Originally Posted by Ck

Until yesterday I was a virgin cake pop maker. I had been contemplating making them for a while but I had heard that they were quite a faff to make, which put me off.

Before I even began to gather my ingredients I researched the ins and outs of what was involved. I read umpteen blogs, a handful of foodie forum threads and one or two websites aimed at chocolatiers.

So, armed with a headful of newly acquired knowledge I began my quest to make the perfect pop cake first time round. I can't share my cake pops with you but I can share how to make them.

First gather your ingredients. I am making two different flavours of cake pops. Some with a ginger and chocolate centre dipped in milk chocolate and others with a boozy lemon and vanilla centre dipped in white chocolate. The photographs (to follow) show you the ingredients I used, as you will see the cake and the frosting is preprepared. This is because I learned that there is absolutely no difference in taste or quality of the finished product whether you use home made or shop bought ingredients. I usually prefer home made but not if I feel like i'm wasting time and effort. The chocolate is from Lidl. Lidl chocolate is raved about because of it's high cocoa butter content and low price. The cakes cost £1 each, as did the bars of chocolate. The ready made frosting is more expensive at just over £2 a tub but not much is needed and it keeps in the fridge for one month.



The first stage is to crumble the cake. The cakes I used were very moist so I more 'broke' than crumbled but as it turned out this was of benefit later. Then I added roughly one desert spoon of frosting, I added these in little dabs because it was easier to mix. It doesn't look like much compared to the amount of cake but too much and the filling becomes too heavy, you need to retain the lightless of the cake. I added a little lemon booze to the lemony cake but this is personal preference. When mixing don't squish the mixture tight or it'll end up like someones already chewed the cake for you, you need to still be able to see the individual pieces. It will all come together by following the next steps.

When making the balls the secret seems to be again to not squidge the mixture, instead take a slack palm full of the loose mix and act as though you're repeatedly passing a hot egg from one hand to the other, the balls will form of their own accord after about a dozen or so passes. Place these balls on some greaseproof paper and pop them in the freezer.

After about 30 or so minutes the balls will be ready to coat. I heard about a product called Candy Melts but they charge £4 for a packet of chocolate drops that coats around a dozen cake pops. I wanted to make cake pops and offer them out like sweets, I couldn't do that if I was having to spend a fortune. So, I researched how to make shop bought chocolate work.

It seems that chocolate is a bit of an unstable substance, it behaves differently under different temperatures. I learned that what I needed to use was something called 'tempered' chocolate. I won't go into huge detail but basically if chocolate is tempered correctly it will harden at room temperature. If it is not tempered or goes out of temper it will never harden. Shop bought chocolate that contains only cocoa butter (not vegetable oil or owt daft like that) is already in temper. Long story short, you will take it out of temper if it is heated too hot. You can either piss around with thermometers raising and lowering the temperature or you can do it the easy way, which is only heat the chocolate till it melts, that way you keep it in a state of temper. I used the microwave to avoid any contact with moisture (as this ruins chocolate). For the milk chocolate it took two 30 second blasts, for the white two 20 second blasts. Important to stir with a plastic spatula or spoon as metal can affect the temperature, wood can have hidden moisture. You can see by the pictures that I stopped heating the chocolate before it had completely melted, there were still about five semi melted blobs these can be fished out or stirred in but it guaranteed I had not heated it too much.



It is important to semi freeze the balls for two reasons. One is that when they come into contact with the chocolate they help it to harden quickly and the other is the cake ball should not be tight (as discussed earlier) but because it is frozen it is temporarily hard enough to stay on the stick and not fall off. It helps if the stick is dipped into the melted chocolate before it is inserted.

Once all the sticks are in place the fun can start. I transferred the milk chocolate into a tall sided glass but didn't bother for the white chocolate, for the white I simply tipped the chocolate to the edge of the plastic tub. I preferred the second method as I found the glass interfered with the temperature of the chocolate and just those few degrees cooler cause the chocolate to thicken up, this did not spoil the effect but it meant it did not cover all my balls.

I found that the chocolate set that quickly that I had to dipped them in sprinkles once the chocolate had stopped dripping. I thought I might have time to coat them all then use a topping but I would not have had chance.



