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Fix it yourself

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

MOUSETRAP Move the mouse over a piece of paper in various directions to clean it

With mother-in-law’s visit days away, Sunitha sat down for a think-back. What was it that got them into a tussle last time? Mother-in-law forgot — or wouldn’t — close the bathroom door after use. Mosquitoes would swarm in and Sunitha would rush to bolt the door. Then, she hit upon an idea. She got the bathroom windows fitted with nylon nets.

We do this all the time — finding handy, home-made solutions for household setbacks. We do them cheap and green, and gift ourselves an “I-beat-the-wise-guys” high. Do you use a wad of wet rags to sponge glass pieces off the floor? Recycle curtain cloth as cushion covers?

The geek world, it seems, has similar answers to high-tech hitches. An example came from Amit Agarwal, a tech blogger, at a recent blog-camp. When asked about his success, he said his low-tech solutions were clicked on by thousands all over the world. For instance, he said: “If you keep using the mouse for long, dirt sticks to its underbelly and causes the mouse cursor to move erratically. You move the mouse over a piece of white paper in various directions, and the grease will go away. A very simple process.”

A New York Times story highlighted such expense-free solutions to technical glitches. It began with this anecdote: a credit card reader fails to scan the card’s magnetic strip at a store in San Francisco. As customers begin to queue, (the store clerk) wraps one layer of a black plastic bag around the card and swipes it again. Success. The clerk admits: “I don’t know how it works, it just does.”

Maybe “low-tech fixes for high-tech failures” are stumbled upon in desperation — to save time, to cut cost. That doesn’t wash down their usefulness. (The battery cell cover on my camera has survived with scotch tape for years now). “Don’t carry your cellphone in your pocket,” advises Partha, cellphone store owner. Cellphone batteries last longer when kept in a cool place, he said. There are many others, just ask around. Swab dirty (coffee, crumbs) CDs with toothpaste-smeared cotton, alcohol or a few drops of mouthwash; save on expensive DVD cleaners. Detach the printer’s ink cartridge when it goes dry, blow a hair-dryer over it for a couple of minutes. Put the cartridge back. The heat de-clogs the fine holes in the nozzle.

Replacing high-end TV cables? Try the cheap ones you have stored away. They have the same three outlets, only the colours are different. Suggestions rain on ways to revive a wet cellphone, a common calamity. Fish the phone out, wipe, drop it in your rice dabba or one with silica-gel sachets. Rice attracts water.

On his Windows Secrets Website, Fred Langa writes that a crashed hard-drive can be revived. “Stick it in the freezer overnight.” Many hard-drive failures are caused by worn out parts that no longer align properly. Cooling gets them to contract and when they expand at room temperature, the binding parts free up, and recover the data fast.

They may or may not work, but what have you got to lose?

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