The process by which timepieces are engineered has come a long way since the days of sprockets and pendulums. Yet, still, nobody has come up with a facility for doing the one thing that all of us would surely wish to be able to do. Where is the little button marked 'hold' that we can press when we want to stay in a situation longer? Where is the accelerator for hastening an anticipated event? And where is the 'back' button? Yet somehow, this week, you discover that you have more control over time than you might imagine.