Jasp's Blog

One of the problems with running a blog is the spam. In addition to the junk I receive through E-mail, I also get plenty of comments spam, from people hoping to get their little spammy plug onto my blog. They don’t succeed. Not only are comments to the blog moderated, but the automatic spam filters [...]

Over the past four years I have been a regular user of the British rail network. During this time I have regularly been frustrated with the pricing, which can vary from guilt inducing cheapness, to exorbitantly pricey, even for exactly the same journey. Finding the cheapest tickets isn’t easy, and it seems that every time [...]

I first saw the Google Wave videos a few months ago, shortly after Google first announced the product.

It looked quite exciting, although admittedly it wasn’t something I was entirely sure exactly how I’d end up using. The simple benefit of a communication system which fused E-mail and chat was obvious, especially when it was [...]

Oh dear.
It was obvious from the start that Derren Brown wouldn’t predict the lottery, and the failure to reveal the balls before the draw just made the whole situation blindingly obvious. As soon as he did that, the whole situation boiled down to little more than a glorified card trick.
Now, I’ll be first to admit [...]

You may have noticed reports in several newspapers and tech sites today of the Heinz Beanzawave, a USB powered microwave. Unfortunately for fans of beans and fancy USB gadgets the story appears to be, well, a load of old beans ((See, you don’t have to be part of the tabloid press to make terrible puns)).

Sixty-five years ago 160,000 troops landed on the beaches of Normandy to drive back the forces of fascism, and to protect the freedoms that they held to be important. Thousands of others worked behind the scenes to provide the ships necessary to co-ordinate such an astonishing feat, not to mention those involved in the concurrent [...]

On Saturday I attended my first wedding of the year. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the whole thing went off seemingly without a hitch to the various guests assembled. Well, apart from the bride’s car breaking down, but what would life be if it couldn’t mimic a sitcom every once in a while. But [...]

Its looking likely! Earlier today, newspaper columnist, television presenter and all-round misanthropist Charlie Brooker gave hints that we mad soon be seeing a series of ‘Gameswipe.’ In a tweet on his @charltonbrooker Twitter account, Brooker asked for the following:
Worst videogame bosses ever? Email yr suggestions to gameswipe at zeppotron dot com. Make what you will [...]

Sitting with a pipette here within my lab
Waiting for the cells to grow.
In perfect isolation here upon the plate
Waiting for the cells to grow.
However much work you put in, and however hard you plan your experiments, there will always be the occasion when every experiment you have running hits down-time at the same point. Whether [...]

A few thoughts this week, mainly as none of them were substantial enough for a full blog post.
Swine Flu
Jumping in first on the topic which is most likely to generate general interest, I’d once more like to point people at the post I wrote covering the H5N1 virus. Anton Vowl, over at ‘The Enemies of [...]