Reading helper

This is such a great idea; I can’t believe that it hasn’t appeared before.

My morning routine is to make sure that I get up before the dog so that I can do a bit of reading before his needs take over and the rest of the day gets started.

There are all kinds of things to read; some short and to the point, some short and pointless, some long and require some deep thought, and so on.  When you get used to reading short posts, the longer ones become a distractor.  It’s not that I don’t want to read them; it’s just that there might be a better time and place.

But how do you know if it’s going to be long or short?  Traditionally, my method has been to look at the size of the scroll bar as it adjusts to the article’s length.

Yesterday, I stumbled into this Chrome Extension that takes it one step further.  The extension is called Read Time and its goal in life (or at least in your browser) is to estimate how long it’s going to take for you to read the story you’ve just loaded.

After the story loads, the extension pops a tiny square on the screen to give you an idea about how long it’s going to take you to read the article.

Of course, we all read at different speeds so you might enjoy a little reading test to see how you do.

There is a default setting but you can change it with the results of your test.  While in the settings, you might want to adjust position, size, and colour.

It’s very addictive!  Plus, I can see how it’s going to be helpful too.

I’m also seeing another use.  When writing, there’s probably a fine line between what’s too short and what’s too long.  Pop your draught into a browser and you’ve got an instant estimate as to how long it will take the average reader to read your works.  I’ve got to think about that.

In the meantime, it’s almost as interesting as the articles themselves!