I need cheap Apple/Mac mouses

Tradarcher

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Creedmoor, NC
I teach Computer Literacy to middle schoolers. The last teacher left the lab in a mess. I've got free Macs (or else we would have PC's) that are in their last semester of use. I get a new PC lab in January. I need ten one button USB mice as cheap as I can get them. I'd like to find some NOS (new old stock) for sale somewhere in the Raleigh Durham area. Where should I look? When I say cheap I mean less than $10. I'd even settle for 2 button with roller USB as long as they were cheap.
 
Tiger direct usually has some in the bargain bins?
You may get lucky and they are usb.
To bad you didn't post up about 2 months ago. We threw away several cases of old model USB mice. I'll poke around and see if I can come up with some though. If I can, I'll let you know by tomorrow. And the price would only be your gas to either Leesville, or RTP.
 
i may be captain obvious...and I prefer using mice, but you do know about ctrl click right? You can use that until you find mice...and I guess these are old macs...bc I see no reason why you would rather have PCs instead! Thats like choosing a kia over a honda!
 
jeep9mm said:
I see no reason why you would rather have PCs instead! Thats like choosing a kia over a honda!
Click to expand...


Yeah, godforbid you teach kids anything in school that they might actually USE in the real world... :fuck-you: (Unless of course smoking pot is part of the job (read: musicians, artists, tree-hugging hippies, etc...))
 
Yeah but these 6-8th graders won't get it. I scrounged the PC lab and then had my wife pick up 3 from compUSA this afternoon. I should be good for the first day. Will still keep my eyes peeled for them so I can payback the PC lab.
 
:fuck-you: rich! Im goin to law school and im an apple fan hah. Naw, I know you are kidding, but since you can run windows in the new macs ( if you would want to)...and the new vista is pretty much a ripoff, albeit a well made one, of OS X...I would much much rather have a Mac

No viruses, no bugs, two OS
 
jeep9mm said:
No viruses, no bugs, two OS
Click to expand...

From someone who works in Information Security, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you're full of shit on that one.

Less? Sure. It's less popular. If Mac's were the dominant OS, there'd be more viruses/vulnerabilities for them, and less for Windows.

It's kinda like the off-road aftermarket for a Toyota vs. the off-road aftermarket for a Subaru. One is vastly more popular, and the market support reflects it.

And, um, Windows started out as a rip of another operating system. I'm not saying it's the best, I'm saying it's the most widely used and supported OS in the world.

IMO, it's a good thing that Vista is very similar to the latest MAC OS.. that way you won't have such a steep learning curve when you get a real job and use a Windows-based PC.
 
jeep9mm said:
No viruses, no bugs, two OS
Click to expand...

There are multiple virii for OSX and a major bug in the WiFi device drivers. OS-X is based on BSD, the platform is open, proven, and solid. BUT nothing is perfect, and it's the corporate culture of Microsoft that help keep Windows insecure. Apple is headed the same way.


J
 
to get things back on track, Kevin, you might want to check some big companies that have Design departments. They often ubgrade every few years and pile their old equipment in a closet. Or replace the one button mice with scribe pads or Trac Balls and have a surplus of OE mice laying around. They may be more giving if you say Donation to your Local School! We have several mice around here, I'll check with the GM and see if I can get you some.

brent
 
mbalbritton said:
to get things back on track, Kevin, you might want to check some big companies that have Design departments. They often ubgrade every few years and pile their old equipment in a closet. Or replace the one button mice with scribe pads or Trac Balls and have a surplus of OE mice laying around. They may be more giving if you say Donation to your Local School! We have several mice around here, I'll check with the GM and see if I can get you some.

brent
Click to expand...

You have my blessing. Give him the Macs too...
 
As a home user, and having used winblows previously and being frustraited that I had to regularly update, install drivers, defrag, virus scan, defrag, scan disc, defrag, find a friend to network with so I could download software updates and patches. defrag, update virus software...... it really became a PITA

Now I have a Mac laptop, have had for the last 2 years, not an issue, even on dial-up I was able to D/L updates and other software with little issue (yes it still took forever, but it never failed to complete) the crazy large down loads I found a wifi spot to use.

