Learn on the couch, not in the car

SATNAV - Part three No, I'm not in thrall to this technology and freely admit it has some way to go. But it's had an undeservedly bad press from people who've tried it for an afternoon, failed to realise its potential and - a particular bête noire - have written delightedly about their inability to penetrate its workings.

One accessory worth acquiring is the cable/transformer that allows you to plug the satnav in to your house supply and play around with it in the comfort of your own living room. You learn far more in this unstressed environment. When you try similar experimentation in the car it always seems too hot and your sweaty finger-tips skitter over the controls.

I think that's enough about satnav. To tell the truth I respond more viscerally to maps but satnav's proof I'm trying to be a child of our times.

TECHNO-ART Other than documentaries which are outside my scope I find TV rather barren of examples in which art fuses with technology. One exception was "Das Boot", the German multi-episode series about life in a WW2 submarine. Here men were surrounded by technology and threatened by it from above. Big batteries were big, too. But I'd appreciate an explanation about that greenish light emanating from small windows - apparently - on the side of the diesel engine cylinders.