Holidays. Every now and then I need to unplug myself from the modern world for a few days.

This previous week afforded me that opportunity as I spent it literally in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the deep south of Burgundy. The house we stayed in had no TV, no local tabac to buy the papers, no internet access, no telephone and no mobile phone reception. Someone was trying to tell me something.

Life in the increasingly wired world has led me to expect the media at my fingertips and it took a couple of days cold turkey to stop wondering about what was happening around the world. Putting aside my revelations about life 'on the other side' for now, I usually spend the Sunday of any return poring through the papers to catch up with events while I have been away. It's easy to miss important events, particularly where work is concerned.

However, this year, I decided to rely on my news aggregator which handily saved the week's events for me in neat chronological order, all nicely organised by topic. A leisurely scan through the news, the sport (I shouldn't have bothered) and then onto work matters quickly brought me back in touch with events. All it took was a couple of hours catching up on a Sunday afternoon and I was ready to tackle the traditional post-holiday email mountain on Monday morning.

My news, when I wanted it and how I wanted it. That kind of media consumption is hard to beat.