So a couple of days ago, my iPhone 4S died on me. Despite the battery being half-full, the screen suddenly went dead. I tried pressing random buttons and plugging it into a charger but to no avail. I assumed some critical internal component had left the mortal coil.

Then I found the solution online - hold down the home and the hold buttons* at the same time for about 20 seconds, to force a restart.

So it turns out the iPhone wasn't dead - only sleeping. I'm not sure what the problem was - perhaps it overheated? Or the system crashed? Hm. Maybe it's the equivalent of Windows' infamous "blue screen of death" - except here, it's a black screen of inconvenience.

*Hold on, let me get a hold on this. You're telling me I have to hold the hold button? And the home button too... um, gotta think of "home" puns. Um... home is where the heart is? Ah, fuck it.