He changed tack after blunt remarks by Olli Rehn, the new European economics commissioner who visited Athens this week, that extra measures were needed to meet this year's deficit target.

ECONOMIST: Greece's fiscal crisis

Some analysts had expected Mr Kirchner to tack towards the centre after the congressional election.

ECONOMIST: Argentina: After Lavagna, an uncertain tilt towards populism | The

That brought a sharp change of tack a year ago, after the expulsion from Georgia of several Russians accused of spying had raised the temperature again.

ECONOMIST: Snap elections will not end the woes

Mr Romney came close to performing the tack to the centre that many had expected after he won the brutal Republican primary.

ECONOMIST: Mitt Romney turns his fortunes around

It is possible that Romney, after tacking to the right during the nomination process, will tack to the center during the presidential race.

FORBES: The GOP: A Party In Flux

While wireless headset manufacturers battle one another to shrink their wares until they completely disappear into your ear canal, organizers of the Switched-On London lighting festival (not named, unfortunately, after the excellent column by NPD's Ross Rubin) have taken the opposite tack: for one week in February, they've transformed the famous Tower Bridge into the world's largest Bluetooth device (narrowly edging out the PS3).

ENGADGET: This week only, London's Tower Bridge is the world's largest Bluetooth device

However, such equipment is bulky and expensive, so it changed tack for its second crack at the whip, which you can find out about if you join us after the break.

ENGADGET: Nokia's Damian Dinning goes in-depth on phase two of PureView for the Lumia 920 (video)