[cctalk] Re: Keyboard Blockers?
On 3/10/24 14:39, Douglas Taylor via cctalk wrote: [snip] The question came to mind; "What sort of application would be so crude that you would have to prevent the user from depressing certain keys?" In the late 1980's I recall being on a trading floor in Tokyo and seeing a keyboard with a metal shield that covered all but two or three keys. In this case it wasn't the application, it was a desire by the company in question to restrict their traders from using other than very specific functionality associated with the application. -- Christian Kennedy, Ph.D. ch...@mainecoon.com AF6AP | DB0692 | PG00029419 http://www.mainecoon.comPGP KeyID 108DAB97 PGP fingerprint: 4E99 10B6 7253 B048 6685 6CBC 55E1 20A3 108D AB97 "Mr. McKittrick, after careful consideration…"
[cctalk] Re: Keyboard Blockers?
> I thought, at first, some dirt or debris had gotten stuck there, but > on closer look I saw something black below the keys that seemed to be > stuck. I pulled a key cap off and found a U shaped piece of black > plastic that was put there on purpose to prevent you from depressing > the key. > The question came to mind; "What sort of application would be so > crude that you would have to prevent the user from depressing certain > keys?" I saw this in at least two applications: 1. The Service Merchandise chain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise) used serial terminals for their in-showroom catalog ordering. Some keys were blocked somehow, though I never peeled up key caps to see how. :) I want to say that backspace was one of the blocked keys, the aggravation of which is probably why I remember this. 2. CLSI library systems (LIBS100 on PDP-11). Ours here had ADM-3A (iirc) terminals with the break key blocked, iirc, though there were plenty of other ways to discombobulate the thing inadvertently. It was also available via dialup from keyboards that were not so modified. I once heated up a paper clip to read hot and shoved it through the stem of a TVI-925's SEND key, which was used for block mode functions, and caused the terminal to vomit screen contents back to the host. Unwanted presses of course produced a heck of a mess. (Older versions of our application ran in block mode, but you could always hit ESC-S to send the screen, and it was unfortunately easy, at least for me, to thwack SEND by mistake.) De
[cctalk] Re: Keyboard Blockers?
I took a second look and here are the keys that were 'locked': Set Up Break Del Line INS Char Line DEL Char Scrn CLR Line INS Repl Escape Home All the Arrow keys, up, down, right, left It's a standard ASCII Wyse Keyboard Doug On 3/10/2024 6:10 PM, Dennis Boone via cctalk wrote: > I thought, at first, some dirt or debris had gotten stuck there, but > on closer look I saw something black below the keys that seemed to be > stuck. I pulled a key cap off and found a U shaped piece of black > plastic that was put there on purpose to prevent you from depressing > the key. > The question came to mind; "What sort of application would be so > crude that you would have to prevent the user from depressing certain > keys?" I saw this in at least two applications: 1. The Service Merchandise chain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise) used serial terminals for their in-showroom catalog ordering. Some keys were blocked somehow, though I never peeled up key caps to see how. :) I want to say that backspace was one of the blocked keys, the aggravation of which is probably why I remember this. 2. CLSI library systems (LIBS100 on PDP-11). Ours here had ADM-3A (iirc) terminals with the break key blocked, iirc, though there were plenty of other ways to discombobulate the thing inadvertently. It was also available via dialup from keyboards that were not so modified. I once heated up a paper clip to read hot and shoved it through the stem of a TVI-925's SEND key, which was used for block mode functions, and caused the terminal to vomit screen contents back to the host. Unwanted presses of course produced a heck of a mess. (Older versions of our application ran in block mode, but you could always hit ESC-S to send the screen, and it was unfortunately easy, at least for me, to thwack SEND by mistake.) De
[cctalk] Re: Keyboard Blockers?
