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I can't read the article since it's slashdotted, but if you need to design the keying pattern and write your own software, then what are you buying for $25? Why not just make a keying pattern and write software to work with a normal 101/104-key keyboard to give it a one-handed mode?

It seems far more useful to me not to make a keyboard that must be used only with one-hand but to make a two-handed keyboard that allows one-handed use when you need it (the other hand's on the mouse, you dirty thinkers).

Enter OkayKeybees. It lets Windows users define keying chords to make your own one-handed mode. Its GUI is kind of clunky (I found it easier to edit the configuration file with a text editor), and it kind of sucks that you have to define your own key chords (Matias has a patent on their layout).

I saw a program for just this purpose posted on slashdot a while back. It was called Dead Man's Switch if I recall. If you use it or some similar piece of software you'd be pretty protected.
Basically, it will encrypt (and I think delete if you want) any files on your computer that you don't want to exist after your death. It's a timer you re-set every week or so. Seems like a good idea - not just for people who don't want porn to stay on their computer, but also if you had anything sensitive on your computer. I've tried it and it seems to work pretty well.

It's called a Dead Man's Switch. I believe there was a web-based service that offered this a few years ago. I wonder if they're still around. And, someone's already written another DMS app in response to the NYT article mentioned in this story.

This reminded me of an app I saw sometime back called a deadmans switch so,
I googled it and it's at Arsware.
I really thought about setting it up and using it, but that random trip to Stuckey's
just might wipe out all that stuff I care about while I'm still pumping red stuff.

Kinda related -- a neat program over at Arstechnica to send out those last few message group posts and emails from beyond the grave -- dead man's switch.

http://daisyman.arsware.org/dms/

Or how about a two-handed keyboard that lets you mouse?

I bought an IBM TrackPoint keyboard, and I love it. Sure, the TrackPoint is more cumbersome than a regular mouse, but since most OSs these days support multiple pointing devices, you can use it in addition to a regular mouse. If I need to do a lot of keyboarding but only a little mousing, I can use the TrackPoint; if I need to do a lot of mousing but only a bit of keyboarding, I use the mouse.

If you really want a one-handed keyboard, as others have pointed out, there's Matias' Half-Keyboard. It's pricy though. If you use Windows, you also can check out OkayKeybees; it's a free keyboard remapper that lets you define chords. (For example, you could create chords to mimic the half-keyboard's, if you so wanted.)

Winamp2 has had it longer than foobar's been around.

Already created...

Sounds very much like the Dead Man's Switch that was covered on Slashdot a while back...

If you don't tell it you're alive every now and then, it can encrypt your files, send email, and post messages on the web. Very paranoia.

Personally, I prefer CoolMon as a small lightweight desktop display program. It is for W2K and XP mostly, with client/server options and a lot of plugins possible.

Actually, in trying to find something similar for Linux, I found Karamba, although I found it bit complicated to set up correctly.

CC

I have found Omnipad to be an excellent editor. Here is their decription from their site

"OmniPad is a multipurpose text/code editor designed to be intuitive, sleek, fast, and feature packed There are way too many features to list here but some of the major ones are: Multiple document interface, syntax highlighting, autocomplete, built in FTP, hex editing, total customization, and many more."

What you get during the morning sysadmin appreciation day cake and ice cream when you realize you forgot to reset the software dead man's switch for that day.

Dead Man's Switch might help. It can post to web pages, encrypt your hard drive, and send e-mails after you die (or after your computer is stolen, or seized, or you become comatose, or whatever misfortune should befall you first).

From what I know of Douglas Adams, I bet he wished he had something like this set up.