Through out history the thing that set humans apart from beasts was our use of tools and intellect to survive, not strength. Starting with simple rocks used as hammers, to brilliantly complex automated tools we have used tools constantly to aid our lives. The question is this though, are such tools always necessary?
A week or so ago I purchased a refurbished Logitech MX Revolution on eBay for a surprisingly cheap price, it arrived a few short days after the purchase in seemingly perfect condition. I plugged in the mouse’s charger and USB receiver. For almost an hour I let my new mouse charge, trying to see if it would work after a half charge. No luck, so I let it charge more. On a full charge I tested the mouse, still nothing. I plugged in the USB receiver into every USB port on my computer, nothing worked. I uninstalled and reinstalled Logitech’s setpoint programs numerous times, still nothing.
I contacted the seller to see if I could get it replaced, but I was too lazy and cheap to pay for the shipping back to them. I contact Logitech to see if I could obtain a replacement USB receiver assuming it was the problem as the mouse reacted in the same way that my MX1000 did to movement without the mouse’s signal being received. I had no heard from them, and assumed they chose not to respond because it was refurbished. I scoured the net for any piece of information to fix it or buy replacement parts, even contemplating to open it up and fix it myself with nothing but a screwdriver and simple understanding of the mouse’s mechanics, but chose to wait still for a reply.
After watching a movie I recorded on my newly acquired DVR I turned on my computer to do one last email check. Logitech finally sent me a reply, at sometime between midnight and Four AM no less, saying they had trouble receiving my question due to a system malfunction. I followed what they suggested, but it didn’t help. The thing that I thought queer though was that parts within the mouse itself seemed to move when I barely shook it. Being curious I shook it again to see if the parts were solidly in there, then shrugged it off. I sent an email back to Logitech saying their solution didn’t work and picked up the mouse to put it back. Right then I noticed the cursor move. I tested the mouse, it worked. After all other efforts all that was needed was a good old fashion(and simpleminded) shaking.
It was not the software that helped me, nor any such help from either supplier, or even a tool to fix the internal workings, but a simple and curious shaking. The strange thing is is that acts of these natures happen all to often. People pull out schematics, dozens of tools, and giant pieces of equipment to fix an item when a simple savage rapping or shaking fixes the problem. Damn science! Justin smash, Justin fix.
