On Sun, 16 May 2021 09:13:01 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

snip

https://www.dropbox.com/s/20wi83kl8v..._2880.jpg?dl=0
so I had to use a proper mouse mat on that.

Interesting patination.

Yeah, not at all clear how that happened over time.

So was it originally completely plain or was that general colour
running across the middle already there?

I do have the dinner plate on it at dinner time
too, so presumably that's how it happened.

Fairly universal then? ;-) It's funny how many people adopt something
that might initially just come to hand and then use permanently. The
Mrs uses her mouse on a mat on a heap of books (that were already
there on a shelf by the arm of the chair where she sits) as that's
where we first tried it when I set it up for her years ago. It's just
'convenient and works so she carries on using it like that.

That over a few decades now.

I wonder if the publishers even envisage that use over that sort of
duration (and maybe the mouse mat manufacturers could learn
something). ;-)

Was that there originally

Nope. It was originally a thin recipe book, then that
half of the cover came off after about a decade.

See above.

or grown there over time?

That mouse wont track on the fleece on my chest in winter either.

I have a HP (branded?) wireless optical mouse I use via
a 4 way KVM switch when trying or setting up new stuff
and often use the mouse on the bed and that's fine.

Yeah the M560 tracks on all other cloth fine, and the T shirts
I wear all year round and the sweat top I wear in the cooler
weather, but for some reason not the massive great Aldi
fleeces I have about 5 of I wear in the winter.

Depth of the fibres then possibly? Most of the things you say it does
work on have 'a grain' or weave, I don't think the outside surface of
a fleece does? Or, I wonder if it's the fact that fleeces are made
from plastic (often re-cycled I believe) so may be transparent /
translucent (like fibre optics) and so confuse the detection system?

The replacement Logitech M705 tracks
fine on both without the mouse mat.

You would think the same make and general
functionality (ball v optical reflective v camera(?))
would behave equally on the same surface?

They are very different vintage and the now claims
to do 3 years on the pair of AA batterys supplied
so it is clearly a redesign and much better.

Funny you should say that. I was looking on my Logitech yesterday to
see what model it was and looked under the battery cover etc (in the
end it was just moulded into the plastic so didn't stand out
(literally and visually g). After putting the cover back on, it
stopped working. I KVM'd over to the other PC, wasn't working there
either, reset both the USB dongles, even powered both PC's off and
then back on again but nothing. I removed and re-seated the battery,
extended the spring contact at the +ve end a bit and pressed all the
buttons (especially the one that selects what channel it's on), still
nothing. It has lost contact previously and one of those things has
normally sorted it.

Then I measured the battery and it was down to 1V! Of all the times
that the battery might go flat ... ;-(

Logitech clearly keep redesigning stuff all the time,
you never can just buy another after the click fault
shows up.

Ok. I have both mouse and kbd here because they do seem to just work
and you can get fairly good reliability and functionality for a
reasonable (but not cheap) price (especially in their more basic
models).

I still use the mouse mat on the extremely daggy ex book
cover just because the extremely daggy ex book cover is
now so rough and doesn't work well for the mouse feet.

That's something I have noticed on
long-surviving mice, the feet wearing out.

I've only ever had that with one mouse, forget whose it was.
For me it was a MS branded corded mouse optical (probably Logitech)?

I have big hands so try to find big mice as they are more comfortable.
I don't think this M720 is a big as the MS mouse it replaced. ;-(

The Logitechs usually only last a few years until the click
fault shows up. Dunno why they don't redesign that bit.

As long as they last outside warranty, they can sell more. ;-)

I noticed this time that they have what they call a silent
mouse, guess I should try one of those to see if that one
has fixed the problem.

Only time would tell, unless they specifically state it deals with
that problem and I doubt they would do that.

snip

Oh? Something I need to watch out for
on the one I'm using here then (M720).

