T i m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

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.

On a closer look it appear that the original has come off and what
is there now was under that originally, particularly in the middle.

So was it originally completely plain

No, it was patterned, quite a small pattern.

or was that general colour running
across the middle already there?

That appears to be what was under the original pattern.

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.

Yeah, tho that's the only thing that I can think of that I have done that
with.

I do have a few of those bigger colored kitchen cutting boards
that you can see the green one under that ex book cover but
they arent ideal in the summer with bare legs with shorts.

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.

I have been looking for some form of stand for the keyboard
that I can do a few keystrokes on with my left hand when I don't
need to put the keyboard on that ex book cover to type stuff
like this post and have found some that clamp onto the arm
of a chair for the keyboard and mouse. Not ideal for me tho.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32907768187.html?

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). ;-)

Unlikely, think it was published before
computer mice had been invented :-(

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?

Likely I spose. While its constant color, not patterned, the
fibers are much deeper than normal cloth or the sweat top.
Not just the color either I have dark brown and mid blue
fleeces and they both have the same bad result, not just
erratic tracking, the cursor doesn't move at all.

But that mouse does track fine on that green cutting
board that's under the ex book cover in the photo.

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?

There is a clear pattern.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h7u38bh1mn..._2882.jpg?dl=0

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?

Yeah, could be that I insist on cotton for all except fleeces.

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 they 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 ... ;-(

Yeah, it clearly chose to shaft you when you perved at its inners.

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

Tho I noticed that the K800 keyboard has been around
for much longer than usual and still is available.

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).

Yeah, I have stopped buying their top of the line mice,
stupid prices. I still buy the K800 keyboard because its
the only way I can get keys that don't wear off, it's a backlit
keyboard with proper double injection moulded two types
of plastic with a led inside which doesn't wear out the letters.
The backlight is handy too, I do a lot of computing at night.

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 do have a corded Microsoft Intellimouse optical which is still fine.
That is what I was using before changing to cordless mice so it
only got used for a couple of years.

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. ;-)

Yeah, but they never do except with the cheapest with 1 year warrantys now.

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.

No they don't and they never admit it's a known problem
when you do a warranty claim, just don't quibble at all.

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

Yep. Not made by logitech either.

or something 'special' to those mice?

Nope.

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.

Yeah, they don't seem to care about the 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).

I learn to touch type in school when my dad brought back
a course on records from a trip to the USA. No one could
read my writing in school.

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.

Yeah, I have a proper Access database.

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.

Yeah, must do that myself. I mostly use those big square
plastic mini sets of drawers that are intended for storing
paper in. I get them for peanuts at garage sales.
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/...ack-owdd105pbk