Move the mouse across the screen

(click to begin)

What is this?

Skeuomorphism

The Weird Web October theme for 8 October 2026 is skeuomorphism (although it's mis-spelled there are "skeumorphism"): the practice, often in user interface design, of artifacts emulating the aesthetics of the things that came before them in order to aid familiarity. The classic example is the "floppy disk" save icon, which persisted long beyond the time that floppy disks fell out of use.

A computer mouse is not skeuomorphic (unless the legends are true that pre-computer machines were operated by manipulating the position of a rodent while tapping its buttocks with your fingertips). But what if it was? How might we reverse-engineer that idea into a weird Web experience?

How to use

Click the page to start. Move the mouse around the screen. That's it!

Why does the mouse say swearwords when I click?

'Cos it's a mouse curser, obviously. 🤦

It uses swearwords with a bit of a British feel because it's a British mouse. (It's from Cambridge, in case you can't tell from the accent.)

Who can I blame for this?

This stupid page was made by Dan Q. The video of the mouse filmed from below a transparent treadmill came from Connell J, Allison R, Reid E (2016), used under a Creative Commons license.

There's a blog post with more information.