OIC...I didn't realize that there were so many buttons on that remote; it only looks like nine of them from the picture. The request is actually on the line of something Mark Lord-Esque, insofaras it would intercept an IR code, and come up on the screen with a list of numbers available to send. I select the number from the menu (of sorts) and it inputs it as a letter.

The functionality I would see attached to this would be something akin to the palm pilot onscreen keyboard, where you tap a part of the screen and it allows you to type something in, then close out the onscreen keyboard when the input is complete.

I realize that this is a total pain in the ass (hence, the subject of the post) but if this were possible, one would be able to perform any kind of search without a remote. Or, they would be able to perform the search with a limited remote, rather than one that has at least nine buttons arragned in a neat alphanumeric pattern.

Thanks everyone for your input!