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[songfromsixties]

Does anyone like Overwrite?

You know , the thing in Microsoft Word where it types over letters you've already typed when you're just trying to fix or add something? The thing that says "OVR" at the bottom of the screen and turns on randomly just to fuck my shit up?

I hate Overwrite.

Comments

[reuahnedlom]

it shouldn't turn on randomly.

[songfromsixties]

I feel like it does every once in a while. Or maybe I'm somehow inadvertently turning it on; I'm not sure.

[thebandnerd]

It gets turned on seemingly randomly when the backspace key gets fat-fingered. Turn off by hitting the 'Insert' key again (even if you didn't know you hit it in the first place).

In my opinion, its functionality was lost when the mouse device became popular. Here's my gut-guess at the history of Overwrite:

Before the invention of the mouse, if you had a whole bunch of text you wanted to get rid of, you'd have to select it all before hitting delete. Turning on overwrite means you don't have to select&delete anything--you just type.

Greg, I definitely feel your pain. I've known too many writers who've gotten their papers seriously messed up because of one unwitting keystroke.