I've searched for a similar phrase about 8 times on Google but never seemed to have much luck (Apple's site isn't very helpful either) so I've decided to create this post so that other Googlers will be able to find this solution to the problem. This is also the reason why I've spelt “scrollball” in two different ways - to catch as many frustrated Mighty Mouse troubleshooters as possible.
I often have had a problem with the downwards scroll on my Mighty Mouse gumming up. To the point that the mouse will register upwards and sideways scrolls but not downwards (there's no telltale piezoelectric click either).
Apple's suggested cleaning methods aren't too clear.
The first one, vigorously rolling the mouse upside down against fabric works reasonably well for small scale blockages, but over time a larger one can develop.
Here's where Apple's second suggestion needs to be expanded upon. It says you have to dab the scroll ball with a damp cloth.
The way to fix the blockage is actually to slowly scroll the ball, bit by bit with a damp cloth, the moisture binds together any surface grime and dust into chunks of detritus which are easy to remove, eventually, enough water gets into the main blockage to let it be dragged out with the scrollball for easy removal. However, make sure the cloth is wrung out such that you don't get much more than a tiny skin of water on the scrollball - the last thing you need is to introduce water to the Mighty Mouse's innards (for very obvious reasons). The whole process should only take a few minutes and you should see some results after the first few scrolls.
Viola! One clean, fully functioning Mighty Mouse! Enjoy.
Later
John
Yay!
Apple stopped its Think Different advertising campaign a few years ago, but with the death of Rosa Parks who was featured in ‘The Crazy Ones’ there’s the Think Different slogan right on the front page.
A whole lot to write about since Iran decided to ‘engage stupid mode’ and say on TV what they’ve been saying behind closed doors for decades. I might get round to it.
Later
John
Another reason why David Aaronovitch is a wonderful asset for the Times.
1946. The trial of Adolf Hitler begins in a courtroom inside the grounds of Spandau Prison. These fragments show how the event was covered by sections of the British media and opinion-formers, teletransported from the year 2005
Read it.
Later
John
The first Bird Flu avian death has been recorded in the UK - a Parrot died in quarantine.
Ok, so a parrot has died and by virtue of the peculiar circumstances we find ourselves in re: Bird Flu, it’s on the evening news. Time to watch the fun as 15 million people try their damnedest to refrain from quoting the relevant Monty Python sketch (that’s probably first time a Monty Python sketch has been described as ‘relevant’).
Well.. This is one resident who can’t resist that temptation and has in any case, already failed because his post title was itself a line from the sketch.
“ELLO POLLY! I’VE GOT A NICE CUTTLEFISH FOR YOUUUU!”
I’m gonna be horribly annoying to hang around with tomorrow.
Later
John
Apple announces Video iPod, a new iMac with built in Home Cinema features and a built in iSight camera and iTunes 6 which lets you freakin buy TV shows!
A million Mac users head’s explode in union.
For the record, if I had been allowed to invest in Apple in 1998 after Steve Jobs took the helm and had introduced his first new products - like I wanted to, I would now have made a crazy load of money. Sadly few trust financial advice from 14 year olds.
Excuse me, I need to go geek out.
Later
John
From the fantastic folks at Crazy Apple Rumours
Apple reported record revenue and earnings today for its fiscal fourth quarter ending September 30th. Mac sales soared by 48 percent and iPod sales grew by 220 percent year over year.
Despite the astounding results, Apple again disappointed Wall Street analysts who had high expectations for iPod sales. “Sadly, Apple did not sell nine billion kajillion iPods as I predicted they would,” said Javier Perone, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.
Later
John
I saw it last night at a preview screening. Apparently Colchester doesn't have enough browncoats to fill a theatre (although in fairness, there were like 4 preview screenings and we went to an odd-timed one).
Film was excellent. I still can't get bits of it out of my head, I have a feeling this one will cling to me for a while.
If I do write a review it'll be spoiler-tastic so I'll make sure it's properly flagged. Suffice to say, all Firefly fans ought to watch it and despite it still being a good film if you weren't a Firefly fan, I think you'd be missing a lot of what makes it so good.
