[HN Gopher] Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by ...
___________________________________________________________________
Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire
novels
Author : Octouroboros
Score : 1193 points
Date : 2020-10-06 11:37 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (typelit.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (typelit.io)
| nmstoker wrote:
| Looks cool. Out of interest, are you doing anything to mine the
| data gathered, eg building models of common typos or for user
| "fingerprinting" from key timing? (the latter may be a bit creepy
| if users aren't aware this could be done).
| Tsugumo wrote:
| I want to say what others have posted: this is a fantastic tool
| for learning technical writing and writing style. Good work, I'll
| be sharing it around today.
| asuleymanovic wrote:
| It's good fun. but who really needs to improve their typing in
| 2020? Now that we can dictate directly to computers to do the
| job.
| HashingtheCode wrote:
| Thanks for the free books to read
| oulipo wrote:
| Very cool, I'm also more interested in the "retype a novel to get
| better at writing" rather than "typing fast", but as I'm French,
| I'd love to type some french novels. Would you be able to add a
| simple DIY mode where I first copy-paste a text (for instance
| that I get from Gutemberg), and then it is either stored locally
| or uploaded to your server, so I can type it?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! There are a few French novels on the site already --
| just use the language select above where the books are
| displayed to show them. As far as as using your own material,
| I'm planning on adding a feature like that sometime in the
| future. Thanks!
| AndrewLiptak wrote:
| This is really interesting! I remember Joe Hill mentioning that
| he did something like this with some classics: he wanted to learn
| how to write like some other authors, and it's one of those
| things that's always stuck with me as something that would be
| really useful to do.
| spapas82 wrote:
| Hello, nice work! Unfortunately, since for now I am navigating
| through my keyboard _only_ (not using a mouse because of lack of
| batteries) I can 't really use it.
|
| I am using linux and chrome with vimium and when I press f (to
| reveal the links) it doesn't "capture" any links for the books. I
| also tried it using tab to go to the books and it just jumped
| over them (!)
|
| I presume you are doing some fancy JS things in the frontend
| that's why it can't understand the links, however I think it's a
| little ironic to not be able to use a practice typing site with
| only your keyboard :)
|
| PS I am not trying to to be the "smart-ass" with my comment, it
| is honest; if the comment does not seem nice please forgive me,
| english ain't my primary language :|
| hectorlorenzo wrote:
| It reminds me of "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" by Borges
| [1]. If I re-write Ulysses from scratch, line by line, is it
| still the same book? Is mine better than Joyce's?
|
| 1)
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Menard,_Author_of_the_Q...
| patrickscoleman wrote:
| I love Borges, thanks for posting this!
|
| His fiction always generates so many questions for me. Is the
| real writer the reader who constructs the story from the bare
| framework the author provides? And then is it possible for
| anyone to actually read the same novel?
| DEADBEEFC0FFEE wrote:
| This has been posted before, quite recently too.
|
| I would like to see an option to ignore case.
| gojomo wrote:
| Love the concept.
|
| Consider adding poems, too:
|
| * many already like to memorize poems, to drill their
| ideas/emotions, improve one's own prosody, & be able to perform
| for others
|
| * quicker feeling of success than just being a page/chapter into
| something massive
| darepublic wrote:
| I created a therapy where you practice chewing on entrees from
| Michelin star restaurants.
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| I love it. I was very self concisu about my writing when I left
| college and I spent a year or two rewriting a few of my favorite
| novels. By hand. It was helpful. Great idea.
| armenarmen wrote:
| I've been threatening to make this for years haha! Glad you a
| actually did bravo!
| bartread wrote:
| This is really cool. Some feedback:
|
| - I'd prefer if the words not typed were in a lighter shade of
| grey so there were greater contrast between them and the words
| I've completed. I know this would reduce contrast with the page
| but I found the fact that they are such a strong grey to be
| somewhat of a distraction. Different people will have different
| preferences here, so maybe a slider or knob that can be used to
| adjust the contrast of yet to be typed text would be helpful.
|
| - The fact that you can't correct mistakes is a huge annoyance
| and breaks my typing flow. It also tends to lead to runs of
| errors since I'll make a mistake, hit backspace, and then carry
| on typing, meaning I get an off by one error in the next few
| letters. I understand that you want to help people type with
| fewer errors but the reality is the way it works at the moment
| interrupts my flow much more severely than correcting the error
| would (and leads to far more mistakes), and you can still track
| the number of mistakes I make even if I'm allowed to correct
| them. I'd say the ability to correct mistakes should at least be
| an option that can be enabled or disabled according to the
| preference of the user.
|
| Hope that's useful and, once again, this is very cool.
| node-bayarea wrote:
| WOW, this is GREAT! Kudos
| CarVac wrote:
| I've practiced typing by retyping webnovels.
|
| I made it about halfway through Worm.
| jetbooster wrote:
| For context, Worm is about 3 times as long as War and Peace.
| hnracer wrote:
| This would be a great exercise for primary school kids. Touch
| typing is an important skill and once it's learned it's with you
| forever. On a platform like this they can also practice reading
| and comprehension, and the teacher has a way to ensure that the
| reading material was indeed read. Ideally it'd be coupled with
| some comprehension questions to make sure the kid didn't go on
| autopilot.
|
| I'm not an expert in pedagogy though so take that with a grain of
| salt.
| JoeAltmaier wrote:
| Each time I read Wodehouse, I think in his curious complex
| sentences for a day or two. Its so engaging!
| outoftheabyss wrote:
| Good job, the only thing that frustrates me is if I miss a letter
| then everything from then on is wrong, I have to find my bearings
| again and find out where I am
| vladsanchez wrote:
| Add a "suggestion box" (link) on your website so that you keep
| your idea funnel alive. ;)
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Haha I barely know how to keep up with the number of features
| people are demanding as is!
| anthropodie wrote:
| Great idea. OP could probably also use this to convert some
| obscure books into their digital version.
| tomcat27 wrote:
| This seems to be also an interesting way to read books. Those who
| don't have a habit of reading can get distracted very easily and
| writing like this keeps the focus!
| vladsanchez wrote:
| 100% agree! I've always wanted to read "The Art of War" and I
| just started it while type-practicing. I must add that it will
| likely improve your reading retention.
| SlightGenius wrote:
| I was waiting for something like this!
| ada1981 wrote:
| Can you add famous speeches? For the same reason Hunter S.
| Thompson chose to re-write famous books, I'd like to re-write a
| famous political speech every morning. Also, how about pulling in
| song lyrics from your favorite band? The option to load your own
| content would be cool. But the speeches would be my fav option.
| ineptwriter wrote:
| Neat project! Would be an interesting way to read a book. Not
| sure if this is a built-in feature for typing practice. But one
| small obstacle I encountered was that if I missed a space or I
| put in an extra character, but kept typing, then everything that
| came after was in red (wrong). May be hard to implement, but
| maybe letting a single mistake show in these instances without
| marking everything that follows as a mistake.
| birdyrooster wrote:
| My wrists hurt just thinking about doing this for any reason.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! That's definitely not supposed to be happening. If you
| don't mind me asking, what browser are you using? In the
| meantime, Chrome should work ok
| jeremydavid wrote:
| The same thing happened to me. I'm using Chrome on a mac.
| ineptwriter wrote:
| Thanks - I was using Firefox on a mac. But you're right,
| Chrome doesn't have this issue.
| robofanatic wrote:
| Superb!!!
| fireattack wrote:
| This site isn't compatible with "Go Back With Backspace" [1]
| extension by Google on Chrome.
|
| Everytime I hit backspace, it will just go back.
|
| I assume it's because it doesn't use standard text area and
| didn't take consideration there might be a conflict in hotkey.
|
| Here is the code from that extension about how it detects the
| "editable" elements, if it helps:
| https://robwu.nl/crxviewer/?crx=https%3A%2F%2Fclients2.googl...
|
| Please fix it if you can, thanks.
|
| [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/go-back-with-
| backs...
| naavis wrote:
| Really cool stuff! The user experience is pretty slick, and this
| is also an interesting way of actually reading books.
| halfjew22 wrote:
| Would love to help with small features. I love NextJS and your
| product. Already using it with some ideas for minor tweaks! Let
| me know if you'd like any help. My Github is
| https://github.com/technoplato
| Stormwalker wrote:
| Looking forward for Crime and Punishment in Russian. Great idea
| through, app looks good and seem to work!
| fauxrockpet wrote:
| Same. I'm learning Russian in University and I could see this
| type of program being useful.
| Trufa wrote:
| The idea is great and the execution if flawless.
|
| Great job and thanks!
| andretti1977 wrote:
| Nice work but i don't like when i miss a space: from that moment,
| even if i digit next words correctly, they result mispelled
| because caret is "behind" of 1 position
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! If you mean that once you make a mistake, than no matter
| what you type afterwards is wrong, that's not supposed to
| happen. If you don't mind me asking, what browser are you
| using? In the meantime, Chrome should work ok
| jkingsbery wrote:
| I have the same issue in Chrome (85.0.4183.121). It doesn't
| happen if you type the wrong key, it happens if you
| accidentally miss or add a key press.
|
| Really awesome site though!
| malshe wrote:
| I had this same problem on Safari 14.0
| pragnesh wrote:
| I have learn typewriting in school. This how we learn it in 1
| hour class in year.
|
| First we start with single letter and need to type 10 page of
| every letter. Then we start with random combination 2 letter
| word, every line contain different word. For few day we practice
| with that. Then we start practising 3,4,5 letter combination
|
| Slowly we moved to word -> line -> paragraph -> essay.
|
| Learning typing will take type.
| dstick wrote:
| After recently discovering I type with 5 fingers on the left and
| with just 1 on my right, this is a great way to improve! Started
| working on Typing Academy but the randomness of the characters
| can be off-putting at times.
|
| Example: "jkk asa dfg hjk ;ah"
| Tokkemon wrote:
| I do this but with music notation. I transcribe scores into
| Sibelius all the time. I learn so much about the music that way.
| edpichler wrote:
| For some reason it brings me joy in typing that classics.
