Farewell to Flashman creator

George MacDonald Fraser, author of the hugely entertaining Flashman novels, and is credited for the screenstory and screenplay on the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy, has died aged 82.

The Daily Mail, The Times and other papers report Fraser, whose fans included P G Wodehouse and Kingsley Amis, died after a battle with cancer.

The Flashman Papers was first published in 1969 after Fraser quit as assistant editor of the Glasgow Herald and detailed the adult life of Harry Flashman, the bullying schoolboy of the 19th-century classic Tom Brown’s Schooldays and becomes a roguish soldier in the British Army.

The first instalment of The Flashman Papers sees the fag-roasting rotter commence his military career as a reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan. Expelled from Rugby for drunkenness, and none too welcome at home after seducing his father's mistress, the young Flashman embarks on a military career with Lord Cardigan's Hussars. En route to Afghanistan, our hero hones his skills as a soldier, duellist, imposter, coward and amorist (mastering all 97 ways of Hindu love-making during a brief sojourn in Calcutta), before being pressed into reluctant service as a secret agent. His Afghan adventures culminate in a starring role in that great historic disaster, the Retreat from Kabul.

Murray Ritchie, 66, former political editor of The Herald has paid tribute to Fraser in the paper, revealing : "George Fraser went around Scotland with the other journalists to the outposts giving tuition and that's how I met him.

"In journalism, he was great in all respects. He was a great writer, great sub-editor, great layout man, great headline writer, he was just a very talented individual.

"He rose effortlessly to become deputy editor in the 1960s and when he went home at night he was writing for himself and he had this idea that he would write a sequel to Tom Brown's Schooldays and took the character Flashman and wrote the first of those novels.

"It was such an instant success that he made a lot of money. He had a choice - to bank his money or lose it to tax. So there and then he gave up his very glittering career on the Glasgow Herald.

"I do not think it pushed him away but it certainly kept him away. I do not think it had the same attraction for him."

• The Flashman Society web site includes a free Flashman reader offering a rundown of Flashman's lurid career

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

Two universes collide... and the results are spectacular. First published back in July 2006 I believe, but no idea who did it. Admissions of guilt welcomed!

Dare versus Dredd

No, not a new comic from Virgin (although I'm sure it's been considered somewhere): this is the result of my first test opf google.com/trends, which offers a snapshot of web searches, comparing the number of search results for specific terms.

The results don't indicate just how many searches have been analysed, but it does let you know from where searches have been taking place. The snapshot above compares 2007 searches for "Dan Dare" with 2000AD's "Judge Dredd" and you can see Virgin Comics PR machine played its part in boosting the space hero's web popularity with launch of their new comic last month.

Of course, compared with the number of searches for Marvel characters our Brit heroes still have a long way to go, but as a general guide to what comics fans are looking for this new tool should provide hours of endless fun for marketeers...

-- and talking of marketing, just a quick addition to this: Virgin Comics is promoting their new Dan Daretitle with a free episode online twice a week: www.virgincomics.com/dandare.html

How to make yourself really popular in Starbucks

Sometimes technology people come up with ideas that sound great on paper but in real life - and in the case of this bright idea from Apple, especially in queue-conscious Britain - they're likely to cause a riot.

Last month, Apple (makers of the iphone and Mac computers) applied for a patent for a system that would allow customers to place coffee, fast food or merchandise orders from a wireless device, then jump in front of those ordering in person when picking up their order.

You can just imagine how this will go down here. As someone who seems to end up regularly spending ages in post office lines at lunch time waiting for three counter staff when there are eight windows, the idea that someone could jump that line because they have a posh phone rather makes my blood boil.

I am now awaiting the first "iphone rage" news report... I'm sure it won't be long coming.