Putting Facebook back in its box

It really annoys me when I've been searching for (say) a new Zimmer frame, and the next time I log into Facebook I'm swamped with adverts for new Zimmer's.

I then imaging some androgynous, bug-eyed, American geek leaning over my shoulder saying "Hey buddy, what are we looking at today?"

I needed to put a stop to this...

Diaspora: just Facebook for teckies?

There has been quite a bit of discussion in the press this year about the vast amount of personal data being mined by social media companies like Facebook.

Diaspora is an open source, distributed, social media site with the aim of addressing the balance.

So what does Diaspora have to offer, and how can a competitor to Facebook expect to win over its user-base?