| [deleted]
| sgibat wrote:
| It would be nice if you showed which finger to use for each
| character for proper home-row-typing.
| globular-toast wrote:
| I'm much better at typing my own thoughts than copying from text.
| But, even so, I'm not a very good typist. I don't use all of my
| fingers. I use mostly my index and middle with a little of my
| ring finger, but never my little fingers. I wonder, if I want to
| improve my typing skills, should I force myself to slow down and
| develop proper technique using all of my fingers first?
| KerryJones wrote:
| I learned to type at a young age from video games and wasn't
| introduced to "Mavis Beacon" and other typing programs until I
| was 10 or 11. I had terrible form, but was typing at ~100wpm.
|
| I decided I would try to learn "proper" form, and while it
| initially slowed me down, my top speed is now closer to
| 150-155.
| system2 wrote:
| In the same boat with you. My left hand is most likely spot on,
| but right hand only using index and middle, pink for Enter and
| Backspace. I tend to make typos around the right side of the
| keyboard. Not sure how to fix it after decades of typing.
| jedberg wrote:
| Love the idea, love the interface!
|
| How much do I have to type to get the WPM and ACC to start
| showing up? I did a whole page and it was still just showing --.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello -- currently you have to type a whole page. Going to add
| an option to change it to after each word probably this week.
| Thanks!
| divbzero wrote:
| Awesome idea! Could there be an equivalent for software? Code
| bases classic enough to retype for coding practice?
| ygra wrote:
| This seems to have problems with dead keys. Typing ' and then d
| on US International results in 'd, but doesn't count as such and
| instead is an error.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! If you don't mind me asking, what browser are you
| experiencing this issue on?
| ygra wrote:
| All done with US International, but should be reproducible
| with other keyboard layouts; just that with, e.g. a German
| layout it might be harder to find digraphs that can be typed
| by forcing a non-combination for a dead key.
|
| Firefox 81, Windows: Dead keys and the corresponding
| combination of letters where no single letter is defined by
| the keyboard layout don't even appear. I.e. I type ', and
| then s, which normally causes the digraph 's to appear, but
| here neither the ' nor the s afterwards register.
|
| Chrome 85, Windows: The key sequence registers as just one
| letter, but apparently not as the ', which thus is marked as
| an error. This was also what I've seen in Edge (Chromium-
| based, probably similar version number).
|
| Internet Explorer 11: Same as with Chrome. However, with the
| added bonus that typing a space seems to be impossible. No
| idea whether that browser is even on the compatibility list
| for that site, but it's all I have lying around here right
| now.
| trey-jones wrote:
| It's great to see that some people really like this, and the
| quote from HST is cool - obviously there is some value here. The
| collection is eclectic (public domain I suppose), and the UI is
| pretty nice. I found that recognizing whitespace was possibly
| something that could be improved a bit, but overall it felt
| really nice.
|
| That said, this is not for me. One page and I was cooked. I had
| thought that this might be a decent way to enjoy a novel that
| I've not read, but one page in I can say:
|
| Not only did I not comprehend what I was typing, I didn't enjoy
| it at all.
| shklnrj wrote:
| This is a great work :) kudos!
| Kluny wrote:
| Am I the only one who instinctively hit delete when I made a
| mistake, and ended up backing out of the page?
| dustinmoris wrote:
| This didn't happen for me on Safari.
| pmx wrote:
| Hitting delete had the desired result for me (moving back in
| the text). Chrome on Mac.
| proto-n wrote:
| Amazing idea, really I'm impressed. This intrigued me at first
| glance as a fun typing exercise, as I've always struggled with
| typing - I started using computers way before they started
| teaching typing around here, so my typing is far from the optimal
| 10 finger method, but I've always found typing exercises mind
| numbingly boring.
|
| However, as I started typing The call of Cthulhu, I'm now much
| more intrigued by this as a new way to read books. It is a very
| different literary experience from just simply reading. I'm way
| more attentive to the text itself, rather than just the meaning,
| if that makes sense. Though it's very possible that this effect
| is going to go away as I get more used to it.
|
| Any chance of typing out custom uploaded books? Maybe copy pasted
| plaintext?
|
| Also kudos on the execution, the site is really nicely made.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey I'm thrilled you're enjoying the site! There are indeed
| plans to add a feature like that sometime in the future.
| Thanks!
| nestorD wrote:
| I had a similar experience doing translations. It made me a lot
| more aware to the fine detail of the text and sensible to the
| author's specificities.
| shavingspiders wrote:
| Have you tried reading books out loud? I found that made a
| surprising difference to experience of books, even just because
| I was devouring them much slower. Found it much easier to enjoy
| the 'craft' of the book too.
| rozab wrote:
| I've always thought of typing lessons as being a thing from
| long before computers. Back then it was treated as a serious
| skill which could lead directly to employment. Now it's just
| something you're expected to know.
|
| I had plenty of basic IT education at school, but was never
| taught how to type at all.
| barbecue_sauce wrote:
| My educational experience was almost the exact opposite.
| Computer class was always typing or application focused,
| rather than IT focused; typing exercises and learning how to
| use ClarisWorks rather than anything about how actual
| computer worked.
| TT3351 wrote:
| Similar experience here in suburban southern California
| public schools around the 2010s, except for one class on
| digital art, which was 90% packet work (funnily enough
| almost the equivalent of just copying out novels, but for
| Illustrator/Photoshop. Today I use them regularly and
| adeptly.)
| technoplato wrote:
| It's an interesting idea that we still "need" typing
| practice. We do it every day why would we need to practice
| extra?
|
| To provide an additional use case, my wife just got me an
| awesome and completely configurable ergonomic keyboard for my
| birthday and I'm considering switching to Dvorak or Coleman
| layouts after typing QWERY my entire life. I NEED a long form
| practice like this instead of just typing nonsense short
| blurbs of words as most typing practice provides.
|
| Super excited about this!
| nostoc wrote:
| If you don't learn proper technique but type often, you
| will organically develop some method of typing that may
| work for you.
|
| But it's easy when learning a skill without guidance to end
| up into a local maximum. It's easy to end up in a situation
| where you're typing reasonably well, but could do way
| better with training.
|
| I'd argue that typing occupies a big enough place in our
| life that we should be very efficient at it.
| lexicality wrote:
| > It's an interesting idea that we still "need" typing
| practice. We do it every day why would we need to practice
| extra?
|
| We all walk every day, but most people have terrible form
| and efficiency and would probably injure themselves if they
| tried to do it for long periods without practicing...
| technoplato wrote:
| I'm not sure if context was lost in my comment but I tend
| to agree with what you're saying here and was the point
| of my comment.
| spidersouris wrote:
| Does this really apply to typing, though? To what extent
| could one suffer from long-term injuries due to the way
| they're typing? I know one can suffer from repetitive
| strain injury if they are not using their mouse properly,
| but does this extend to keyboards as well?
| scandinavegan wrote:
| I practiced qwerty touch typing in school, but never really
| used it myself, rather using two-three fingers on each hand
| and letting them move around a lot across the keyboard.
|
| I switched to dvorak over 10 years ago and since the
| letters on the keys didn't match, and because it's designed
| to make it easy to touch type, I quickly learned.
|
| But after a year or so of dvorak, I grew tired of being
| extremely slow when I had to switch back to qwerty when
| using a shared keyboard in a conference room (imagine
| reading and hitting single letters in a meeting in front of
| people), so I switched back to qwerty. I thought that my
| new touch typing skill would transfer, but it didn't. I
| still try now and again to properly touch type, but it's
| slow and with a lot of mistakes. So this practice site
| looks very interesting to me as well!
|
| Some people say that they can easily switch back and forth
| between qwerty and dvorak, but it turns out that I
| couldn't. I still miss the speed and ease of dvorak, but I
| also enjoy being able to quickly use any keyboard now.
| Symbiote wrote:
| I added the Dvorak layout to the computer in the
| conference room.
|
| (This is probably a more acceptable thing to do in
| companies where more than one language is spoken. The
| computer already had English-Qwerty and Danish-Qwerty
| installed.)
| sajforbes wrote:
| I have a similar issue! When I learned Russian I
| installed the Russian keyboard layout on my computer.
| Because my keys (obviously) didn't match, I had to type
| by feel using a small diagram I printed as a reference,
| carefully placing index on f and j like you're supposed
| to. I just touch type in Russian now, but if I dare do
| that while typing English I stumble and lose track; I'm
| stuck doing it my normal messy (still faster than
| average) way.
| Arelius wrote:
| I had a similar experience switching to the Kinesis. I
| mean I don't think as stark as yours.
|
| I noticed the Kinesis Advantage forced my hands into a
| position that encouraged touch-typing, so I thought I'd
| give it a try and learn to touch-type while doing my
| normal work (Still QWERTY though) It worked! I can now
| touch-type greatly...
|
| Sort-of, it really only applies to the Kinesis though,
| when I go back to a normal staggered layout keyboard I go
| back to my two-three finger pecking around the keyboard.
|
| It's obviously still the same layout, so I don't think I
| experience it as bad as you do on a standard keyboard,
| but now I'm pretty much stuck on my Kinesis!
| terr-dav wrote:
| It took me 3 years off and on (and mostly at work) to
| become fluent in Dvorak. Good luck!
| anchpop wrote:
| If you do it on and off you'll be much slower. I switched
| cold-turkey to Colemak and could type reasonably after a
| month and quickly after 3 months. The hardest part was
| retraining my muscle memory for keyboard shortcuts (but
| it wasn't so bad because in Colemak many are unchanged)
| agumonkey wrote:
| Seconded, I use gnu typist often but the drills are too bland
| and I needed something like that. Superb
| gwd wrote:
| > Any chance of typing out custom uploaded books? Maybe copy
| pasted plaintext?
|
| typeracer.com allows you to submit extracts for people to type;
| just not entire books.
| vladsanchez wrote:
| Typelit.io will help me practice/improve my steno skills. Here's
| some feedback:
|
| - +1 for dynamic metrics (WPM+ACC) while typing, shown at the
| page dash.
|
| - Consider partnering with publishers to increase your content
| coverage.
