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Custom LaTeX bibliography style files: Part 2/4

March 22nd, 2008 by Mark · 6 Comments

In this article, I will show the steps involved in creating a bibliography style file for the Journal Brain and include the relevant BST file for LaTeX, a powerful typesetting system available for all common platforms, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
[Read more →]

→ 6 CommentsTags: LaTeX

How to make a UK map for TrekBuddy

February 2nd, 2008 by James · 21 Comments

Sometimes you wish to use your GPS and data enabled mobile phone to navigate but either you do not have a data signal, or the map you require is not available through Google or BlackBerry maps. This short article will talk you through how to create a map to be used with TrekBuddy on your mobile, PDA or BlackBerry.

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→ 21 CommentsTags: BlackBerry · Free · Software

How to install offline Maps on your BlackBerry using TrekBuddy 0.973

February 2nd, 2008 by James · 75 Comments

BlackBerry smartphones are handy for GPS navigation helped by the excellent BlackBerry and Google Maps applications. When you are out of range of a data signal both these applications are unable to continue to provide a map. With TrekBuddy you can use offline maps, from Google and elsewhere, record route speed and waypoints, or use your phone as a direction finder. TrekBuddy is a great, freeware application developed by Kruch a Czech developer and is suitable for J2ME devices including a BlackBerry with OS 4.1 or greater.

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→ 75 CommentsTags: BlackBerry · Free · Software

Pitfalls when buying a BlackBerry from Ebay

January 28th, 2008 by James · 15 Comments

BlackBerry produce a range of popular mobile phones that have a instant email function. Purchasing a new or used BlackBerry from a seller using Ebay may seem a low cost way of owning a BlackBerry smartphone. In this short article I will highlight some of the pitfalls in doing so, and how to avoid them…

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→ 15 CommentsTags: BlackBerry

Custom LaTeX bibliography style files: Part 1/4

October 13th, 2007 by Mark · 9 Comments

As part of an ongoing series of articles on BibTeX, I will present examples of using BibTeX to generate and format custom bibliography style files to suit a wide range of biomedical journals. [Read more →]

→ 9 CommentsTags: LaTeX · Research

How to get free phone calls from MSN Messenger to a BT Home Hub phone.

May 24th, 2007 by James · 8 Comments

The BT Home Hub enables consumers to get free or low-cost VOIP phone calls out from their DECT/regular phones in their home to UK 01/02 numbers. The BT softphone application when installed allows you to make these calls from a PC anywhere on the Internet. Using this guide I will show you how to make free* phone calls from MSN messenger back to your HomeHub handset when you are away from home, perfect when you are on business and want to call family. [Read more →]

→ 8 CommentsTags: Free

TortoiseSVN and svn+ssh problems

May 15th, 2007 by Mark · 2 Comments

I’ve had problems with TortoiseSVN connecting to a subversion repository on Mac OS X where the connection would just hang when trying to browse or checkout a repository, or would fail with the error “Unable to write to standard output (stderr)”. I show you how to diagnose the problem, and solve it (in my case). [Read more →]

→ 2 CommentsTags: Free · Software

Producing Spaghetti Plots using R

April 6th, 2007 by James · 10 Comments

If you wish to analyse longitudinal data sometimes it is helpful to plot each experimental subject’s data at each timepoint to get a feel for the patterns or trends. You can often learn more from this raw data than a boxplot or line graph of the means. I am a habitual SPSS user but have found myself limited with it’s capabilities. In this short article, aimed at SPSS users who are new to R, I will show you how to produce a ‘Spaghetti Plot’ using R. [Read more →]

→ 10 CommentsTags: Graphics · Medical · Open Source · R statistical computing · Software

Port forwarding with SSH/Putty

March 27th, 2007 by Mark · 8 Comments

I regularly exchange data between computers at University and home. To maintain security, I keep a firewall running on all machines, and “tunnel” through the firewall(s) using SSH - the secure shell. For example, I run a web server on my main machine for web application development, and do not wish this to be publicly accessible. My home computer is protected by a hardware firewall, and I use SSH to tunnel access to the web server. Local and remote port forwarding is straightforward, but it can be difficult to understand initially. I have therefore created a list of “recipes” that one can try… [Read more →]

→ 8 CommentsTags: Free · Open Source · Software

How to use JabRef (BibTeX) with Microsoft Word 2003

March 25th, 2007 by James · 210 Comments

JabRefJabRef is one of the best reference managers available and provides a realistic alternative to Endnote, as well as being open-source & free. Unfortunately most users are not aware that JabRef (or any other BibTeX based reference manager) can easily be integrated for use with Microsoft Word. In this guide I will show you step-by-step how to install Mike Brookes‘ excellent free Bibtex4Word (v1.12) Word Macro Package on your Windows XP machine. [Read more →]

→ 210 CommentsTags: Free · Software