Boiler broken down? About to call an engineer to get it fixed? When they put away the toolbox, how do you know your boiler’s been correctly repaired or you’ve been charged the right amount? We went undercover. (more about our boiler investigation...)

Flat panel HD TVs might have conquered the living room, but despite their glorious picture quality, their audio can’t match CRT TVs. Isn’t it about time manufacturers got their game together and gave us good quality sound? (more about TV audio...)

A little-known act is seeing the light of day as a result of last week's rioting, offering compensation via the police for those who have been affected. But should the police have to pick up the bill for the uninsured? (more about paying the riot bill...)

Last Friday saw the 30th anniversary of the humble Personal Computer. And now an IBM engineer, who worked on its design, says that the desktop PC’s days are numbered. That’s news to me. (more about the post-PC era...)

Last week Martin Lewis launched an e-petition to make financial education compulsory on the school curriculum. I’m pleased Which? is supporting him – my own financial knowledge, even now, leaves a lot to be desired. (more about compulsory financial education...)

Going for a holiday in France? Taking your own car? Well, there's a whole load of car safety kit you'll need if you're to avoid being fined. But are these car safety requirements more hassle than they're worth? (more about car safety abroad...)

Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, with the help of 3D-tech experts at Xpand, have announced they’ll be working together to create active shutter 3D glasses to work on all of their 2011 and future 3D TVs. Isn’t that nice? (more about 3D TV glasses...)

First Facebook, now LinkedIn. It seems you can’t call yourself a social network unless you’re happy to undermine your members’ privacy. LinkedIn's back-tracked from a feature that put your face in online ads. (more about LinkedIn and privacy...)

In the wake of the UK riots, there’s been a huge outpouring of altruism. Now a tour operator has announced it’ll waive rebooking fees for the police who had to return to the UK. Good publicity or a cynical move? (more on good publicity...)

Did you follow the riots on social media? We did. It made us contemplate the role of social networks in these events. But this week hasn't just been about riots, you've also had your say on plastic bags and car CD players. (this week in comments...)

British Gas is going to suspend doorstep sales. Add them to SSE and that’s two companies down... only the rest to go. It looks like good news, but will our intrepid salespeople just pick up the phone instead? (more about cold calling...)

A respected German data protection expert last week accused Facebook of breaching EU privacy laws with its facial recognition software. Should Facebook be able to recognise your face without explicit consent? (more about Facebook facial recognition...)