Once dipped and decorated I placed the cake pops in the fridge for a while, about 30 minutes. I believe that putting chocolate in the fridge can cause it to bloom but it is so hot in the kitchen (because of the weather) that I didn't want to risk them spoiling completely. Plus, they're pretty much covered in sprinkles so no one will see evidence of blooming even if it were to happen. Blooming is not some sort of horrid bacteria or anything, it's basically fat from the chocolate rising to the surface and it can give the appearance of a kind of white shadow, it is totally harmless though.



* As a test I attempted to dip two cake balls that had not been frozen into some left over white chocolate. It made a right holy mess. They would not twirl once dipped, instead the weight of the chocolate cause them to split in two and they fell off the stick. So, very important to freeze your balls and don't let that chocolate get hot.


I hope you like my cake pops and I hope i've given you a few tips on how to make them easily for yourselves.

Spud has finally managed to climb down the stairs on his own. The little devil has been able to get up them since he first arrived, but was too scared to climb down them. This meant one of us had to carry him whenever he needed to have a piss or crimp one off, and if we didn't he'd leave a spuddle of urine at the top of the stairs to teach us a lesson. :mad:

Anyway now he has no excuse, he's got full access to all the house now so he can get in even more troubles.

So, the debate has been hotting up this week, with much discussion over what currency would be used by Scotland if we gained independence. Basically, there are three options:

1) Use the Euro. Not really a popular one, and no longer favoured even by the SNP.

2) Set up our own currency. I am not sure what such a currency would be, but apart from the inadvisability of using anything that could be called the "Pound Scots" (which was the old Scottish currency before the Act of Union in 1707 and was worth about a tenth of the equivalent English pound), it would be extremely risky to set up a new currency without the backing of a major national bank such as the Bank of England.

3) Continue to use the Pound Sterling. This is now the favoured option of the SNP, and it makes perfect sense, but it would be more of a risk for the rest of the UK, as it would rely on the good health of a foreign economy as well as the UK's itself, rather like a mini-Eurozone. Of course, such currency unions have been successful before, but examples such as the Belgium-Luxembourg one that existed prior to the adoption of the Euro in those countries, is hardly comparable, given the massive difference in the size of those economies in relation to each other, compared to the possible comparison between UK and Scottish economies. Moreover, the proposal would have to be agreed to by both sides, and I am not sure that the rest of the UK would be amenable to it after we in Scotland had effectively "cocked a snook" at them.

If we do achieve independence, then the currency union would be the best option for us, but it would also mean still having fiscal controls on our economy by the Bank of England and having to bear in mind the wishes of the UK when making decisions on the economy, taxation etc. Thus, we would still not be totally independent, and I have more faith in the current system of devolution, perhaps even strengthening that, but remaining within the UK, a setup that provides the best of both worlds, the security of being within a larger fiscal setup, whilst still having a large measure of control of our own affairs. Quite simply, the cost and risk of full independence is too high just so that we can wave a flag and say "hey look at us Scots now, we're independent".

Spud's being an absolute joy these past few days. Obviously like any puppy he's had his moments of being a little pest, but we're having no trouble with his basic training.

Top of the list is house training, I really have no patience for dirty messes around the house. Fortunately even though Spud is only very young (9 weeks) he's doing remarkably well potty-wise. We've had to keep our eyes on him, and make sure that if he starts taking a leak or crimping off a turd we usher him to the correct location. Well it's paid off in practically no time at all. He's already going to the back door and tapping on the glass if he wants to have a piss or a shit.

If he's not downstairs it was a little bit more tricky, but he's also going to the top of the stairs and waiting for us to take him back down now. He's a bloomin' smasher!

There's still a little bit of trouble with biting. He's not biting as hard when he plays now, but on some occasions he's clearly stopped giving a shit and just mauls the hell out of me. :mad:

But, he's definitely shown signs of improvement so I think we're getting there.

I only have one more week left at work and then I'm on holiday so I can spend loads more time with the little bugger.

So, week one is over. We survived a full seven days and nights with the little terror!

So far so good, by most accounts. My biggest worry was house training, I'm really not enthusiastic about mopping up piss and cleaning up dog-shit. Fortunately Spud has been really top-banana about the whole potty-training malarkey.

