What this hell is the point of the insert key?

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If I'm not paying attention or hungover it seems to eat half of the sentences I'm trying to write. I'm always hitting it when i aim for the delete button. What the hell is it for? It reminds me of the break key on the old BBC computers, but not quite as destructive.

Sorry I'm having one of those days.

― Kelly, Friday, 2 April 2004 03:44 (twenty-one years ago)

you don't have to be crazy to work here, kelly, but it sure helps.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:45 (twenty-one years ago)

and where's my tab already?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Wait... we're supposed to WORK here?

Shit. *sits up and tries to look busy*

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Try messing with it in Word. It has mysterious properties, such as changing your mode from "Insert" to "Typeover".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

But don't worry, another press will change it back again. It's almost like a toggle.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

...almost

― Kingfish Hypercolor (Kingfish), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Except, not toggly.

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, but what's it for? I never use it.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

if you press it five times, candyman will appear

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah me either, it just fucks shit up when I hit it by mistake and suddenly my words are being overtyped argh.

Also, what the hell does Sys Rq do? Is that some old DOS/Terminal thing?

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

*still waiting for candyman dammit*

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.black-international-cinema.com/sammy_1.jpg

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:57 (twenty-one years ago)

a scene from Clive Barker's nightmares...

― Kingfish Hypercolor (Kingfish), Friday, 2 April 2004 04:05 (twenty-one years ago)

SysRq aka printscreen is one of the most beautiful keys on the computer. If you don't already know, and surely you do, hit SysRq (in Windows) and then go to word or Powerpoint or Excel and press paste or CTRL+V and voila, a screen capture. It makes you proud to be an American. And if you're not an American, it makes---wait a minute. Everyone is an American. Deep down inside. Oh yes, oh yes, work it out, come on everybody get together come on and love one another right now....I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony, I'd like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company, it's the Real Thing....someone call 911 quickly. Please. I'm begging.

― Skottie, Friday, 2 April 2004 04:39 (twenty-one years ago)

i've actually gotten quite handy with the proper time and place for overtype mode.

i suspect back in the day it actually switched between "editing" and "insertion" mode for text as with say vi.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 2 April 2004 05:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Try messing with it in Word. It has mysterious properties, such as changing your mode from "Insert" to "Typeover".

it does that in wordperfect, too!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Erm. I know that the key is the prt scrn key, but the line with "sys rq" under that suggests the key does something else if you hit shift or ctrl. WHAT DOES IT DO?

It opens a portal, doesnt it? Into someones HEAD.

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, it opens a portal into the head of a small but devout Afghani man named Sayed Habibi. He then interacts with your mind, causing various flowers to open in distant galaxies, and all in the name of cosmic fun. Oh, that toothless grin of his. Give him some tobacco and he will tell you such stories my friend. And if your mind begins to ache, he will massage it for you, by thinking of a tube of Dencorub.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:17 (twenty-one years ago)

haha kelly! I was really drunk one night after the pub and I had exactly the same thoughts. And then wondered why i couldn't get in the house.

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you need the insert key to open your front door?

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah. I just got it. A bit slow today, I am.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:26 (twenty-one years ago)

yup. and ctrl-alt-del to go out the back door.

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:27 (twenty-one years ago)

If you're on Windows, press your Shift key 5 times fast! Weird shit happens. Seriously.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:27 (twenty-one years ago)

What this hell??

― oops (Oops), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:28 (twenty-one years ago)

same as if you hold it for 8 seconds! it's the sticky key for people not so good with stretching their hands to do things like say "ctrl-F". so the ctrl and alt and shift keys etc become "sticky" i.e. to do ctrl-F, you press Ctrl, keyboard goes to "ctrl" mode and then you press F and voila you have ctrl-F

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:31 (twenty-one years ago)

oh ok, i was WONDERING what the point of "sticky keys" were!!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:32 (twenty-one years ago)

wait holding it 8 seconds is the FILTER KEY which does something entirely different

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

this is actually pretty cool!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

filter key is supposed to stop people like eric clapton pressing on a key for too long (and have that repeat key thingggggggggg) due to having slow hands.

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:34 (twenty-one years ago)

THAT NOISE IS THE BEST!

*sits there turning sticky keys on and off and giggling*

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:36 (twenty-one years ago)

if you have no insert key, you can get in if you have Windows. If you have an Apple, you can eat that to sustain you until help arrives.

― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 2 April 2004 06:59 (twenty-one years ago)

SysRq is an old IBM mainframe thing, apparently. In Linux you can make it into a Magic Key, which then does mysterious crashy things when your cat jumps on the keyboard.

― caitlin (caitlin), Friday, 2 April 2004 08:37 (twenty-one years ago)

So sticky keys are for folk with Beadle Hands? My keys are more slick than sticky.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Friday, 2 April 2004 12:14 (twenty-one years ago)

More keyboard fun over on No Glastonbury, No Sex, No Paintbox thread. .

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 2 April 2004 12:17 (twenty-one years ago)

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