That’s what I do almost every year.
As a regular user of PC, I use mouse and keyboard a lott. And that’s why I have to replace my mouse often. (No, not the keyboard, I go gentle on the keyboard.) Multiverse model effect 😀 |
If you know me, you’d know I don’t mind using the same Cell phone for 10 years. So if a mouse lasted 2 years, I wouldn’t replace it in a year. I mean why fix something that is not broken? So, the question is how do I know it is time to replace the mouse? I know when it’s timeThere are many symptoms, but some combination of these inevitably happens: - Double-click issue: when my single click closes two windows back-to-back (This is by far the scariest scenario that forces me to re-order the mouse from my Amazon order list)
- When I can’t highlight text properly by holding the left-click button (This one is not scary, it is frustrating)
- When the mouse left-click also starts acting as a right-click
- When the scroll wheel moves the page by 2 scroll spaces for my 5 scroll effort
- When the mouse doesn’t get detected (This one never happens with me, because I don’t let it happen)
They creep up slowlyThe symptoms I shared with you, creep up slowly. It is similar to how we don’t realize our weight increased/decreased without us noticing it.
Similarly, suddenly, you realize “damn, this mouse is giving problems.”
And mostly, that is when I decided to replace the mouse. But recently, I came across a Mouse TestThe idea is simple. Go to the webpage, and start clicking.
If your mouse has problems, you will notice the problems and inconsistencies with clicks and scrolls. Let’s test the main mouse buttons: left, right, centre and scroll wheel.
Please note, that you have to click on the main rectangle to begin the test. Left buttonAs you can see, the left button’s click count is shown as I click. If my mouse had the double-click problem, when I click once, the count will increment by two points. Telling me that it is indeed problematic. Right buttonSimilarly, clicking the right mouse button should only reflect that count. Whenever there is an issue with the buttons, even clicking a left button increases this count.
You can do the same for the middle button. (Did you know that the scroll wheel is a button too?) Scroll wheelTo test this, you must keep your scroll wheel on the rectangle area. You may need to move the arrow out of the rectangle for the scroll count to get started.
In this clip, you can see how precisely I can control the count of the Up and Down scrolls.
You can check your new mouse with this testOne of the best uses of this test is to check the functioning of a newly purchased mouse. The idea is to click the buttons and scroll until a score of 100 is reached for each of them. If there is anything wrong with the mouse, the chances are you will notice by you reach your 100th count. (Did you know, that most mice that we use last approximately 1 million counts without any issue?) So, how often do you replace your mouse? I use a Logitech mouse, that fits perfectly in my hand. Do you have any preferences? Hit Reply and share with me. Reads of the week:Link
Don’t be repulsed by the title. This is a very well-written essay by Kailash Nadh (CTO of Zerodha). He talks about how painful it has become to find anything useful on the internet because most of the search results are now spammed with SEO-engineered and AI-made content.
Since Kailash is a well-known open-source contributor too, he proposes a simple idea of curating and creating indexes by people and sharing them publicly.
80% of the discussion is understandable by anyone. You will also come across some useful websites that you didn’t know existed. For example, I liked the https://search.marginalia.nu/ Link
I remember one of my professors who would counter our answers with “technically…” and you know you are defeated. Check out all comics by Randall Munroe.
And oh, technically, Randall is not exactly a comic guy, he is an ex-NASA engineer. |