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Facebook have apologised for the way they rolled out a new feature with facial recognition. Now when a user uploads a photograph of their friends, Facebook can suggest which friends are in the picture for ‘tagging’. This has upset a lot of privacy conscious Facebook users because the option is switched on by default.

Facebook do have a history of just ‘switching things on’ without warning, whether it’s personal detail displays, photo albums or friend lists. Each and every time Facebook do this, there is an uproar from privacy groups across the Internet… yet they continue to use Facebook.

Here’s my view; Well done Facebook, what a great piece of functionality you’ve added to your website. Considering you have one of the busiest websites in history, you can still run facial recognition software despite the number of duff profile pictures uploaded. Genius! Facebook now knows what I look like… well if I continue to upload my photos, what should I expect?

This comes right back down to my core belief that the Internet is very much open. Facebook, like any other organisation is made up of a bunch of people I don’t know. I therefore only share details with these strangers that I don’t mind other strangers having access to. I feel others need to be reminded of these truths:

1. When you upload something, someone, somewhere receives it… you don’t necessarily know who
2. When this information is displayed online, in any form, other people have access to it
3. When this information is stored, it is backed up [copied]
4. When this information is displayed to others, it is spread and replicated
5. This information is often cached [copied] by archive servers
6. People may use this information for advertising, for ‘sample images’ or even downloaded for school projects
7. If you delete the original information or photo, it may have already been copied thousands of times and therefore is undeletable

The Internet is about sharing of information, by definition, privacy only exists when you aren’t online. If you don’t want Facebook to know what you look like, don’t upload your photos to it. If you don’t want Facebook to distribute your home address, don’t give Facebook your home address. Only one person is in charge of your personal data, and that’s you. Share only what you’re comfortable sharing and you’ll always remain comfortable with what the Internet does with your data.

Like most Facebook updates, there’s no real harm in what we can now do. We should all instead go hooray for technology, what a nifty thing it is! Anyone who can’t do that should delete their pictures and remove their profile (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/group NULL.php?gid=16929680703).

No amount of Jargon-free sales pitches will ever truly get across the benefits of working with Zako Media. But for a REALLY dumbed down version. I turn to my old friend XKCD who help keep me sane in times of computer trouble, car trouble, dog trouble… well general problems:

I don’t do this often but I’ve just had an interesting discussion with DRT Auto used car sales and servicing company in Clydach Swansea. A brief history; I saw DRT Auto advertising a few cars on ebay and decided to pop up to Clydach and see what used cars they had in stock. A rather nice Mazda MX6 caught my eye and we started it up and made the basic checks. I spoke to the owner who seemed very defensive when I asked about his returns policy/warranty. He told me outright, they’ll bring it round, I’ll go for a drive and if anything’s wrong, he’ll give my money back.

The day came and DRT autos did indeed deliver the car, pointed out the absence of one brakelight and then left… no test drive, no checks, no nothing. I sorted out the insurance and went for a quick spin around the block. (I’m not used to manual cars so didn’t put any pressure on it.). I picked up Yovina in it, dropped her off and picked her up the next day. Looking outside the window, I noticed a large puddle, after investigation it was spewing water from the water pump. Driving it in this condition will damage the engine, so it’s housebound. Also checking through MOT rules (which is due shortly), the handbrake cable was dangerously loose, one other rear light was missing, and the drivers seatbelt didn’t retract smoothly… After an MOT check, all 4 brakes needed new pads, 2 needed new rotors, and the ABS was failing somewhere causing the warning light to come on. Also one of the suspension struts had failed and the steering had excessive play. This combines made it unfit for purpose under the sale of good act. It also makes it dangerous. Non-essential problems include interior boot light full of water, the heater blower and a/c didn’t work. While minor issues, they did advertise it with A/C. This will be too costly to repair given the value of the vehicle and the complete lack of pressure in the system.

