Fortuitously, I came across this handy little utility called EventGhost. EventGhost hangs out in your system tray, intercepts events from external devices and then allows you to script the response to the event. It comes with a plugin for intercepting events from the MacBook IR receiver which you can then map onto keystrokes.

To get going with Event Ghost, you need to add a plugin for HID: Aple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver. Clicking the buttons on the remote control will then allow you to see the names for the various events. Next create a macro for each event type and then choose the Emulate Keystrokes action to produce the right response. The screenshot below shows the settings that I use.

For many years, I’ve used a little Freeware Windows utility called BoldFinger. It sits in your system tray and intercepts any Caps Lock keystrokes. If you hover over the BoldFinger icon it tells you how many times it’s “saved” you from the Caps Lock key.

Now that I’ve switched to a Mac, I was happy to discover the OSX has built a way to disable the Caps Lock key directly into the OS. Just go to System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse and then click the Modifier Keys button on the Keyboard tab. Set the Caps Lock key dropdown to No Action and you won’t be bothered by that pesky key ever again.