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I understand the wide range of vulnerabilities in wifi networks, but I am yet to see one implicating a wifi "dongle" which is what the original question referred to.
ps I have been building computer networks since well before wifi was invented.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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I think you have enough time to for learning by "bad experience" when using trashy hardware and risk security flaw.
As Bear Grylls said: "I am too old for that sh*t" 
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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Given that wifi routers still support B/G/N which were all available back then, I wouldn't call them obsolete. I remember getting a USB attached Linksys device that routinely connected at 300MB/s. It became obsolete due to incompatible drivers/lack of support from Linksys. this was OK since at the same time, systems came with built-on wifi.
On the same note, I was pondering something similar about my h/o server. The case/cpu/mobo/fans/psu are all around 13 y/o. The original 64GB SSD and spinning data drive have both been upgraded. (the spinner actually died an unrecoverable death at the 6 year mark) So current SSDs are around 7 y/o and everything else is original. Performance-wise, it still seems snappy enough...occasional monitoring during peak hours doesn't show anything to be alarmed about. I'm considering replacing it with an Azure VM to handle the dozen or so web applications/domain it is currently hosting and using an older laptop for a file/printer server for the local stuff I've come to rely on. Hardware is lasting a lot longer these days, especially with the advent of SS drives.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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yes, it will work but the speed won't be that great
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Santana is awesome. I love that Santana guitar sound.
Saw him in a concert years ago (1970's) and he is still doing concerts in 2022.
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Those are some awesome drummers from our day; you can add many to that list: Bonham, White, Collins, etc. There are a lot of contemporary, young percussionists today as well. Search YouTube for a fellow named Gavin Harrison. Technical skills out the wazoo, and all-around inspired, tasteful drums and embellishments.
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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Ghost - Watcher In The Sky[^]
Don't worry, it's Saturday, you don't have to work today, but I'm a day late.
Better late than never though 
The Swedish Ghost (or Ghost B.C. in the USA) recently released their fifth album.
They quickly gained popularity with their debut from 2010.
The first three albums were heavy metal/hard rock with occult lyrical themes.
It was always somewhat poppy, they covered multiple ABBA songs, but it was always still hard rock.
Unfortunately, their poppy side took over on the fourth album and many fans dropped the band, including me.
Now with their fifth album they return to rock, although it's still less rock than the third album it's also less poppy than the fourth.
Seen them live around 2016, great show!
I had hoped the fifth album would be more like the first three, but it's still a good album.
Watcher In The Sky is a new song from the fifth album.
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David O'Neil wrote: London Grammar - Heat Waves
Nice 
David O'Neil wrote: edit - plus a live show! London Grammar: Californian Soil
You've shared this one before.
It's still brilliant
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Seeing this created live is really astonishing ...
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I agree. Watch his other videos - he is a master at his craft.
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Cool stuff
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I've been using a notebook for so long that I am completely used to using the standard touchpad on a notebook, whether it's one that has buttons or allows for depressing the bottom left or right on a buttonless pad. Of course, the last time I used a desktop system, I used a mouse with a rubber ball that would be moved along the top of a mousepad. But it seems that there is now a (laser? optical?) moving mouse that does not have a rubber ball but that is moved like the one with a rubber ball (does that require a mousepad?), and even a stationary mouse that has a trackball on top the is moved around with a thumb, or perhaps with any finger.
Looking around Amazon, I didn't see too many touchpads that resembled one that would be on a notebook (although maybe I don't know what I am looking for). As for the non-ball moving mouse, it seems that they draw a lot of power, and thus automatically turn off after some time of non-use, necessitating that the mouse get turned over and switched back on - this would be a big turn-off (pun not intended) for me. Everyone seems to say that once the hang of it is garnered, the trackball is the best; I guess that in the way that I have mastered the notebook touchpad, I will be able to master the trackball (Evolution has done a wonderful job in crafting the human eye-hand coordinating system).
So, I guess I would like some opinions from folks that regularly use all these different systems, especially anyone that uses a touchpad for a desktop.
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As someone that's used everything you've mentioned:
Trackball mouse: They're good if you don't need snap movement. So unless you play games that require quick pointer movement (e.g. fps, moba) there's really no downside in my opinion. Can be uncomfortable or awkward to use initially since it differs the most from every other peripheral. Also sometimes the ball and bearings on the inside of the hole the ball sits in get dry and it gets awkward/sticky to move if you have dry hands.
Optical mouse: They're ok. I've had bad experiences with certain surfaces and mousepads where they don't pick up that the mouse is actually moving for an uncomfortably noticeable amount of distance.
Laser mouse: My preference overall. More arm movement than a trackball mouse obviously but you can also make snap movements for games. Never had an issue on a mousepad but some really smooth surfaces can cause issues. In my experience even pretty reliable if you're using your pants/leg as a mousepad for something like a laptop.
Touchpad: (Just to give the other opinions some context.) Good for precise and quick movements over a short distance. Has issues with long dragging motions and resets. A complete PITA if you want to click and drag farther than the pad space + sensitivity allows. On the other hand, probably the easiest and most comfortable to scroll with and usually supports both vertical and horizontal scrolling.
