How to Keep Ant away from my desk

[Jesus Angeles]

I need to keep ant (that one that bites, not the neat tool for building java), away from my desk, because the desk houses my server pc.

My pc is at home so, by some reason, there is always ants around the house, and is not in my control (It is not that much; it is not like the house is infested; it is not much, but it also doesnt take much to damage the desktop's inside).

I keep spraying insecticide in the near surroundings, being careful not to damage what I am intending to protect.

[David O'Meara]

dig a hole around the server, line it with plastic or seal it in some other way and fill it with water. You will also need to dip the cords under this moat the prevent the ants using them as a bridge.
Works for dog food.

[Saurabh Pillai]

Jesus Angeles wrote:... but it also doesnt take much to damage the desktop's inside).

Don't worry about your computer ,they do not damage something for nothing. I am wondering do you have food on or around your desk. Take sometime to see WHY do they come to your desk? That way you may be able to resolve your problem. Please do not kill them.

[Jesus Angeles]

Ill try some repellant tomorrow, and wipe it around the desk, and the cords.

Pillai, dont worry. I will even build a small pool, so they can visit and cool down, when its hot.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Try reasoning with them. Explain how the machine in the next cubicle has tastier insulation, plus your co-workers have better snacks than you. Ants respond very well to logic.

[Hussein Baghdadi]

Maybe they want to be friends?

[David O'Meara]

You need to get to eye level and while retaining eye contact, firmly say "No".
If they continue, squirt them with a water bottle or a tap on the nose with a rolled up news paper.

[Hauke Ingmar Schmidt]

John Todd wrote:Maybe they want to be friends?

Like in the song by "The Doors"? ("This is the ant, beautiful friend, This is the ant, my only friend, the ant")

[Jesus Angeles]

Ernest Friedman-Hill
Try reasoning with them. Explain how the machine in the next cubicle has tastier insulation, plus your co-workers have better snacks than you. Ants respond very well to logic.

Thanks for the warning Ernest (just in case you become my cubicle neighbor).

John Todd
Maybe they want to be friends?

No facebook account, no friends!

David O'Meara
If they continue, squirt them with a water bottle or a tap on the nose with a rolled up news paper.

I attempted that, but he grabbed the newspaper with one hand (or was it a foot), and threw the newspaper out of the house, with me holding on at the other end of the newspaper.

[Bear Bibeault]

He's just trying to Facebook his friends. All 1,257,809 of them.

[Saurabh Pillai]

Jesus Angeles wrote:Ill try some repellant tomorrow, and wipe it around the desk, and the cords.

Pillai, dont worry. I will even build a small pool, so they can visit and cool down, when its hot.

That is funny. but I was serious on my post. You can check WHY actually they visit your desk?

[Pat Farrell]

Saurabh Pillai wrote: You can check WHY actually they visit your desk?

There is nothing to you can do prevent a few random ants from visiting your computer as they forage for food.

If there is a constant line of ants going to your computer, clean it out, remove the "ant food".

And quit eating at your desk. It attracts varmints, and is bad for your mental health. Get up, walk somewhere else, eat and look out a window.

[Jesus Angeles]

Bear Bibeault wrote:
He's just trying to Facebook his friends. All 1,257,809 of them.

No, the one harassing me is a loner, and he carries an 10-year old Nokia.

[Campbell Ritchie]

David O'Meara wrote: . . . dip the cords under this moat . . .

Some people have already seen this link.

[David O'Meara]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Some people have already seen this link.

I hadn't seen that. It's most excellent. Water inside the cable!

back to the initial problem: have you tried offering them their own server?
I wondering if having their own hardware and workspace will keep them from encroaching yours.

[David O'Meara]

I thought you were linking to this:
http://www.engineering.com/Videos/VideoPlayer/tabid/4627/VideoId/176/Flooded-Server-Room.aspx

[Bert Bates]

give them (the ants), a list of chores to do?

