IN SEPTEMBER 1981, when my daughter was just a few months old, I had a job interview in the downstairs bar of the Great Northern Hotel on Kings Cross Station.

THERE’S a lot of talk about algorithms these days - mainly in connection with internet search engines and software platforms like Facebook. But an algorithm is nothing more than a series of steps set up to solve a problem or to reach a particular outcome.

I WAS GIVEN another three notebooks for Christmas: a classic fiery orange Moleskine with elasticated binder and internal pocket; a beautiful little hand-designed and branded black notebook from a friend who runs a graphic design company in Berlin; and - from my daughter, Lucy - an American Rite in the Rain All-Weather Memo Book, originally designed for woodsmen in Tacoma, WA, and perfect for damp birding trips in the UK. That one is the colour of beech leaves in mid-summer.

THE MOST overused word in sales and marketing must surely be ‘luxury’, which is odd given its background. 

In Middle English, it denoted lechery and at its point of origin in 1340 it meant ‘lasciviousness, sinful self-indulgence’ or simply ‘excess’. 

OKAY, IN that spirit of honesty and openness now so casually disregarded by politicians worldwide, let me declare an interest: Galvin at Windows on the 28th floor of the London Park Lane Hilton is not only one of my long-term favourite restaurants, it is run by people I've known for more than a decade and who I would like to think of as friends (if they'll have me).