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Turn an Optical Mouse into a Scanner

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the because-you-can dept.

John H. Doe writes "This student was bored one day, so he decided to see what the world looked like from the bottom of his optical mouse. He jury rigged a few wires to his parallel port and wrote a program to take a look. And seeing as how one thing a mouse does is to detect motion, made it into a ghetto b&w handscanner. "

10 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. I envy by Irashtar · · Score: 5, Funny

    I envy this hacker's skills, B+W? I'd only see red.

  2. Hey cool ! ... by bushboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... He even used it to create his web page.

    --
    A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
  3. Well by Z00L00K · · Score: 5, Interesting
    At least this hack is a little funny. I have been wondering about a mouse with force-feedback and then I can't wait until I see the mouse wander over the edge of the table when infected by some strange virus...

    What resolution is it possible to get with the laser mice that you can get?

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  4. a spy scanner! by roman_mir · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just use any sensitive document as a mouse pad......

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    You can't handle the truth.
  5. Scan-mouse by massivefoot · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was promtply purchased by DARPA on a hunch that it might be able to see through concrete...

  6. But the real question is... by EdipisReks · · Score: 5, Funny

    could he turn a flatbed scanner into an optical mouse?

    1. Re:But the real question is... by pesc · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Or turn a camera-equipped mobile phone into an optical mouse? Preferrably with bluetooth support using the built-in phone BT chip! It should only be some programming to get it to work, right? Finally a sensible use for cameraphones.

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      )9TSS
  7. The "sun-like mark" on the chip... by CMiYC · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... is from Agilent Technologies (which just spun off its semiconductor business). For 65-years Agilent was also known was "Hewlett-Packard." In late 1999, HP spun everything but computers and prnters off into Agilent. (This past Dec 1, Agilent's semiconductors became Avago.)

    Just thought I'd throw that out there.

  8. It would appear... by Robber+Baron · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...that his mousepad is white and has the number "4", followed by a "0", and another "4" on it

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    You're using her as bait, Master!

  9. Optical Mouse Chips by Stigmata669 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You can use the chips for optical navigation too. I played around with one for an introductory robotics class, here.

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    Yawn.