Not sure if like.. wait a minute.. NO!! COME BACK!!

I think the video itself doesn't require any additional commentary :) He's starting a little early, at 17 weeks, but he's a very hungry baby and mummy needs some additional help keeping up! Cookie for anyone who can guess what the bit of wood in the background by the fireplace is from/for ;)

DIY turntables stand

Creating my own turntables stand turned out not to be as hard (or expensive) as I thought...

I could even sit on it! Me so proud :) 

Made out of birch wood (I think!), and probably a bit too much of it, it cost around £50 from Homebase. It could have been done a lot cheaper if I wanted, using MDF or chipboard, but I decided I wanted it to look nice without needing to finish it (paint/veneer/varnish etc) any time soon. The cheapest one that would suit my needs on eBay would be well over £100 with P&P on top.. perhaps I should start a sideline in custom build carpentry ;)

So I walked in with only a napkin and a biro (no joke!) and proceeded confidently to the timber section to plan out what I thought I'd need for the job. I'd already measured the width required (around 120cm being generous) and the depth (40cm about right) so I hoped they'd have some cuts around those lengths to plan around.

Low and behold, there was a lovely piece at 115cm x 45cm, which I then could plan the rest of it around. For the backboard and legs, I used 3 identical pieces which were about 90cm in length and then some strips of wood to reinforce the joints.

Remembering all my knowledge of joinery from my A-Level Design & Technology classes, I promptly disregarded it all for being too laborious and bought a selection of self-tapping wood screws (the type you don't need to pre-drill a hole for first). Using only butt joints (joints with no mechanical strength whatsoever other than gravity itself), and these screws, I created the stand :)

Even though I could sit on it, I still loaded the records gingerly in batches of 5, fearful the whole thing would implode spectacularly in a glorious shard-like nova of priceless bits of irreplaceable vinyl.

I realised quickly that I wasn't using all the space available, and 'modded' on some extra storage for some of my records! I fixed a hanging pillar of sorts from the top table down to secure the centre of the plank that would support the records and fixed it in with screws at each end.

Nerea is very happy that these aren't taking up valuable space elsewhere now. I wonder if one can technically 'mod' their own creation, in the new sense of the word rather than the traditional meaning. I'll leave that open for the comments..

Anthony's first injections

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so here I present Anthony after his injections before the fever set in.

And shortly afterwards, all hell broke loose...

I then had to make the decision to either be selfishly evil or bow to my sense of morality. I really need to work on strengthening my evil side as I decided to cancel the night out Nerea and I had planned, leaving Anthony in the capable care of one of our friends, and look after him ourselves.

Class-based society returning, based not by your income, but by how many followers you have?

Social networking changed how we use the internet and how we keep in touch with our friends and family, to the extent where some people suffer from newly invented phobias of being without their phone or it running out of battery.

Blogging changed the world of critiquing products and services, and YouTube allowed anyone with a video camera to provide their own video review on anything that can be bought. 

So what's the next step in the online social media whirlwind? Klout.

Your 'Klout' rating changes over time depending on how influential you become

Klout is an online company that uses publicly available data about you, such as your Facebook posts, how often people 'Like' what you've shared, retweet your tweets or +1'd your Google Plus contributions for example.

The scary thing is, you already have a number, you just may not know it yet. Check out the BBC Click video for an introduction on this new social media revolutionary concept that has already spawned several internet start-up companies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9716859.stm

I believe this is a good train to be boarding right now, the scope of this is quite incredible. Imagine turning up at a restaurant and being given free food, free tickets to a cinema or free tickets to a theme park. Log into your Klout profile by checking www.klout.com and check to see what your number is.

Apparently I directly influence 136 people with my online interactions

With an average Klout rating of 20-25 per user, I suppose I'm sitting pretty at 44 right now, I'll let you know when I start getting free Garlic Breads with my Domino's or free popcorn at Vue Cinemas.

My 2 month old son is talking to me

Super-Dude =)

Yep, I couldn't believe it either. I actually managed to hold a good 10 minute conversation with my 2 month old son, Anthony, after I had got home from work today. His little face lit up when I got home, as Nerea was boiling some water in the kitchen.

So far he has said 'Oh, dadadada', 'Are you?' and 'Hello', although through a Teletubbies-filtered dialect I must concede. We managed to bounce 'Hello' off of each other a good 10 times with him smiling and laughing throughout, he was adorable =)

I'm going to push this one further and see how soon he can string a sentence together then I'll know for sure if my son is going to be the next Hawking or Einstein of this world!