Q: What do you get when you cross a
KVM controller cable with a housekeeper?
A: Stripped wires, a smashed controller switch body, and a trackball control with the trackball out of
the socket.
We have a housekeeper that comes every couple of weeks and does an amazing job of whipping the house
into shape. But it seems that every time I leave the office for a quick lunch so she can clean, I find
my trackball kinda jact. Here's why.
I have an IOGEAR USB KVM. The unit is comprised of a small central box with two really chunky sets of
cables coming out of it, plus a small toggle button at the end of a very long, thin wire. That toggle is
how you switch from using one computer or the other. It is in this small plastic housing, about the
size of a pair of quarters edge-to-edge. The switch is attached to the KVM unit by a thin wire, about the
width of earbud wires for an iPhone. I have the switch taped to the trackball, so that I can use my thumb
to switch between the two computers I must use for work each day. Super-low tech, but it works. That
thin KVM wire hangs below the desk and is hard-wired into the KVM unit, which is small and weighs nearly
nothing.
I believe that as the housekeeper uses her dry mop beneath the desk, the tiny KVM wire catches on the
rod of the mop, which pulls on the toggle and the trackball. Yesterday, I found the toggle wire ripped
out of the unit, and my trackball smashed against the wall behind the desk.
Fortunately, replacement units are cheap — $20 and a quick trip to Best Buy put me back in business
again. This time, I've (again, low-tech) attached the KVM to the desk, and I've attached the controller
wire to the underside of the desktop. Hopefully this will suffice to keep it well out of harm's way.
Scotch tape for now, but I'll replace it with something nicer and more durable later.
And on the subject of the KVM, I have to say, the IOGEAR USB KVM works great. I have the two-port
model, into which I've plugged my wireless keyboard and the aforementioned wireless trackball. Very solid
performance, but, as I've shown, the toggle switch and wire can't take much abuse.
|