[Jesus Angeles]

Pat Farrell wrote:

Saurabh Pillai wrote: You can check WHY actually they visit your desk?

There is nothing to you can do prevent a few random ants from visiting your computer as they forage for food.

If there is a constant line of ants going to your computer, clean it out, remove the "ant food".

And quit eating at your desk. It attracts varmints, and is bad for your mental health. Get up, walk somewhere else, eat and look out a window.

Hi Pat,

Why is it bad to eat at desk, for mental health? Please answer quickly, while there's still something left on my brain. But seriously, why did you say so? Any research on it?

[Darryl Burke]

Jesus Angeles wrote:
Hi Pat,

Why is it bad to eat at desk, for mental health? Please answer quickly, while there's still something left on my brain. But seriously, why did you say so? Any research on it?

I'm not Pat (obviously!) but I guess it's because eating diverts blood from the brain to the digestive system.
http://healthmad.com/home-health/avoid-sleepiness-during-the-day-by-eating-less/

What works for fruit flies should work for ants. Feed them a heavy, carbohydrate-rich lunch and they should take a nap, leaving you free to get on with your programming.

[Bear Bibeault]

If it's this ant, just let him have the computer.

[Jesus Angeles]

Bear Bibeault wrote:If it's this ant, just let him have the computer.

This needs bigger weapons - 1000 packs of mentos, and 1000 liters of coke.

If that doesnt fix him, you have to teach us, Bear, on how to blow up tanks.

[Darryl Burke]

Bears and ants are sworn enemies, both love the same honey.

Actually, she's crazy about The Moose, but they don't know that!

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Jesus Angeles wrote:

Why is it bad to eat at desk, for mental health?

I'm not Pat either (nobody is) but I suspect he meant that taking lunch at your desk -- sitting at your desk all day without a break -- is bad for your mental health.

[Pat Farrell]

Jesus Angeles wrote:Why is it bad to eat at desk, for mental health? Please answer quickly, while there's still something left of my brain.

Serious programming is mentally taxing. It is bad for your mental health to do it for 8, 10, 12 hours straight, day in and day out.

When I am debugging some hairy mess, sometimes it takes me a couple of hours to get my brain in the space of the problem. So working 4 hours or so at a time is most productive for me. But you need breaks.

Get away from your desk. Go eat outside, play some Foosball or frisbee. Have a beer, have sex, anything, get away from the computer.

[Hauke Ingmar Schmidt]

Nah, I hate 3D stuff. It gives me a headache.

[David O'Meara]

and the book is usually better anyway.

[Jesus Angeles]

Pat Farrell wrote:

Jesus Angeles wrote:Why is it bad to eat at desk, for mental health? Please answer quickly, while there's still something left of my brain.

Serious programming is mentally taxing. It is bad for your mental health to do it for 8, 10, 12 hours straight, day in and day out.

When I am debugging some hairy mess, sometimes it takes me a couple of hours to get my brain in the space of the problem. So working 4 hours or so at a time is most productive for me. But you need breaks.

Get away from your desk. Go eat outside, play some Foosball or frisbee. Have a beer, have sex, anything, get away from the computer.

I totally agree. Our mental health is our fundamental asset in this industry. I would say the same guidelines to my son, with a small addition - 'and son, do as I tell you, not as I do'.

[Mike Simmons]

Hmmm, a plague of ants just got me a first date with an attractive neighbor, because I got to come over and heroically rescue her by killing a bunch of ants on the ceiling. (She was too short to reach them.) So right now, I think ants are great. The world needs more ants. Bring 'em on.

[David O'Meara]

Be careful that you don't hand feed them or they become domesticated and are unable to fend for themselves in the wild.
(this refers to both ants and first dates)

[Mike Simmons]

The first date seems able to fend for herself. It may require more than one feeding to domesticate her. I'll work on it though.

[David O'Meara]

Maybe it's just ants then.