O my Lord what have we here? Service Merchandise? They seemed to be the sole supplier of the ITT Xtra pcs. I had the ITT Xtra XP, an xt/80286 hybrid (no 16 bit isa slots). The memories!! I learned how to hack games on some Origin title. A.D. 2042 or what have you. Sent with Proton Mail secure email. On Sunday, March 10th, 2024 at 10:13 PM, Douglas Taylor via cctalk wrote: > I took a second look and here are the keys that were 'locked': > Set Up > Break > Del > Line INS Char > Line DEL Char > Scrn CLR Line > INS Repl > Escape > Home > All the Arrow keys, up, down, right, left > > It's a standard ASCII Wyse Keyboard > > Doug > > On 3/10/2024 6:10 PM, Dennis Boone via cctalk wrote: > > > > I thought, at first, some dirt or debris had gotten stuck there, but > > > on closer look I saw something black below the keys that seemed to be > > > stuck. I pulled a key cap off and found a U shaped piece of black > > > plastic that was put there on purpose to prevent you from depressing > > > the key. > > > > > The question came to mind; "What sort of application would be so > > > crude that you would have to prevent the user from depressing certain > > > keys?" > > > > I saw this in at least two applications: > > > > 1. The Service Merchandise chain > > (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise) used serial > > terminals for their in-showroom catalog ordering. Some keys were > > blocked somehow, though I never peeled up key caps to see how. :) > > I want to say that backspace was one of the blocked keys, the > > aggravation of which is probably why I remember this. > > > > 2. CLSI library systems (LIBS100 on PDP-11). Ours here had ADM-3A > > (iirc) terminals with the break key blocked, iirc, though there were > > plenty of other ways to discombobulate the thing inadvertently. It was > > also available via dialup from keyboards that were not so modified. > > > > I once heated up a paper clip to read hot and shoved it through the stem > > of a TVI-925's SEND key, which was used for block mode functions, and > > caused the terminal to vomit screen contents back to the host. Unwanted > > presses of course produced a heck of a mess. (Older versions of our > > application ran in block mode, but you could always hit ESC-S to send > > the screen, and it was unfortunately easy, at least for me, to thwack > > SEND by mistake.) > > > > De > >
[cctalk] Re: Keyboard Blockers?
Hello, I’ve seen that on Wyse terminals used for library OPAC’s (online public access catalog) running Dynix. Tommy Chang > On Mar 10, 2024, at 7:22 PM, Douglas Taylor via cctalk > wrote: > > I took a second look and here are the keys that were 'locked': > Set Up > Break > Del > Line INS Char > Line DEL Char > Scrn CLR Line > INS Repl > Escape > Home > All the Arrow keys, up, down, right, left > > It's a standard ASCII Wyse Keyboard > > Doug > >> On 3/10/2024 6:10 PM, Dennis Boone via cctalk wrote: >> > I thought, at first, some dirt or debris had gotten stuck there, but >> > on closer look I saw something black below the keys that seemed to be >> > stuck. I pulled a key cap off and found a U shaped piece of black >> > plastic that was put there on purpose to prevent you from depressing >> > the key. >> >> > The question came to mind; "What sort of application would be so >> > crude that you would have to prevent the user from depressing certain >> > keys?" >> >> I saw this in at least two applications: >> >> 1. The Service Merchandise chain >> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise) used serial >> terminals for their in-showroom catalog ordering. Some keys were >> blocked somehow, though I never peeled up key caps to see how. :) >> I want to say that backspace was one of the blocked keys, the >> aggravation of which is probably why I remember this. >> >> 2. CLSI library systems (LIBS100 on PDP-11). Ours here had ADM-3A >> (iirc) terminals with the break key blocked, iirc, though there were >> plenty of other ways to discombobulate the thing inadvertently. It was >> also available via dialup from keyboards that were not so modified. >> >> I once heated up a paper clip to read hot and shoved it through the stem >> of a TVI-925's SEND key, which was used for block mode functions, and >> caused the terminal to vomit screen contents back to the host. Unwanted >> presses of course produced a heck of a mess. (Older versions of our >> application ran in block mode, but you could always hit ESC-S to send >> the screen, and it was unfortunately easy, at least for me, to thwack >> SEND by mistake.) >> >> De > >