I called DRT Autos straight away and started with the Water pump which they said they would sort. 3 days later, I called them back and they now want to charge me for the repair work and part!

After research, selling a vehicle in this condition is illegal and I am fully in the belief that they are completely liable to repair these issues or offer a full refund. They unfortunately aren’t liable for the heater resistor pack I bought, the Haynes manual or spare bulbs, nor are they liable for the Air conditioning, the water pump nor some of the many other issues this car has. I will be contacting Trading standards in the morning because DRT Autos is not conforming to UK law, have given me a rather expensive and dangerous oversized paperweight when I asked for a car, which I could drive, road worthiness should have been assumed. Trade Centre Wales have just been fined £5000 for a similar case.

In the meantime, I have no car to speak of and am fuming. I have places to go and more importantly, Yovina needs to get to work every day!

*UPDATE 9th March 2010*

Phoned the garage back, I’ve decided to get them to do the work paid or not. If they do charge me, and it wasn’t just an error, I will then go through trading standards. I spoke to the same guy who said the mechanic had a heart attack and is in hospital so they probably can’t do it this week… Part of me wants it to be true so that they’re not just making excuses, the other part doesn’t because well… heart attacks aren’t good. He also told me it should be ok to drive provided I keep topping up with water… do I believe him? Given the MOT failure, this is illegal advice. Posted this question on an MX6 forum so will see what the replies are.

*UPDATE 10th March 2010*

Had a missed call at 8am this morning from DRT Auto. I called back mid afternoon and spoke to the same person as yesterday. The guy who suffered the heart attack is back at work today. (In the days of the credit crunch, I doubt DRT Autos offer sick pay (although I could be wrong) so a speedy recovery is essential.) The person I spoke to said he would come round after work to have a look at it… 20:16pm he’s not arrived… 11th March – Still heard nothing. Will try calling again but keep getting engaged tone… This blog is currently top in Google for ‘DRT Autos’

*UPDATE 11th March 2010*

DRT Auto Mechanic with a heart attack is off again. He offered to come by tonight but I arranged to take the car to their garage tomorrow at 11… At least there I can’t get fobbed off or ignored.

*UPDATE 18th March 2010*

I went in last Friday, the heart-attack mechanic had a look and confirmed it was the water pump. I mentioned the ABS light (which is an MOT failure and potentially dodgy brakes) he just swore about his own nightmare with these and says it’s pretty much a gamble when they come on and off. I tried to explain mine was always on but he went back to another car he was servicing complaining that the water pump replacement was going to be a hellishly long job.

The boss came wandering over and asked if he’d ordered the part, I said I have no idea, he wandered off, came back and said they’ll call me in a couple of days to collect and repair the car… almost a week on, I’ve heard nothing…

*UPDATE – 29th March*

DRT auto still don’t have the part. I phoned Eurocarparts (5 mins from Clydach) and they said they would have one the following day. Indeed they did. I now have a water pump and various other parts needed to make this car roadworthy and legal. The ABS brake problem I’ll need to head to a garage for, as with the brake fluid leak I can’t find. I frankly no longer trust DRT Auto to fix so I have been advised to keep all receipts for any parts and labour and Trading standards will hopefully be working to claim as much back from the garage as possible.

When I first visited, the mechanic (the one who later had a heart attack) complained of people braking into the grounds, smashing windscreens etc. I have a feeling I know why, they probably sold them a car too.

*UPDATE – 10th April 2010*

It’s official, I sent the car in for an MOT. Rear brake disks excessively pitted. Excessive play in steering system, Serious leak in 1 shock absorber leaving it with negligible damping effect, parking brake recording little or no effort, ABS faulty.

I found the brake fluid leak and tightened a bolt to keep it contained. I have also given the seatbelts a good clean to aid their retraction so these managed to get through. Alarmed at everything else wrong with it. Drove in with MOT report he booked me in on Monday to repair and booked an MOT on Tuesday.

