Mouse mats

Nimby · 23-08-2007, 8:52 AM

They are stacking up.

Call it 2 quid a square foot and multiply by the number of PCs worldwide.

Say £1.2 billion minimum?

Who knows how many new mats are needed per year per computer?

That's an awful lot of foam and cloth with a relatively short useful life.

They can't be used for insulation because nobody has enough of the stuff to make it worthwhile.

What are we going to do about it?

101 things to do with a dead mouse mat?

njp · 23-08-2007, 10:27 AM

I haven't used a mouse mat since going optical...

simonoaks · 23-08-2007, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

They are stacking up.

Call it 2 quid a square foot and multiply by the number of PCs worldwide.

Say £1.2 billion minimum?

Who knows how many new mats are needed per year per computer?

That's an awful lot of foam and cloth with a relatively short useful life.

They can't be used for insulation because nobody has enough of the stuff to make it worthwhile.

What are we going to do about it?

101 things to do with a dead mouse mat?

well, how about handing them out to the homeless, poor and 3rd world to use a bedding/matresses ?

Nimby · 23-08-2007, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njp

I haven't used a mouse mat since going optical...

I can't do without one since going optical. I have a glass desk.

Nimby · 23-08-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonoaks

well, how about handing them out to the homeless, poor and 3rd world to use a bedding/matresses ?

Difficult to arrange when each household has only a few.

I daren't suggest a special recycling bin.

njp · 23-08-2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

I can't do without one since going optical. I have a glass desk.

Well, that's the real problem right there. You should have a suitably textured mousing area etched or engraved onto your desk...

People who sit at glass desks shouldn't throw stones.

Sporran · 23-08-2007, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njp

People who sit at glass desks shouldn't throw stones.

LOL i liked that one.

I must confess since getting a laptop i much prefer stroking the pad or poking the nipple

bekko · 23-08-2007, 2:37 PM

I brought a new pc unit the other month i set all my gear up on it did away with my mouse mat and the red light under my optical mouse has taken off the varnish on the keyboard tray where the mouse sits. So i am now using a mouse mat.

23-08-2007, 2:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

I can't do without one since going optical. I have a glass desk.

In which case a piece of card will suffice. The sort of card that comes on the back of A4 stationery pads is ideal.

njp · 23-08-2007, 3:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bekko

the red light under my optical mouse has taken off the varnish on the keyboard tray where the mouse sits. So i am now using a mouse mat.

That's what you get for using one of those new-fangled laser gaming mice...

Actually, I've just looked up laser mice to make sure I hadn't imagined them, and I see that it is claimed they work on shiny surfaces that defeat LED mice. So they might provide a solution to Nimby's problem.

Are you seriously claiming the varnish has degraded as a result of the light from the mouse rather than abrasion from the shiny pads on the bottom? That would be very odd indeed, and might even require some new physics.

bekko · 23-08-2007, 3:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njp

That's what you get for using one of those new-fangled laser gaming mice...

Actually, I've just looked up laser mice to make sure I hadn't imagined them, and I see that it is claimed they work on shiny surfaces that defeat LED mice. So they might provide a solution to Nimby's problem.

Are you seriously claiming the varnish has degraded as a result of the light from the mouse rather than abrasion from the shiny pads on the bottom? That would be very odd indeed, and might even require some new physics.

Ye i have three clear round patches now on my keyboard shelf where the light has faded the varnish. I did wonder if it was abrasion from the shiny pads on the bottom but i have no kind of scratch marks or anything appart from these round faded marks from where the mouse has been sitting.

njp · 23-08-2007, 4:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bekko

Ye i have three clear round patches now on my keyboard shelf where the light has faded the varnish. I did wonder if it was abrasion from the shiny pads on the bottom but i have no kind of scratch marks or anything appart from these round faded marks from where the mouse has been sitting.

That's quite odd. I'd have expected the light from the optical mouse to be less energetic than normal daylight (it's the spectrum, not the intensity that matters), and to have therefore had less effect on the varnish. Does that area get significantly warm when the mouse has been resting there for a while? Perhaps it's the heat what done it.

bekko · 23-08-2007, 4:27 PM

Ye i was thinking it might of been the heat caused from it. I just put the mouse to my hand though to feel how warm it is and i could hardly feel the heat off it i would of thought it would of needed to be hotter to cause it to do that. But left in the same place over a long enough period of time ? and when using it the mouse is usually in the same place give an inch or so all round.

23-08-2007, 4:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bekko

Ye i was thinking it might of been the heat caused from it. I just put the mouse to my hand though to feel how warm it is and i could hardly feel the heat off it i would of thought it would of needed to be hotter to cause it to do that. But left in the same place over a long enough period of time ? and when using it the mouse is usually in the same place give an inch or so all round.

Normal optical mice go into a sort of standby when not being moved, with only enough light to detect movement, as in picking it up. Do laser mice not do the same?

damo_in_sale · 23-08-2007, 6:33 PM

Mouse mats can accumulate dirt and germs. As a result, I replace mine every day and recycle the old one with fire.

