Mrs Albright gave her embattled ally a figurative slap on the back, praising Japan for its loyalty and bravery.

ECONOMIST: The ungrateful Japanese

In forums that look like Twitter feeds or Facebook pages, sales teams can share leads and information about clients (some of it gleaned from profiles on public networks), ask for and get speedy approval of discounts and slap one another virtually on the back for clinching a deal.

ECONOMIST: Microsoft in pursuit (1)