesterday evening I happened to listen to a CD of music by Poulenc which I hadn't heard in months. It ended with his Sextet for piano and wind instruments.

Next thing I do with my phone that evening is Bing-search for videos of John Doonan playing Irish music on the piccolo. Not many hits - and among them, a video of that Poulenc sextet. Which I had never referred to on the internet in any way - no searches, no comment on any forum. And no link whatever to Doonan.

Last week my wife was talking to a disabled neighbour and suggested that a microwavable hot water bottle might be safer than what she was using. Neighbour had never heard of them before. Behold, the next search she does on her phone brings up an ad for one.

A couple of years ago I was on a bus into Edinburgh and got into a conversation with the woman next to me. One of us (I forget which) was going to the dentist. Next ad I see on my phone is about dentists in Edinburgh. I had never typed anything about dentists into anything sent to the Internet.

I love Big Brother.