Warning: I will sound like an old fart throughout this post. I was just wondering what it might be like to be a teenage music fan nowadays, with all the amazing ways of discovering, sharing and connecting around music that the web offers. And it got me thinking back to when I was 18 (1995-96), and how I was using technology....

The new Charlatans album 'You Cross My Path' was downloaded more than 60,000 times in its first week of availability. The band opted to give the album away as a free digital download, via UK radio station XFM....

Iron Maiden is releasing its new compilation album 'Somewhere Back In Time' as 320kbps WMA files that are free to download, but only play three times before prompting fans to buy DRM-free versions....

It's a losing battle. Trying to keep my inbox manageable at the moment is a task beyond me - and possibly even beyond someone who's normally able to keep their inbox manageable. It's overrun with people wanting to meet me......

This has been neglected for months, but I'm making a fresh start with it. It's not my professional blog (that's stuartdredge.co.uk). This is more of a personal blog - an outlet to ramble about music and baby stuff and gadgets without being paid for it. And also a chance to test some widgets, obviously. Hell, it might even make me update my Twitter feed more than once every couple of months....