Comments on: Comments on 18753

Post number 18753

srboisvert — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 20:42:19 -0800

What to do with your extra mouse pads. Relax from a stressful day

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 20:51:24 -0800

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 ;-)

By: evanizer

evanizer — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 20:54:16 -0800

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?

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 21:20:45 -0800

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.

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 21:24:17 -0800

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.

By: folktrash

folktrash — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 21:26:00 -0800

isn't it a moo point? you know, like a cow's opinion... it just doesn't matter. it's moo.

By: peachwood

peachwood — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 21:35:33 -0800

I wonder what their bathroom is made out of?

By: bonheur

bonheur — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 21:57:16 -0800

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.

By: slipperywhenwet

slipperywhenwet — Sun, 28 Jul 2002 23:10:15 -0800

Whoa, impressive wacky. How come you know so much about mouse pads?

By: southisup

southisup — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 01:36:39 -0800

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]

By: piskycritter

piskycritter — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 04:22:16 -0800

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.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 05:37:14 -0800

> 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.]

By: kliuless

kliuless — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 06:07:24 -0800

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!

By: brownpau

brownpau — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 06:24:28 -0800

Coming up next: the free AOL CD chair.

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 06:36:15 -0800

....trackball user here....(sniff)

By: gwint

gwint — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 07:34:45 -0800

then there's always Frank Gehry's cardboard chair.

By: ursus_comiter

ursus_comiter — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 08:33:02 -0800

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.

By: dwivian

dwivian — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 08:34:45 -0800

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

By: th3ph17

th3ph17 — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 10:53:04 -0800

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.

By: gen

gen — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 14:48:06 -0800

th3ph17: but no mousepads. what happened? optical mice?

By: rory

rory — Tue, 30 Jul 2002 07:03:34 -0800

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.

By: piskycritter

piskycritter — Wed, 31 Jul 2002 05:27:44 -0800

My optical mouse collected itself a layer of greasy dusty gunk I heard a neologism for that recentely. Just call it hand salsa.

By: kliuless

kliuless — Wed, 31 Jul 2002 12:54:53 -0800

there was a good discussion of mouse cleanliness on a slashdot poll the other day. "I have those weird felt things clogging the rollers"