There are many technological man-traps waiting for you out there - believe us, we have the scars.

1. Teach your mum the internet

As she endeavours to scribble down your instructions parrot-fashion on a notepad your patience is already strained. Your final breaking point will be somewhere between her asking if web addresses need to be written “all in one word” and calling the internet “the website”.

2. Take out point-of-sale insurance

After an hour and a half of form-filling you’re left paying half a month’s salary to insure your treasured gadget. Read the small print, however, and you find that all likely causes of damage – dropping, submerging, sitting on it a bit – are defined as “Acts of God” and not covered.

3. Click “Reply All” by accident

There’s no feeling on Earth quite like that sickly rush of blood to the head caused by firing off a quick “Steve’s a complete tool” missive to a colleague, only to see said tool’s name appear in “Sent items”. Bonus points if Steve is your boss.

4. Go near a dodgy plug socket

You’re master of the atom. You’re lord of the land. But all it takes to unsettle this faith is one steely blue lick from a poorly wired socket. Once you’ve recovered, you’ll have to re-route all 19 home cinema appliances into the multi-plug in the other corner of the room. That one’s never let you down. That one wouldn’t hurt you…