|
| - Add ability to request books
|
| - +10 for Tech books
|
| - Keep it free!
|
| - Gamify the heck out of it. It'll allow you to create revenue
| streams while keeping it FREE.
|
| KEEP THE FIRE BURNING Octouroboros! ;)
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello and thanks for your suggestions!
|
| - Dynamic metrics is coming very very very soon - Good idea
| reaching out to publishers -- I might just do that. - People
| just email me their requests anyway, but it might be a good
| idea to invite the interaction - I'd love to host tech books,
| but as far as I know, most aren't in the public domain -
| Keeping it free is the plan! - Gamification is coming once I
| eventually get around to making user accounts. I'm not really
| sure how it'll create revenue streams though, so if you have
| something in mind, let me know!
| adamddev1 wrote:
| How about support for RTL languages/books? There are a number of
| typing practice sites that allow you to use custom texts, but I
| haven't seen any that work well with RTL. A dream feature would
| be to be able to upload RTL epub files and type away!
|
| This is the most beautiful and pleasant typing practice
| experience I've ever had.
| jonjacky wrote:
| In _The Autobiography of Malcolm X_ , he tells how he learned to
| read and write by copying out, _by hand_ , the _entire
| dictionary_ from the prison library, copying a page a day. (It 's
| in chapter 11 of the _Autobiography_ ).
| bigbossman wrote:
| This is really awesome. It reminds me of how artists like
| painters and musicians train by copying famous works. Or Andrew
| Ng said you should learn ML just be implementing a dozen papers.
| grativo wrote:
| This is brilliant! The text is could be used for reading as well,
| but the book selection is quite excellent. Do you think people
| could add contributions of text too, like submitting book texts?
| Thank you!
| hufton wrote:
| It's really nice and reactive. What stack did u use ? In
| particular for the hotkeys ?
| brianush1 wrote:
| Great project, but it doesn't seem to play nice with Vimium.
| MrLeap wrote:
| I'm making a lovecraftian typing game right now (see my progress
| here... https://twitter.com/LeapJosh ) and this was a planned
| feature, now I wonder if I should nix it so as not to be
| derivative, since you beat me to it!
|
| Maybe I'll mix it up somehow.
| eYsYs wrote:
| Amazing idea. How did you figure out the licensing aspects since
| you are also giving out book content for free in the process?
| e1ghtSpace wrote:
| They're probably public domain books.
| billyruffian wrote:
| Why is it that I find on certain websites (this one included)
| that some keystrokes aren't recognised when I use Safari? The
| letter 'e' not being recognised is common. Chrome works fine.
| This is on a Mac with Catalina and a British keyboard.
| solson4 wrote:
| Yeah, having a similar issue. Catalina, American keyboard,
| Firefox. Halfway through the second sentence it started
| flagging everything as incorrect no matter what I typed.
| hisfastness wrote:
| Brilliant! I love it.
| dejongh wrote:
| Great idea, very nice UI. It can be a "learn to type tool" but
| also a new way to experience literature. I like it :)
| jakuboboza wrote:
| Good job man! I did start of the first on the list :D it was fun
| for a moment.
| pandemic_region wrote:
| Using firefox on Ubuntu with Dvorak layout, this does not work.
| As soon as i start typing 'CH' for 'CHAPTER' a new tab opens that
| pastes the contents of my clipboard in a google search. Something
| is off here.
| y0ss wrote:
| Very creative and useful, I love it!
| bajirao wrote:
| This is great. I do not see WPM and ACC stats though. It just
| shows empty placeholder for those. I use PiHole and
| https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts to block ads. I see that the
| google analytics is not resolved properly in dev tools. Is that
| the issue with WPM/ACC stats?
| hamaluik wrote:
| I didn't see those stats until I had completed a full page
| (then it shows for the previous page).
| bajirao wrote:
| Oh okay thanks! I see other comments with the same
| observation.
| jp57 wrote:
| This is very cool. I did find that I sometimes got confused about
| where the insertion point was supposed to be, especially when
| backing up and correcting mistakes. Having the letter ahead of
| the point highlighted in was inducing a lot of off-by-one errors
| in my head. I'd prefer a normal insertion-point cursor between
| characters, with the correctly typed letters bolded and only the
| errors highlighted.
|
| Besides that, it's pretty good fun!
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello -- thanks for the suggestion! I'll certainly add options
| to toggle the cursor style (or make it invisible, even) in
| later updates. Thanks again!
| webwanderings wrote:
| This is great. Can you add a separate category for kids?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! If I can round up enough public domain children's books,
| I'll certainly add a kids category. Thanks for the suggestion!
| tnorthcutt wrote:
| This looks like a pretty good starting list:
| https://concretecomputing.com/thoughts/list-of-public-
| domain...
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey thanks -- this will be super useful!
| fauxrockpet wrote:
| Does anyone know if there are any websites that do the same for
| novels of different languages? I want to practice typing in
| Russian.
| [deleted]
| inatreecrown2 wrote:
| Thank you for this wonderful site! I just typed the first Chapter
| of Sense and Sensibility ;-) After practicing typing the 100 most
| used words for most of the time, this is really refreshing! Still
| struggling to follow the narrative too while typing, but i am
| sure i will get there (currently i am typing around 40 wpm
| average).
| rhacker wrote:
| I got through the second paragraph. I probably made 10 mistakes.
| Very nice interface.
|
| My only thought was - if I suck at typing, learning it, it's
| going to be very discouraging getting through just one page. I
| wonder if it would be better to display just a paragraph at a
| time. Also as the user finishes a sentence without mistakes to
| give them a visual reward (kinda like one of those cheap mobile
| games that shows stars or something). And another reward for
| finishing a paragraph.
|
| Other than that, I am guessing this will likely help a lot of
| people learn to type or type faster.
| paulcole wrote:
| This might have an unintended use as a copywriting tool.
|
| There's an exercise called copyworking where you rewrite copy
| written by someone else to internalize the rhythm, flow,
| punctuation, and word choice. I use it for shorter ad copy and
| have found it to be very valuable.
|
| I do it with pen/paper as I find that it "sticks" better, but
| lots of people are resistant to that so a tool like yours might
| be useful.
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| A minor spoiler from _Gravy Planet_ (1952): when the
| protagonist, an ad exec, is contacted by radical anti-
| consumption terrorists, although he despises them and
| everything they stand for, the very first thing he notices is
| that _their copy sucks_ :
|
| > "... calm, learned, we're all men of sound judgement and deep
| scholarship here. It was an appeal to reason, and that's always
| dangerous. You can't trust reason. We threw it out of the ad
| profession long ago and have never missed it."
|
| so he rewrites it...
| copperx wrote:
| It would be great if the app could let you import arbitrary .txt
| files. In that way, I can practice typing with my favorite works.
| jyriand wrote:
| I don't think I could retype the whole novel, maybe short stories
| would be more suitable. I remember back in the day when I wanted
| to be a writer I used to retype short stories just to get out of
| writers block. After rewriting first few paragraphs I started to
| change things up and transform into my own story, meanwhile
| mimicking the rythm and the flow of the original author. It's a
| good exercise just to get the right feeling.
| davuinci wrote:
| Seems a very good idea. Do you have any plans on adding classical
| tech books?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey thanks! I would, but I don't imagine many tech books are in
| the public domain.
| blewboarwastake wrote:
| There arent any modern tech books in the public domain, but
| there are plenty with open licenses.
| felipemesquita wrote:
| I'm interested to know what issues you've encountered with the
| built in keyboard in iOS. I found the virtual web keyboard weird
| to use and it missed a few keystrokes. I also do most of my
| typing and my reading on iOS, so, even if an uncommon use case, I
| would like to practice using this keyboard with maybe even
| autocorrect and swipe enabled to master typing in this
| environment.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey thanks for asking! Since this a website and not a native
| app, accessing and controlling built in mobile functionality
| has proven quite difficult. I'll certainly come back to it at
| some point, and if I can get native keyboards to work properly,
| will definitely add support for swipe and autocorrect to go
| with it.
| devilduck wrote:
| This is a sweet idea, great job
| superlopuh wrote:
| 1984 is especially interesting since the generation before mine
| in the Soviet Union would've only been able to read a manual copy
| of the book. My father was lent such a copy for one night. I'm
| thinking of copying it out in the dark as a form of LARPing of
| the samizdat.
| heroHACK17 wrote:
| Thank you for this! I just started using an ergonomic keyboard
| and this site is perfect for practicing my keystrokes.
| globular-toast wrote:
| One thing I really miss is the ability to backspace an entire
| word. I expect Ctrl+backspace to delete the previous word. This
| works in all places that I usually type so I find it quite
| difficult to not have this.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! I feel the same way -- Ctrl+backspace support is planned
| for a future update. Thanks!
| nhlx2 wrote:
| Awesome! I came here to say the same thing. Great work BTW!!
| fphilipe wrote:
| While trying it out, I've realized how I rely on ctrl-h as a
| more comfy backspace. I think this an Emacs binding that
| macOS supports system-wide. Would be great if that was
| supported :)
| olejorgenb wrote:
| Agreed. I also suspect it's better to retype the whole word
| after a mistake - better to learn typing the word correctly
| rather than correcting the mistyped word. Absolute speed
| probably suffer in the short term though.
| jacquesm wrote:
| I would do this with song texts and music scores. When you
| rewrite something you are interacting with it at an entirely
| different level, which greatly facilitates memorization.
| fudged71 wrote:
| My wife is a teacher, and she is reading harry potter to her
| students. It would be fantastic if she could find 3 pages of text
| from her next chapter, upload it to this tool, and get a URL that
| she can send to all of her students. Then they can all do a
| typing assignment in line with their reading, from just a link.
| (This could apply to many more courses, and cover many aspects of
| the curriculum!)
|
| Would you be interested in adding that?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! I'm kind of trying to keep copyrighted text off the
| servers -- though I am planning on adding a feature where you
| can add your own text and then immediately type it. Probably
| more work on the teacher and student's part, but maybe it would
| accomplish the same thing.
| anchpop wrote:
| Being able to add my own text then immediately type it would
| be amazing. I would use this app every day if that feature
| existed. Thank you for making this!
| ffpip wrote:
| Thanks for making this!
| halfjew22 wrote:
| One suggestion having just started using the site (AND LOVING IT)
| is to enable a "don't progress until correct mode" that way you
| don't miss a string of characters at a time. LMK if this is
| already a thing or if you are accepting PRs. I'd love to
| contribute!!!
| Invictus0 wrote:
| Great idea. A suggestion: you can gamify the WPM by making it
| always visible and giving three indicators: a WPM of the previous
| page, a WPM of the previous paragraph, and a "realtime" WPM based
| on the average of the last 5 words or whatever. Phenomenal work!
