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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: kektr0city on Sun, 10 April 2011, 16:43:03

Title: How fast are you?
Post by: kektr0city on Sun, 10 April 2011, 16:43:03
http://www.typingtest.com/

I'm averaging 84 raw wpm, 6 errors, and 76 adjusted wpm.  My peak wpm is 89 unadjusted and 81 adjusted.  I've gotten into the habit of not capitalizing after punctuation due to auto correct.  Also, this is all on my new Leo with brown switches (my first mech).
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Culinia on Sun, 10 April 2011, 16:44:53
How many minutes did you do and what thing did you type so we can all compare?
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: kektr0city on Sun, 10 April 2011, 16:47:39
i've done all the tests on 1, 2, and 3 minute.  more than a few of them aren't actually long enough to be run at 3 minutes if you're typing that fast.  the two that are headlines from NYT are also variable day by day.

edit:  also just hit a new peak of 83 adjusted with 0 errors.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: BucklingSpring on Sun, 10 April 2011, 16:54:59
Btw... What are current good touch typing softwares?
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Culinia on Sun, 10 April 2011, 16:57:28
Nice. I'll show you my replays from hi-games.net

2 min (http://hi-games.net/typing-test/watch?u=4142) 84 wpm
5 min (http://hi-games.net/typing-test,300/watch?u=4142) 80 wpm

My fastest: 1 min (http://hi-games.net/typing-test,60/watch?u=4142) 93 wpm

Edit: forgot to mention, normally I type comfortably at 75 wpm without too much effort, that would be my everyday speed....for now. Hope to improve though!
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: BlacK.OuT on Sun, 10 April 2011, 17:42:12
91 wpm 3 minutes, 2 errors
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Khaotik55 on Sun, 10 April 2011, 17:44:50
3 Minute Astronaut, 90wpm 2 errors. - 1st try.

I tried it again around 110wpm, but 1 error F'ed me over. I kept backspacing and screwing it up. Too many quotations and periods piss me off. Especially since I "gamer" type with 4 fingers.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Megaweapon on Sun, 10 April 2011, 18:43:05
This is a good test; It doesn't count double spacing at the end of sentences against you.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: BucklingSpring on Sun, 10 April 2011, 18:49:56
Quote from: Khaotik55;328153
I tried it again around 110wpm (...) Too many quotations and periods piss me off. Especially since I "gamer" type with 4 fingers.


Impressive...  You manage to punch 110wpm with 4 fingers?

I too got killed by the quotes and did an horrible 40wpm :(
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: bionicroach on Sun, 10 April 2011, 18:53:12
Quote from: BucklingSpring;328129
Btw... What are current good touch typing softwares?

Actually, the TypingMaster software from the people that host that same site is quite good.

http://www.typingmaster.com/ (http://www.typingmaster.com/)

It has a (optional) feature where it can monitor your typing across all your applications and keep track of words that you screw up all the time so it can build custom typing drills for you.  (Optional because obviously, it might log things you don't want logged, such as passwords, pr0n URLs, etc...)
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: BucklingSpring on Sun, 10 April 2011, 19:01:45
Quote from: bionicroach;328190
Actually, the TypingMaster software from the people that host that same site is quite good...(Optional because obviously, it might log things you don't want logged, such as passwords, pr0n URLs, etc...)


Exactly, even if an option... Too big brotherish for me.

Reminds me last proofing software I got. Paid $150 and it took 10s to download. I told myself wtf? Turned out to be a thin client sending everything you submit for proofing to their server. Big no-no at work where confidentiality was paramount. Nowhere they were mentionning this little detail.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Keymonger on Sun, 10 April 2011, 19:17:54
Quote from: bionicroach;328190
Actually, the TypingMaster software from the people that host that same site is quite good.

http://www.typingmaster.com/ (http://www.typingmaster.com/)

It has a (optional) feature where it can monitor your typing across all your applications and keep track of words that you screw up all the time so it can build custom typing drills for you.  (Optional because obviously, it might log things you don't want logged, such as passwords, pr0n URLs, etc...)

