I have a new mouse. The scroll wheel on my old mouse stopped working, and the rubber grip peeled off, leaving the side all sticky, so I felt annoyed every time I touched it. I decided to take a peek into the modern world and try out a bluetooth mouse. I picked out a Razer Pro|Click Notebook Mouse, since it was available in red. It looked cool and had a neat glowing LED, but I wasn’t very happy with it. The bluetooth system basically works, but the pointer would skip whenever CPU load spiked, and I had to reboot my machine one day after the mouse and computer forgot how to communicate with each other.

I decided I would go back to a plain old USB mouse, which arrived today. It is a Trust Predator 2000 dpi High Performance Optical Gamer Mouse with seven buttons, adjustable resolution, and XXL Teflon Feet for Super Dynamic Movement. I don’t know what half of that stuff means but it is clearly meant to signify that this is a very cool mouse.

I bought it because it is black with red stripes and has a cool glowy LED thing under the scroll wheel. I like my new mouse.

Ava and I just came back from an interview at the homeland security office down in Tukwila, near the airport. The interviewer asked us a handful of questions, asked us how we’d met, why we decided to get married. We showed her our wedding photo, pictures of us with my family, and the like. And that was it – she approved Ava’s “adjustment of status”, and her green card will arrive in a few weeks. Exciting! This process has gone far more smoothly than I expected.

More on the laser mosquito zapper:

If Microsoft founder Bill Gates unleashes more mosquitoes at this year’s Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, Nathan Myhrvold will be ready for him. Myhrvold demonstrated a “Death Star” laser gun designed to track and kill mosquitoes in flight. The device was crafted from parts purchased on eBay by scientists at Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures Laboratory.

Includes a video of mosquito wings getting burned off. Looks like they are using a blue/violet laser, as found in a blu-ray player: makes sense, as higher wavelength = more energy.

It feels like springtime here. The skies were blue, or at least bluish, and the weather – while crisp and cool – was by no means wintery. It’s been a good day. I got up at ten, made myself a leisurely breakfast, wandered over to the auto parts store, got a set of metric hex-key sockets, walked over to where my bike has been parked for the last week, and started working. One relaxed half-hour later, I’d finished installing the new starter, and much to my delight discovered that it completely solved the starting problem. I had no idea how badly worn the old starter was! I’ve been used to having to work hard to get the bike moving, frequently having to push-assist – the new starter gets it going every time after just a couple of revs. So excited!

Of course I went out for a ride. I ran the Lake Washington bridges, not too fast but enjoying the cruise. The carbs might still need a little cleaning, but it runs pretty well for a bike that went to the playa and back, and has been sitting in my shop ever since.

The afternoon I’ve spent working on two pairs of yoga pants, one for me and one for Jeff T. I’m using the same design for each, though his will be 3/4 length and mine full, and I’ll probably give mine an extra pair of pockets so I can wear them out dancing. They’re pretty tame for dancing pants, though; I’m using matte stretch fabric in black and dark red, nothing shiny or fuzzy or otherwise attention-grabbing.