The Journal of Superfluous Technology has this month awarded its GoM award to a torch which masquerades as an After Eight mint. Nestléd in its little black wrapper, this light has no appreciable function whatsoever, but is reasonably bright and astonishingly cool.

Alison's digital camera was disqualified because (a) it's too essential to count as a gadget, and (b) it's very hard to take a digital picture of it.

[September 1997: We have now solved problem (b) by a simple application of superfluous technology. Mike and Steve have also bought digital cameras.] [August 1998: And Alison has now bought a second one, as the first had become insufficiently superfluous.]