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!
I’ve always been fascinated by gas-discharge lamps. I don’t know why—perhaps simply because they glow in the dark. Or perhaps because they don’t always shine with a steady light, but sometimes flicker a little, as if they were alive, or burning like a flame. Or maybe because it seems as though the light is created … Read more
This Easter was spent in quarantine. It was a great opportunity to take advantage of the sunshine to draw pictures with light. Let’s replace the sterile electronic world of digital cameras with a dip in the water and think back to the 1830s, the birth of photography.
It is not widely known that Hitler was a vegetarian, and even fewer people know that he was also an animal welfare advocate. Allegedly, the idea to ban bowl-shaped aquariums originated with him, as he believed it was animal cruelty that the fish had no corners to hide in and that the bowl distorted the … Read more
Nowadays, in the age of semiconductor diodes, many people don’t even know what this thing is. Yet, they were used in radio and television receivers up until around 1975. Recently, at a ham radio flea market, I picked up an AEG selenium rectifier for a few forints. I started searching online for its datasheet, but … Read more
A few months ago, I was looking at tests of robot vacuum cleaners. Reading the user reviews, I noticed that many people talk about a vacuum cleaner as a pet, and even talk about it as if it were their child. One young couple, for example, watched with rapt attention in the evenings as the little robot taught them how to move chairs, table legs and other obstacles in the room. Then, when it finally crawled onto its charger and slithered away, the couple dozed off. Admittedly, a robot is more suited to the hipster lifestyle than a dog or cat, and it cleans up and doesn’t need cleaning up after, but to quote Uncle Abel: “No, no!
The salad is an undeservedly neglected part of holiday lunch. Hungarians just eat something pickled with the meat and call it a day, while food bloggers throw together something from the leftovers. Yet there’s real science in salad, let me tell you! The word “salad” comes from the Latin expression herba salata (meaning “salted herb”). … Read more
“It was still called broadcasting, and it cost a lot of money,When the first speaker excitedly sat down at the microphone.His ringing voice soared and flew far away,And in one listener, something responded:— The test was successful!”(LGT: The Radio) Today, digital technology is making its way into every area of communication and broadcasting. The crystal … Read more
This article revives a classic from Janusz Wojciechowski’s cult book Building Electronic Toys: a simple Hartley oscillator that does nothing—except beep endlessly. I once drove my father crazy with it and today it’s still a perfect tool for learning electronics. We explain how it works, show how to rebuild it, and explore Wojciechowski’s quirky ideas … Read more
Every September, Vienna opens its doors to the curious. During the Open House Wien festival, visitors can explore extraordinary buildings that are normally off-limits. On September 15-16, 2018 more than a hundred sites welcomed guests: from sleek office towers and renovated palaces to pioneering co-housing projects. The Department of Urban Planning at the Budapest University … Read more
The MCM sport pistol (in Russian: Пистолет Марголина Целевой Малокалиберный) may be familiar to those who learned to shoot in MHSZ (Hungarian Defence Association) clubs. Some people still use this weapon today, although it is increasingly being pushed out of competitive shooting by models from Walther, Pardini, and Smith & Wesson. Entire generations of sport … Read more