A nod and a wink for Mr Smiley and his friends

The Olympic torch relay dramas mean nothing to my American buddy Barry. His biggest drama involves those annoying little facial expressions adored by millions of teenage MSN message users all over the world.

Because of some technical glitch, Barry from Cali is unable to use the must-have smiley face and it's driving him nuts. Baz has emailed MSN technicians six times, carefully documenting his correspondence, and has spent ages on the phone trying to have the problem fixed.

But still, there is no smile on his dial. He really, really, really wants Mr Smiley and to my utter bewilderment, it is the chief topic of recent conversations. Barry is 42 years old.