diff --git a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/base/js/utils.js b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/base/js/utils.js
index d4490f2..a9be239 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/base/js/utils.js
+++ b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/base/js/utils.js
@@ -225,8 +225,8 @@ IPython.utils = (function (IPython) {
             "$1<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"$2$3\">$2$3</a>");
     }
 
-    // some keycodes that seem to be platform/browser independant
-    var keycodes ={
+    // some keycodes that seem to be platform/browser independent
+    var keycodes = {
                 BACKSPACE:  8,
                 TAB      :  9,
                 ENTER    : 13,
@@ -253,7 +253,36 @@ IPython.utils = (function (IPython) {
                 DOWN_ARROW: 40,
                 DOWNARROW: 40,
                 DOWN     : 40,
-                COMMAND  : 91,
+                LEFT_SUPER : 91,
+                RIGHT_SUPER : 92,
+                COMMAND  : 93,
+    };
+
+
+    var is_typing = function (event) {
+        // return whether a key event is probably typing (used for setting the dirty flag)
+        var key = event.which;
+        if ( key < 46 ) {
+            if (
+                ( key == keycodes.BACKSPACE ) ||
+                ( key == keycodes.TAB ) ||
+                ( key == keycodes.ENTER )
+            ) { 
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                return false;
+            }
+        } else {
+            if (
+                ( key == keycodes.LEFT_SUPER ) ||
+                ( key == keycodes.RIGHT_SUPER ) ||
+                ( key == keycodes.COMMAND )
+            ) {
+                return false;
+            } else {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
     };
 
 
@@ -283,6 +312,7 @@ IPython.utils = (function (IPython) {
         keycodes : keycodes,
         fixCarriageReturn : fixCarriageReturn,
         autoLinkUrls : autoLinkUrls,
+        is_typing : is_typing,
         points_to_pixels : points_to_pixels,
         browser : browser    
     };