Ocarina is an iPhone application by Smule. It allows you to play your iphone like an instrument by blowing into the mic and covering the ‘holes’. It’s extremely cute and lots of fun; you can listen to other users playing around the world and let them know if you’re loving what you’re hearing.

This application’s success is made from a winning mix; using hardware in an unexpected way, social media and personalisation. The interface is intuitive and easy to use but the sound can be a bit geeky in an Close Encounters kind of way.

Rick has just received a rather lovely invitation to a mystery event he signed up for after receiving a random mail. The rubber stamp, ink pad and yellow card were beautifully packed in a white box wrapped in brown paper. We couldn’t use it fast enough. Lucky old me gets to be the plus one.