Mighty Mouse

In search of a decent corded mouse that will last a long time, I purchased a Mighty Mouse from Man & Machine, makers of keyboards and mice that you can spray down with various cleaning solutions commonly found in medical/industrial environments. In fact, your order comes with a list of what you can use on the mouse. Coupled with it being assembled in the USA, I took the plunge and ordered one. My mother ordered one for her husband and a petite mouse, which is the same as the Mighty Mouse, save for being a bit smaller. So far it seems responsive and feels durable. With the mouse wheel replaced by buttons this is something that will take some people some getting used to – my mom being one of them. This allows me to retire my MS Intellimouse 1.1 to backup duty. I do plan on getting another one of those, as the build quality on that model is worth tracking one down. This evaluation is ongoing, as durability is very important to me.

 

Mighty_Mouse_White

I have another review I’m working on regarding a different piece of equipment, but I still have pictures to process, so it’s going to be a bit. On a related note, I’ve been able to verify that newer Linux distros (Ubuntu 16.04-based) have no problem with UEFI. That being said, if Dell can make its newest laptops legacy/UEFI selectable, then others could as well.

Raspberry Pi 2 Camera

I decided to install the newest version of Raspian over Ubuntu MATE for the Pi2/3, as it is designed for the Pi after all. The last version I had on the Pi 2, was released over a year ago. Fast forward to the newest version “Jessie”, released late May, which I have to say, is really fast. I was able to get my Pi 2 setup almost completely via GUI, aside from having to edit the /boot/config.txt file to disable overscan for my TV (the same problem I had with the old version). I’m currently tinkering with the camera on a software level as I see what it can do, but it puts out a nice image for the price/size. I have it connected via ethernet to my switch, and have been able to remove the USB Wi-Fi module that came with my Pi 2 bundle that I purchased last February.

More as I continue…

Raspberry Pi 2 Update and Toshiba laptop boot bug.

I have ordered a Raspberry Pi Camera (the original model, there is a new model that came out a little over a month ago, but the jury is still out on that one) to enable me to use my Pi 2 as a webcam/deercam. I will post more on that after it arrives and I set it up. I have since upgraded the storage to a 32GB Samsung EVO Class 10 card. There are faster cards, but I don’t see the point with a Pi 2.

 

I found that if I enter the BIOS on my mom’s Toshiba laptop that I mentioned before, it causes the boot error to reappear. I fixed and verified this for myself. I don’t know if a BIOS update would fix it, but seeing as my mother will never even attempt to get into the BIOS, I will leave it be. I stand by my decision to buy a Dell next time.

BootMedia_Error