A motley collection of ideas
In this section, you’ll find all kinds of articles. Some of them are machine translations of my older writings in Hungarian, which may contain grammatical errors or content that is no longer up to date. I apologize for these mistakes, and I would be very glad if you let me know when you come across any. Happy reading!
Used books do not need sterilizing, but they do need sensible handling. Since the COVID years, no shortage of dubious “disinfection” methods has appeared, from alcohol sprays to ozone generators—many of them more dangerous to paper than to microbes. In practice, the only truly serious risk is not infection, but the chance of bringing home … Read more
The literal English translation of the Hungarian phrase “DVD-játékos” would be “DVD gamer,” which does not mean some bloke raised on the game consoles of the 2000s who insists on physical discs. Rather, people jokingly used it for a “DVD player” because, years ago, the machine-translated Hungarian user manual of a Chinese device — later … Read more
Total Commander’s button bar can launch programs, run scripts, open folders, and automate repetitive file‑management tasks with a single click. You can also pass the currently selected file(s) as parameters, which makes custom buttons ideal for conversion tools, batch renaming helpers, backup scripts, and “open in …” workflows. Where buttons live Custom buttons are stored … Read more
In 1950, the Gilbert U‑238 Atomic Energy Laboratory appeared on toy‑store shelves as an educational kit. This oddity resurfaces from time to time on social media; Facebook just served it up to me again. Back then it cost $49.50 (roughly $650 in today’s money), but nowadays—when it very rarely turns up—it can fetch $4,000–5,000 at … Read more
I wanted a simple, inexpensive antenna for my Little Airshow Radio. The 108–137 MHz range is the VHF airband, where the wavelength is roughly 2.18 m to 2.73 m. That means any resonant antenna designed for this range tends to be physically large. If you’re looking for a small, portable solution, you’ll need to make a few compromises. … Read more
Radiosondes fall back to Earth every day. Most people never notice them. With a small, purpose-built receiver like the MySondy Go, you can not only notice them, but actively track, decode, and recover them. This article documents our build of a MySondy Go device, including a custom-designed 3D‑printed enclosure optimised for real-world field use. Why … Read more
I have a plasma globe that I received about 15 years ago to create illustrations for an article. One day I showed interesting experiments with it, but now I would like to write about why the globe broke down. As is well known, the plasma globe (or Tesla globe) is a decorative glass sphere filled … Read more
The journey to Mars is approximately 480 million kilometers long and takes seven to eight months to complete. This raises a multitude of challenges, one of which is the provisioning of food for the crew. If we cannot carry sufficient supplies with us, is it possible to grow plants in space? How do plants develop … Read more
Below is a cheap automatic bird feeder you can build in 20–30 minutes from household materials with a few simple tools. Why winter feeding matters Winter can be a lean season for small birds: short days, cold nights, and snow or ice can make natural food harder to find. A simple feeder can help birds … Read more
The DP–2 digital intercom indoor units are widely used. They are compatible with the Codefon intercom systems commonly found in Hungary, and their circuitry is completely identical to the Codefon EVK apartment handset. On some versions, an external doorbell button can also be connected, and there is an option for an external loudspeaker output, which … Read more