And Tesco is not the first multinational to buy into a self-consciously cool, quirky and independent-sounding brand.

BBC: Tesco effect: How big firms quietly own little brands

The Spanish cardinals and grandees, who were later adorned with oversized pairs in their portraits, were unwittingly helping to launch a very 21st-century idea: Technological self-enhancement is cool.

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These self-portraits, apart from just being cool, are important because they help the team monitor the status of the rover in its travels.

FORBES: Curiosity Sniffs The Martian Atmosphere But Finds No Sign Of Life

One cool feature: The RoboCleaner is self-emptying--when it's full, it automatically makes its way back to its base station and empties itself via a suction process.

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But being cool means being part of a self-defining tribe.

ECONOMIST: Geography of cool: Paris

Cool as the kids here may be they are far from self-conscious, singing along to whatever is dished up, from Plastic Bertrand to Run DMC.

BBC: Hemingway did not drink here: Paris nights now

If so, the normal weapon to cool an overheating economy, higher interest rates, is likely to prove partly self-defeating in China because a rise in interest rates would lure in yet more hot money.

ECONOMIST: China's economy