As many have already noticed Facebook hit the mark of too-big.. that makes people go from "that the cool new hype" to "i don't trust this big brother huge corporation"... if you add the horrible privacy policy and the "i own you" attitude of Facebook... well no surprise new alternatives appear to the horizon... I think an interesting idea is the one of Diaspora: http://www.joindiaspora.com/project.html

They are just at the beginning but the idea of having more control on your own data... well it's appealing... best of luck to the guys at Diaspora....

When buying a used car you should check the clutch is ok... here is a mechanics-trick on how to do it.

to check the state of a clutch you can:

1. pull-up the hand break completely
2. put the gear-lever to a high-gear (e.g., 4)
3. bring the engine high-up (as if you want to burn a light)
4. release gently the clutch

Check the following:

1. A good clutch will not slide and the result is that the car engine will shut-off (since the hand break is holding the car still, and the high gear is disadvantageous for the engine).
2. A bad clutch will start sliding, the engine do not stop, the car doesn't move, and you soon will smell dead-clutch.

In either case interrupt the experiment right-away (to avoid to further screw the poor clutch).

Enjoy your new car

In the mood of L.A.... Photo by Silvia Spiriti

Good memories, sailing on the Team New Zealand America's cup boat with a VLDB crew, in the Auckland bay...