Noding without a keyboard

It can be done! Although slowly and with Windows...

Open "My Computer", then C:\, then WINDOWS, and finally CHARMAP.EXE. To "type", double-click each letter, hit copy, right-click a text entry and select "paste" in the contexual menu. Password entries will not let you paste, so use your browser's edit menu. Use File, Open to load webpages on browsers without a "go" button.

If you rely on Linux/ipchains to connect, Windows telnet will accept pasting! Just open some textfile for the crlf...

Update: It has come to my attention that you can do this much faster with xkeycaps. Telnet in, start X, export DISPLAY=:0 && xkeycaps & logout

The only way to practically node without a keyboard is the ubiquitous "cut-and-paste" method.

Find something that you have written previously (like poetry, prose, even noding your homework), cut-and-paste it to the writeup window on E2, then find an open square-bracket, copy and paste it to the left of your intended link, then find and copy a close square-bracket and paste it to the right of your intended link.

Be aware that cut-and-paste nodes of copyrighted or superfluous information are very frowned upon by the noders at large. It is suggested that you avoid them at all costs.

So, it's possible to node relatively more effectively than the single-character method, but perhaps you should just spend the $7 on a new keyboard. If you're near a university, you can sometimes get beat-up keyboards for free, or even look into second-hand shops.

Actually, it's pretty easy to make a node without a keyboard. I'm doing it right now , with voice recognition software. (L&H Voice Xpress Standard, for those curious...) The only problem is, I have to do it in Notepad because using voice recognition to enter text into a text box in a web browser, at least with this software, can bring only pain... any time you say a phrase or word that is a link, the link gets followed, which is especially bad for a site like everything2, which has many, many links.

OK, I'm done. Time to copy & paste (still without using a keyboard, of course)

Noding without a keyboard on the Macintosh involves pulling down the Apple Menu and selecting Key Caps, a wonderful little program with a picture of your keyboard.

As you click, the characters highlight and text appears in a box which you can then copy and paste. When shift, option, control, or any combination of these keys is pushed, the keyboard on screen changes to reflect this.

This is darn fine software, and it hasn't changed since System 6.

In Windows 2000 or Windows XP¹, assuming that you have the Accessibility Options installed, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Accessibility > On-Screen Keyboard. It looks and works a lot like Key Caps on the Macintosh. I can choose between 101-key, 102-key, and 106-key (Japanese kana keyboard) layouts, although you may need to install the appropriate language options to get at more keyboards.

For an Accessibility option, it's not very accessible at first. You could always make a shortcut on the desktop, or pin it to the Windows XP Start Menu...

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¹ Typhen reports that Windows ME also includes this feature.