Category: Tips

Within the PubMed architecture, there are a lot of resources, visible on the pulldown list next to the search field. If you browse down a bit, you’ll see “Books”. (direct link)

These…

Oct022011October 2, 2011September 28, 20110 Commentby L.

Quick OSX tip: if you’re finding that your OSX system is quite busy even though you haven’t asked anything of it, check to see if the processes “mds” and “mdworker” are chewing up CPU cycles (view active processes in Activity Monitor).

If so,…

Sep272011September 27, 2011September 25, 20118 Commentsby L.

DIY Picospritzer

Posted in Hardware, Tips

I was in Tokyo recently and stopped by my friend Taro Ishikawa’s lab (of TaroTools fame). He and Misa are doing very well. They have exciting work underway and are expanding their…

Sep242011September 24, 2011April 9, 20122 Commentsby L.

GECOs – New proteins for calcium imaging

Posted in Tips

Post by Christian Wilms

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m a big fan of small organic calcium indicators (e.g., Oregon Green BAPTA 1). Yes, genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) have many…

Sep052011September 5, 2011September 5, 20110 Commentby L.

Rename variables in MATLAB

Posted in Software, Tips

MATLAB version R2011b has just been released. The new format for error messages is not as mind blowing as you might have heard. However, there’s one cute little…

Sep012011September 1, 2011September 1, 20113 Commentsby L.

Project enclosures

Posted in Hardware, Tips

Here are some ideas for project enclosures. The stock enclosures from Mouser, Digikey, and others are generally serviceable, but are rarely the perfect size. In addition, making the required cutouts can be inconvenient. Here are a couple of alternatives.

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Aug122011August 12, 2011August 12, 20112 Commentsby L.

Viewing CAD files online

Posted in Software, Tips

When I’m in a tight spot and don’t have CAD software handy, there are a couple of sites I use to view CAD files online.

…

Jul232011July 23, 2011July 23, 20110 Commentby L.

Tell the NIH what to spend money on

Posted in Tips

There’s an RFI (request for information) out now for the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience (the structure that cuts across different institutes that all support neuroscience: NINDS, NIMH, NEI, etc.). These RFIs…