Not clear if its my use, I do play freecell pro when
'watching' recorded TV prigs on the PVR usually
for a couple of hours a day most days so maybe
I mouse click a lot more than most do.

I probably used mine more when regularly playing FPS with mates around
the world (I played Pariah and was in a 'Clan' g) but I'd say it's
generally still used quite a bit, especially in Sketchup and doing 3D
design.

But those
microswitches have always been available on
ebay

Oh, as a generic switch or something 'special' to those mice?

so its clear plenty do have that problem
and logitech never quibbles with a warranty
claim.

Given what they cost and what they probably cost to make, not a biggie
for them, certainly when compared to the bad publicity.

but now mostly only have 1 year
warrantys. They used to have 7 year warrantys
on their top of the line mice, now only 3 years.

I think TP-Link went that way with all (?) their stuff having a
lifetime warranty but now they have cut back on that quite a bit.

I noticed the new Leatherman 'Bond' carries a 25 year guarantee when I
think they used to be 'lifetime'?

https://www.leatherman.co.uk/product...tainless-steel

I wonder if they actually listened to me as they stopped doing the PST
(Personal Survival Tool) and then the PST II and nothing else seemed
to be suitable for an EDC here in the UK. Then the other day I got a
flyer from them re the Bond (I think my last email to them was that if
they brought the PST out again I'd buy one). ;-)

I do have a spare PST II, bought s/h off eBay in the States and bought
in the hope that if I had a spare, I'd never need it. ;-)

On the times I thought I had lost my Leatherman over the last few
years, daughter has bought me one as a present but as they didn't
really make anything that was suitable, the best she could get wasn't
really as good. She did get me one of the Tim Leatherman 'anniversary'
models when it was reduced but I only use that for best. ;-)

https://myoutdoors.co.uk/gear-news/a...ary-leatherman

snip

Good customer service.

Yeah, that's why I stick with logitech. I even got
a new K800 keyboard out of warranty after the
third replacement of the original died.

The only Co I have really used any warranty thing on is TP-Link and
they have been pretty good (new for old / upgrade etc).

In that
case the keytop keeps coming off and often
cant be replaced after it has come off.

Oh.

I gave up on Microsoft when the buggers wouldn't
replace the keyboard under warranty when the most
used letters had worn off.

That has happened here on this Logitech K270 so I bought some stick-on
key top letters and I'd have to say I'm impressed. I feared they would
slide about and come off but they haven't.

Not a problem with normal
typing since I am a touch typist

1 finger and thumb typing here. ;-(

but a pain in the arse
with long product keycodes when installing stuff.

I think part of the reason I never learned to touch type is because I
was rarely in front of the same keyboard and often (as a field support
tech) the keyboard was on the floor, on top of a cabinet, pile of kit
or on my knee (as it is now).

Not that I do much of that anymore.

No, nor me (now typing with a dog on my lap and holding the keyboard
in my left hand) as many of the people I used to look after now use
tablets and phones.

snip

I try to test electronics I buy (more often online) at least to check
it works generally (not so easy on a multipin / function device like
an ESP32 micro controller but luckily they aren't too much money. ;-)

Yeah, I do have lots of stuff it takes a year or two to actually
get around to using after I buy it for an unusual project.

When I go though my boxes of stuff (most of it is in Stanley storage
units [1]) looking for something it can be like Xmyth as I discover
all the goodies I have previously bought, for the S&G and fun and then
want to play with. ;-)

On that, Is there any support for the Raspberry Pi over there or do
you have a spare PC (or VM) you could run Home Assistant on? I know
you use Philips Hue and Alexa(?) but I thought you might like having a
look at HA as well?

Cheers, T i m

[1] I have most of them numbered and in a document on Google docs with
an overview of the content of each stored. So I can search the file
and it will give me any hits for that thing. What I want to do next
(with help from my new Brother label printer adding labels to the
inside of the lid) is also take and store a picture of the content of
each box so I don't need to input so much detail on the boxes
containing a greater mix of the smaller items.