[wplug] IR Remote Control and file manager ?

[Brandon Kuczenski]

I am looking for a way to control my computer with a remote control-- I 
was thinking some sort of simple IR receiver that plugs into a USB port. 
I only want a few simple functions: basically I would want to correlate 
certain button presses on the remote to certain keypresses on a keyboard 
(arrow keys, enter, space, etc...)  This is so that I can cycle through 
music tracks or videos from the comfort of my couch, select one to start 
playing (enter), pause it (space), and so on.

Has anyone done anything like this? I see a few 'Windows Media Center' 
remotes and a few 'presentation' remotes on newegg but nothing especially 
promising.  I also don't know whether the IR device's operation would be 
application-specific or if it would act like another keyboard (in which 
case, would I have to configure it in X?).  LIRC is a little too homebrew 
for what I'm looking for.. but then, it also is beginning to seem like the 
only promising route.

Thanks for any ideas or experiences.  Also, for the record, pittsburgh is 
awesome and screw all y'all californians.

-Brandon