Obviously we have to keep on top of when we think he might really need to go. He can't open doors, or get down the stairs by himself so we need to make sure he gets the opportunities when he needs them. I'm pleased to say he then eliminates pretty much when we direct him to. There's been no real 'accidents' since the teenager was asked to look after him for an afternoon. There's the occasional 'spuddle' of wee, but number twos are right out the door and at the far end of the garden. To help Spud with his training you need to give a command, or at least a signal that you want him to go to the toilet, so I sing a little ditty to alert him that it's time to crap. It goes something like this:

:clef: It's the time of the turding — turtle's head's emerging
Nothing you can do to stop the poo from curling :clef:

Works a treat, he crimps one off as soon as I start singing now. Great stuff.

So, the only real issue with the little monster is he's like a gremlin and a critter rolled into one. He bites very hard, and his teeth are like needles. I've got a pair of kevlar sleeves I used at work once to protect from glass cuts, and he manages to puncture them with his devilish fangs.

I've no intention of trying to train him not to bite — puppies bite — it's perfectly natural and normal. To stop him doing what's natural to him just seems wrong, my thoughts are he will learn not to bite so chuffin' hard! Noddy started out the same way, puppies like to play, and they play by biting you. I just wear thick clothes I'm not concerned about ruining and let him maul away. I'm relying pretty much completely in the faith that Spud will learn how to play more softly, just like Nod did. Apparently this isn't actually a rare or unique concept, it's known as 'bite inhibition' and is actually an important training technique. Not that I knew.

The little bugger is sleeping a lot longer through the night, he gets up once at about three or four in the morning, so that's not so bad. And the house is steadily filling with toys, beds and blankets.

I'm trying to get a photo of him every day sat on the same chair with the same toy, so we can see how he grows.

So, the Scottish independence debate has been underway for a wee while now, so, with still around 18 months to go until the referendum, I have decided to do some blog posts to keep people updated withe news and views from the campaign. The views in the blog posts themselves wiil, of course, be my own, and I am baised, as you will see. However, anyone can of course take me to task in the comments on any individual post.

There are of course two campaigns for the referendum. The “Yes” campaign want an independent Scotland, completely free of the UK, apart form some crucial aspects however, which I will elaborate on below, and comprises largely the SNP. The “No” campaign is called “Better Together”, headed by the Westminster Labour MP for Edinburgh South West, Alistair Darling.

So, the “Yes” campaigners want independence but even they realise that some ties are still required. For a start, we would keep the Queen, except that she would revert to being the Monarch of Scotland (as well as of the UK), as it was from 1603 until 1707 when the Act of Union took place. Also, it has been realised that we are unable to really start our own currency, as this would be costly and we would lose the benefits of the currency being backed up by the Bank of England (which in reality is the Bank of the UK). So, there are two alternatives: 1) Join the Euro and 2) keep the pound Sterling. Option 1) is not guaranteed, however, as we would have to apply to rejoin the EU after independence, and if we were accepted we would HAVE to have the Euro as our currency, but the “Yes’ campaign know that this would not be a popular idea. So the other idea is that we would maintain the pound and keep parity with the UK pound (Ireland did this after independence as well, until around the 1980s). However, to do that, it would appear that we would have to remain outside the EU, which wouldn’t be a good idea as Scotland would need the EU more than ever if we were independent. However, the “Yes” campaign’s actual intentions as to how all this would work are hazy to say the least. They tell us that this would all be sorted out afterwards if we voted “Yes”, but to my mind we need to know these things before we vote.

The “No” campaign is therefore trying to keep us informed of the true difficulties in setting up an independent Scotland. This is not to say that we should not try to achieve independence, but we should at least be informed of the truth of what we would have to do to achieve it so that we can make properly informed decisions. I have already mentioned a couple of these difficulties above, i.e. what we do about the currency and whether we should or would be part of the EU. And if we do get into the EU, will we have to join the Schengen Agreement? If we did, we could end up with border controls between England and Scotland.

