About a week ago, President Biden reiterated his hope for workers to return to brick-and-mortar offices during his State of the Union address, saying, “It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again”, to which many Americans’ responses—at least on Twitter—have mostly been, “Eh.”
A fair point. It’s also hard to believe we’re now years into the pandemic, and for the folks who have had the luxury of working from home all this time, a return to the office seems not only unnecessary, but premature—especially given COVID-19’s talent for mutating—and have you seen our work from home zones? We’ve finally found all the best WFH chairs and laptop holders that help us feel like the productive, tax-paying (wink, wink) adults we are, instead of the Cheetos-stained, slovenly hermits (also hot) we were back in March 2020.
Videos by VICE
Among the online discourse about WFH versus, in the words of daddy Biden, working “downtown,” a sly little tech accessory has gone viral on TikTok for helping remote workers fool bosses who track their computer activity into thinking they’re always “actively” online. “If you work from home you need a mouse jiggler,” explains Adrianna Oritz (@adriannarebekah) in a video with over 12.8 million views. “It jiggles your mouse to make it seem like you’re working when you’re not working. It plugs into the wall discreetly so it cannot be tracked by your computer, or your boss, or your company. Never go yellow on [Microsoft] Teams again. Go ahead and live your best life.”
There are now nearly one million views from the #mousejiggler hashtag alone, with TikTokers such as @sarahj86 calling it a veritable “mouse treadmill,” and others making parody videos of their own MacGyvered mouse movers.
Thankfully, Oritz’s favorite mouse jiggler is much easier to set up. The device is made by a brand called Liberty Mouse Mover, and has over 4,000 reviews and a 4.5-star rating on Amazon, where it sells for about $40. “I can’t stand MSTeams showing me as ‘away’ if I am on another phone call or in the bathroom,” writes one happy customer, “I’M STILL AVAILABLE DARN IT! It has now been 1.5 years since I bought this. It has not broken. [The] best Covid-19 investment.” Another customer writes, “My job requires a good deal of reading and research, and I often don’t touch my mouse for 5-10 minutes at a time. This enables me to work without having to think about moving the mouse every few minutes and it’s fantastic.”
Mouse Mover (opens in a new window)
The jiggler can be universally powered from a USB port or 5V adapter, and works to slightly move your mouse, at random, for whatever duration of time you desire. “There is no need to install any software, or insert in any memory stick into your computer,” says the company. “Liberty Mouse Mover is completely independent of your work-issued computer, meaning that over-zealous IT departments can’t track its use. You simply place your computer mouse on the platform that randomly moves your mouse left and right.”
Don’t have a mouse? No sweat. “I recommend the Amazon Basic mouse,” Oritz goes on to explain in her viral video. “It fits perfectly inside [the jiggler].” Oritz’s own lime green mouse-and-keyboard combo, which can be spotted across many of her videos, is also available on Amazon in four different colorways.
Ergonomic Wireless PC Mouse (opens in a new window)
Whether you’re tired of moving your mouse every five minutes at home, or fully trying to convince your boss that you’re not sipping drinks on a beach in Thailand with Anna Delvey (respect), Liberty’s mouse jiggler is an indispensable, small investment that gives you a lot more freedom when working from home. If only we could teach it to text our landlord back.
The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story.