*UPDATE 19th April 2010 *

Brought car in to DRT Autos in Clydach as requested on the Monday for repair. He sent me to the cafe to talk to heart attack guy for costings… At this stage I don’t care about prices, I just need this done before I commit suicide. We walked back up to the garage and he made a list of parts. He then sent me home and said he’d order the parts in and give me a call then started whining about their incompetent suppliers… deja vu here, we’ve done this bit with the water pump… They still don’t have one of these in the garage, I asked. I guess we’re missing the MOT booking tomorrow then Dave? 6 weeks and counting. Still no water pump, and quickly losing my sanity!

DO NOT USE DRT AUTO IN CLYDACH, THEY SOLD ME AN UNROADWORTHY VEHICLE ILLEGALLY AND HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE EVER SINCE

*UPDATE 18th October 2011*

DRT Autos have changed their name a few times but still never got back to me. I paid for the repairs with other garages namely Mitch’s Auto services who did a fine job on an exhaust when the rust bit through and DL motors who helped with CV boots and my last MOT. These have both been brilliant. DRT Autos it seems are still trading, the names appear in comments from other unsatisfied customers below. I can’t accept liability for these as I have not dealt with David at DRT since.

I should also add that Trading standards is a load of poo. I spoke to the CAB who basically told me ‘Buyer Beware’ and that even if I did win in court, I would have to give the car back before they owed me a refund and even then they could delay payment or claim poverty so I would be without car AND money. Consumer protection when buying from dealers is on paper only and doesn’t really exist.

I occasionally watch these ‘customs’ docusoaps on TV where they send drug sniffer dogs into airports and cut open children’s books to find stashes of cocaine in the cover. It’s all fascinating stuff, and it’s amazing to see what people try and get away with.

I’ve always wondered however, what happens if they get it wrong? What if they cut up an expensive camera only to find it filled with the usual set of electronics, or deface a child’s toy to find it completely empty or harbouring a little sand from the beach?

Today I found out, they just put the pieces back in the box and deliver it. A friend returned a USB 3G modem and cable from Australia by post. Thankfully the modem survived, but the cable is unusable:

There were no stickers on the package, no apology, no £5 cheque for a replacement cable, just a broken cable and bits of surgically removed plastic! I don’t know if it was done by UK or Australian customs, I don’t know why, they didn’t even bother to properly reseal the package, it was just stuck down with the same glue Jen used to package it to start with and dropped through my letterbox by the postman.

I hope this doesn’t happen too often, think of those children opening a stuffed bunny birthday present only to find it had been decapitated by some overzealous customs official.

Thank you whoever you are, for not cutting up the modem and various other things I have posted from abroad. Next time, a little post-it with a handwritten ‘Sorry’ would have been enough for something of this value. At least that way I’d accept it’s part of your job to destroy other people’s things.

Some people have commented on my use of ‘coffee expert’ mentioned in blogs, business cards and website. I once worked as a manager of a coffee shop in Hemel Hempstead. My proudest achievement there was trebling the coffee bar turnover by arranging outdoor seating with the council, at the time it was strangely unheard of, at least we were the only ones doing it.

Anyway as part of my training I had to learn everything there is to know about coffee from it’s origins right through to taste variations of different beans, altitudes and even soil types. After what was a surprisingly interesting course, I could make an educated guess on the regional origins of any unblended quality coffee from just one sip.

The ‘serving suggestions’ part was a much shorter course unfortunately so we never covered coffee art. Check out below, it’s much easier than it looks, I’m going to try some!