Later
John
Well, that was a sodding joke.
For months we eagerly awaited the outcome of the government's latest deliberations on the future of the BBC - perhaps the tax guzzling behemoth who's programming I have so easily ignored this past year, will be left to make some changes. But no, the License Fee remains unchanged and now they get more money whilst simultaneously calling for an above inflation increase over the coming years.
I feel compelled to refer to [this](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-1822818,00.html) Times letters page.
Here's a star pick, which in my fantasy magazine would win you the ridiculous kettle or toaster they give away each week:
>Sir, The BBC does not exist democratically on the basis of ability and consumer choice, but on the basis of government coercion and market manipulation at the expense of independent companies which seek to compete fairly on the quality and popularity of their programming.
It is a testament to the quality of commercial channels that, in spite of the way the BBC is funded and operates, these companies remain so popular.
>D. S. A. MURRAY
>Dorking, Surrey
As for me, I refuse to pay for someone's products if I'm not consuming them. I find it insulting that this tax is levied against people who don't even have any intention of watching the BBC. So far the only two notable series I've seen the BBC produce in the past 2 years have been Spooks and Dr. Who and the Doctor's exciting new brand of mediocrity eventually put me off.
If they want to save money, just sack a bunch of editorial staff over at BBC News 24. I mean how much can it cost to write “AMERICA BAD, HUMPHRYS SMASH!” and reel it across the bottom of the screen for 24 hours a day?
During a visit to my sister at University in Norwich, to wish her a Happy 20th Birthday in advance, I stumbled into a new Borders bookstore in a mall.
Inside there were two books which I really would like to read. Both of them hardcover and thusly, both unacceptably expensive by my standards.
Rik Mayall’s autobiography ‘Bigger than Hitler, Better than Christ’ and Chris Patten’s ‘Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths About World Affairs’.
Rik Mayall’s been a part of my life since I was just a kid, he read Grimm’s tales with enthusiasm and a contagious sense of mischief that brought them to life for me (for the are dark tales in their own right). His TV series ‘Bottom’ formed a bedrock of slapstick/lowbrow humour for my teenage years and almost anyone can appreciate ‘The Young Ones’.
There was a long period of time, where any member of my family could reduce me to fits of laughter by reproducing two sound effects from a ‘Bottom’ episode in which Richie and Eddie assault a gasman with repeated and alternating blows from a frying pan and a fist: “Doosh! Dong! Doosh! Dong!” It’s a lot funnier than it sounds, their timing is impeccable and no one understands violent slapstick humour like Ade Edminson and Rik Mayall.
His performance in the film “Drop Dead Fred” is also superlative.
The title is exactly the sort of thing you can imagine him saying, which makes it all the better. It comes from his own response to returning to the Hospital from which he had escaped after a near-lethal accident.
He was transferred to a hospital, where to his horror a doctor told him that to drain the blood that had pooled in his skull for seven weeks, the top of his head would have to be removed. Then, providentially, a scan revealed that the blood had disappeared. “It had just gone! Overnight or something. It was a miracle!” Hence his boast that he is better than Christ: “I was dead for five days and Christ was only dead for three. There’s no quibbling with that … and I rose again on Bank Holiday Monday.
Taken from the Times article concerning the release of his autobiography.
The second book, Patten’s “last dispatch” promises to be a good read. Chris Patten may have spent the last decade or so “with both trotters in the trough” to paraphrase Hacker in Yes Minister, but on matters such as China I believe he’s arguably a very insightful commentator. I believe he fundamentally understood what China was (a monarchy) and tailored his policy towards them well during his stewardship in Hong Kong.
Either way, I’m interested to read his thoughts. For a long while I thought he was the only Tory I’d vote for (assuming Blair, Brown, Straw et all spontaneously combusted and Labour returned to the bad old days) but I’m not so sure I’m that keen on his politics anymore. Should be an entertaining read.
Thankfully, Amazon’s prices are fully 1/2 of those at Borders. I may buy both books after all.
Later
John