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey that's a pretty good idea! I may think of way implement
| something like that. Thanks for the support!
| seedie wrote:
| If you introduce that feature please make it optional. I love
| the idea of typing novels to get a more intense connection to
| the content. Gameification for WPM would disrupt this. Please
| consider this use case even though I understand that this ist
| not your target audience.
|
| Great Work!
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Absolutely it will be optional. The intention behind the
| site is as much to support author's works as it is to
| practice typing. I originally figured that having it update
| more often than once a page might be distracting, which
| explains why it works the way it does now.
| nanomonkey wrote:
| This is fun, much more useful than made up phrases.
|
| I'd enjoy an option for loading scanned text to help out with
| OCR, if that is even needed anymore. Perhaps overlay what I write
| over the scanned pages.
| ycombonator wrote:
| This is AMAZING !
| dustinmoris wrote:
| Great work, nicely done! What motivated you to do this?
| swlkr wrote:
| I wonder if this would work with open source software
| gen220 wrote:
| I remember in high school, we had an English teacher with very
| high standards. After we had turned in our first essays, she gave
| _everyone_ a failing grade, and put on a show of being very
| disappointed with our work.
|
| Instead of whatever was next on the syllabus, our next assignment
| was to rewrite, with paper and pen, three separate (3-5ish page)
| essays written on the same prompt, which she had saved over the
| years as exemplary.
|
| I distinctly remember hating the idea of it, and putting off the
| task so I could hate it for longer. However, once I started
| (re-)writing, I was forced to capitulate (an experience that
| seems to be shared with other commenters here). While the essays
| were really good, they were just words on a page -- there's
| nothing stopping _me_ from writing like that, too. In fact, I
| _was_ writing like that right now!
|
| At the end, she shared the reasoning behind this exercise, and
| made us take a vow of silence to not tell the next year's
| students what to expect. Everybody who traced the essays got an A
| in the gradebook, and the kids who didn't trace usually dropped-
| out at that point (it was early in the year, this was the
| accelerated-track course).
|
| I've never had another educational moment like that, since. It
| was immensely humbling, in that it told all of us, who were used
| to being good, that we still have plenty of room to improve. Once
| out of high school, our egos are perhaps too large to get the
| most out of that kind of activity.
|
| This is a really cool idea. I'd love to see this applied to
| foreign languages. For example, if I'm learning German, it'd be
| great to do that by typing out Theodor Storm. Many of these
| classic books are in the public domain [1].
|
| [1]:
| https://books.google.com/books?id=VXgBAAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newb...
| whoomp12342 wrote:
| to be fair, your essays were all probably terrible and her
| standards were really not that high. If you don't believe me,
| go find a high school english teacher and have them show you
| what kids write. Most teachers are kind and skilled enough to
| know that such a rant does little good unless its obvious no
| one is trying
| gen220 wrote:
| Well, they were definitely terrible by "Adult" standards, but
| that's not the standards that most high schoolers are held
| to. (And that's not the standard we were held to, I'm sure).
|
| If your standard is the median for our age group, they were
| probably better-than-middling. It was an advanced class,
| after all.
|
| Actually, I think that if nobody is trying, such an exercise
| would be counterproductive. In that scenario, the right thing
| to do would be to determine and address the reasons why
| nobody is trying. Like I said, it was an advanced class and
| people were trying, so it was relatively successful.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello -- I'm glad the idea resonates with you! The site
| actually already supports German and other languages (though
| with a more limited selection). You'll find a language dropdown
| just above where the books are displayed. Thanks!
| ogisan wrote:
| Very cool idea and beautiful design execution!
|
| One nitpick: it would be helpful to only have to type out the
| words on the page rather than different symbols (maybe having it
| be a toggle). For example, in The Art of War, typing out all the
| bullet points and numbering can be tedious and not really what
| I'm looking for from a typing exercise.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey, I'm glad you like it! While it's less work for me to just
| leave them in, I do see where you're coming from. Maybe a way
| to toggle them on or off could come in a future update. Thanks
| for the suggestion!
| puzz wrote:
| That's a cool idea. I once made a similar site but for a
| completely different purpose -- language learning. Unfortunately
| I never finished it but it's still in my TODO list.
|
| The workflow was:
|
| - you read the sentence
|
| - the sentence disappears
|
| - then you type from memory
|
| - every time you mistype something -- the next couple of words
| appears for a few seconds and you keep typing
|
| That way you not only learn to type that foreign language. But
| you also memorise the sentence in your short-time memory and you
| get a feel for sentences are created (order of words, phrases,
| etc.).
|
| PS. Didn't finish the site, but I did made a simplified version
| as an Android app: https://github.com/tkrajina/10000sentences
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| The schtick of the Pimsleur Method was to train by starting
| with a chunk at the end of a sentence, and prepending until one
| had recall of the entire sentence. That way, once you get over
| the hump of the newer material, still fresh in mind, it's all
| downhill revising the older.
| whoomp12342 wrote:
| this is an amazing idea. I wonder if you could do it with an
| auditory fashion, I think that would be very useful too!
| dirtnugget wrote:
| Loving it!
|
| Just as a possible future improvement my eyes would probably be
| really happy about a dark mode :)
|
| EDIT: just realised OP already has it on TODO.
| MDib wrote:
| This should tide you over until then, works pretty seamlessly
| on this site: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-
| reader/eimadp...
| banterfoil wrote:
| This is awesome and I love every bit of it. I just wished there
| was a login that I could associate my progress with it. Nice
| work!
| joshkrycerick wrote:
| I dig it I just wish it showed WPM and accuracy real time!
| linuxhansl wrote:
| I remember that at least in the past you could copy books (and
| sell those copies) as long as you did not automatically copy the
| content. I.e. Copyright would not trigger in this case. Re-typing
| a book was expressly allowed.
|
| Is that still the case?
|
| A site like this could then used to make legal replicas of books.
| samatman wrote:
| I doubt it, and that's probably a good thing.
|
| There's no such thing as "moving" digital information. It's
| like the transporter on Star Trek, you can only fake it by
| copying the information and deleting the source copy.
|
| So, I... guess you could transcribe into a pipe which appends
| straight to a USB stick drive, and sell the drive? Good luck
| reading the contents though.
| kej wrote:
| No, that's not how copyright works. Copying a book, whether you
| do it all at once or letter by letter, would violate copyright.
|
| In this case, all of these books are older and their copyright
| terms have expired.
| AzzieElbab wrote:
| Super cool. We just need more fiction with !@#$%^&*()_+{}:"<> etc
| voxl wrote:
| This feels like a home run, talk to some publishers about
| allowing their books on their for a fee and charge a subscription
| to type those books and maybe you've got a viable product.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey that sounds like a solid idea -- I might just give that a
| try!
| chrisfrantz wrote:
| Start with the startupy books and it might be easier to get
| ahold of the publishers. Plus you might get a bit of an
| influencer impact when they share on social.
|
| Think about how masterclass does it, then niche down into
| startups and follow the playbook.
|
| Feel free to ping me (email in profile) if you end up going
| down this path and need suggestions for initial folks to
| reach out to.
|
| Oh actually, while you're on the front page of HN, drop a
| contact form on the page with something like "interested in
| having your book hosted?"
|
| Might "fill the funnel" with even less work. Good luck!
| localhost wrote:
| Love this idea. I've recently decided to do some deliberate
| practicing around typing. I've been using keybr [1] which is a
| great site that randomly makes up phonetically accurate pseudo-
| words and has you type them. The goal there is to have you
| practice weak combinations of keys, and they have an excellent
| stats dashboard to show you your progress over time. I was able
| to raise my typing speed from ~90 wpm to ~110 wpm as measured on
| that site over about 40 days through 10 minutes of practice per
| day.
|
| Based on my experience with that site, which I really love, I'd
| love to see some additional tracking of keys. The downside of
| your core idea is that you can't really do the trick of forcing
| deliberate practice of weak key patterns to engrain them into
| you.
|
| Some other suggestions for stats, based on what exists on keybr
| and what I'd like to see
|
| - Time practiced today and stats for today
|
| - Daily streaks to encourage practicing
|
| - Cumulative time practiced
|
| - A 7 day running average of your typing stats
|
| [1] https://keybr.com
| karmakaze wrote:
| This is really great. Thanks so much for making it. Existing
| sites use word lists or random arbitrary user submissions.
|
| I've been looking for something exactly like this. I've switched
| up my keyboard layout several times in past months and need
| constant practice more than my daily work requires to unlearn
| years of muscle memory and the confusion of recent rewirings.
| Using normal sentences is better so that frequent words are
| typed/learned more often to build up that muscle memory
| faster/stronger.
| gregsadetsky wrote:
| Congrats, it's really great! I have a few thoughts/suggestions,
| but first:
|
| Does anyone know of a competitive/practice typing site (as
| TypeLit, or TypeRacer) where you help digitize books (or any sort
| of document)?
|
| I'm very motivated by TypeRacer's competitions (it's silly, I
| know), but I would be even more inclined to play if I knew that
| there was a "greater" purpose...!
|
| I haven't looked into Project Gutenberg's proof reading
| volunteering. But, something like that? A sort of "good for
| humanity" reCaptcha (the original one, that helped Google to
| digitize books)..?