On the twelfth day of christmas my true love gave to me

• twelve PEOPLE  TYPING
• eleven LUCKY LEADS
• ten BUYERS BUYING
• nine PAYPAL PAYMENTS
• eight EMAIL ERRORS
• seven SURFERS SURFING
• six ADWORD VOUCHERS
  *** [with gusto]
• FIVE THOU-SAND HITS
• four SUPPORT REQUESTS
• three COMPLAINTS
• two NEW CLIENTS
• and a CARTRIDGE IN THE PRINTER

Merry Christmas one and all*

*If you don’t celebrate Christmas, have a nice few free days off work celebrating nothing in particular while enjoying random old films on TV… which I hasten to add tend to be black and white, low quality at a silly frame rate. I hope you enjoy that beautiful HD TV which as it turns out is a complete waste of money! Next time you WILL celebrate Christmas… it takes our mind off the TV and gives us a great opportunity to tell our family members what we really think about their new girlfriend/hairstyle/tattoo/dress sense/sexuality.

Driving home the other night, something scooted across the road forcing me to stop suddenly. I pulled over and found a very friendly king charles with no name tag. I pulled the leash out of the car and had a walk around trying to find someone with an empty lead or at least to see if the little guy would take me home. Instead he happily walked alongside me as if nothing was wrong.

I walked up to the street he appeared to come from and found another small dog owner, asked if they recognised the dog. She told me outright to keep it. The owner regularly lets the dog loose outside the house and he’s been hit by a couple of cars…

I took him home and filed a lost dog report to the police. I couldn’t guarantee this lady’s story and certainly didn’t want to end up in court for theft.

He happily wandered into the kitchen where I decided to investigate. He was filthy, thirsty, hungry, had to keep him and my dog for fighting for food and attention. He rolled over as we stroked him and I watched his black skin turn white as hundreds of fleas ran for cover. These were the biggest fleas I had ever seen, most 2mm long!

I hadn’t started looking for them, they were impossible to miss and no responsible dog owner would ever have let it get that far.

We took him straight up and gave him a soapy bath to get rid of the worse of them, then while my wife was drying him off I ran to the pet shop to grab some strong flea products.

The bath didn’t clear them completely as suspected but they were no longer hoarding. The bath was full of dead fleas and his coat was once again a beautiful black brown and white with all the curls in just the right places. We dusted him down with flea powder and once the half hour passed and he was brushed down, applied some spot-on treatment. (They did say not to use two products but the powder was relatively weak lasting only a couple of days and the chemicals different so all should have been safe.) We kept him contained last night in an effort to keep stray fleas, eggs and larvae in a known area.

This morning he was almost flea free. He’d almost stopped scratching and must have had the most peaceful night’s sleep ever! I found a couple of live ones still, but I really had to search so hoping the spot on treatment will continue working as the 24 hours suggested hadn’t elapsed.

All the while, rooms used were dusted down with the remainder of the flea powder and left overnight for hoovering the next morning. The two dogs were playing happily although occasionally had dominance dances when we were around. When I went to the loo, I got up the stairs, turned round and had too faces looking up at me, it was absolutely adorable!

This morning we had a call from the owner. I tried to address the flea problem politely. (How to tell someone their house is full of fleas without criticising their cleanliness. I know that fleas don’t necessarily mean they’re unclean but I think she took it that way). She casually said that he must have collected them in the street. I just thought that yes, the first ones he did, the other thousands come from neglect and are breeding, nesting and growing into adulthood in your carpets… but I didn’t say anything… She sent her son round to collect and I had no choice legally but to hand him over. I also gave him the rest of the spot-on treatments and again tried to mention about his house being full of fleas. These may have been too subtle but he was reading the packet as he left.

It’s heartbreaking to do that, but in the eyes of the law, that dog is their property and I have no right to decide whether or not they should have him.

I’ve vacuumed the entire house moving all the furniture and looking forward to repeating the process every day or two for 3/4 weeks I didn’t get a thank you, a handshake or anything. More to the point, I feel like I’ve lost a new friend. He was a lost, itchy, dirty little thing who went to happy, sparkling and almost void of those pesky things. I know I did the right thing on all fronts but didn’t want to let him go.