In addition, though, there are other problems. The “Yes” campaign say that we would be better off as an independent country. One of the arguments that they use to support this is that we pay more tax than we get back from the UK. They argue, correctly, that the percentage of UK overall tax that we pay is higher than the percentage of overall UK spending that we receive. But these are percentages of two different amounts. The ACTUAL AMOUNT that we get in spending is greater than that which we pay. Also, the “Yes” campaign’s figures are based on an estimate of future revenue from North Sea oil and gas, estimates which are hard to guarantee at least, and very optimistic at best. Revenue is realtively high just now, but this depends on the oil price remaining high for many years to come, let alone allow for the fact that production is declining, and will do sharply over the next two decades. The deficit left over from from any such miscalculations would have to be filled by much higher taxes or swingeing cuts to things like pensions, healthcare and benefits, all of the things that we are told we would actually benefit from by cutting ourselves off from Westminster. The hard fact is, we are a relatively unhealthy nation, and we have more need of the insurance of being part of a larger entity whereas we would be massively vulnerable to fluctuations in benefits requirements to look after our sick, elderly and unemployed.

So, as you can see I am painting a pretty bleak picture. You could say this is because I am not in favour of complete separation, but the fact is that these problems exist, and more, and to my mind independence would be a very costly luxury. I’d rather have a better pension and better care in my old age than independence any day. So, I sincerely hope that we vote “No” and get on with the task of running the UK in the best manner possible for the future.

Been quite busy and tiring since Spud landed on Saturday.

Due to moving house, and change of diet, etc... Spud has had the shits for a couple of days. That meant that he would need potty about every two hours, including straight through the night. So I've been a bit bloomin' tired.

Fortunately his tummy seems to have settled down now and last night he slept through most of the night, and I only had to get up twice.

He visited the vet yesterday for his first round of injections. I'm used to Noddy being completely over enthusiastic about going to the vets, he chuffin' loved it! Didn't matter if he was getting injections, or (as it turned out) if he was on death's door, Noddy still wagged his tail like mental and loved the attention from the vets and nurses. Spud wasn't quite so keen. Hopefully he'll change his tune when he's a bit bigger. There wasn't any real issue, but I just hoped he'd enjoy getting a massive needle jabbed on his neck just as much as Noddy always did.

Anyway, the vet gave Spud a good thumbs up, apparently both his 'batteries' are in tip-top condition, so that's a relief. He'll be having them chopped-off eventually though.

On top off all that the little beggar's been right busy, got hisself a Facebook page and his own website.

:facebook: Spud the Dog

:www: http://spudthedog.co.uk/

There are a bunch of new images in the Spud album — Earl's Albums: Spud the Dog

The wait is finally over, and we picked up the little Spud this morning!

Spud is most definitely the pick of the pups, but the entire litter is smashing. We very nearly ended up coming away with two of the devils. :D

I tell you now, nine seven-week-old boxer pups running riot around your house looks like bloomin' great fun. Totally exhausting, but still great fun for as long as you can manage it.

Spud slept pretty much the entire journey home, he can chuffin' sleep through anything at the moment. He woke up just as we approached home, and started spuddying about. First thing we did was let him out into the garden for a whizz, which he did, but he wasn't for crimping-off a stool just yet. He seemed to be a bit chilly outside too so we all came back indoors and gave him a bowl of foods. He's currently on Pedigree Puppy Pouches, so we gave him half of one of those, and mixed in a scoop of the posh Taste of the Wild super-duper special puppy grub we've decided to feed him. Flippin' 'eck, you'd think he'd never eaten. What a bloody greedy-guts, he likes his snap I'll tell you that.

Following dinner we watched him like a hawk, and he was a good lad. As soon as the turtle's head was emerging he ran to the back door, he nearly curled it down in the conservatory but I managed to get him outside into the garden in time, so so far so good.

Then it was playtime, I do all the rough-housing in our house so I went a couple of rounds with the little monster. Spud favours the classic ear-biting, and also attacking the back of the head and neck. I let him get the best of me for a while, before showing him who's boss.

We had bacon butties for our dinner, so I saved the little chap a few scraps. I think he knew the moment the bacon hit the frying pan, and he got a nose-full of the best smell he'd ever experienced in his short life, that he had hit pay dirt with his new mum and dad.