|
| ---
|
| Ideas for TypeLit:
|
| - It would be nice if the WPM/ACC counters updated in real time
| in the upper right corner, not just when changing pages
|
| - The competitive aspect of https://play.typeracer.com/ might not
| be a perfect fit for your site but just wondering if a
| leaderboard/social element could work (probably not, but just a
| thought)
| blewboarwastake wrote:
| When i noticed that there are only public domain works, I got
| an idea for an optional mode where you help digitize books by
| typing from scanned/OCRed works and the results get sent to
| organizations like the Gutenberg Project or Distributed
| Proofreaders[0].
|
| In the case of Distributed Proofreaders you could automate the
| process even by creating a diff of your results with the
| current draft of the Works being worked on.
|
| This is just a crazy idea nobody take it too seriously.
| [0]https://www.pgdp.net/c/
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! The WPM/ACC thing will be updated really soon. As for a
| leaderboard/social element, it might be worth looking into once
| I eventually add accounts. Thanks for your suggestions!
| brown_martin wrote:
| Terrific idea. Would love to be able to request books.
| spidersouris wrote:
| This reminds me that when I was younger, around 9 or 10 years
| old, we lived with my mom in some desolate place where Internet
| was nonexistent. We still had a computer though, so what I would
| do to pass time is that I would pick up some books from her
| library and retype them on computer. This really was an amusing
| experience and I could spend hours doing it. Wonder if I'd get
| the same feeling ten years later.
| ebj73 wrote:
| I think maybe it would be better if the application showed any
| erroneously typed characters, rather than the correct characters
| in red. Or, if it's possible, to show some sort of visual
| juxtaposition between the two.
|
| Also, I think maybe the font size should be a little bit larger,
| at least for the text around the position where the cursor is, if
| not for the whole text. Otherwise, nice application!
| dhp1161 wrote:
| I agree with all points especially the cursor. Wish cursor was
| like Word where it's a line instead of highlighting the letter
| block.
| 1MachineElf wrote:
| Perfect. This is something I've wanted for a long time. Are you
| planning to put up a donation link?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| I'm thrilled you like it! Indeed there will be an About page
| with donation link added sometime soon. Thanks!
| anibalin wrote:
| This is amazing. Thanks for sharing.
| zerubeus wrote:
| I already do this in https://www.keybr.com/ most articles I want
| to read from hackernews I copy past them there and type them
| instead of only reading them, I find it more fun and allow me to
| finish articles which I don't do when I read only.
|
| In keybr.com you can provide your own custom text in => Setting
| => Provide your own custom text.
| WClayFerguson wrote:
| I'm the developer of a wiki platform that allows editing of large
| structured texts (documents, books), and it took a whole day to
| type War and Peace into it. :)
|
| https://quanta.wiki/n/war-and-peace
|
| The book is mainly for demonstrating the platform capabilities,
| but I thought you guys might find this platform interesting.
| mensetmanusman wrote:
| This is amazing, thank you.
|
| Already passed it on to my partner, as we are covid-homeschooling
| and teaching some typing.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| That's awesome! I hope your kid(s) like it as much as you do!
| jcrubino wrote:
| This is a fantastic tool to put some wrote muscle memory work
| into classics of english usage. Fascinating and unexpected way to
| work through some classics.
|
| Can there be a custom text option or similar tool available? I
| would like to practice code snippets.
| zerubeus wrote:
| https://www.keybr.com/ go to setting Provide your own custom
| text
| jcrubino wrote:
| thanks. Works just like I was asking.
| [deleted]
| technoplato wrote:
| Well, this is absolutely perfect timing as my wife has just given
| me an Ergodex EZ for my birthday and I've been practicing on a
| one shot timed set of snippets from Alice in Wonderland.
|
| Fantastic and really looking forward to reading while I practice.
| This is so cool!
| noneeeed wrote:
| If you are a developer, I would also suggest giving
| https://typing.io/ a try. I got and ergodox ez a couple of
| years ago and it really helped me get used to the layout.
| theLotusGambit wrote:
| So as someone who doesn't have a good grasp on copyright law, I'm
| not sure how 1984 is on this list. All the other books here
| appear to be over a hundred years old, making them public domain
| (I think), but 1984 was published in 1949. Pretty cool site,
| anyway.
| bloak wrote:
| Copyright durations:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries%27_copyright...
|
| George Orwell died in 1950, so it looks as though that book is
| already out of copyright in Australia and Canada, for example,
| but will remain in copyright till 2044 in the USA, while it
| comes out of copyright at the end of 2020 in the European
| Union. (But please don't rely on my interpretation of a
| Wikipedia page if it's important to you!)
| arichard123 wrote:
| I love the idea. Very good. I'm not seeing the autosave function
| work.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! The site only saves after each page. Saving in the
| middle of a page is planned for a future update.
| kweinber wrote:
| If you had a category for typing under the influence, I would
| suggest including The Naked Lunch.
| faical wrote:
| This is a great idea and exactly how I learned to touch-type when
| I was a teenager.
|
| I would keep a book open in front of me and type the sentences in
| Microsoft Word as I was reading them.
|
| Glad to see this process made seamless with your site. :)
| breakfastduck wrote:
| This is an absolutely fantastic idea. I have tried many times to
| sit down and train my typing but it's always incredibly boring.
|
| I'm a rather fidgety person too, so it's actually quite nice to
| have something for my hands to do while I'm reading!
| stevesimmons wrote:
| Maybe try http://www.typingtom.com/ [1].
|
| I found it broke up touch typing into just the right size
| chunks to engage me.
|
| At the start of Covid, I spent a week doing half an hour a day.
| My typing speed and accuracy improved out of sight. The whole
| process of acquiring muscle memory is quite magical. I highly
| recommend it.
|
| [1] This is the companion site to http://www.speedcoder.net/,
| which is for coding, and presumes you start with reasonable
| touch typing skills on normal text.
| breakfastduck wrote:
| Thanks, I'll check it out!
| jonplackett wrote:
| This is a fantastic idea - Would it be possible to get a 'live'
| typing speed? Mine doesn't seem to show anything - does it only
| update at the end of the page?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! As of now it only updates at the end of the page. I plan
| on adding options to have it update after every word or line in
| the very near future. Thanks!
| jonplackett wrote:
| That would be fun. It's like when you're driving a hybrid car
| you get dashboard feedback saying how well (or not) you're
| doing and it's quite encouraging!
|
| Again - great idea. Nicely done!
| jonnycomputer wrote:
| This is fun. But for just learning to type, not quite suitable
| for beginners. A nice addition would be to include finger
| position overlays for beginners.
| rayrag wrote:
| Use Type Faster - Edit Settings>Edit lessons>New lesson and
| paste whatever text you would like retype.
|
| https://sourceforge.net/projects/typefaster/
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! That's good idea, and I may add feature at some point.
| Thanks for the suggestion!
| oshea64bit wrote:
| Awesome project! I've spend some time on sites like Keyhero and
| 10fastfingers since I really enjoy typing, but sites like those
| ultimately feel time sinks since there's very little to gain
| after you reach a decent WPM. This site feels meaningfully
| different since I get exposed to the literature as I'm typing.
| From a quick glance it looks like the UI is really clean and the
| text is easy to read. I'm looking forward to using your site in
| my free time.
| vnellore wrote:
| Thank you for this site. This is a great idea and execution. I
| have a problem reading continuously without getting distracted.
| Perhaps typing something down similar to writing will help with
| retention.
| hijklmno wrote:
| Bravo! Well done!
| bravura wrote:
| "[Hunter S. Thompson] chose, rather than writing original copy,
| to re-type books like The Great Gatsby and a lot of Norman
| Mailer, the Naked and the Dead, a lot of Hemingway. He would sit
| down there on an old type-writer and type every word of those
| books and he said, 'I just wanna feel what it feels like to write
| that we'll.'"
|
| HST: "If you type out somebody's work, you learn a lot about it.
| Amazingly it's like music. And from typing out parts of Faulkner,
| Hemingway, Fitzgerald - these were writers that were very big in
| my life and the lives of the people around me - so yea I wanted
| to learn from the best I guess."
|
| http://brianjohnspencer.blogspot.com/2014/06/hunter-s-thomps...
| daviddaviddavid wrote:
| The analogy with music is interesting. Superficially, the
| musical activity which looks most like typing is simply playing
| an instrument. And sight-reading does feel a bit like typing.
| But I wonder if he's talking about transcription in that quote.
| One can sight read complex music without learning anything
| about it if they happen to just be a good sight reader. But
| transcription really does force you to pay attention to
| structural nuances you otherwise wouldn't get just by listening
| to a piece of music.
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| I think the idea is that typing is much slower than reading,
| so one has forced downtime in which it is possible to
| consider structure and choices[1].
|
| Compare https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23528483
|
| _Qui scribit, bis legit_
|
| (Maybe your sight-reading is quicker than your playing? Mine
| is nearly the opposite.)
|
| [1] Quintilian even finds value in exercising criticism of
| popular examples (because of course, even way back in the
| first century, The Old Days Were Better. Elsewhere Quintilian
| complains that people in his day only repeat a Cliff's Notes
| knowledge of greek authors instead of reading the originals
| in full.)
|
| > "It will even at times be of value to read speeches which
| are corrupt and faulty in style, but still meet with general
| admiration thanks to the perversity of modern tastes, and to
| point out how many expressions in them are inappropriate,
| obscure, high-flown, grovelling, mean, extravagant or
| effeminate, although they are not merely praised by the
| majority of critics, but, worse still, praised just because
| they are bad."
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%.
| ..
|
| and makes a good point about a pedagogical advantage to
| criticism of works other than one's own:
|
| > "I will venture to say that this particular form of
| exercise, if diligently pursued, will teach learners more
| than all the text-books of all the rhetoricians: these are no
| doubt of very considerable use, but being somewhat general in
| their scope, it is quite impossible for them to deal with all
| the special cases that are of almost daily occurrence. The
| art of war will provide a parallel: it is no doubt based on
| certain general principles, but it will none the less be far
| more useful to know the methods employed, whether wisely or
| the reverse, by individual generals under varying
| circumstances and conditions of time and place. For there are
| no subjects in which, as a rule, practice is not more
| valuable than precept. Is a teacher to declaim to provide a
| model for his audience, and will not more profit be derived
| from the reading of Cicero or Demosthenes? Is a pupil to be
| publicly corrected if he makes a mistake in declaiming, and
| will it not be more useful, and more agreeable too, to
| correct some actual speech? For everyone has a preference for
| hearing the faults of others censured rather than his own."