I do utilise a few however in order to increase the crash worthiness or my car. Safety has always been a major concern for me, and that’s why I have 42” plasma monitors for my wing mirrors.

Mr Incredible · 23-08-2007, 7:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

That's an awful lot of foam and cloth with a relatively short useful life.

101 things to do with a dead mouse mat?

I have one of those "better quality"

Alsop mouse mats that refuse to separate the top layer from the rubber base. I've had this mouse mat for almost 9 years now. I'd recommend one! Good value!

As to what you could do with them.......... use them to even up your sub on a wonky floor or worse still your marble plinth on the wonky floor?

Nimby · 24-08-2007, 8:31 AM

Haven't heard of an Alsop mat before. I'll have a look out for one.

I've tried both card and paper on top of an old mat but they disintegrated very quickly and felt awful in use. They burn my hand!

I might try some rigid plastic sheet on a bare rubber mat.

njp: I'm not allowed anywhere near anything which has nipples.

So I'll have to look at lasers instead.

Am I allowed to call damo incorrigible? :suicide

Mr Incredible · 24-08-2007, 8:39 AM

Maybe becuase it is Allsop not Alsop!!

Although not much use to you, I have seen them in Currys and PCWorld.

Considering I also did a lot of gaming, the Allsop has been the best mat I've had, period. 8-9 years is a great testament to their quality and longetivity.

Nimby · 24-08-2007, 9:03 AM

Bob

Your Allsop mat appears to be made from ...er.. beach pebbles?

Mr Incredible · 24-08-2007, 9:29 AM

No, PCWorld's is pebbles, mine's water droplets!

Nimby · 24-08-2007, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Incredible

No, PCWorld's is pebbles, mine's water droplets!

Any chance they do one in "tastefully understated"?

Mr Incredible · 24-08-2007, 10:13 AM

So, what's wrong with this then?

Nimby · 24-08-2007, 10:18 AM

I rest my case.

bekko · 24-08-2007, 10:18 AM

I wouldn't suggest getting a mouse mat from Pc World they might break up after a week.

Mr Incredible · 24-08-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

I rest my case.

I stand chastised M'Lud.

Corey USA · 27-08-2007, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

Haven't heard of an Alsop mat before. I'll have a look out for one.

I've tried both card and paper on top of an old mat but they disintegrated very quickly and felt awful in use. They burn my hand!

I might try some rigid plastic sheet on a bare rubber mat.

njp: I'm not allowed anywhere near anything which has nipples.

So I'll have to look at lasers instead.

Am I allowed to call damo incorrigible? :suicide

even lasers need some kind of non reflective ruff surface to properly track. its the pores that make it function due to the hight variation. along with grain patterns to tell which direction its going. If you have a non polished wood surface you can get by without a mat.

I have had 2 laser mouse since they first come out, only reason I am on my second is my cat chewed through the cord and I couldn't repair by splicing the lines together individually.

Mr Incredible · 26-11-2009, 4:00 PM

My Allsop mouse pad has now finally decided to throw in the towel! That's 10 years usage on most days. The mat I showed above was ubiquitous for a number of years, up to when I last posted 2 years ago, but now I can't find this "model" anywhere any more!

Can anyone recommend a mat for use with a "laser" mouse?

Cheers.

damo_in_sale · 27-11-2009, 11:06 PM

We could stick them into the mouths of those AGW 'scientists' who doctor data to provide the desired answers.

We could do the same with those who use climate models on which policy decisions are made and yet keep the source code for these models secret.[As an aside, the on-line community has done an utterly wonderful job with Linux, which in many respects is the best operating system in the world in my opinion. I see no reason why the same would not be true of climate models.]

Or, we could use these mouse mats as fuel and place them, before igniting them, beneath those 'scientists' who we now know have been part of a conspiracy to delete data and/or emails which have been lawfully subject to freedom of information requests.

Actually, I am not a big fan of 'burnings', so I'd rather simply see such folk in prison, for a long time.

But considering that we now live in New Labour's brave new fascistic Britain, I had better declare that I was actually joking about stuffing peoples mouths with mouse mats, or using them to burn people etc. etc. for fear of being accused of inciting some subnormal of actually doing something stupid. At one time I would have thought it absurd that such clarifications might be needed in Britain, the 'home of liberty'. I am no longer so sure.

Kind regards,

Damo

damo_in_sale · 27-11-2009, 11:18 PM

By the way, Sharkoon mouse mats are very good

Nimby · 28-11-2009, 7:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damo_in_sale

We could stick them into the mouths of those AGW 'scientists' who doctor data to provide the desired answers.

Or, we could use these mouse mats as fuel and place them, before igniting them, beneath those 'scientists' who we now know have been part of a conspiracy to delete data and/or emails which have been lawfully subject to freedom of information requests.

Damo

Another expert cherry picker contributing to the big business smear campaign to confuse the public just prior to Copenhagen?

When your scepticism is proved groundless can we hang you as a traitor to the innocent fauna and flora of a dying Earth?

We will survive to kill and pollute again but will anything else be allowed to survive alongside the Human Invasion Virus?