I spent the first half of this summer only too pleased at the clouds, downpours and lingering chill in the air. I wanted the skies to reflect my mood, and if I wasn't feeling sunny or blithe, I was damned if anyone else should be.

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Sweatshirt, £75, by MHL by Margaret Howell, margarethowell.co.uk; jeans, £59, by Cos, cosstores.co.uk; coat, £1,995, by Burberry Prorsum, burberry.co.uk
<p>1. Dri Buddi</p>
<p>£59.99, Jmldirect.com</p>
<p>Hang up to 18 garments in this electric contraption. The warm vortex action takes out wrinkles, cutting down ironing time.</p>

The 10 Best clothes dryers

From tried and tested old-fashioned designs to high-tech super dryers

Sonar used to search for body of four-year-old Dylan Cecil

Specialist sonar equipment is being used today to find the body of a four-year-old boy lost at sea.

Diller: ‘My whole idea is to cheer people up’

Phyllis Diller, first female stand-up, dies, aged 95

She reportedly kept a plastic surgery diary, showing it to anyone who asked

These are not women who rely on being either pencil thin, preternaturally tall or studiously aloof to carry their clothes

Ready To Wear: The real beauty of carnival is being happy in your own skin

Unlike many of the residents of London's Notting Hill, I stay put at carnival time. No escaping to sunnier or rural climes for me on the occasion of this, the biggest street party of the year.

Born this way: Madonna during her 'Blonde Ambition' tour

How To Be Gay, By David M Halperin

This mammoth account of gay identity defers too much to the passing fads of pop culture

Emeli Sande’s repeat appearances divided opinion

Olympic closing ceremony: Cynicism's comeback gig

For the last fortnight, the nation has been uncharacteristically enthusiastic and, well, nice. But the Olympic closing ceremony saw us getting back to our snarky selves...

August 1, 2012: Mauritius celebrate winning a point in their beach volleyball group game against Germany

London 2012: Sand from Olympic beach volleyball to be used to build 36 new courts within the M25

Sand from the beach volleyball stadium outside Horseguards Parade will be used to build 36 new courts within the M25 over the coming months as part of an attempts to build a lasting legacy that will propel Britain towards the next Olympics in Rio.

James Ashton: How UKTI left the press hacked off

Plenty of businesses speak well of UK Trade & Investment, the Government's export arm that tries to help firms carve out revenues from new overseas markets.

China next for Next's online expansion

Next will launch an own-language website in China this autumn, as the fashion retailer seeks to capitalise on booming online revenues.

Gad Beck: Writer and activist who survived as a gay Jewish man in Nazi Germany

Gad Beck's dangerous life as a half-Jewish gay man in the capital of Nazi Germany during the Second World War represents one of the 20th century's more unusual stories of human survival. With the passage of time, it has become known that not even Nazi ruthlessness and efficiency could eliminate all Jews and gays from Hitler's Germany. Some slipped through holes in the dragnet, and Beck became one of the last gay Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

Around the park at the opening ceremony: 'I never thought I'd be lucky enough to see something like this'

After the chaos, it all went remarkably smoothly. Many of the people who had tickets to the Opening Ceremony left their homes early in the expectation that the queues would be enormous, given the hoo-hah that surrounded the security preparations in the weeks running up to the Games. Yet few experienced any kind of backlog.

Hyde Park Olympic concert: Snow Patrol, Simon Le Bon and Ricky Gervais's beard strike a chord

"The night's most enduring band – with Le Bon in Union Jack jacket – enter after a brief, bracing deluge"

Man guilty of babysitter killing

A teenage karate teacher was today convicted of stabbing his girlfriend to death on Boxing Day as she babysat two young children.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end