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%.
| ..
|
| _Im demang tili peroba pash im demang finyish vide fit._
| m463 wrote:
| Reminds me ... in a computer nerd way ... of "python the hard
| way" (which used to be very open/free, now it has changed)
|
| You would not read or download the lessons. You typed all the
| python in word by word. I think it really helped the learning
| process to type it out. It was slow and deliberate, even to
| mistyping and making mistakes (and fix them).
| tsumnia wrote:
| Yup! To learn music, cooking, martial arts, etc., you start
| by following someone else to build the muscle memory on doing
| the skill. As a follow-up, my own research [1] on retyping
| code showed students earned higher grades and submitted less
| erroneous code. Replicating technical skills is a common
| practice technique that seems to have been "lost" in current
| CS education.
|
| [1] https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3373165.3373177
| kyuudou wrote:
| I still have a directory tree around from doing those
| lessons. Given how picky python is about indent spacing, I
| agreed somewhat with the philosophy behind those lessons,
| particular for people new to coding.
| dmix wrote:
| This was explained by HST in one of his letters, which was
| collected in the excellent three book collection of letters he
| sent and received to his friends. Including many famous
| writers.
|
| HST was always great in small rapid outputs of writing, which
| is captured well in his letters (similar to how his collection
| of articles are his most popular works, but these deserve a
| similar look).
|
| He obviously had some sort of ADD and later on combined with a
| long series of drug/alcohol addictions, so it makes sense he
| was better in short blurbs. Even his most famous novel Fear and
| Loathing in Las Vegas has a feeling of multiple long spurts on
| a typewriter.
|
| Which is always how he wrote. Always also at the very last
| minute of the magazine due date and/or because he was running
| out of money and needed the next advance.
|
| I believe this is common in creative fields. Long periods of
| meh and spurts of greatness.
|
| Anyway the book series is here, usually called the Gonzo
| Letters:
|
| https://www.goodreads.com/series/64386-the-fear-and-loathing...
|
| Only the 2nd one has a Wikipedia page for some reason (the 3rd
| one came out in 2014) but the first one (The Proud Highway: The
| Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman 1955-1967) as a young
| writer who is often desperate and broke was most interesting
| IMO, even though his life or writing wasn't yet as it would
| become famous for (but definitely still as wild)
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_America
| wenc wrote:
| Inspiration is lumpy, so I've adopted the Fieldstone method
| [1] (articulated by the prolific Gerald Weinberg).
|
| In my implementation, I collect little thoughts (shower
| thoughts, observations, good turns of phrases, etc.) into a
| single continuous Google Doc. I revisit it often and guided
| by my current emotions and interests, try to coalesce like-
| ideas and rewrite them into a large idea. Some ideas
| eventually snowball into something substantial.
|
| Unless you're a columnist with a deadline (with innate talent
| driven by adrenalin), everybody knows how difficult it is to
| write an essay from scratch. However if you've been
| collecting ideas, and have been developing and coalescing and
| rewriting them over and over again (often for years), the
| essay almost writes itself.
|
| [1] https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2016/05/04/weinberg-on-
| writing...
| badtuple wrote:
| I have a similar workflow, but for a different reason. BJ
| Novak described in an interview how the ideation part of
| the process is totally different from the productive part.
| This spoke to me, and I've been approaching them separately
| ever since. When they get too inflated I either get
| writers/coders block or absolute spaghetti, so it's easy to
| see when I've grown less disciplined with the division.
| selestify wrote:
| Do you remember where BJ Novak gave that interview? I'm
| curious to see what he had to say about it
| splatcollision wrote:
| Still waiting for the third volume to actually drop? Can't
| find it available and all the amazon reviews are 5-star
| complaints about the delayed release :(
| dmix wrote:
| Oh weird, I wasn't aware they still haven't release it yet.
| It's been 19 years since the 2nd volume. That's really odd.
| They didn't fulfill the preorders in 2014 either
| https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684873176/
|
| I thought making it through the other two 700+ pages of
| letters was quite an achievement. I was planning to read
| the 3rd one at some later point in my life.
|
| I guess I'll still have to wait ... the title was really
| great too "The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings, and Missives from
| the Mountaintop, 1977-2005".
| Swizec wrote:
| You need the long periods of meh for the bursts of great to
| happen. The meh puts in the ground work for the good.
| mylons wrote:
| I find this to be true with computer programming/work for me.
| I'm productive in bursts.
| grugagag wrote:
| I'm productive in bursts as well. I have the feeling that
| in between bursts things are still computing in the
| background so it looks like you're not doing anything but
| the brain is still churning. This type of bursty
| productivity is very hard to account for in a corporate
| environment where one's productivity should be accounted
| for on a daily basis and laid down in cookie cutter time
| slots. I often wonder whether I have ADHD since I can
| hyperfocus when Im in a productive burst.
| Unfortunately/fortunately I don't tick other boxes so I'm
| in a limbo with the diagnosis
| nicky0 wrote:
| I think it's quite common among programmers. At least, I
| have always been that way too. I can go week of
| unproductive time then suddenly several days of
| immersion.
| grugagag wrote:
| That's the reason I avoid taking the
| Ritaline/Amphetamines route. I think it is normal and i
| wouldn't want to be a productivity machine anyway
| entropicdrifter wrote:
| They're also bad for your heart and can really mess up
| your diet if you're not careful
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > I have the feeling that in between bursts things are
| still computing in the background so it looks like you're
| not doing anything but the brain is still churning.
|
| This is something that's bothered me since my university
| put out a survey asking about time spent on homework.
|
| Suppose the following things happen:
|
| 1. A math class assigns a proof.
|
| 2. I look at the problem, fiddle around with it for 20
| minutes, and get nowhere.
|
| 3. I play Final Fantasy for 6 days.
|
| 4. I go back to the problem. In 40 minutes, I have the
| proof worked out.
|
| How long did I spend on the proof? What if the
| counterfactual was
|
| 1. Proof gets assigned.
|
| 2. Look at it, do nothing.
|
| 3. The day after, sit down and spend 3 hours proving it.
|
| How long did I spend then? Are the two scenarios...
| different?
| [deleted]
| mandelbrotwurst wrote:
| I think about this in terms of how much clock time has
| elapsed versus how much working time I spend on something
| - i.e. I am very often able to trade an increase in clock
| time elapsed (taking more breaks) for a decrease in
| working time, and vice versa.
|
| As with most things, this comes with diminishing returns
| as you push toward minimizing one over the other.
|
| Sometimes, even negative returns, e.g. because of
| increased context switching costs, or confusion and
| general malaise caused by staring at something for too
| long.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > I am very often able to trade an increase in clock time
| elapsed (taking more breaks) for a decrease in working
| time, and vice versa.
|
| But this is the problem with a survey of "how long does
| the homework take?". The question isn't well defined. The
| answer doesn't exist.
| smabie wrote:
| If you goal is to get prescribed stimulants
| (amphetamines, ritalin, or modafinil), it's pretty
| trivial to get diagnosed and prescribed. Psychs hand that
| stuff out like candy
| toyg wrote:
| I don't know how it is in the US, but I'm scared of even
| trying to be diagnosed in the UK. Once you're in the
| system as somebody with psych problems, a lot of things
| can get harder. I fear the risk is not worth satiating
| the curiosity.
| cbsks wrote:
| I guess that's one benefit of the US's terrible health
| system? There isn't a single "system" so even if one
| doctor diagnoses you with something, a different doctor
| in a different office won't have any idea about it unless
| you volunteer the information.
| IggleSniggle wrote:
| Just FYI, this is increasingly less true in many
| respects...although the opposite problem also occurs,
| where there is so much noise that the important pieces
| for any given visit do not surface for the doc.
| rhyswallace wrote:
| Wait the US doesn't have a centralized/shared medical
| records service? I never realized that! In France, I
| suppose like in the UK, we have our "Carte Vitale"
| ("Life/Vital Card"), which is scanned each visit to a
| doctor, hospital, pharmacy, etc, each updating your
| personal database nationally.
|
| It also serves as a link to your insurance provider in
| each location, so reimbursements are automatic.
| smabie wrote:
| Nope, doctors can't see you medical information unless
| you give it to them.
| xenospn wrote:
| Usually by fax.
| vikramkr wrote:
| Or by handing them a CD
| cbsks wrote:
| I went to my general practitioner (in the US) and got a
| Ritalin prescription just by saying "I have a hard time
| concentrating at work". That's it. No referral to a
| specialist or anything.
|
| It is a wonder drug for me. I used to spend a majority of
| my time farting around on the internet at work, then
| working long hours and scrambling to get my work done
| before the deadline. Now I am able to be productive more
| consistently and don't miss nearly as many deadlines.
| andruby wrote:
| Are you a "different" person while on Ritalin? My wife's
| a teacher and these days a lot of kids are on Ritalin.
| She says the kids that "need" it are more manageable when
| taking it, but it does change their personality. They are
| less... "lively".
| Jarwain wrote:
| I can say I felt more like a zombie or emotionally
| dampened when I was taking Concerta (which is similar to
| Ritalin just with a longer duration and smoother effect
| curve).
| cbsks wrote:
| That's an interesting question. I don't think so? If I
| was, would I notice? Nobody has ever mentioned it to me.
|
| I only take it at work so I am pretty much just sitting
| in front of a computer when I'm on it.
| grugagag wrote:
| I tried some and I don't like their effect. Yes, I can
| sit down through boring stuff but the intrinsic interest
| becomes dries up while on these. It is true that I didn't
| try this treatment for extended periods of time but I may
| if I absolutely need to (but only temporarily, up to a
| couple of months or so). For now I try to enjoy my
| average productivity which comes in bursts and that is
| okay
| sndwnm wrote:
| For this to actually work you probably need to put the original
| text away, try to recreate a piece of it from memory, and
| repeat until you get it close to right. AKA the Benjamin
| Franklin method.
