private String pasteFromClipboard(){
        String result = "";
        Clipboard clipboard = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard();
        //odd: the Object param of getContents is not currently used
        Transferable contents = clipboard.getContents(null);
        boolean hasTransferableText =
                (contents != null) &&
                        contents.isDataFlavorSupported(DataFlavor.stringFlavor)
                ;
        if ( hasTransferableText ) {
            try {
                result = (String)contents.getTransferData(DataFlavor.stringFlavor);
            }
            catch (UnsupportedFlavorException ex){
                //highly unlikely since we are using a standard DataFlavor
                System.out.println(ex);
                ex.printStackTrace();
            }
            catch (IOException ex) {
                System.out.println(ex);
                ex.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
        return result;
    }