I recall in third grade coming across a QBasic program on my families second hand 286 that could read from the mouse. I have no clue how it worked looking back. Convinced however that the ball mice at the time must use little generators rather than the optical encoder wheels they truly used, and knowing generators were also motors when used in reverse, I spent literal months trying to essentially write to the mouse so I could move the mouse around the desk and spook my friends.
This of course never worked out, and eventually I told my uncle who worked in IT what I was trying to do and he explained why it wouldn't work and we actually disassembled my Microsoft Bus mouse to see how it worked.
Despite my disappointment, I'd learned some things about computers and BASIC in the process and frankly I was hooked.
Here I am 30+ years later still looking for novel uses for things.
This of course never worked out, and eventually I told my uncle who worked in IT what I was trying to do and he explained why it wouldn't work and we actually disassembled my Microsoft Bus mouse to see how it worked.
Despite my disappointment, I'd learned some things about computers and BASIC in the process and frankly I was hooked.
Here I am 30+ years later still looking for novel uses for things.