Sideswipe: October 2: What Nola knows

For most businesses a dream employee is one who works 24 hours per day and seven days per week and doesn't need to a living wage, in fact doesn't need to be paid at all. Noel Leeming flagship store in Westfield Newmarket has one such staffer — Nola the digital employee who will loom large from an in-store screen and ask shoppers if they need any help. Nola is a human-like interface backed by artificial intelligence and starts this week.

The truth about teabags

According to the BBC: "Most teabags are made from paper, with a small amount of plastic used to seal them shut. But some premium brands have switched to using greater amounts of plastic mesh for their product instead. This is usually so that the teabag is held in a pyramid shape, which producers claim helps the tea leaves infuse better."

When quiz answers you know to be correct are ruled out ...

1. Got barred after flipping a table when my answer of Raiders of the Lost Ark was marked as incorrect for not including "Indiana Jones" in the answer. The question was name the film poster.

2. It was a tie-break question: "In which country was the famous Rumble In The Jungle boxing match held." My answer: D.R. Congo, formerly Zaire. The answer he had on the card was Africa. The other guy won.

3. QM: What is the most drunk drink in the world?

ME: Water.

QM: I'm afraid it's coffee, but I would also have accepted Cola Cola.

ME: But it's water. Obviously it's water.

QM: You're not thinking it through. This includes cappuccino, Americano, etc.

ME: Yep.

4. It was about 1994. Quizmaster claimed the UK's biggest-selling single of all time was Bryan Adams' Everything I Do. I told him it was Band Aid. Impasse. That week I phoned Gallup, got them to fax me the list and took it to the next quiz.

5. "What colour is Manchester City's home shirt?"

"It's blue ... Sky blue."

"I won't accept blue."

Golly, jolly brolly boomerangs

"Wow," Tim declares. "Just went to this cafe — after exactly a year — and staff handed me my umbrella that I'd left behind, telling me they'd hung on to it because they knew I'd be back some time! Thanks Calliope cafe, Devonport."