(Okay, perhaps it’s not yet “massively multiplayer” but, it could be!)
My latest distraction is a fun web based “game” called TypeRacer, where you “race” against other typists in realtime who are all typing the same text which is often a quote from a book or song lyrics.
I love typing speed measurement games and TypeRacer’s social software aspect and multi-player nature really sets this apart. I’m also a huge fan of educational online gaming. It would be nice to select passages from educational texts to type against your friends–learn something while having fun typing.
I’ve wondered whether there’s truly a better keyboard layout than QWERTY before and have yet to find any solid scientific proof. If Dvorak was measurably better than QWERTY, I would have expected to see two “bands” of scoring on TypeRacer: one of the varied QWERTY-layout typists, and a “break-away” group with speeds far above the rest who are master Dvorak-layout typists.
Either way, I guess I’m going to take a moment to fluff my ego:
Yes, that’s for real: 143 WPM. As you can see from the larger screenshot, my average speed over the past 5 races is 127 WPM. I know that over time, the average will regress to between 110-120 WPM, but for now, I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts. :-)
Think you can beat me? Lets set up a type-off and see who’s got the fingers of fury! Bring it on!
Programmer, husband, father, singer, guitarist, tinkerer, reverse engineer, strange, and living in New Jersey. 
I can do about 150wpm, but it takes 4 hours to do the spelling corrections :-)
wow.. that game was kewl… and i typed 156 wpm in like 3 hrs.. it was amazing what i thought!! x_x it was awsome like i was the only one there!! and yah..! (m) :/ ;)
wow!! dude, i wish i won!!! it was horrible! :(