ALiteralCabbage

Today I went to the supermarket, and spotted a deal on cheap earbuds.

I've been 50/50 on them, but a £40 pair for £20 was good enough for me to take a punt.

Are they great? No. Are they good enough? Yeah, sure, why not. They play music they take calls, and they act like earplugs when it's noisy out. And they don't get tangled up. Plus, if I like using them I'll consider getting a pair which aren't objectively e-waste when these inevitably die.

Full disclosure - this is the first trackball mouse I've used for quite a while (since the early 2000s), so I'm not exactly an enthusiast, but i wanted to share some thoughts on this thing after a few months of consistent daily use in an office environment.

Firstly for the money it's great. I paid about £42 for it and it's been a significant improvement for my postuerenif nothing else (and way better than my traditional mouse) Reading some reviews about it I was a little concerned about:

• The size - apparently some people found it too small
• The "skirt" of the mouse
• The feel of the silent mouse buttons

Size wise I've found it comfortable. I have average sized hands and my pinkie rests on the desk, though not to the detriment of using the mouse.

The "skirt" did take some getting used to, and I don't really think it adds much to the device - though it does stop the hand slipping (as it's a smooth plastic without rubberisation), so I understand it's purpose.

The mouse buttons feel great - no issues there.

As for my general experience - I've noticed that the ball does suffer a bit of stiction now and then but it's generally down to my own lackluster care for the ball and bearings. When clean it is actually pretty smooth and you can pretty accurately "flick" the cursor. The scroll wheel is a little slack on its axis which I don't live but it's hardly a deal breaker, but otherwise it's been a great little runner!

Greetings fellow fediverse bike-wrenchers; I want to talk about the Zyklop Mini today.

I love it and it's the best tool I've ever bought, bar none. With the (optional) bit check it stows nicely in a trousers pocket, apron, or ride bag/jersey pocket. It makes tightening up almost every bolt on most bikes trivial even when they're tucked nicely in some bullshit aero location. It lives in my 'everynday' bag, and it sees use almost every day. On rides I've adjusted almost every contact point on my bike with it. It even manages to deal with my brifter bolts in their almost stripped state.

Bonus points because it's also a great fidget.

Is it cheap? No. Is it worthwhile? Yes, very. I used generic 1/4" bits and bought the bit check case on eBay for pennies to save myself some pain.

What are your well-worth-the-money/never-leave-home-without cool tools?

Dave Rome's stuff is great anyway - but the Wheels MFG mat with bearing sizer is especially nice; it's a pretty affordable quality of life upgrade for a workshop. Certainly easier than a ruler or whatever shoddy calipers your boss has bought you...

So, as we begin another week: what are your little vices or guilty pleasures that help you get through the day?

a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhealthy habit

I have an old notebook which I've been toying with a few smaller distros on (typically easy to install, liveCD types), and while I enjoy the tinkering aspects of this, I had a thought that I've been mulling.

In the past I've run distributions based on larger, better supported, systems (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, etc.) and if or when they have folded, like crunchbang did, or PeppermintOS (however briefly), I just changed them out.

However, if I were to go back to peppermintOS, say, would it be feasible to 'convert' the system to the parent distribution? So, could I force peppermintOS to 'become' Debian, for example? Or is this overly simplistic? It's a level of engagement with my operating systems that I just haven't had!