More Psychic Hardware
I just can't resist trying new stuff. F'rinstance a new mouse for the laptop. I like the mouse I've been using even though it acted up on me the other day. But it is a wired mouse. And I am tired of wires all over the desk. I even want a Bluetooth headset for my cordless desk phone so I don't have a wire running from the handset to the headset. And yes. I prefer to use a headset over pressing the electronic equivalent of a bar of Irish Spring to my ear.
So, a wireless mouse with a tiny little wireless connector that fits my USB port and, when I pack up the machine, the connector actually tucks into a little pocket in the mouse itself. Nice design. But. There's always a but. I went to the website. I downloaded the driver. I installed the driver. I plugged the mouse in. I adjusted the scroll speed. And I pushed those itty-bitty buttons to connect the mouse to the USB plug. And the pointer didn't move. (Insert noises indicative of aggravation here) Do I have to return this? What a hassle.
I won't give up without another try. I leave it a couple of days (that would be until today, right? -Ed.) (shut up Ed.) and do all those connection rituals again. Pointer sits on the desktop. Oh grrr! Errant click on the right button. Contextual menu appears. Hunh? It reacts. But it doesn't move. What's up wid dat? What am I missing?
Short answer - the mousing surface. I have a deskpad that's composed of some synthetic, sort-of leather-like surface with a thin foam pad underneath. It's called something like "rhino hide" which has the feature of "healing" if you accidentally cut it. My new mouse doesn't like running on a rhino (that reminds of a joke ... no, now's not the time). So I'm now I need a mouse pad. What looks good with a PowerBook?