Been using this. It's excellent. Before I used Ktouch a few times. It's an amateurish mess compared to TypingMaster.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: RebelExtrm02 on Sun, 10 April 2011, 19:33:08
Try this site for just testing speed. It can get addicting. :/

http://play.typeracer.com/ (http://play.typeracer.com/)
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: spronkey on Sun, 10 April 2011, 19:40:02
126WPM 2 errors 124WPM Adjusted - 631 chars
in 1:00 min. Accuracy 98% 2 errors deducted

How does my speed compare?
Your adjusted speed of 124 WPM was
244% above the average 36 WPM.

On "Test Instructions" with me cheapie Logitech K120 that i'm using until I am able to get my Ducky 9008 brown back from earthquake damaged building... apparently this means I can save 7 hours per day...

Should ask for a raise...
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: dazed on Sun, 10 April 2011, 20:32:56
74wpm and 0 errors in 1min.  I need to work on typing faster.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: ladiesman2927 on Sun, 10 April 2011, 20:51:28
(http://i54.tinypic.com/a1sf9c.png)

This is up there with my best scores on typeracer (http://play.typeracer.com/). Done with my new EK leo otaku :nerd:
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: NimbleRabit on Sun, 10 April 2011, 20:57:13
Seems like this thread pops up every few weeks.

(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2354519/TypingSpeed.PNG)

There we go, first try.  I'll have to do a few more and see if I can beat ladiesman up there - I dunno though, that's pretty damn fast.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: NimbleRabit on Sun, 10 April 2011, 21:07:21
Quote from: Khaotik55;328153
3 Minute Astronaut, 90wpm 2 errors. - 1st try.

I tried it again around 110wpm, but 1 error F'ed me over. I kept backspacing and screwing it up. Too many quotations and periods piss me off. Especially since I "gamer" type with 4 fingers.


This astronaut one is super annoying.  I managed 108 WPM with 3 errors, but a few parts were just so strange that I had trouble typing them at all.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Resaebiunne on Sun, 10 April 2011, 22:15:20
I got 99 wpm after adjustment on the 3 minute wizard of oz test.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: kektr0city on Sun, 10 April 2011, 22:47:59
Quote from: Resaebiunne;328293
I got 99 wpm after adjustment on the 3 minute wizard of oz test.


i did the 3 minute wizard of oz test and it bugged out on me and actually ran out of words.  i just redid it and got 90 wpm, my new high.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: pm_ on Sun, 10 April 2011, 23:35:07
Using Typeracer, my best test was 134 WPM. I think had one other that was above 110, most were in the 85-100 range, and one or two below that. I find that a lot more fun than typingtest.com :p
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Chobopants on Sun, 10 April 2011, 23:38:19
Yeah I find typeracer much more interesting, especially if you sign up and keep track of your average.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: pm_ on Mon, 11 April 2011, 00:06:36
BTW, type racer quoted GladOS from Portal.  That was both awesome and hilarious at the same time...
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: What is X? on Mon, 11 April 2011, 01:00:12
My highest was around 120 wpm on typeracer. Got 84wpm reduced in the magic typewriter test though.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: vicariouscheese on Mon, 11 April 2011, 12:07:06
I average 100 on typeracer, but I NEVER get 100% accuracy :(:(

I peak around 120-125 with really easy passages and 99.999999% accuracy :P

Will try OP's test when I'm not on a laptop keyboard
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: rustybarnacle on Mon, 11 April 2011, 12:11:38
Typing tests are fundamentally flawed.  Copying something on the screen is going to be a different rate than writing the next great american novel or chatting in an IRC channel.  I'd much rather have a utility that just tells me how many words I typed in a given period, and gave me an average wpm for that.  Typershark isn't a great metric of every day use of my board.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Reaif on Mon, 11 April 2011, 13:14:07
I find that I have the same problem. I type much faster when I am just spitting out what comes into my brain to type instead of outputting the same thing I am currently reading. That being said, I got a measly 60 wpm on the OP website. Oh well. I really need to learn to type a little faster.