Now have broadband, wifi network and one of these days maybe a bluetooth net. ocassional software updates (usually without much panic 'cause brother Bill an Co. screwed up) are non issue, easy to the install, pretty autonimious.

Macs are easier to use, plain and simple, don't need volumes of manuals and code for basic user functions.

Within the first 15min of opening the box and plugging our iBook in, I was uploading pix from my camera and then to an email to my folks, all with out finding and installing drivers ( same camera I used with my PC, and need 3 different drivers to make it work )

is MAC the end all be all ? nah, but they are close. So much so that the folks at Microsoft are always trying to emulate and one up if not down right COPY MAC's methods.

Microsoft is attacked daily becuase of it's business practices and methods, and will ALWAYS be fighting that, yeah, job security for you IT/IS guys.

MAC will have issues too as it grows, but will it ever be as malicious as the attacks on Bill ?
 
Whoa...when did this change? Symantec has published an article saying that there are still no viruses for OS X. Their 2006 report maintained that fact...so Im sorry Hobie and Rich...I think you are full of shit(Rich's words). I tried searching for anythign new but still nothing. Currently, there are still no MAC viruses. Remember, a virus has a specific definition. However, I do agree on the reason why...as the platform becomes more popular, it will become more of a target. However, you gotta remember that nothing can be installed on a MAc without your password...so it is asafer system than Windows.

and to quote "Let’s start with the hot-button issue of Mac OS X viruses. Simply put, at the time of writing this article, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X." From Symantec!

http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/...g/2006/07/macinenterprise_mac_os_x_virus.html
 
phatmax95 said:
Yeah what is going to happen to the old computers when you get a new lab? What kind of Macs are they?
Click to expand...

Blue iMacs. Not sure what will be done with them but I suspect they will be redistributed to the rest of the school system or the lab will remain intact for other things.
 
I have a Mac. Technically. It lives in the attic in pieces because I don't like using it on a daily basis. But I'd much rather that my sister, my grandparents, and anybody else that expects me to "fix" their computer just bought a Mac instead.

It's getting so that you can't take a Windows computer out on teh intarwebs without knowing WTF you're doing. Give a 10yo kid 30mins alone with a clean XP box. Consider yourself lucky if it boots to the desktop once he's done. Give that same box to your grandmother. Inside of 20 minutes, she'll have it operating as a primary node in a botnet.

Dumb users? Sure, but that's exactly my point.
 
jeep9mm said:
Whoa...when did this change? Symantec has published an article saying that there are still no viruses for OS X. Their 2006 report maintained that fact...so Im sorry Hobie and Rich...I think you are full of shit(Rich's words). I tried searching for anythign new but still nothing. Currently, there are still no MAC viruses. Remember, a virus has a specific definition. However, I do agree on the reason why...as the platform becomes more popular, it will become more of a target. However, you gotta remember that nothing can be installed on a MAc without your password...so it is asafer system than Windows.
and to quote "Let’s start with the hot-button issue of Mac OS X viruses. Simply put, at the time of writing this article, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X." From Symantec!
http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/...g/2006/07/macinenterprise_mac_os_x_virus.html
Click to expand...


sorry man, but a a life long Mac User (since they were Black and White), There arre Viruses for Mac OS's Few and Far between, but they are out there. Granted I've had only ONE in all the years. Which can be considerd to be virtually Zero, but I also run a Virus scan in the back ground. For years I preached "No viruses for Macs" but it was a blatant exageration in comparison to the number of viruses for Windoze.