He soon settled off to sleep, he likes playing with all his new toys in his crate/cage/den/bed whichever you want to call it, but he wasn't keen on sleeping in it alone just yet. So he's up here with us, curled up on @Ck's knee.

I've updated the album, just go here for a load more images: Earl's Album: Spud the Dog

Last month the bottom fell out of our world when my 11-year-old boxer, Noddy left us for the eternal Land of Nod. :(

I'd never really dwelled on what to do if Noddy ever died, I just carried on regardless in the hope veterinary science would get a chuffin' move on and conquer eternal life. Slackers didn't manage it. But what I had idly considered was not ever getting a boxer again.

Noddy is irreplaceable, so why bother trying? I figured I'd still get another dog if I ever found myself Nod-less, but decided I'd try a different breed. After losing Noddy the house was dreadfully empty, we decided to get another puppy sooner rather than later, but which breed? After a relatively short while researching, it seemed blindingly obvious that no other breed was going to come anywhere close as a substitute to a boxer. I think the main thing I learnt from the research was that I'm not really a dog person, and never was. I'm a 'nod' person. I like noddy-dogs, boxers. And furthermore, I like noddy-dogs with little nodules, not proper waggy-tails. A noddy needs to have a nodule, it's his power-centre, the little stubby tail is a critical feature on a boxer. Its constant oscillation at an incredibly high rate actually vibrates atoms to pieces and is the nuclear power which energises noddy-dogs and their constant noddying about.

So, the search began, the hunt for Spud. We decided on the name Spud very early on, as our search revealed that legally docked noddy-dogs were still available, if imported from the Emerald Isle. Armed with that knowledge we racked our brains for a good, strong Irish name.

But this was beginning to look tricky, any imported noddy from Ireland was likely to already be a good few months old. And we wouldn't get to see the puppy's parents, which is kind of like buying a secondhand car without even kicking the blimmin' tyres. The last thing I want is a dodgy noddy, one that grows to the size of a Great Dane or something daft like that. Turns out to be crossed with a Staffie, or worse.

Well it seems my devilish good luck held up, there are bobtail boxers which are born with little stumpy nodules, and there was a litter of nine born in Stockport on 11th January that just came up for sale! We have been refreshing the classifieds almost constantly and saw these pups come up for sale the very minute the advert was uploaded. We were there the next day (today) and had the pick of the litter.

We saw both parents, and they were both very handsome animals. The dam actually looked very similar to Noddy, the sire was quite a sturdy fella, looked like a right brute, but brilliant boxer temperament. And all nine pups were fantastic.

Some were born with tails, some have little stumpy bobtails and others just have half-tails or short tails. The boy we picked has a diddy little nodule, he's all red with a black mask and just a bit of white on his chinnygan.

So that was it, quest over. He's just five weeks old, so we have to wait another fortnight until we can bring him home. I'm certain he's going to be a little star. Check out the photos here: Earl's Album: Spud the Dog

Originally Posted by Alpha

A homicide detective is pushed to the brink of his moral and physical limits as he tangles with a ferociously skilled serial killer who specializes in torture and pain.

Alex Cross (2012) - IMDb

I've never read any of his books or no anything about the character of Alex Cross, although it's nice to see him get onto the big screen.

Noddy is all finished with his hydrotherapy, for now. He's had the recommended seven sessions over the past three weeks and we'll have to make a decision as to whether he has any more.

Since we took him to the vets just over three weeks ago Noddy's been getting daily supplements which contain cod liver oil and other compounds beneficial to arthritic joints, plus anti-inflammatory tablets and daily walks on top of his hydrotherapy visits. Thankfully we've soon some great improvements in his walking and all round health.

The limp is completely gone and he's back to walking as well as he was before the limp began, which still looks a little stiff but it's hard to say if that's due to any arthritis as he always walked a bit funny. He's also improved in his agility and energy levels, more spritely now than he was a month ago.

It's impossible to say which treatment is working best though, or if it's a combination of all of them. We think we're going to take a break from the puppy pool for now, the sessions aren't so expensive but the place is about an hour away, so that's about three hours a night we use taking him and Ck reckons it must be costing hundreds of pounds in diesel. :laughing:

What we think we might do is just take him once a week if he seems to be getting stiff again, and get him a massage too whilst he's there.

