Kevin's Watch

Allright, Hier, Ur-Vile, etc. you can hate me if you want to, but I think it time the secret comes out at last.....you know absolute power corrupts absolutely....

For all you who have wondered what in the heck ALT+255 is.....here is the answer.

www.asciitable.com/

Scroll past the incomprehensible stuff at the top, till you get to the chart labeled "Extended Ascii codes," then open a notepad file and have some fun. What those numbers do is this: In your notepad, or whatever text file you choose, hold down the ALT key while you type in any of those numbers, and it will produce the character shown. For example, holding down the ALT key while typing 129 (this only works with the numeric keypad, not the number keys at the top of the keyboard) will produce this: ü

ALT +

128 = Ç
133 = à
152 = ÿ
255 =  

etc...


The ALT+255 joke is that it produces a blank character, in effect the same thing as hitting the spacebar. And so it really does mean, quite literally, nothing at all. The chart provided in the above link does not represent all the possibilities of ALT+......just the most standard set, I think. Try experimenting a little, see what you can find that's not on the given chart.
Here are some I discovered on my own:

alt+11 = ♂
alt+12 = ♀
alt+13 = ♪
alt+14 = ♫
alt+15 = ☼
alt+16 = ►
alt+17 = ◄
alt+18 = ↕
alt+19 = ‼
alt+20 = ¶
alt+21 = §
alt+22 = ▬
alt+23 = ↨
alt+24 = ↑
alt+25 = ↓
alt+26 = →
alt+27 = ←
alt+28 = ∟
alt+29 = ↔

Hmmm...for some reason, some of those aren't showing up correctly here. When I type ALT+14 in a notepad, I get two musical notes....

Anyway...that's what it's all about. Have some fun with it, if you're so inclined.

Hope this helps.

LOL!! I have no idea there, I'm afraid....

Yes, I will confirm that that is what the whole thing is about... you all see my avatar in a whole new light now huh?

BirdandBear, you have destroyed my power.

But if ALT+255 is nothing, was there ever any power to begin with?

Byrn wrote:But if ALT+255 is nothing, was there ever any power to begin with?

LOL!!! well said!

Byrn wrote:But if ALT+255 is nothing, was there ever any power to begin with?

You shouldn't underestimate the power of nothing...

Afterall, it had power enough to make you all wonder what it meant... and it had power enough to make me disapear.

Nothing is wrong. Nothing has been served by you explaining this, but nothing was to be gained by not doing so.

Hmmm, and to think, I wasted 5 whole minutes reading this.

you mean all this fuss was over nothing???

Furls Fire wrote:you mean all this fuss was over nothing???

well, we did say it was nothing on numerous occasions

True. I said that many a time LOL

Ur-Vile - maybe you should change your title to "Wizard or Oz"? Looks like the curtain's been pulled aside, my friend.

Romeo wrote:Ur-Vile - maybe you should change your title to "Wizard or Oz"? Looks like the curtain's been pulled aside, my friend.

Yes, I have been exposed.

Was there ever any mystery? I thought that everyone knew how to insert special characters, and ALT+255 was clearly one of those, and when entered it produced a space. Why all the confusion?

yes, i had never considered it a secret, but alot of people were confused by it.

But then you went too far and became ALT+255. I have tried and failed.

I had no idea you could insert characters like that until I asked Hierachy about ALT+255. We computer illiterate people need to be guided, you know