Keyboard Log Me Please

December 1, 2011 10:00 AM

Looking for something almost like a keylogger that can be invoked with a hotkey.

Basically, I want to be able to press some keyboard combination to invoke a keylogger, type away whatever it is that I want to type without the screen looking any different, and then press that keyboard combination again to store what I typed in a text document. I want to do this because I would like to surreptitiously record verbatim conversations that I eavesdrop in at various locations.

Ever use such software?

It'd be really cool if there were such a program that could store the text in a Google Doc, but I doubt that exists.

The closest I've got to making this happen is by using Launchy, but that's not invisible.

I'm on Windows.

posted by panoptican to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

I want to do this because I would like to surreptitiously record verbatim conversations that I eavesdrop in at various locations.

Do you just need the text to not be visible on the screen then? If so it would be much easier to just have Google Docs open in a web browser tab, and set your document to have white text on a white background so that the text is invisible. People would be able to see that you're typing something, but there's not really any way to avoid that anyway since it will be obvious that you are typing even if a window isn't displayed.
posted by burnmp3s at 10:13 AM on December 1, 2011

Or just type in a doc with font set to Wingdings or something. I hope you don't feel like we're not answering your question, but it seems like you're making it harder than it needs to be!
posted by estlin at 10:24 AM on December 1, 2011

Or you could type white text on a white background, or in a font that doesn't type in letters, like wingdings.
posted by soelo at 10:25 AM on December 1, 2011

Shrink Notepad down to a 5 pixels tall window , and type in there?
posted by misterbrandt at 10:27 AM on December 1, 2011

Best answer: I am certain this could be done with AutoHotKey. This keylogger in particular looks like it could be easily modified to fit your need.
posted by Jonathan Harford at 10:33 AM on December 1, 2011

Response by poster: Ha, I guess I am asking for a really convoluted solution to something that could be handled quite easily in other ways. The reason I was thinking keylogger is because I want whatever program is on my screen (i.e. Outlook, or Excel, or SPSS, or whatever program I am running) to remain in the foreground as I quite suddenly type out the random and bizarre thing my cubicle neighbor just said. That way, my boss or no one else ever notices that I am keeping files on them. Totally harmless files.
posted by panoptican at 10:49 AM on December 1, 2011

Response by poster: AutoHotKey looks promising.
posted by panoptican at 10:55 AM on December 1, 2011

You could just use notepad and slide it way over to the edge of the screen so that you cant actually see any of the text being typed. Have a browser open with a website forum or something but that actually isn't the active window.

Or....on a really overdue preview, slight variation on what misterbrandt said.
posted by ian1977 at 12:58 PM on December 1, 2011

Suggest you look into Livescribe pen instead.
posted by PickeringPete at 1:43 PM on December 1, 2011

Keep an Outlook email open and minimized, with some legitimate visible text in it, and below that, text in white font on white. Even if someone sees the Outlook email open, it will look legit.
posted by theora55 at 2:29 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]