Personal preference, but I always prefer wired over wireless to avoid the battery optimization stuff like the mouse turning off and to avoid dealing with charging and batteries in general. As far as the options above, if you can I'd try to test them out and see what's most comfortable for you if you're able.
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Quote: So unless you play games that require quick pointer movement (e.g. fps, moba)
I'd disagree - they allow a more precise movement in FPS games as well.
I started with Doom on the keyboard (Arrgh!) moved to mouse, then trackball and it was much better. When I moved back to a mouse for Quake it was terrible: faster left-right but too wild for any accuracy. Then UT, and now GTA V - if you want to kill from a distance with a quick weapon, it's easy to get accurate hits (and I use a controller for the driving bits)
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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This is why it's always good to try stuff out Back when I played CS 1.6 I felt like I had to choose between same-screen accuracy and the ability to snap a 180 or other long movements because unlike a laser mouse where you can set your desired accuracy and then just remember how many pad-lengths it takes to hit a 180 (e.g. 1.5x or whatever), with a trackball you kinda just have to flick it, let it spin, and hope you stop it on the 180. It doesn't have a static "frame of reference" like other mice do (the mousepad). It's more timing based. For me personally, even though I used a trackball for like 2-3 years, I ended up switching and never looked back.
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Below are just personal opinions so don’t take them too seriously 
I am super picky about mice and pointing devices, that’s how I ended up with a box of those that I don’t use anymore. Among them there is still a Microsoft ball mouse like the ones you mentioned. Was good but it would pick up lint from the pad and had to clean it regularly. That’s probably why mechanical mice haven’t been sold in decades. Moving to optical mice the first choice is between corded or cordless. The corded ones obviously don’t need any external power. If you go for the cordless than you have a second choice: Bluetooth or radio. Bluetooth is somewhat more power hungry but you don’t need a receiver dongle that blocks one of your USB ports.
Regarding the power usage, all mice go in a sleep mode to save power but they come back to life instantly and you don’t have to turn them off unless you go in vacation.
As for trackballs, I find the consumer grade ones to be very annoying and not comfortable. For me a good trackball needs to have at least 3-4 inches diameter while most trackballs are only 1 or 2 inches. I used a good trackball on a radar station but could not take it home 
I haven’t used a pad with a desktop but I imagine you would need a pretty big one to move the pointer across one or two monitors with enough accuracy. While your laptop screen has 14-16 inches, desktop screens can be 60 inches. For the same dynamic you would need a pad 4 times bigger, me thinks.
Currently in using a Logitech G305 and I’m 90% happy with it. Battery life is not an issue: I installed a rechargeable battery about 2 months ago and it’s still going (and no, I don’t turn the mouse off at night). When it will be discharged I have another one to swap. The curve of the mouse also fits my hand quite well. That’s something important that I cannot fully appreciate from a picture on the internet. I ordered many mice that were either too flat or too curved.
Also, I’m a lefty who alternates left hand and right hand for the mouse (good for RSI prevention) so my mice have to be symmetrical. This one is almost symmetrical except for the two back and forward buttons on the side. I deactivated them but still clicking them occasionally is a bit annoying (hence my 90% grade).
Mircea
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Mircea Neacsu wrote: I haven’t used a pad with a desktop but I imagine you would need a pretty big one to move the pointer across one or two monitors with enough accuracy. While your laptop screen has 14-16 inches, desktop screens can be 60 inches. For the same dynamic you would need a pad 4 times bigger, me thinks.
Using higher DPI mice does require some practice, but at 2000 DPI I can sweep across three monitors just by pivoting my hand at the wrist not actually moving it left/right like I normally do. My actual mousing area is on part with the smaller mouse pads I used back in the 90s. At the same time I still can move with pixel accuracy when I need it for editing images/etc.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
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Again with the caveat that I haven't used a trackpad on a desktop, I doubt that they have the same resolution as a gaming mouse.
On my desktop I use a Logitech G305 at 3200 dpi and, unsurprisingly, takes less than 2 inches to flick it across 2 screens (1920 x 2 / 3200 = 1.2).
On my laptop the trackpad is 3 inches across and takes the whole trackpad width to move the mouse from left to right. I'd figure a resolution of 1920 / 3 = 650 dpi.
I couldn't easily find dpi specs for trackpads so I might be very wrong in my back of the envelope calculations.
Mircea
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The regular plain old wired optical mice do not turn off (they may "dim" a bit when idling, but instantly turn on when moved), and turning off that badly is also not familiar to me from battery-powered optical mice (some, but not all, of them annoyingly need to be clicked to turn on, having to be turned over just sounds nuts to me). By the way they last ages on a fresh pair of non-rechargeable batteries, maybe half a year, could be more or less depending on the mouse and the batteries. On the other hand, it seems that the batteries sense when you need them most, and suddenly cut out without warning right at that moment. Jokes aside, I prefer the wired mice because they are light. The batteries make the wireless version heavier, which in particular was not good for twitch-movement.
Optical mice work directly on most tables, it is often not recommended but you can use them that way.
swampwiz wrote: Everyone seems to say that once the hang of it is garnered, the trackball is the best;
Best at what? I have yet to see one used in e-sports, so probably not that. Maybe CAD?
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