Typing and Stuff (WAW)

For this week’s Write Anything Wednesday, let’s talk about typing – and sentence rephrasers.

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My Typing Speed

Out of boredom, I went looking for a site to test how fast I type.

I found a typing test widget via a Daily Mail article that was posted late in 2015. The widget is connected to a website started by Dutchman Juerd Waalboer. Of course, there are other sites that have typing tests, but this was the first I saw from a simple Google search.

How does the widget work? You have to type a series of 47 common words. Only the words that are spelled correctly count towards your final score.

Anyway, I took the challenge to at least see how I stacked up (against the averages of 187 characters per minute and 37 words per minute.

You want to know my score, right? SPOILER ALERT: I am not a stenographer. (I totally respect the talents of those who are. 😉 )

Here is my score:

I, of course, need to do better, although I type every day. But at least I beat the average on both fronts.

Come to think about it though … I guess I’m not surprised that the average is where it is. Most people don’t have the opportunity to type regularly, if they have any type of access to a computer at all. And it they use their smartphones far more often, that can have an effect.

A few years back, I was in a library, and an older man was struggling to type. He was using one finger to type things out and he was amazed by how fast I typed in comparison. I wasn’t typing very much, but I was using all my fingers and anyone nearby could hear the methodical clicking of the keyboard I was using.

I still wish I was faster. My mom says that she can type as fast as 100 words per minute. I think my sister is near there, too, and she has been typing more consistently that I ever have.

And I think I stop myself, too. I am so conscientious about making mistakes — which I inevitably do, anyway. I remember reading somewhere that maybe one should feel free to make mistakes first. That goes against my tendencies, because it is difficult to move on without first correcting some mistakes.

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Sentence Rephrasers

Some months ago, I checked out some sentence rephrasers, with some interesting results.

The first one I looked at was Complext Sentence Generator.

This is the text I typed into the field:

Really? That has got to be the most unoriginal piece of crap I’ve ever seen, girl.

What did I get back?

Authentically? That has got to be the most banal piece of crap I’ve ever optically discerned, girl.

LOL, what? XD

I even decided to copy and paste the website’s own description:

Complex Sentence Generator is very easy to use. After typing or pasting content in the first text box, press the convert button to automatically paraphrase the content. This software works as a paraphrase converter for transforming simple and common english into more complex english. It can be useful as a free article spinner due to it’s ability to rephrase a large body of text and potentially generate multiple unique versions with each conversion of the same content. With complex sentence generator you can reword content online and rewrite up to 7000 characters or less at a time/per conversion. This should be more than enough for spinning articles, essays or paraphrasing website content for blogs which usually consists of a large amount of content.

And this is what I got back:

Intricate Sentence Engenderer is very facile to utilize. After inditing or pasting content in the first text box, press the convert button to automatically paraphrase the content. This software works as a paraphrase converter for transforming simple and prevalent english into more intricate english. It can be utilizable as a gratuitous article spinner due to it’s facility to rephrase an astronomically immense body of text and potentially engender multiple unique versions with each conversion of the same content. With involute sentence engenderer you can reword content online and re-indite up to 7000 characters or less at a time/per conversion. This should be ample for spinning articles, essays or paraphrasing website content for blogs which customarily consists of a substantial amount of content.

I went to the Article Rewriting Tool website and typed in this field:

I wanted to use an ad-blocking tool, but these greedy bastards want to potentially open me up to some malware and viruses with their clunky ads. Thanks, bros!

This was the translation:

I needed to utilize an advertisement blocking instrument, yet these avaricious mongrels need to conceivably open me up to some malware and infections with their awkward promotions. Much obliged, brothers!

Really? 😀

My verdict: This isn’t really helpful in terms of writing articles. I don’t know if bloggers could use this, either.

In a way, it feels like plagiarism.Also, the wording is unnecessarily complex. One is better off using a thesaurus.