Really proud of Noddy tonight, after a shaky start he did very well in the pool.

When we arrived he seemed really apprehensive about getting in the water again, he was being very nervous and was dead reluctant to get wet. But again, once he was in he swam as if he was half Rebecca Adlington, and he didn't require as much encouragement.

Noddy goes down a couple of steps and then stands on the third step when he gets in the pool, with the therapist holding on to him. Then he'll swim a lap of the pool whilst the therapist guides him round and I run alongside the pool shouting encouragement. After a lap he finishes on the steps again and has a rest for a minute or two, usually he tries getting back out during this rest and we have to encourage him to stay put. Then after he's rested we have to give him a bit of a push to get him going again.

Well tonight not only did he not try climbing out after each lap, but he was ready to go again before we were and was launching himself off the steps to have another Noddy-paddle!

Another plus tonight, I don't know why they waited until our fifth visit but the ladies that run the centre have finally let us in on the best supplement to give Noddy to help his joints. It's called Yumove and it's supposed to be the best thing you can give your dog to help his joints. Apparently it's that good there's a version for humans. The kind lady gave us about ten days worth as a trial for free, it's supposed to get to work practically within hours and the results are said to be amazing. Noddy should be running around like a puppy again in no time.

Been back to the puppy pool tonight, which is why I'm running so late.

It was an odd one, for the first time since going Noddy really dug his heels in and wouldn't get in the bloomin' pool. I mean, he went in but we had to practically carry him. The thing is, once he was in and swimming he seemed to enjoy it more than ever.

No attempts to try and climb out, and his little nodule was nodulating at a tremendous speed powering him through the water. He did an extra lap this time too, he'll soon be fit and strong again.

Of course he was happiest when he finally got out and had a good rub with a towel.

Well Noddy had a really good swim today, he's getting right into it.

This time we left that big daft blue collar off, apparently they're really about trying to keep water out of their ears which we're not too worried about. Well without the collar on he seemed to enjoy it a lot more, and he could swim better too.

He did six laps of the pool as usual, but he went faster and had shorter rests. He's quite pooped-out now, when he first got out of the pool his legs were like jelly and we had to hold him up for a few moments whilst he found his feet again.

Noddy had another session at the canine therapy centre tonight, he's not particularly thrilled with the actual swimming but he has a jolly good time overall. He got his nails trimmed as well tonight, loads of fussing, a few treats and a ride in the back of the car.

We'll be taking him again on Thursday.

Just recently Noddy's back legs have been giving him gyp. For an 11-year-old boxer he's incredibly spritely, but he had a bit of a tumble about a fortnight ago and he's been limping ever since. Not that it slowed him down much, even with the limp he was dragging me to the field and careering around like a lunatic for 20 minutes. But the limp wasn't getting any better.

He was at the vets last week for his annual vaccinations and the vet didn't really sound all that positive. Got the impression his attitude was that Noddy was already about three years older than his predicted lifetime, and most boxers actually get difficulties like this when they're five or six. Sounded like he was saying Noddy's had a good innings and this was just old age and this was the beginning of the end for the little pest-chops.

Well, bollocks to that. We got some anti-inflammatory medicine, and we increased the amount of cod liver oil he was having. We've also started giving him treats with Glucosamine in them, which is very good for dog's joints. Saw an immediate improvement in his walking, it's definitely taking effect.

The vet also told us that Noddy has been putting all his weight on his front legs because of the problem with his back joints, and the muscle has wasted away in his back legs. So we decided the best thing for him would be to give canine hydrotherapy a crack. Noddy's never been a swimmer, he likes a paddle but used to always stop when the water touched his tummy, he never liked going any further in than that. At the puppy pool he was fitted with a life jacket and an inflatable collar so his head wouldn't dip under the water.

He didn't seem to like it all that much, but he was very brave. The therapist was in the pool with him holding on to his life jacket and kind of pushing him up and down the pool whilst he kicks his little legs about swimming along. I had to run alongside the pool shouting encouragement so he would swim towards me and not just try and climb out. I ended up drenched too. :D

Every lap of the pool was the equivalent of a mile's trot and he did six or seven laps in his first session. He wasn't all that keen on the swimming, but he was enjoying all the attention anyway so I think he had a good time overall. He's booked in for a couple of sessions a week now for the next six weeks, I'll try to get some photos next time he looks a right star in his life preserver.