To say there are no virus for Macs is incorrect.

here's a list of some:
http://www.macvirus.org/database/1
 
jeep9mm said:
and to quote "Let’s start with the hot-button issue of Mac OS X viruses. Simply put, at the time of writing this article, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X." From Symantec!
http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/...g/2006/07/macinenterprise_mac_os_x_virus.html
Click to expand...
Allow me to continue that article:

"Our Security Response Web site explains the differences between viruses and worms. Basically, viruses are designed to infect files within a single computer, while worms are designed to spread from one computer to another.

(The term “virus†is used so often as a generic reference to any malicious code that here at Symantec we tend to use more appropriate blanket terms like "security threat" and “malicious code.â€)...

Before you think that this is starting to look like an advocacy piece for Mac OS X, please remember that Mac OS X has been tested by worms, Trojan horses, rootkits, and other various security vulnerabilities. Most recently, in the wake of Apple releasing Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server 10.4.7 updates, Symantec released a high severity advisory through our DeepSight Threat Management System for all versions of Mac OS X 10.4.x prior to 10.4.7. Shortly thereafter, proof of concept code was released publicly, which triggered a Category 1 threat advisory for OSX.Exploit.Launchd."

Jeep9mm said:
Remember, a virus has a specific definition.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're right. Worms are worse than virii.
 
Come on, Rich.... that huge excerpt, and you completely missed the money quote:

From the 30,000 foot viewpoint of the current security landscape, these Mac OS X security threats are almost completely lost in the shadows cast by the rocky security mountains of other platforms.
Click to expand...
 
That was a pretty good analogy, but I said something similar earlier in this thread about how there are few vulnerabilities....
 
But it doesn't detract at all from the substance of his argument.

Big deal, he doesn't discern between a virus and a worm. Why should he? On a Mac, the OS prompts you for your admin password when a worm tries to install itself. Remember Grandma from earlier? She's going to see that password prompt and say, "I've been using the machine for 6 months, and it's never done *this* before. Maybe I should call Richie-poo and see what this password mess is all about before I click on anything else."

Compare that with the MySpace virus from a few weeks ago that installed a worm on your machine from a jpg advertisement in the sidebar. They infected a million machines with that shit. And all you had to do was load a web page.
 
jeep9mm said:
Remember, a virus has a specific definition.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but loss of CPU time and control can still happen, even if it doesn't fit the definition of a virus. My real point has to do with the fact that you cannot ASSume that the Mac is invulnerable. It is based on the BSD kernel, it does use the least permission possible to run user apps, and that's all good. Leap-A isn't a "real" virus, but the descriptions here of Windows issues are not either. You can get a bot from your own doing, and often Windows gets misconfigured or users OK malware.

I'm a Linux geek, and would rather never see another windows box again. That doesn't mean that Linux is the be-all and end-all. The only totally safe computer is that is turned off and locked in a room away from everyone. Also, Bill Gates isn't the reason botnets and malware are created any more. Money is the reason. Once there is a business case for malware creators to go after MACs, then you'll see them get hit too. Also, as more app writers go to OS-X their code may harbor or enable virii.

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/archive-082006.html#00000939
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/08/hijacking_a_macbook_in_60_seco.html
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=102379

-- You are correct, I should have said their is a load of malware available for the MAC.
J
 
sorry for the hijack.

Rich, Hobie...you are forgetting whats important here. When I am at the library and people see the apple light up all the cool creative writing and theatre people talk to me.

...and then, Rich, I smoke ganga with them while discussing how less vulnerable our platforms are compared to the 9-5ers and their windows based computers.
 
saf-t scissors said:
Compare that with the MySpace virus from a few weeks ago that installed a worm on your machine from a jpg advertisement in the sidebar. They infected a million machines with that shit. And all you had to do was load a web page.
Click to expand...

I thought that was a myspace thing, where cross-site scripting allowed people already logged into their own accounts infect their account when directed to an infected page. (This may be a different one tho...)

I am interested in trying to promote smarter users. My wife's grandma has no trouble with her MAC, but she can't seem to turn the monitor on to log into my linux box. As for passwords? People begin to think MAC's invlunerable, so I'll just use a easily cracked password.

J
 
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