The Homer Simpson trick

[bigpz1981]

Not sure if anyone recalls the reference, but in a Simpsons episode many years back, Homer Simpson used a toy bird to hit his keyboard every couple of minutes to perform a very simple function at work so that he didn't have to be by his computer (or maybe it was so he could nap, I don't recall). I am looking for a similar trick (minus the toy bird) for an online course I am taking that has a timer that I am required to be "reading" during this time and the timer stops when the page goes idle for a minute or two. I was thinking that if I could hit the space bar or somehow cause the cursor to move every 30 seconds, I could keep the timer going, even while I was sleeping. Any ideas on how I may be able to set up my Mac to make it appear that I am on the page and doing something while I am away?

 

[Wondercow]

Not sure if anyone recalls the reference, but in a Simpsons episode many years back, Homer Simpson used a toy bird to hit his keyboard every couple of minutes to perform a very simple function at work so that he didn't have to be by his computer (or maybe it was so he could nap, I don't recall). I am looking for a similar trick (minus the toy bird) for an online course I am taking that has a timer that I am required to be "reading" during this time and the timer stops when the page goes idle for a minute or two. I was thinking that if I could hit the space bar or somehow cause the cursor to move every 30 seconds, I could keep the timer going, even while I was sleeping. Any ideas on how I may be able to set up my Mac to make it appear that I am on the page and doing something while I am away?

So you want us to help you cheat on your homework? I don't think you'll get much help.

 

[bigpz1981]

So you want us to help you cheat on your homework? I don't think you'll get much help.

Haha, not quite. It's the equivalent of traffic school but it's for work. I know all the content and already passed the required exam, but it still requires the mandated reading time.

 

[Thunderboltedge]

Not sure but maybe if it si required there would be a reason why so.....

 

[keysofanxiety]

Not sure if anyone recalls the reference, but in a Simpsons episode many years back, Homer Simpson used a toy bird to hit his keyboard every couple of minutes to perform a very simple function at work so that he didn't have to be by his computer (or maybe it was so he could nap, I don't recall). I am looking for a similar trick (minus the toy bird) for an online course I am taking that has a timer that I am required to be "reading" during this time and the timer stops when the page goes idle for a minute or two. I was thinking that if I could hit the space bar or somehow cause the cursor to move every 30 seconds, I could keep the timer going, even while I was sleeping. Any ideas on how I may be able to set up my Mac to make it appear that I am on the page and doing something while I am away?

My first thought is plug in a USB keyboard and just have something held down on the spacebar.