Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

beelinereader.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 273 posts

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#191

Post by calipast »

Smirnoff wrote: post #189
josho wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took their test and came out 2% faster (likely statistical noise more than actual improvement). Regardless, I attribute the improvement to the obscure content in the non beeline reading passage. I'm curious what others experienced?

I had a similar thought when I read the texts. The first (b&w) text was just harder to comprehend due to esoteric words, lack of thought direction, and several personas. I couldn't understand what author was trying to say. The second (colored) text was about a female teacher and had a common vocabulary and a straight-forward theme with one character. According to them I read 11% faster. Although I guessed on 2 out 3…

Actually, the test randomizes which passage you receive in which color. So if you got the "harder" one in Beeline, you might have the opposite experience. (I've tried it a couple times to see how it works...)

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#193

Post by [deleted] »

Smirnoff wrote: post #189
josho wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took their test and came out 2% faster (likely statistical noise more than actual improvement). Regardless, I attribute the improvement to the obscure content in the non beeline reading passage. I'm curious what others experienced?

I had a similar thought when I read the texts. The first (b&w) text was just harder to comprehend due to esoteric words, lack of thought direction, and several personas. I couldn't understand what author was trying to say. The second (colored) text was about a female teacher and had a common vocabulary and a straight-forward theme with one character. According to them I read 11% faster. Although I guessed on 2 out 3…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#194

Post by gavinpc »

JasonFruit wrote: post #166
rokhayakebe wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read at 146 words per minute, and that is average text. I probably read slower when the material is hard. Over the past year or so I went through roughly 90% of Plato's work (like, really), The Quran (partially), On the Nature of Things, Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Discourses by Epictetus, How to Read by M. Adler, Alchemy of Happiness by Ghazalli, etc.... I also read several short text including James Allen, Xe…

None of those are works that should be speed-read. Thomas Aquinas, Plato, Epictetus, the Qur'an, and (above all) the Bible should be rolled around the mouth, tasted deeply, and either made a part of you or thoroughly spit out if they are found indigestible. If your mechanical reading speed is the limiting factor in reading these works, you're doing it wrong.

I agree, but god damn, I am jealous. I have two small children and I've finished one book this year. (Coders at Work by Peter Siebel, I highly recommend it.)

My wife reads 10x faster than I do but completely eschews the kind of reading I like (viz, literature). But of course, now that, y'know, she has kids too, her overall reading speed is strangely reduced as well.

Anyway, at a first glance I found the line coloring helpful.

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#196

Post by Groxx »

This has been around for a little while, hasn't it? Like, a year or two at least? I'm reasonably sure I've seen this website before...

Not to say it's not interesting / not a valuable submission. I love the idea, and it seems like it might help me read faster, which is always cool. Just wondering if my memory is correct.

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#197

Post by rokhayakebe »

JasonFruit wrote: post #166
rokhayakebe wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read at 146 words per minute, and that is average text. I probably read slower when the material is hard. Over the past year or so I went through roughly 90% of Plato's work (like, really), The Quran (partially), On the Nature of Things, Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Discourses by Epictetus, How to Read by M. Adler, Alchemy of Happiness by Ghazalli, etc.... I also read several short text including James Allen, Xe…

None of those are works that should be speed-read. Thomas Aquinas, Plato, Epictetus, the Qur'an, and (above all) the Bible should be rolled around the mouth, tasted deeply, and either made a part of you or thoroughly spit out if they are found indigestible. If your mechanical reading speed is the limiting factor in reading these works, you're doing it wrong.

Plato is mostly dialogues and it is only hard in the sense that I have to extract the philosophy out of the text, plus Socrates goes around and around. Epictetus is ok as well, the text is simple to read, and I found myself taking many notes and comparing his text to others. Modern interpretation of the Quran with commentary is helpful, the thing about it being that each chapter is somewhat separated from the rest. Bible, I picked than put it back down with humility because I just knew I could not grasp it. Aquinas is hard to follow, imo he is a logician before a theologian and I know nothing of the first and very little of the second science. However I am very interested in the subject of his writing. I agree it is "accidentally" mechanical reading although my goal is "understanding." I just started to read heavily the past 2 years and this is my beginner's eagerness.

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#198

Post by Groxx »

tomkarlo wrote: post #147
cbsmith wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why you'd change foreground colours instead of background colours.... Either way, quick experiment shows it to be horrid for me.

There's an existing, broadly used method for solving the line transition errors - you background color every two lines in an alternating set of colors. There used to be ribbon-feed printer paper pre-colored with this for certain applications that involve reading across lines a lot (like database output.) Seems like that is a more practical solution. Here's what I mean: http://www.stationerytrade.com/upfile/images/big…

I'm not aware of eye tracking setups that are reasonably priced and that accurate, but I like the idea quite a bit :) I'll have to test it out some time - should be relatively fake-able by just moving a marker up/down with keys.

Re: Show HN: Ditch Black Text to Read Faster, Easier

#200

Post by inovator »

graeme wrote: post #165
rokhayakebe wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read at 146 words per minute, and that is average text. I probably read slower when the material is hard. Over the past year or so I went through roughly 90% of Plato's work (like, really), The Quran (partially), On the Nature of Things, Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Discourses by Epictetus, How to Read by M. Adler, Alchemy of Happiness by Ghazalli, etc.... I also read several short text including James Allen, Xe…

I like spreeder: http://www.spreeder.com/ Set the chunk size to three for best effect. Just gradually increase it each time, and also try using it occasionally with the speed far too fast. You'll get used to subvocalizing less, and reading multiple words at once. Of course, for complex texts like the ones you read, it's natural to read much slower. I read 600 WPM for most internet articles, but I'm sure I wouldn't re…

maybe it's just me but I feel like I have a stutter thought when I read using that. It's just doesnt feel right; I think books/articles reading will be less enjoyable if I'd have to use it.
Post reply on HN