Thermal image video shows how dippy birds work

[ACE]

@Professor59

This is certainly not wrong for the device described, however the ones I used to see (and owned) were simpler and did not require actually dipping into water. It was all done with the liquid rebalancing itself in the tube.[/quote]
The bird works due to a temperature differential between the head and the base. If for some reason your keyboard is significantly cooler than the rest of your desk, the bird would function even dry.

[quote=“Professor59, post:2, topic:90710, full:true”]I used to have one on my desk where it could hit the Enter key often enough so it would appear I was working. I wasn’t goofing off (much), but our IT dept had a ridiculously short timeout period on our terminals.

For a modern computer with an optical mouse, another workaround to a short screen lock time is to find a cheap analog clock with a sweep second hand. Place the mouse over the glass of the face such that the LED light shines onto the number 6.

Even a wristwatch will do in a pinch, just needs to be analog, not digital.

Poor Man's Mouse Jiggler