|
| Just like anyone can trace or copy a picture drawn by a master,
| copying text won't grant understanding. What actually matters
| for a creator is the ability to produce content from higher
| level ideas, eg from whatever mental representation you used to
| hold the writing or drawing in memory.
| yesenadam wrote:
| > Amazingly it's like music.
|
| Maybe he means like jazz musicians? (I'm one.) Every musician I
| know has transcribed solos. You pick some solo you like but
| have no idea what they're doing, transcribe it, and learn to
| play it along with them. Bits and pieces perhaps will rub off
| in your own playing. You don't want to sound like them, but
| it's good to be able to if you want - and for that you need to
| absorb their style, so your body can just go into that mode,
| without having to think about it. I'm a piano player but have
| also transcribed sax, trumpet, bass lines, gospel songs,
| reggae, funk, .. even taps dripping, babies crying etc etc.
| mikorym wrote:
| > transcribe solos
|
| Do you mean learn other people's songs from sheet music, or
| do you mean write down, from the sheet music, the same song
| again on blank sheet paper?
|
| Edit: Or do you mean write down the song via hearing?
| gnat wrote:
| Transcription is the latter -- create a paper version from
| a recording. Same as medical transcription is typing up
| dictated notes.
| SirLuxuryYacht wrote:
| Ear training gives you this skill
|
| e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhyyjRcrn84
| yesenadam wrote:
| Transcribing solos means, you listen to the music and write
| it down, bit by bit. Someone's solo = their improvisation.
| If it's simple/slow enough that it's quicker to learn it by
| playing along, just do that. (I've never needed to
| transcribe Louis Armstrong, but have just learnt by playing
| along with him.) If it's very fast (e.g. Bird, Coltrane)
| you might need to slow it down to transcribe it. You learn
| how to transcribe it by doing it, it also trains your ear
| in recognizing melodies, harmonies, chord voicings,
| rhythms, forms.
|
| You can buy books of solo transcriptions, but I've found
| that they're absolutely useless. (and always inaccurate)
| Maybe it's like reading a book vs. typing it out?! hehe. At
| first glance I couldn't see how typing a book out would
| help anything, I mean, it's already written down for you!
| The main element of learning by working out bit by bit what
| it is, isn't there. But there are elements in common - it's
| a little like playing a solo you've written down, and you
| would absorb the word patterns if you typed a whole novel I
| guess.
| slingnow wrote:
| Why would you take his general statement (musicians) and turn
| it into such a specific example (_jazz_ musicians)? You make
| it sound like jazz musicians are the only ones who would
| transcribe music to study it.
| samatman wrote:
| It's a safe bet that it's more common among jazz musicians
| than among classical musicians, who have access to the
| sheet music for practically everything they play.
|
| Probably also more common among jazz musicians than rock
| musicians, who don't emphasize sheet music and music theory
| as much ( _as much_ , it's certainly more prevalent than
| outsiders would naively think).
|
| And of course, all these categories blur together. There
| wasn't any reason to take his post and interpret it in
| absolutist terms.
| mantap wrote:
| In language learning there's something called the "Input
| hypothesis" which states that we learn languages primarily by
| reading and listening (consuming input), rather than
| production of language.
|
| The reasoning is that when you produce output you are by
| definition producing something at your own level, so little
| improvement occurs. When you consume input (and transcription
| is a great way to do it), you are consuming input of a native
| speaker - or in the case of Jazz, a master player - which is
| at a much higher quality level than what you could produce
| yourself. So input drives the learning process.
|
| The exception is for motor e.g. pronunciation or playing
| technique, which do benefit from practice.
| aasasd wrote:
| In regard to typing out novels, HST went on to say that
| Faulkner (iirc) doesn't have an out-of-place word anywhere.
| So yeah, he was speaking about the style: putting down words
| in an interesting order.
| atulatul wrote:
| Here is a Stephen Fry Oxford union video where he talks about
| trying to write from memory a scene from The Great Gatsby:
|
| https://youtu.be/oSdLfPas8dw?t=546
| dfan wrote:
| It was very common in the past for composers to learn the craft
| by copying out the musical scores of the masters.
|
| This is also why I always type in all the examples from
| programming books instead of cutting and pasting.
| whymauri wrote:
| This is how I first learned technical writing. Found a few
| exceptional papers in my field, sat down, and literally just
| typed them out.
|
| The downside is that it's easy to 'overfit' and lose your own
| voice.
| codeisawesome wrote:
| Would be super interesting if this holds true for 'copying out'
| code as well... it's all the edge case handling that can get
| boring to re-type out without context / comments...
| tsumnia wrote:
| It does hold out! Here is a link to my research on retyping
| code [1]. To summarize my findings, students that regularly
| completed typing exercises earned higher course grades and
| submitted less erroneous code.
|
| [1] https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3373165.3373177
| dredmorbius wrote:
| Agreed that you learn much about a work (I've retyped a few
| articles and books simply to get a usable copy). But _copying_
| is not the same as _creating_ --- you 'll see the finished
| product, and may intuit hints as to how it was created, but
| what you're _not_ getting is _the creation process itself_ :
| research (especially for nonfiction), structure, plotting and
| character (for fiction), editing, rewriting, restructuring and
| reordering content, additions and deletions.
|
| Writing (and reading) short disconnected bits is fairly easy:
| nothing interrelates strongly, composition is simple and
| forgiving. Longer works are _complex_ : they have structure,
| arcs, need to retain interest, jumps and connections need to be
| plausible, the whole be consistent (unless inconsistency is
| used for effect), etc., etc.
|
| And you don't get this knowledge _simply_ by copying out great
| works.
|
| I see a similar failure-to-grasp in some proposals for
| hypertext or advanced publishing systems. _Reading is
| inherently serial_ , in that we follow lines of text on a page.
| Interactivity --- usually defined by the ability to skip
| between previously-written segments --- just offers _more
| serial paths_.
|
| The value of hypertext and related tools may be far more on the
| _writing_ process, where vastly more sources can be referenced
| and cited with greater ease. Some might be incorporated into
| the final work, but an excess of interconnections and
| quotations is itself distracting.
|
| I see this as a particular blindness of Ted Nelson's Xanadu
| project, despite many fascinating and original elements to it.
| kbenson wrote:
| > And you don't get this knowledge _simply_ by copying out
| great works.
|
| Well, I think the point is that you may get knowledge, but nt
| necessarily of the type that lets you make another great
| work. _Doing_ is an act of learning, whether very small
| amounts of learning as you do something you 've done
| countless times before, or possibly large amounts of learning
| as you try something absolutely new, or learning about
| yourself and what you like, what you don't, what you feel is
| worthwhile even if you dislike it, etc.
|
| Ultimately, there's something to be learned from everything.
| Even the book you read that purports to teach you someething
| that you find worthless for the task should be illustrative
| of either what things are not useful for you in learning
| that, or how to structure something in such a way that it's
| hard for you to take away good meaning from it, and
| ultimately, some hints about what to look for next time that
| doesn't have the same problems.
|
| So, copying isn't necessarily _creating_ , but it should be
| an act of _learning_ , and learning should hopefully help in
| creating, even if it's something totally divorced from what
| you were originally copying.
| ponker wrote:
| Important to note that it was on a manual typewriter. The key
| is making it slow, so you can observe how the author is doing
| what they're doing. Reading is very fast ... typing on a manual
| typewriter is slow enough to give you time to observe.
| [deleted]
| taneq wrote:
| Sounds a little bit like the process of training a GPT-3 style
| network...
| derwiki wrote:
| He required copious amounts of Wild Turkey and cigarettes
| though
| moron4hire wrote:
| Dunhills, if I remember correctly.
| simplegeek wrote:
| I congratulate you on launching this. Definitely an interesting
| idea.
|
| Another thing that interests me is the approach that Benjamin
| Franklin described in his autobiography to improve his writing.
|
| He would read writing that he liked, note it carefully, and then
| after a few days he would try to reproduce the writing. Finally,
| he would tally it with the original writing to correct mistakes.
| Minor49er wrote:
| This is a cool site, though I did notice something that I haven't
| seen anywhere before: the URL paths are JSON objects. Is there a
| reason for this? For example, for "The Call of Cthulhu", the URL
| is this:
| https://www.typelit.io/chapters/%7B%22bookTitle%22:%20%22The...
|
| Why not just use this?
| https://www.typelit.io/chapters/5f468ca35e91c10be0883a57/The...
|
| Also, the JSON object is fault tolerant and will display whatever
| you want for a title, even if there isn't a book available:
| https://www.typelit.io/chapters/%7B%22%64%69%73%70%6C%61%79%...
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey I'm glad you asked! It's the way Nextjs handles urls with
| more than 1 param. If I prettify the URL then for some reason
| the page can't access them. Don't know if they've improved on
| it yet (or, who knows, maybe I'm just using it wrong) but it'll
| be fixed eventually.
| john_miller wrote:
| // call /MyPage?par1=hello&par2=42
|
| const MyPage = (props: { query: { par1: string; par2: number
| } }) => (
| <div>{`${props.query.par1}-${props.query.par2}`}</div> );
| SamBam wrote:
| The URL parameters are:
|
| {"bookTitle": "The Call of Cthulhu", "displayTitle": "The
| Call of Cthulhu", "language": "English", "bookId":
| "5f468ca35e91c10be0883a57"}
|
| Why do you need all the others besides "bookId"?
|
| Changing "bookTitle" and "language" don't seem to do
| anything. Changing "displayTitle" does change the displayed
| title, but why can't you get that using the bookId?
| Minor49er wrote:
| That's interesting. Thanks for pointing me towards Next.js. I
| wasn't aware of that framework, but I'm checking it out.
| technoplato wrote:
| Super cool framework that is only getting better. If you're
| interested in framework spelunking-check out Remix by Ryan
| Florence and Michael Jackson (no, not that one...). It's
| actually going to be paid but I'm very excited to try it.
| It handles some data loading pain points among others that
| seem very interesting.
| roryokane wrote:
| Link to the mentioned framework "Remix":
| https://remix.run/
| ffpip wrote:
| I think only the bookID is necessary
| whiddershins wrote:
| This comment can't be read, perhaps use code block formatting,
| or remove the http and domain info, so we can see what you
| mean? The link is getting truncated when it displays.
| SamBam wrote:
| Those links are over 200 characters long, and just look like
| escaped JSON, so I don't think it would help much. You could
| just click on them if you really wanted to know the details,
| but I think the question is pretty clear regardless.
| Minor49er wrote:
| That's a fair point. I was expecting people to click or hover
| the links to see the examples, but for really showing how the
| paths are formed, this would make sense to do.
| raegis wrote:
| Brilliant! Thanks!
| melvinroest wrote:
| I typed a bit of Alice in Wonderland. I (touch)type slower than I
| read. I'd like to do this more, but I'm worried about getting
| RSI.