Well this weekend I busied myself with a bit of new BB Code, three new smilies to indicate social networking sites, a couple of requested ones, and a special Morningstarr* one too. :themorningstarr:

I also added the :youtube: smiley as a post icon.

I also created a custom BB Code for embedding Imgur photo albums, full details of that here: http://www.morningstarr.co.uk/forum/...ur-albums-130/

Seem to be working nicely, so that's good.

Originally Posted by Alpha

Starring Keither Sutherland. Touch is about a ten year old mis-diagnosed with autism. He doesn't speak and only communicates using numbers. Everything connects.

Touch is on Sky 1, Tuesday's at 8pm.

And this is my new favourite show. It's frackin' awesome.

I'm continuing filling the forum manual, makes it easy to decide what to write about when I can see which parts of using the forum some members struggle with.

Hopefully @Major Starbold will give me a few leads. I can always go back through his old posts to see his previous ones too.

I'll also go through the plug-ins and explain how they all work. That'll keep me busy for a while.

I've made a start this evening on the 'forum manual'. I've written an introduction explaining what the idea is, the idea is to create a few articles to explain different forum functions such as the 'no swearing' style and how to install it. Or the user tagging system, and what that's all about.

If anyone has any other suggestions for 'how tos' on anything else concerning the forum just let me know.

I've continued work on the content management system this weekend and added two widgets which a vBulletin.com forum member kindly coded for me.

'Most Viewed' and 'Most Popular (reply count)' widgets on the homepage are working well. I've selected to exclude the Pornstarr* section and Natter so it doesn't look like all we talk is filth and nonsense. ;)

Have a look on the homepage to see them in action, 2 Girls 1 Cup is still out most viewed thread, and Random Facts is our most replied thread, but excluding the porn and chatter Top 10 Beauty Treatments you'll find in your kitchen cupboards is our most viewed thread and the most replies are in the good old forum jukebox.

I'm struggling at the moment to style them correctly, so they look like the other widgets.

women wants a private slave, here is one !

I've written another article for the site's homepage now, there's a link to it at the bottom of this post.

Still having issues with it, the CMS, or content management system. I tried for ages yesterday to get the article to publish, and with no success. I tried again today and found that the problem was from trying to edit the 'SEO URL Alias', which basically means the search engine friendly addresses that it generates automatically.

Well, at least I've got to the bottom of that, so I'll continue onward and upwards.

Over the next few months I intend knocking out dozens and dozens of articles explaining all about the forum and how it all works.

Here's that link: http://www.morningstarr.co.uk/forum/...ty-forums-122/

Well, following the recent updates made to the forum software I'm faced with the task of adjusting, editing and customising it all so it looks the nod's bollocks.

I've decided that the homepage content portal will be used primarily to promote the forums and also explain and instruct new or potential members how everything works.

Anyone who would like to help out can write a simple and short but concise article explaining how a forum function, such as posting an image, works. Include plenty of screenshots and images to help explain things as clearly as possible. That's what I'll be doing from now on. I'm going to create a section of the publishing suite entitled the 'manual' and will post articles giving clear instructions on everything from making replying to a post to uploading an avatar.

Another section will be all about the Morningstarr* community, and forums in general. I know how people on forums love talking about life on forums, so that is what we shall do. I want articles about how brill it is on here, but also articles on forums and forum life in general. You know the kind of thing, like those daft stereotyping articles which label people as stalkers, trolls, brown-nosers, etc...

We could do with letting people who think that Facebook and Twitter are practically the internet know how much better forums are, and why they should join one. This one.

And, thanks to Timey's smashing article on Google's privacy policy there will also be a section on the 'internerd' as a whole, with social networking a main feature I hope.

The recent upset over some blinkety-blimey mySQL injection is thankfully over. Security measures have been improved and that situation will also be monitored more closely.

I hope the new blogging platform will become a welcome feature of the forum, it all adds to the fun of being a member here.

So, that's today's blog on the running of the forum. Be sure to check out the homepage to see the marvellous welcome message I have spent all chuffin' morning making.