A motley collection of ideas
In the old days, when someone bought a device, it came with an instruction manual. It was not necessarily good, but at least it existed. Today we are tossed between two extremes. One is that we receive nothing at all, only a QR code that takes us to the manufacturer’s website, and from there to … Read more
The meteorological radiosonde is an interesting creature. It sets off from somewhere beneath a large white balloon, measures the atmosphere’s temperature, humidity, pressure and GPS coordinates, and then, when the balloon bursts, the instrument descends to the ground. For meteorologists, the story more or less ends here; for radio amateurs and radiosonde hunters, however, this … Read more
The device shown in the picture is the NZ-1 hand winding machine: a simple mechanical tool used to wind neat coils from wire, thin electrical conductor, or other filament-like material. It is not an automatic wonder machine, nor a CNC-controlled industrial device, but a cheap Chinese gadget. I bought it for about 30 euros. Its … Read more
I have a cat who likes to sleep next to me. In the mornings she wakes me up very sweetly — unless I fail to get up on time. Then she switches to more persuasive methods, and occasionally the pillowcase pays the price. Since proper pillow covers are not exactly cheap, and ours were disappearing … Read more
Mushroom foraging has its small but very important essentials, and one of the most important of these is a good basket. In this article, I present a practical, lightweight solution. Mushroom picking is one of my passions. Without sounding immodest, I can say that I know mushrooms quite well. I learned a great deal from … Read more