When I got my new MacBook Pro, one thing I was looking forward to playing with was the remote control. I was, however, disappointed to find it does not function in many apps I wanted to control -- in particular VLC and Keynote.
Remote Buddy fixed that, allowing my remote control to operate many more applications, including both VLC and Keynote. Note: I don't have any connection to iospirit except being a happy customer!
[robg adds: This previous hint discussed a more limited manner of using the remote in other apps via ControllerMate. This app seems like a more full-featured solution. Note that I haven't tested either of these as of yet.]
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060622092439164