July 28, 2002

8:42 PM

What to do with your extra mouse pads.Relax from a stressful day
posted by srboisvert (22 comments total)

Wonderful! I wonder how much all those mousemats would cost if you bought them normally.. you're probably looking at at least $1000!

However, you don't need to be an architect to know that they're arranged in a rather unstable fashion. I'm quite surprised that they've used it as a chair without destroying the whole thing. I propose they rebuild it and overlap mousemats throughout brick-style. They could also use some of those white ones and get a checkered effect across the surface of the chair. Then they could submit it for a prestigious British art prize, and it'd probably win.

Alternatively, I should get a life. Yep, that's the one ;-)
posted by wackybrit at 8:51 PM on July 28, 2002

That's beautiful! I wish there were more information about it, such as where on God's green earth could someone get that many mouse pads?

Looks comfy, but you wouldn't want to move around too much or your couch would disintegrate.

And why is the default colour of mouse pads deep blue? Why? I remember getting a mouse pad with my Apple IIGS in '86 and it had a blue mouse pad... Is it just a tradition? An unexamined meme? Is there any technical reason that they're blue?
posted by evanizer at 8:54 PM on July 28, 2002

Yes. Dark blue surfaces tend to attract less dust so are therefore useful to those using regular mice. This will soon be a moot point, however, since optical mice are quickly becoming the norm.

Why do dark blue surfaces attract less dust? Darker surfaces generally absorb more light and heat, making them warmer. The thermals off of a dark piece of material repel dust, which generally floats about on air currents.

Of course, black mouse mats would work even better, but dark blue is cosmetically more acceptable.
posted by wackybrit at 9:20 PM on July 28, 2002

While we're on the subject of mouse pads, a while ago I tried a hard plastic Everglide and I'm not ever going back to foam and cloth.
posted by bobo123 at 9:24 PM on July 28, 2002

isn't it a moo point? you know, like a cow's opinion... it just doesn't matter. it's moo.
posted by folktrash at 9:26 PM on July 28, 2002

I wonder what their bathroom is made out of?
posted by peachwood at 9:35 PM on July 28, 2002

That's amazing. I'd bet they're glued together in some way, otherwise it looks like the whole thing would topple the first time someone sat down on it. And from the caption, it sounds like it gets a lot of use. Making useful stuff out of junk is cool.
posted by bonheur at 9:57 PM on July 28, 2002

Whoa, impressive wacky. How come you know so much about mouse pads?
posted by slipperywhenwet at 11:10 PM on July 28, 2002

wackybrit might well be winging it. There are a few theories around like that, for example:

"Now you may not believe it but colour can have an effect on the speed of your billycart too! Dark colours absorb the heat and this means the surface is warmer and creates less drag. ... Some people believe that if the front half of the racer is a light colour, and the back half is dark it goes faster. The theory behind this is that the light colour is cooler than the air temperature so it contracts the air, pulling the racer into a partial vacuum, and the rear being hot, expands the air causing a pressure rise, in the rear of the racer propelling it forward. This sounds great, but someone is yet to prove this theory!" source [46K pdf]

posted by southisup at 1:36 AM on July 29, 2002

The coefficient of friction for the foam rubber underside of a typical mousepad is pretty high. I would not be surprised if the couch is stable with just a bit of overlapping and without any adhesive. I've used mousepads to unscrew jar lids and twist open pipes before. Works pretty well.
posted by piskycritter at 4:22 AM on July 29, 2002

> What to do with your extra mouse pads.

Use them for those really light days. [Cut to shot of girl in floppy hat and white bathing suit running down beach.]
posted by pracowity at 5:37 AM on July 29, 2002

i think if you staggered them like bricks it would be more stable than just stacking. also i think it'd be cool if they covered their walls with mouse pads as well :) insane!
posted by kliuless at 6:07 AM on July 29, 2002

Coming up next:
the free AOL CD chair.
posted by brownpau at 6:24 AM on July 29, 2002

....trackball user here....(sniff)
posted by alumshubby at 6:36 AM on July 29, 2002

then there's always Frank Gehry's cardboard chair.
posted by gwint at 7:34 AM on July 29, 2002

Evanizer:

That's beautiful! I wish there were more information about it, such as where on God's green earth could someone get that many mouse pads?

Anyone working for a VAR or in tech support for a very large corporation will accumulate a metric buttload of mousepads pretty quickly, since they frequently come with new machines and tend not to be deployed with those machines at users' desks when replacing an existing workstation.
posted by ursus_comiter at 8:33 AM on July 29, 2002

I'm so glad we got away from the Imperial Buttload measure. It was unweildy, what with the size of Elizabeth's ....

Um...

Nevermind.
posted by dwivian at 8:34 AM on July 29, 2002

i miss the days of mousepad surplus. Every computer show i went to, NAB, Seybold, Web 99,...always had--i must use this word--a plethora of pads. I never bought a mousepad. They were everywhere. Then suddenly they all vanished. I asked the "ask me" usher-people. I asked people working at booths. I begged demonstrators for an SGI pad. Pleaded for an Adobe pad. [though, did end up with an adobe towel from web 99, and later on my buddy scored a bean bag.]

but no mousepads. what happened? i think that the lack of mousepads was the first indication of troubles in the dot com world. They are the indicator species in the tech ecosystem.
posted by th3ph17 at 10:53 AM on July 29, 2002

th3ph17: but no mousepads. what happened?

optical mice?
posted by gen at 2:48 PM on July 29, 2002

This will soon be a moot point, however, since optical mice are quickly becoming the norm.

My optical mouse collected itself a layer of greasy dusty gunk just as annoying as the one on the old ball-mouse. Took almost as long to clean, too.

I want a truly optical mouse. An infrared device attached to my optic nerve. Blink to click. Wink to right-click.
posted by rory at 7:03 AM on July 30, 2002

My optical mouse collected itself a layer of greasy dusty gunk

I heard a neologism for that recentely. Just call it hand salsa.
posted by piskycritter at 5:27 AM on July 31, 2002

there was a good discussion of mouse cleanliness on a slashdot poll the other day. "I have those weird felt things clogging the rollers"
posted by kliuless at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2002