A keyboard with a little transparent hinged cover over the insert key, much like those that stop people inadvertanly firing missiles and such, that stops non typing-pros like myself from accidently activating overwrite.-- Zircon, Aug 28 2002 Here's the little Rascal http://www.maran.com/dictionary/i/insert/Know your Enemy! [Zircon, Aug 29 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004] Baked http://www.hooleon....-cover.htm#LockoutsNot as you describe it, but an elegant solution [dbsousa, Oct 17 2004] You could re-map the keyboard. I like this though. Overwrite pastry here. Sorry, *insert* pastry here.-- angel, Aug 28 2002 I'm far from a non-typing pro (at least, on any keyboard other than this piece of shit I have), but I still inadvertantly hit insert a few times a day... partially because on this keyboard the backspace key is half the size so I have to reach further to the right than usual.When can I have one of these?-- NickTheGreat, Aug 28 2002 It seems amazing to me that someone somewhere hasn't addressed this whole overwrite key thing earlier. I assumend it was my own ineptitiude until recently starting a computer intensive summer job, and finding that even my bosses, who are web designers and techies encounter this problem regularly.-- Zircon, Aug 28 2002 Yes yes yes.
It must have those black and yellow stripes, and when lifted, it should trigger a flashing red light and a klaxon.
Better yet, let's travel back in time to find the person who created the concept of the insert/overwrite toggle and kill their parents. (Okay, perhaps overly cruel, but at least gently direct them into another line of work or something...)-- waugsqueke, Aug 29 2002 I suppose you could just rip the INSERT key cap off for a less sophisticated solution. I don't recall the last time I used mine...intentionally that is.-- half, Aug 29 2002 My wife uses it quite a lot, so the "remove it with a crescent wrench and stuff it the inventor's orifice" is not really a viable option.-- angel, Aug 29 2002 You could make a little transparent plastic lid with a spring and hinge and a stick on pad for about £1 ... good idea too, except I use <Ctrl>-Insert and <Shift>-Insert a lot when editing.....
Croissant none the less.-- 8th of 7, Aug 29 2002 //<Ctrl>-Insert and <Shift>-Insert //Bloody hell, I didn't know they did that! I always use <ctrl>-C and <ctrl>-V.-- angel, Aug 29 2002 [waugsqueke] and maybe we could wire it up to a talking Donald Rumsfeld doll, so that when it's pushed, he says "your keyboard is now at OverwriteCon 4"
Also; this whole travelling back in time and getting the parents of the guy who invented this ridiculous key thing; would we need a time-warping user interface for that or what?-- Zircon, Aug 29 2002 Zircon: No, just an ordinary TARDIS will do.-- 8th of 7, Aug 29 2002 //Bloody hell, I didn't know they did that! I always use <ctrl>-C and <ctrl>-V// it's amazing what you can discover if you hit random key combinations.A few tips for you: [windows]-D shows desktop; [windows]-M minimizes all windows; [windows]-F brings up the find dialog; [windows]-E brings up windows explorer; [windows]-R brings up the run dialog... and that's all.-- NickTheGreat, Aug 29 2002 I just tried that, and you should have heard the giggle of delight. Though I'll probably forget it quickly, and just use the quick buttons on my desktop to do the same things. I'm a mouse person...-- Grabber, Aug 30 2002 I have seen a few editors which will indicate that "overwrite" mode is on by--rather than blinking an insertion point (which, after all, is supposed to be an INSERTION point)--selecting the character to the right of where the insertion point would be. Since standard behavior dictates that typing will replace the selection with the newly-typed character, the net effect is a clear visual indicator which does not require creation of a new display paradigm (well, actually that's not -quite- true, since backspace still deletes the most recently-typed character, etc.)
I wonder why this behavior isn't more widespread?-- supercat, Jan 02 2003 Use the TogglesInTray utility http://www.anibisoft.com it will sound when you hit insert key and keep the silence when you press Shift+Insert.-- just, Jan 05 2003 random, halfbakery