On the other hand, I was much faster back when I was doing chat support. I must have been at least in the 80s if not 90s cause I was typing constantly for about 8 hours per day.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Lanx on Mon, 11 April 2011, 13:14:56
Quote from: rustybarnacle;328634
Typing tests are fundamentally flawed.  Copying something on the screen is going to be a different rate than writing the next great american novel or chatting in an IRC channel.  I'd much rather have a utility that just tells me how many words I typed in a given period, and gave me an average wpm for that.  Typershark isn't a great metric of every day use of my board.


ditto.

i'm not a photocopier lol, or one of those courtroom ppl.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: ktkr on Mon, 11 April 2011, 13:36:02
80 wpm average over ~750 typeracer races.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Variable on Mon, 11 April 2011, 14:27:47
about 80 wpm after running the test twice.

I don't know if I 'gamer type' but I certainly don't type the correct way.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Dejital on Mon, 11 April 2011, 16:00:56
I'm hitting 110 wpm on my Saitek Eclipse with typeracer. As soon as I get my new Filco, I will try and see if there's any improvement.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: daerid on Tue, 12 April 2011, 01:56:06
90 on my das III blue. I'm getting rusty :-/
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Proword on Tue, 12 April 2011, 03:34:10
Quote from: Lanx;328679
ditto.

i'm not a photocopier lol, or one of those courtroom ppl.


As one of those "courtroom people" I'm mostly limited in my speed to how fast somebody is speaking :wink: , so about 8 years ago, to find some sort of "average" typing speed I once gathered an entire month's output, lumped it all into one document, used the word count function on the word processor, assumed a 5 day working week and an 8 hour day and came out with ...

23 wpm.

(But that included coffee breaks, lunch, proofreading, etc etc.)

Funny thing, I had to do 50 wpm to get the job in the first place.

(FWIW.  I never showed my then boss that figure.)

I stopped worrying about my typing speed after that. :biggrin:

Joe
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: DeodanD on Tue, 12 April 2011, 04:12:07
always considered myself a fast typist, used to play typeracer a fair bit and i was always among the best but still a cut below the very top (one of my accounts is still in the top 50 all-time list for 10 race average - aSlayer at 154 wpm).  

averaged 130-140 when i used to use a laptop keyboard, got a filco with cherry blues in December and i average 145-155 on it, a bit more when i've had some coffee.  i focus on accuracy though so i rarely break 160.  my high on typeracer is 168, which is actually pretty low compared to my average.

edit:  took a quick video and put it on youtube.  150 wpm with my cherry blue filco.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An3QicBfo9s

I could've probably gone faster but i got nervous and tensed up a bit because i was filming myself.  as you can see, my hands move very little and i don't make errors, both of which i worked on when i was trying to improve my typing speed.  i have a background in competitive rts (war3 and then sc2) so that helps too.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: What is X? on Tue, 12 April 2011, 06:03:01
Quote from: Proword;329046
As one of those "courtroom people" I'm mostly limited in my speed to how fast somebody is speaking :wink: , so about 8 years ago, to find some sort of "average" typing speed I once gathered an entire month's output, lumped it all into one document, used the word count function on the word processor, assumed a 5 day working week and an 8 hour day and came out with ...

23 wpm.

(But that included coffee breaks, lunch, proofreading, etc etc.)

Funny thing, I had to do 50 wpm to get the job in the first place.

(FWIW.  I never showed my then boss that figure.)

