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    Mike Eaton's Progress

    • Started by Michael Eaton
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    • Registered: 03-Aug-2007
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    03-Aug-2007 02:29:49#1 Mike Eaton's Progress

    Hi All,

    I've been using colemak since Monday (7/30/2007).  On day four I'm already feeling really comfortable with the layout.  I'm a touch typist and I program computers for a living (.net framework, C#).  I've been coming to the site since early July and decided to switch cold turkey on monday (made the decision friday afternoon at work).  I've used nothing but colemak since monday.  I feel like every day typing has gotten easier and speed has definitely improved.  My old qwerty speed was around 60 wpm.   Right now i'm around 22 wpm + 14% error rate on lesson 12 (only tried it once).  I've been going through the lessons sequentially and moving on once I reach 30 wpm + 4 % error rate.  Pretty much following all the advice I've seen on the site.  That puts me on lesson 4 right as of right now.  I find it kind of cool to be one of the early adopters of this layout (probably < 1000 adopters).

    Last edited by Michael Eaton (13-Aug-2007 19:03:31)

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    • From: Köln, Germany
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    03-Aug-2007 07:38:02#2 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Congrats! Keep it going, soon you'll surpass your old 60 wpm, I'd nearly bet my house on that! I've just recently reached nearly 60 wpm on 'common words' lesson, just a shame I don't usually think that fast, so my normal typing speed can be quite a bit lower. xD

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    • From: NYC
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    07-Aug-2007 03:10:50#3 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    congrats...I think cold turkey is the best way to learn. You're doing good, keep it up :)

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    10-Aug-2007 20:20:50#4 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Typefaster Lesson 12: 31 wpm 9% error rate (as measured by typefaster) , Did lesson 4 at 40 wpm 3% error rate

    Not bad for 11 days (cold turkey)

    Forced to use qwerty at the dentist office yesterday, had to hunt and peck and kept hitting the caps lock button.  The caps lock being the back button was the one of the first keys I learned.  The first day of my switch, I blocked the old back space key with a business card, which forced me to adapt quickly (only took me a day to get used to it), and it is one of my favorite features (there are several).

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    14-Aug-2007 14:04:38#5 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Typefaster Lesson 12: 32 wpm 4% error rate

    I feel like the keyboard is second nature now.  My wpm is much higher for normal text (probably closer to 50 wpm).  I would say that I have successfully switched to Colemak.  I will still make some statistical updates here and there.

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    14-Aug-2007 16:08:31#6 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    WOW! So you managed to get perfectly used to colemak in only 15 days!? That's very good indeed! Did you do any touch-typing before?

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    15-Aug-2007 15:54:48#7 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    I've been touch typing since I was 14 (~6 years).  I think I adapted so quickly because I went cold turkey and I use a computer for at least 8 hours a day.  Also keeping the keeping some of the infrequently used keys in their qwerty position was a huge benefit.  Once I learned the home row I was in pretty good shape.  I only did the first 4 typing lessons (did lesson 12 as a benchmark) and let every day usage take care of the rest.

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    21-Aug-2018 22:03:10#8 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    11 Year later after my original post and I'm still at it with colemak. I leveled off around 70 wpm which was faster than I ever achieved with QWERTY. I have lost all QWERTY skill.

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    22-Aug-2018 08:02:44#9 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    It's cool to hear some long term users, so you're still using vanilla colemak, or have you moved over to one of the mods?

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    24-Aug-2018 13:53:07#10 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Hiya Mike! Long time no see, eh. :-)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    30-Aug-2018 02:01:25#11 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    I'm still using vanilla colemak. I remap the keys using registry in windows (I have found other approaches annoying). I have a few spare usb sticks that have a autohotkey compiled copy of Qwerty to Colemak for situations I can't do a registry remapping. I find I always have troubles with windows built in keyboard layout swapping mechanism.

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    30-Aug-2018 02:03:41#12 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Hi DreymaR, glad to drop back in. Was pleasantly surprised to find that these forums are still active after all these years.

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    30-Aug-2018 09:53:24#13 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Oh yeah, we're going strong. And I have a lot of stuff in my Big Bag – mostly on GitHub but presented here. And we have a Discord server that can be chatty enough.

    Colemak is vital. Colemak-ⲔⲰ[eD] is radical. ^_^

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    31-Aug-2018 01:54:58#14 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    I'm going to have to play around with your bag of tricks DreymaR. Looks like you and a few others have taken things to the next level.

    Colemak OG since 7/30/2007 (cold turkey switch)
    Somewhat of an optimization nut

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    31-Aug-2018 08:17:46#15 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress

    Next level?

    We're building a stairway to Heaven. ;-)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    31-Aug-2018 09:51:58#16 Re: Mike Eaton's Progress
    DreymaR said:

    Next level?

    ISO_Level5_Shift

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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