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| Don't know if it's just coincidence, but I was taught to type
| back in the mechanical typewriter era, and despite typing a
| great deal professionally haven't yet suffered from any form of
| RSI.
|
| (We were taught to keep our hands parallel with our forearms
| and had to press with force, as electrical typewriters existed
| by then but none were in our classroom. It was kind of like
| piano posture.)
| pseingatl wrote:
| Pierre Menard, Author of the _Quijote._
| andersamundson wrote:
| Love this app. Exactly how I taught myself to type--and write.
| Would be great if there was a way to use more "modern"
| literature. Especially books written well in simple english.
| Michael Lewis comes to mind...
| jjice wrote:
| Very cool, and the UI looks and feels great!
| jrsala wrote:
| I'm a non-native English speaker and I used to struggle as a
| teenager to read e.g. Harry Potter in English with a dictionary
| by my side. Literature is full of words you will never encounter
| in a casual or professional setting and that ESL learners won't
| know from having been schooled in English lit. So some way to
| quickly open en.wiktionary.org for a given word or some option
| have that in a tooltip on hover or when pressing a special key
| could be helpful, but I'm just guessing.
|
| Very neat website, and very well made, congrats!
| brianjking wrote:
| Have you checked out Monkey Type? Blows Typeracer out of the
| water!
|
| https://monkey-type.com/
| cristiamyake wrote:
| Excellent idea, reading stimulates our imagination and being able
| to read and write it at the same time I suppose it involves a
| very different cognitive experience when it comes to experiencing
| a book, perhaps it improves memory or has other benefits, it
| would be interesting to do a study on it. A good practice for
| learning another language too.
| burner831234 wrote:
| This is wonderful. I have been working with my mother (english is
| her fourth language) to learn how to type and also to improve her
| English.
|
| I am really looking forward to sharing this with her over the
| weekend.
| cristiamyake wrote:
| excellent idea, reading stimulates our imagination and being able
| to read and write it at the same time I suppose it involves a
| very different cognitive experience when it comes to experiencing
| a book, perhaps it improves memory or has other benefits, it
| would be interesting to do a study on it.
| ZetaH wrote:
| This is great for practicing! Would it be difficult to implement
| a page where users could copy-paste text and use the same engine
| to retype them?
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello and thanks for giving the site a go! Something like this
| is planned for the future, so do keep an eye out!
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| Hoasi wrote:
| Nice! Neat idea and smooth execution.
| jcul wrote:
| This is really great.
|
| I tried to watch my hands as I typed and I noticed I only seem to
| type with two fingers from each hand, mostly the index finger.
|
| I've been typing like this for years, has anyone re-trained
| themselves to use proper 10 finger typing or even switched
| straight to something like DVORAK?
|
| Was it worth the effort?
| mNovak wrote:
| Support for mobile is amusing to me.. practice cellphone typing!
| aero-glide wrote:
| gtypist made me go from 30wpm to 80wpm in 2 weeks
| indifferentalex wrote:
| Love the idea! What about something like this but for software?
| Could be an interesting way to learn a new language/codebase
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello -- I'm glad you like it! I believe typing.io has
| something like this, but for programming languages.
| sasaf5 wrote:
| Also works for human languages!
| shazeubaa wrote:
| That's exactly how I learned to code. Retyping code from Byte
| magazine, Dr. Dobbs, and Apple Incider.
| yitchelle wrote:
| Second that method.
|
| It also increased my debugging skills as well when I entered
| one or more typos along the way.
| whoomp12342 wrote:
| yes, instead of learning dart, you will be tasked with writing
| microsoft excel in dart
| agustif wrote:
| https://typing.io/ This is pretty similar I think, used in the
| past. Can use your own code with the paying/subscription
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| lkuty wrote:
| Cool idea. It looks like it doesn't check if french accents have
| been typed. I could write the letter without its accent and it
| considered that it was good. And with its accent, it is good too.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hello! People kept asking for other languages, so I put some
| out but didn't have time to add an option for keystrokes on
| non-english letters to require the actual non-english
| keystroke. Rest assured it's coming soon, though. Thanks!
| rodolphoarruda wrote:
| Brilliant idea. I hope to see titles in other languages made
| available as well.
| leethargo wrote:
| Nice, this is very enjoyable. Will definitely pick this up again,
| after I get a new ergonomic keyboard.
|
| Would be nice to also type code from famous open-source projects,
| to practice hitting all the parens etc.
| Octouroboros wrote:
| Hey that's a really good idea! I'll add it to the ever-growing
| to-do list. Thanks!
| vianneychevalie wrote:
| One of the options I would suggest is to add the possibility
| to type the end bracket or parenthesis before the included
| code,by doing some kind of conditional forward lookup
| rgoulter wrote:
| typing.io is one option for this.
| millerm wrote:
| Though, I would add that just copying code verbatim doesn't
| really follow how people write code. It's not usually, or ever
| have I seen it, written in a linear fashion. Cursors jump up
| and down, you open a brace/bracket/parenthesis and almost
| always immediately close it, then proceed to insert code. Many
| languages are written from the inside out (like swizzling some
| lisp code together). Most people don't think "Ok, this is the
| code I am going to write" and proceed to type it in "page
| order" (I can't think of another phrase, it's early). Type
| hints, docs, access modifiers, can be added after the fact.
| Then constant refactoring occurs as things are broken out into
| their atomic parts. Then what you are left with is the result.
| It's akin to tracing a sculpture, there was a lot of work that
| went on before that sculpture became something beautiful.
|
| That's all.
|
| This is still a neat product. I typed a page from 1984. Makes
| me sad that I can't seem finish my own book or screenplays.
| anoopelias wrote:
| Learning to type open-source code could still add value since
| code will have larger frequency of '(', ')', '=', '_'....
|
| I tried learning typing typical paragraphs, got pretty fluent
| with it, but as soon as I tried the same with code, got stuck
| with those.
| thisistheend123 wrote:
| This is a great idea. As someone else mentioned, it is a new way
| of reading novels.
|
| I won't be surprised if this becomes really popular and then you
| would surely have Amazon showing interest in your innovation.
|
| Again many congratulations for shipping out a neat idea with
| great implementation.
| rayrag wrote:
| I've used Type Faster and Sublime Text to achieve something like
| this but instead of books I've used
| articles/tutorials/documentation or articles in another language.
| In Type Faster I was creating new lessons with article I wanted
| to read. In Sublime Text I've used two panels - on left side I
| had article on right it was my typing space. While Type Faster
| shows you what word you have to type right now Sublime doesn't so
| I had to memorize as much words I wanted to type to avoid looking
| back and forth between panels. This is also useful when learning
| new language, if you are using Duolingo you most likely focus on
| speaking/reading/pronouncing words and not on writing so retyping
| articles in that language is very good method to memorize words.
|
| https://sourceforge.net/projects/typefaster/
| nicoboo wrote:
| I've tried and like it.
|
| Few comments to improve your work: French language has a space
| before and after '?' or '!'.
|
| Also, normally, there are also other accent on uppercase letter,
| for example I had 'A la serre, le croc et l'ongle.' in 'Le livre
| de la Jungle', the first A should be 'A'.
|
| Chart for progression in WPM or correctness, tips to improve,
| audio feedback activation if error in typing...
|
| Keep going, it's a good idea!
| yorwba wrote:
| As mentioned in the footer (which is small and low contrast, so
| not surprising you didn't see it), the books are from Project
| Gutenberg.
|
| Both the lack of space before ? and ! and the lack of accents
| on the A are present in the version at
| https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54183/54183-h/54183-h.htm ,
| which has the following note at the bottom
|
| _Au lecteur_
|
| _Ce livre electronique reproduit integralement le texte
| original, et l'orthographe d'origine a ete conservee. Seules
| les erreurs clairement introduites par le typographe ont ete
| corrigees. Ces corrections sont soulignees en pointilles dans
| le texte. Positionnez le curseur sur le mot souligne pour voir
| l'orthographe initiale._
|
| _Cependant <<Shere-Khan>> a ete tacitement remplace par
| <<Shere Khan>> et <<Bandar Log>> par <<Bandar-Log>>._
|
| It also mentions that
|
| _This file was produced from images generously made available
| by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF /Gallica) at
| http://gallica.bnf.fr_
|
| And looking at the scan
| https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96184168/f18.item.r=L...
| it appears that while the punctuation marks did have more space
| in front, the A was missing the accent even in the original.
| swiley wrote:
| Sometimes when I really had to memorize things including nitpicky
| semantics I would retype them into diff. It works reasonably well
| and is a moderately enjoyable (if you're in the mood) mindless
| task kind of like driving.
| beachwood23 wrote:
| I think I have found a bug. It is in typing "The Art of War".
|
| The "s" in the first sentence of "Sun Tzu said:" does not want to
| be recognized. My "s" key works fine in other contexts, and other
| letters before this one are recognized just fine.
|
| EDIT: Actually, this seems to happen for different books,
| relatively early on in each. I am also seeing it in "Grimm's
| Fairy Tales."
|
| I have a MBP 2020, and I am using Safari.
| roryokane wrote:
| I encounter no problems typing that phrase in The Art of War on
| macOS 10.14 in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2020-10-06 23:00 UTC)