I stopped worrying about my typing speed after that. :biggrin:

Joe

How'd you get into that job? Do you have to do any special training or is it just "fast typists wanted"? I was thinking of doing that as a part time job when I'm at uni next year
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Proword on Tue, 12 April 2011, 07:02:12
Quote from: What is X?;329071
How'd you get into that job? Do you have to do any special training or is it just "fast typists wanted"? I was thinking of doing that as a part time job when I'm at uni next year


A long story, but I started doing Pitman's Pen Shorthand in 1979, but then I bought a computer, and started working on my typing speed and general knowledge by typing university essays and theses for a few years, then got some evening work in a big legal firm doing audio typing of legal documents.  I then expanded into "legal temp secretary" (that's when I started taking my Maltron with me), then in 1990 I figured I knew enough and had good enough typing speed to apply to be trained as a reporter.

In Australia, most court reporting is done via audio recording, either cassette tape or digital, rather than Stenotyping in "real time", so there's no necessity to go through the years of learning machine shorthand, but just, as you suggest, fast typing speed.

The other requirements are good English comprehension, good understanding of law and how legislation is framed, grammar, ability to punctuate accurately, knowledge of current affairs, particularly criminal matters, attention to detail, ability to work at high speed under extreme stress (I was a clerk in an Australian Cavalry unit in South Vietnam in 1970, so THAT helped a lot :wink:), ability to improvise, patience (people with stammers and accents) and a couple of other things I can't remember.

I don't know about other countries, but here the SRAA (Shorthand Reporters Association of Australia) according to this link

http://www.sraa.org/

seems to have gone into a bit of a slump.

As well as fast typing speed, I'd suggest you get a good handle on speech recognition (Dragon Naturally Speaking is just absolutely all the aces) and work out some form of shorthand as I did.

http://proword-transcription.blogspot.com/

It's difficult to give any strong suggestions as this sort of stuff varies from country to country, and even state to state (in Australia).

You could try a different route and get into an area such as medical transcription.  That's a pretty specialised area, which I've had a year or so experience in.  Perhaps you may be able to find a small firm in your area which you could hook onto, sort of like an apprentice, then later on, as I did, go solo.  I work exclusively at home and set my own hours.  It's a real lifesaver.

Google "Medical Transcription" and see what comes up.  Or perhaps even Google "Audio Transcription".

There are one or two groups you can join as well:

transcribing@yahoogroups.com (http://transcribing@yahoogroups.com)


Good luck,

Joe
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Dejital on Tue, 12 April 2011, 14:36:24
Well I got my keyboard and I'm beating it ! Hitting 113 now. Not a significant upgrade, but pretty good for my first time using this keyboard. :)

Quote from: Dejital;328749
I'm hitting 110 wpm on my Saitek Eclipse with typeracer. As soon as I get my new Filco, I will try and see if there's any improvement.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: What is X? on Thu, 14 April 2011, 00:49:55
Quote from: Proword;329087
A long story, but I started doing Pitman's Pen Shorthand in 1979, but then I bought a computer, and started working on my typing speed and general knowledge by typing university essays and theses for a few years, then got some evening work in a big legal firm doing audio typing of legal documents.  I then expanded into "legal temp secretary" (that's when I started taking my Maltron with me), then in 1990 I figured I knew enough and had good enough typing speed to apply to be trained as a reporter.

In Australia, most court reporting is done via audio recording, either cassette tape or digital, rather than Stenotyping in "real time", so there's no necessity to go through the years of learning machine shorthand, but just, as you suggest, fast typing speed.

The other requirements are good English comprehension, good understanding of law and how legislation is framed, grammar, ability to punctuate accurately, knowledge of current affairs, particularly criminal matters, attention to detail, ability to work at high speed under extreme stress (I was a clerk in an Australian Cavalry unit in South Vietnam in 1970, so THAT helped a lot :wink:), ability to improvise, patience (people with stammers and accents) and a couple of other things I can't remember.

I don't know about other countries, but here the SRAA (Shorthand Reporters Association of Australia) according to this link

http://www.sraa.org/

seems to have gone into a bit of a slump.

As well as fast typing speed, I'd suggest you get a good handle on speech recognition (Dragon Naturally Speaking is just absolutely all the aces) and work out some form of shorthand as I did.

http://proword-transcription.blogspot.com/

It's difficult to give any strong suggestions as this sort of stuff varies from country to country, and even state to state (in Australia).