If we find him again (which I suspect we will) I’ll send him to the dog pound. The owner will have to pay them £70+expenses. That will hopefully teach them to keep a closer eye on their animal and if they can’t afford or are not willing to pay, he’ll be rehomed under strict rules to someone who will treat this fluffy bundle of joy the way he deserves.

As more and more businesses are shutting shops and offices to concentrate on their online presence, is the Internet really connecting people or is it devaluing the real connections we have and isolating us?

Despite some of our larger clients, I refuse to charge corporate fees to small businesses because I enjoy working with them so much more than faceless executives. This means I am regularly speaking to people working from home offices and around 50% of the time, work alone.

Before the Internet, this wouldn’t have been possible, a lone worker would need an office and exceptionally expensive marketing techniques. Before the telephone they needed meeting spaces and prominent postal addresses. With the Internet here and rapidly growing, the meeting space has gone, the office has been sacrificed, the telephone sits silently and formal office-wear has been replaced by the dressing-gown.

According to retail analysts: Verdict Research, in 2007 online shopping grew by 33.4% to £10.9bn in 2007. They foresee online sales tripling over the next five years. All the major supermarkets now deliver shopping for you. Pubs are closing countrywide faster than ever, real social lives are slowly diminishing.

Meanwhile, as the Internet makes working from home a more convenient and cheaper option, the media and Government are making it as difficult as possible for us to leave our homes, Petrol prices are forever rising, knife crime, war, terrorism, danger danger danger!

To fill the need for social interaction, Internet users are now resorting to Facebook, Myspace, email, instant messaging, online dating, online chat, anything to keep the social interaction going. Using these systems connects us with old friends, clients, suppliers, family and new people from all over the world, but is it enough? Today in 2008, we can wake up, have conversations with family and friends, catch up with clients, and answer a few enquiries all before brushing our teeth. What is the world coming to? We’re dropping human interaction for the convenience of the Internet, then finding a way to replace what we’ve lost through the same medium.

From a marketing point of view, this is not necessarily a bad thing, our demographic is becoming easier to find and reach as they’ve all pigeon-holed themselves to their favourite communities.

From a business and financial point of view, it helps keep overheads down and allows people to work at their own pace, particularly useful for single-parent families or other situations where available time is sporadic.

From a personal point of view, we’re connected to people we never thought we’d hear from again, but in many cases, slightly less connected to our neighbours and family. We see major family news on Facebook before we hear about it directly, with the extra connections and busier lifestyle, we leave family dinners longer and longer, people who should be close family, we see once a year.

Are we isolating ourselves in our homes and offices or are we better connected than ever before? Is networking the new socialising?

During one of my lives, I became a trained coffee expert, think of wine tasting but with coffee. Some hardened drinkers would be amazed at the variation of taste and textures of coffee grown in different climates under different conditions on different soils. Part of the training was to identify the soil, altitude and climate the coffee was from just by the taste.

Did you know there are two different types of coffee bean, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are by far the better quality than Robusta and when raw have a smell similar to that of blueberries. They must be grown at between 600-2000 metres. Robusta beans are less variant and tend to be a little more grainy. They can grow well at low altitudes of 200-800 meters, they are also less subject to pest and rough handling problems. They yield more pounds of finished goods per acre at a lower cost of production.

Coffee beans tend to grow best with plenty of water but with the altitude and temperature, this can be tricky. The best place to grow coffee for the best flavour (in my opinion) is on volcanic soil and the pumice is excellent at trapping rainwater. Altitude + Volcanic soil generally means on the side of a volcano… as you can imaging, many crops have been lost on the side of active volcanoes.

Coffee beans look like cherries when growing… well, a picture paints a thousand words:

Coffee Bush

When ripe, the beans are picked and skinned to reveal the green pip within. Due to such wide taste variances, these need to be blended to produce the taste a brand consumer is familiar with, every cup of coffee from starbucks should taste exactly the same as the last no matter where it is… this is a tough job, especially when the beans don’t have any true flavour as yet, that comes later.

