any key

(humour, hardware)

The key that particularly confused users look for on their computer keyboards when instructed to "Press any key to continue". "But my keyboard doesn't have a key labelled 'any'!".

Compaq FAQ.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

any key

The message "press any key" means that you must press a key on the keyboard to continue. It makes no difference which one. In the early days of personal computers, tech support reps in call centers reported that customers occasionally said they could not find the "any key."

You Can Even Use a Hammer!

Years ago, this sponge hammer gag gift from Computer Giftware in Bloomingburg, New York highlighted the problem.

Copyright © 1981-2019 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

References in periodicals archive ?

If any key schedule algorithm passes the bit level correlation test then the key schedule is suppose to be immune to the key-dependent attacks.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF KEY SCHEDULE ALGORITHMS OF DIFFERENT BLOCK CIPHERS

If x and y do not share any keys, the process of searching for an encryption key (step 2 to step 6) will bring extra traffic.

A portable random key predistribution scheme for distributed sensor network

The operational aspect of any key management system is probably the most overlooked aspect of the system as a whole.