You could try a different route and get into an area such as medical transcription.  That's a pretty specialised area, which I've had a year or so experience in.  Perhaps you may be able to find a small firm in your area which you could hook onto, sort of like an apprentice, then later on, as I did, go solo.  I work exclusively at home and set my own hours.  It's a real lifesaver.

Google "Medical Transcription" and see what comes up.  Or perhaps even Google "Audio Transcription".

There are one or two groups you can join as well:

transcribing@yahoogroups.com (http://transcribing@yahoogroups.com)


Good luck,

Joe

lol those attributes fit me perfectly... and i do indeed own a copy of dragon naturally speaking :)
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: manfaux on Thu, 14 April 2011, 00:57:33
58 adjusted wpm.. fail me.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Proword on Thu, 14 April 2011, 02:01:06
Quote from: What is X?;330409
lol those attributes fit me perfectly... and i do indeed own a copy of dragon naturally speaking :)



Then it sounds like all systems are go.  

All you need to do now is practice "shadow speaking" ... that's listening to a recording and speaking along with it, while at the same time putting in the punctuation.  

If you don't already have it, some recommended software (freebie down load) is Audacity to record your audio

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/


and for playback/transcription

http://www.fortherecord.com/products/therecordplayer/

The transcriber works best with a  foot control pedal, but can be operated from the keyboard, which is not a problem with Dragon, but can slow down keyboarding.

The other (minor) problem with Therecordplayer is the automatic "backspace" (ie when you take your foot off the pedal it takes the recording back a certain amount of time so you don't miss anything) is only settable in whole seconds.  I only use 0.2 - 0.4 of a second, but I think it will be a while before that becomes a real irritant.  

I eventually wound up getting Quikscribe

http://www.quikscribe.com.au/

because the backspace can be set to 1/10".  (At my suggestion.  The guys at Quikscribe are very eager to assist and I've had some pretty lengthy discussions with them about what goes on in a court, but it was mostly to do with recording, rather than transcription.)

So I guess it's up, up and away?  

Joe
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: What is X? on Thu, 14 April 2011, 02:27:39
Do you subconsciously visualise words as they are spoken or thought? I also feel a mild impression of typing which i can make conscious if i focus. Just curious if anyone else does this.

oh btw I'm also in australia (queensland, uni is in brisbane), not sure if you got that.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Proword on Thu, 14 April 2011, 03:00:32
Quote from: What is X?;330448
Do you subconsciously visualise words as they are spoken or thought? I also feel a mild impression of typing which i can make conscious if i focus. Just curious if anyone else does this.

oh btw I'm also in australia (queensland, uni is in brisbane), not sure if you got that.


Haha.  I was born and raised in Ascot, right next to the Eagle Farm Racecourse.

It's difficult to put it exactly into words because I actually have three means of input, which are interchangeable, quite literally at a moment's notice.  "Vanilla" (ie just plain typing everything in full),  shorthand and speech recognition.  

An example of how the input can change from moment to moment.  I might be doing a judge reading out his/her reasons for decision (my idea of heaven, a single speaker who is clear in quiet surroundings) shadow speaking with Dragon.  Then one of the counsel raises a point.  I then have to do a "change of speaker."

So

HIS HONOUR:  blah blah blah.

MS JONES:  Your Honour?

HIS HONOUR:  Yes, Ms Jones?


Using WordPerfect I have attached the following keystrokes to a key combo (say Alt+1) [ENTER] [ENTER]HIS[SPACE][HONOUR]:[SPACE][SPACE].

And the same for Ms Jones (but on Alt+3) (Alt+2 would be the witness microphone)

On change of speaker I can (a) do "vanilla" and type the whole thing (b) press the key combo Alt+1 (c) use Dragon and say the entire thing (though not the space between "HIS" and "HONOUR", but saying the double space after the colon, or (d) using Dragon say "Press Alt one".  As you're no doubt aware, there is a minimum processing time with any speech recognition (including a required pause to differentiate text from a command) so it's actually quicker to press the key combo, then when the macro has finished recommence speech recognition.


