Small news to share my amazement for CSS: changing the design of my website took me around 15 minutes (based on a Ganesh Gunasegaran’s initial template). The content didn’t change. Only the way “semantic elements” are displayed was changed (+ some minor adaptations, of course). Et voilÃ! :-) Next step: adapt this blog design to my website design (I won’t do it right now).

Last week, our proteomic group did a 2D of a purified protein but, unfortunately, it seemed we had a contamination. So, this week-end, we performed blank tests in order to see if the contamination came from our experiment (or from the purification). We tested our fluorescent markers and different 1D strip holders. At a normal gain, the image looks fine: contamination doesn’t come from the 2D But when I increase the gain, the image (and thus our gel) is really contaminated! :-( We really have to look where did the contamination happen! Look at this: ...

Although I liked Bill Burnham’s post about the " storage explosion" I think he forgot one thing in one of his last posts. In " YahooMail, Storage, and the Battle For Personal Data" he explains the announcement of unlimited e-mail storage for free by Yahoo! is the indication of two trends: for him, the obvious one is that storage is cheap and the less-obvious trend is that there will be a battle to control the user data in such “web applications”. ...

Since a few days, I am back to my previous laboratory to collect some more samples. While looking after my rats, I measured the noise level with a dBmeter. The conditions are: 8.30 am doors are left open (except in the housing unit) as it is usually the case five samples per room: one in each corner of the room (without moving any furniture) and one in the middle measures taken at ear height device: YF-20 (YFE) ...

It will be possible on this Saturday March 17th, 2007! For the EDAB Brain Awareness Week, one of my lab is organizing some conferences and you’ll also have the opportunity to visit the lab and see demonstrations on experiments we do and how we do. One of my mentors, Dr. P. Leprince, will tell (and show) you how we can identify proteins and identify their roles. Other workshops include microscopy, electrophysiology, behaviour. Conference topics include stem cells, drug addiction, injuries in the brain. You can have more info on the lab website (look for our activities, in French). ...

I don’t understand why people are buying and offering Apple iPods to their family members. In fact, offering an iPod is like telling you: “Here is a costly electronic device I’m giving you, it’s cool thanks to huge marketing efforts but hey, in 5 - 10 years (or immediately if you lose your player), you won’t be able to read any music files you bought anymore: it has DRM inside. Moreover, when this one will be old, you’ll be forced to buy an Apple player to keep listening to music you bought”. In short: “I am offering you a beautiful trap”. ...

Last week, I received broken vials with(out) my antibodies. This week, as the company promised, I received new ones (not broken, this time). Thanks to our technician, I was able to get colourful western blots (using the ECL Plex system) :-)

In science, you have to justify nearly all your assertions and this is done by citing another scientific paper, called a “reference”. With practise and advices of some people, I arrived to a satisfactory references management system I’ll explain below. My “problem” is that in the academic world where I work nearly everyone use EndNote or Reference Manager, two proprietary reference management software for MS-Windows. And I want to use the simple yet powerful BibTeX system. ...

Holi is an annual and popular Indian spring festival. Although the playful throwing of the coloured powders won’t be allowed in the college, ISAL is inviting you to its annual Holi celebration party. As usual, it will take place in Leuven and everyone is welcome. More details here.

I was eager to receive some new antibodies for western blotting (I was waiting for them since December 2006!). They finally arrived on Wednesday but everything was broken inside! :-( A plastic shell was supposed to protect the precious vials (about 300US$ each) but even that was broken. I immediately phoned the company and they promised me new vials for next Wednesday. Suddenly, it’s possible to get them in one week … Well, let’s see what I’ll get on that day …