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Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

typelit.io

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Re: Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

#141

Post by bloak »

theLotusGambit wrote: post #132

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.

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!)

Re: Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

#142

Post by inatreecrown2 »

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).

Re: Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

#144

Post by Octouroboros »

jonnycomputer wrote: post #143

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.

Hello! That's good idea, and I may add feature at some point. Thanks for the suggestion!

Re: Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

#145

Post by kyuudou »

m463 wrote: post #114
bravura wrote: post #2

"[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…

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).

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.

Re: Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

#147

Post by lexicality »

technoplato wrote: post #103
rozab wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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 bl…

> 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...

Re: Show HN: I made a site where you practice typing by retyping entire novels

#150

Post by Octouroboros »

jonplackett wrote: post #133

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?

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!
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