Off Day

Here we are on Leap Year Day. It only comes once every four years, but unlike the Olympics, it goes unnoticed or is even treated as a nuisance; one more obstacle to overcome before the first of March and the start of spring. I'm going to take advantage of this day, though, because who knows how many you've got left?

Speaking of making the most of what life hands you, here's a smart mouse hack I found on the RetroPie forum. For years, I've been trying to make my own arcade-style spinner on a slim budget, but this guy nails it, using a flanged pillow block ball bearing to get just the right distance between the mouse sensor and the bottom of the dial. Too much clearance and the sensor won't read what's above it; not enough clearance and the dial grinds instead of spinning freely. The ball bearing is designed to float a millimeter above wherever it's set, the sweet spot for a mouse sensor, and the assembly is made of metal, so there shouldn't be any of the sagging that foiled my previous attempt at building a spinner.

Spin, spin! Spin the black (cardboard) circle!
(image from UDb23 of the RetroPie forum)

The ideal solution would be if someone mass-manufactured a jog dial for computers that didn't cost a small fortune and worked right out of the box, but I've resigned myself to the bitter reality that this is just never gonna happen. At the moment, I'm desperate enough to play Arkanoid and Cameltry the right way to build the damn thing myself.