this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2025
372 points (98.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

31149 readers
3366 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Dunno what made me think of this just now. When I worked for IT in a school district way back in the 90s, a librarian told me she kept a supply of mouse balls in her desk because kids would steal them out of the school computers. What I remember about those balls was they picked up dust and crud off surfaces. Pretty soon optical mice came along and they were history.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i was on the other side.. i'd spend the first five minutes scraping all the finger shit off of the rollers every day.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I forgot all about scraping those little rollers with my fingernail! It was strangely satisfying.

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

and super gross when you think about it..

[–] alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

The gunk is just compacted dust from the desk surfaces.

Perhaps a bit gross, but it's mostly stuff you're breathing in daily, just now visible due to being compacted.

Super gross to me would imply something like bodily fluids or other biohazard.

Am I missing something?

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i think you're missing the part where a lot of that gunk is exactly bodily fluids and other biohazards lol

[–] alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How so? I'm not coughing or spitting on the desk.

Dead skin cells, sure, but that's not a biohazard.

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

you're gonna be REALLY grossed out when you find out what's on your toothbrush..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTojTHjUckA

[–] alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's why I don't keep my brushes in the same room as my toilet.

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

i miss your old poop hair, sweetie

[–] flubba86@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The majority of dust particles on the surface of your desk is dead human skin cells. That's the part you're missing.

[–] alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

So touching dead skin cells with my skin is supposed to be a biohazard?

First time I hear that.

I guess I also shouldn't shake hands anymore.