The shorthand is just a matter of practice.  I actually spell things different ways.  The phrase "Your Honour" I can type in full or key in "yh" and hit my expansion key.  The word "could" I can spell in full OR type "C"[Ctrl+O] ("ould").  "That" is [Ctrl+H] but "that's okay" is "h'o" [expansion key]. "That's fine" is "h'f" [expansion key] and so on.

Since you're in Brisbane, you might want to try Pacific Solutions:

http://www.pacifictranscription.com.au/

They're at Indooroopilly.

I did a bit of work for them a few years ago, down loading stuff from all round the world (even BBC).  (I was contacted by the manager after he saw my testimonial on the Quikscribe Website.)  You'll need a fairly high speed broadband connection, otherwise the files can get very compressed and difficult to transcribe.  (But them I'm picky, having spent 30 years doing my own recordings so I always get good results when I do my own.  :biggrin:)


Perhaps we might move away from this thread, because we seem to be about to hijack it.  Perhaps you could send me a PM/email and we can get into more of the nitty-gritty.
Joe
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: keyboardlover on Thu, 14 April 2011, 12:08:58
If there are, PM me!
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Jack on Thu, 14 April 2011, 12:11:42
...
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Bilbin on Thu, 14 April 2011, 12:20:28
What is 'gamer' typing? I type with only 3 fingers on my left hand, left thumb for spacebar (pinky for modifiers) and only one finger, index, on my right hand (ring/pinky for modifiers/enter/backspace).

What typing would that be? Unorthadox?
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Tony on Mon, 18 April 2011, 04:31:15
60-65 wpm. I only type at work and do not exercise anymore.

After drills and typing tests, I can reach 70wpm for very short texts.

Check my profile at hi-games.net
http://hi-games.net/profile/4314
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: nocturn4l3030 on Mon, 18 April 2011, 05:02:11
just tested myself today on 3 different keyboards, i'm hovering from 105-115wpm
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: liist on Mon, 18 April 2011, 05:03:20
Before I got my transcription job, I did a typingtest.com on my laptop and scored 101 adjusted WPM after three mistakes. But now that my transcription job is so macro-heavy, I'm doing to about 90 WPM when prepared because of bad habits.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: ladiesman2927 on Thu, 21 April 2011, 22:57:29
(http://i52.tinypic.com/2mmzazd.png)

This is my best run on this site yet. It's actually pretty hard to stay consistent on this one while trying to maintain your speed
http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: n12 on Thu, 21 April 2011, 23:54:05
Quote from: ladiesman2927;335290
This is my best run on this site yet. It's actually pretty hard to stay consistent on this one while trying to maintain your speed
http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/

It's not too hard, considering all the words are very simple, almost never require capital letters, and has no added punctuation.
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: ladiesman2927 on Fri, 22 April 2011, 03:36:59
I found it a bit challenging typing random words rather than actual sentences
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: Proword on Fri, 22 April 2011, 03:49:59
Exactly.  It's one of the keys of touch typing.  It's like being asked to type a word when somebody says it letter by letter (eg h-i-p-p-o-p-o-t-a-m-u-s) rather than saying the complete word.  You actually are typing the word without having to break it down into individual components.

I transcribe using my own shorthand, so if I hear the expression "have to be", I don't start typing the letters, I simply type hv2b, then press the expansion key, and it expands to the full phrase.

It's hard for me to do those on-line typing tests, because I've even got single word shorthands, such as "though", I type "th" then I hit Ctrl+G.  "that" is Ctrl+H, and it's very hard NOT to do them.  And when I DO hit them, I get marked with an error ...:sad:

Joe
Title: How fast are you?
Post by: xenonrider on Fri, 22 April 2011, 17:05:57
107 WPM
131 Errors