If the coffee is to be decaffeinated, they are now usually soaked in water to dissolve the caffeine and flavours, the water is put through a carbon filter to remove the caffeine and then readded to a proportion of the beans in an attempt to bring back the flavour and smell… all I ask is that you try fresh and treated beans and taste the difference. untreated beans generally have a much richer flavour, this is of course assuming artificial flavourings aren’t added to the decaffeinated beans. This is called the Swiss water method, there are other methods involving solvents and even rumours of using urine… In the commercial coffee world, this wouldn’t be allowed so it’s probably just hearsay.

The fresh (or brutally murdered) coffee beans are then added to a giant drum in the commercial world, though an stone oven would do just as well, they are dried to lose about 12% of water, then roasted at 250 degrees celsius. For quick cooling, the roasted beans are drenched and air dried to avoid burning the beans, they are then packaged and shipped.

Enough of this waffle, how do I make coffee?

I shared the above to hopefully help readers appreciate the processes and treat coffee with the respect it deserves. Coffee tastes best freshly ground. Invest in a course coffee grounder and start buying whole coffee beans, there is little (if any) difference in the cost of the beans so there’s no excuse! The beans should be kept in the fridge and can be frozen if they’re not going to be used for some time. An airtight back is recommended, usually the packet will be resealable.

First step, boil the kettle. Kettles are designed for boiling water, but boiling water will burn coffee and leave a bitter taste. The ideal temperature is about 90 degrees C not 100!

Once you’re ready for a cup of the good stuff, pull the cafetiere off that dusty shelf and wipe it clean.

Grind the coffee beans on a course setting, if you’re a cheapskate like me and have a pressure on/off button, then experiment in how much grinding works. You don’t want a fine power but something a little larger than sand, this will prevent it creeping through or round the mesh of the press. Use about 2 heaped teaspoons of beans per cup. (if you’re blessed with sensitive scales like the ones on the corner shop shelf next to the bongs, measure exactly 8gramms per cup.) Once ground, add them to the cafetiere.

Add a splash of cold tap water to the kettle once boiled to bring the temperature back down and pour just enough into the cafetiere to cover the coffee grounds. Give it a little stir to bloom (create a foam) and add the rest of the water. Don’t go to the loo or check your emails! Start a timer. Depending on the courseness, the best brewing time varies, but never leave it for more than 4 minutes (I tend to aim for 3minutes 30s). After 4 minutes, the bitter elements of the bean come through spoiling the coffee.

Once finished, give it another quick stir, then press the plunger slowly and pour. (If you can, now would be a great time to pour a little off to compare with instant coffee to remind yourself about how you wish you’d seen an article like this before.) Allow the cup to sit to settle any remaining sediment.

Tip: If you do scorch the coffee with a hot kettle, or stew them in the cafetiere, add a pinch of salt. This will take away most of the bitterness and give it a sweeter taste.

Another patronising ‘did you know’ Noted as one of the world’s largest, most valuable, legally traded commodities after oil, coffee has become a vital cash crop for many Third World countries. Over one hundred million people in developing countries have become dependent on coffee as the primary source of income. Coffee has become the primary export and backbone for African countries like Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia as well as many Central American countries.

Where can I find a decent coffee bean? That is a matter of taste, my personal favourite is Starbucks Cafe Estima (the same one they use in-store) If you’re SE based, check out Tchibo as they have a selection of fresh coffee behind the counter. The beans are changed weekly for freshness. Other brands I’m sure do the same.

If you would like to help 3rd world more directly than just buying from some brand with ‘Fairtrade’ splattered across their expensive tables in premium locations with fat-cat executives, speak to a real coffee expert, an Ecademist Anne Quinn (http://www NULL.ecademy NULL.com/account NULL.php?id=127125&xref=217922) who imports coffee beans herself as a personal interest and pursuit to helping those in need.

Wake up and smell the coffee, just another small part of life which should be enjoyed rather than hurried.