Cute is never a bad starting point it would seem. Lolcatz and hand-holding otters have been courting gooey exhalations from web users for what seems, to a grizzled old cynic like me, a long time indeed.

The latest in this illustrious list of the ‘ahh’ mongers is a clan, a gang of six Shiba Inu puppies being fed to a global audience via Ustream.tv. Is there anything that can be done to combat, or indeed harness the appeal that is found in the small and furry on video? The Inquisitr’s Duncan Riley made a note of the viewers as he typed, “a staggering 23,000 people watching Puppy Cam, that’s more people than watch the Fox Business Channel each week…”