One Button Off errors, or
O.B.O.E.'s are a common problem for
coders,
IRC addicts, and stressed out
term paper writers everywhere.
This is normally a computer related user error. As the name implies it involves being off by one button adjacent to the button (or key) you meant to hit. An example of an O.B.O.E. could be any of the following:
Intended word: Everything2
erroneous words due to O.B.O.E.
Wcwetrgubf1
#g4576u9jy3
Rbrtuyjomh3
d dfhgnk bW
The list can go on. Normally the possibility of combinations of buttons that can be pressed is limited to about 7-9 buttons per character. While the above example has been known to happen, O.B.O.E. is most commonly seen scattered throughout a piece of code, or chat logs, or even E2 write-ups like this:
Evertthinf2
While usually encountered at the keyboard, O.B.O.E. can also strike in various other places such as touch screens (common) and power/reset buttons (not as common), to the amazingly rare "peace on earth / destroy mankind" big blue/red buttons of doom!
O.B.O.E. is a distant third cousin of the "hAVE YOU SEEN MY cAPSlOCK kEY????" bug introduced in 1985 by Steve Case through AOL.
Further down the tree you'll also find the every annoying IRC related bug: "I meant to type [ " || ' || ? ] but I hit enter and now I sent half my message to IRC and they're going to laugh at me!" deal. I know I'm plagued by this.