Speed Reading with New Technology ...

The technique of speed reading is exploding online. With the technology of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) you can speed read up to 700 words per minute and comprehend it all. With RSVP text is brought you your eyes unlike traditional reading where your eyes move towards the text. With practice RSVP may help you to read more quickly and with greater comprehension on your PC. The cool thing is that the words just keep coming at you and your mind can absorb them without running into two problems with regular reading which are regression and sub-vocalization. Sub-vocalization is the process of speaking each word inside your mind. The phonetics method of reading, the way we are taught in school, teaches you to pronounce each letter in a word to form a complete word. Regression is when the reader re-reads either consciously or sub-consciously.

I read an article about RSVP in Mobile magazine. They have an RSVP simulator on their website. Check it out here. So I checked it out and found a real speed reading program called Speed Reader Plus. I installed it on my Pocket PC and gave it a try. I read two short stories this morning. They were An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and one called If You Lived Here. Both together took me about 20 minutes total. I was up to 400 words a minute.

What I really want is the ability to speed read my Microsoft Reader books. I was unsuccessful in finding software that would do that. If anyone can find a speed reading software program for Microsoft Reader that would be great.

So I ended up finding Project Guttenberg. Project Guttenberg’s mission statement is “To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.” Project Guttenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Guttenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.

I wasn’t sure what to start looking for so I picked through the top 100. Books are public domain books, lots of classics. I picked up.

Ulysses by James Joyce
Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
Myths That Every Child Should Know by Various
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I wonder if I can read any one of those books by the time I get home tomorrow? I wonder if my battery will last long enough.

Sorting Transformers ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02424 Yesterday I drove Andy to school. Today I walked over with them. I did so not because I didn't think Andy would be safe on their own. Andy has been walking home from school for well over a year so walking to school is the same thing just in reverse. I wanted to see how long it actually took for the walk to go. I of course, over estimated how early we had to head over. The walk itself only takes a brisk 15 minutes. And that is at a modified teenager's shuffle. So Andy can leave the house around 6:25-6:30 and still get there by 6:45 when the doors open to the High School. Good to know. During the day I started one of the projects I've been meaning to start and have been putting off. I'm sorting through my Transformers and getting them ready to sell. I have talked with the guys at Double Midnight Comics about selling them my collection. Not the stuff I have on display and also I am picking out some figures that I want to keep as part of the collectio...

Time with Lexi ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02401 Today We watched my sister's dog, Lexi. My sister and her husband were coming back up here from their home and they had boarded the dog. They weren't sure if they'd be there in time to pick her up so we did that for them. We had Lexi for a couple of hours before they arrived and we had dinner together. Lexi was pretty chill for the most part until Torrun came in to the living room to investigate. At first they just looked at each other. Andy grabbed for LEXI's leash and then Lexi tried to go after Torrun. Torrun ended up bolting for the upstairs and we did not see her for hours. James knew enough not to even come down.

Time For Another Change ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02402 Andy decided to clean their room today. In so doing they decided that they no longer wish to hang on to their LEGO sets. So, I now have them all and I spent the afternoon disassembling many sets to fit into the one bucket. There were many Minecraft sets in there. What I'm going to do eventually is take what is in the bucket and separate it down to the individual sets that I still have instructions books for. The organizing of that is going to be daunting. I will try and figure out an efficient way to separate everything but I'm sure that will take some time. Andy also decided that they no longer want the piggy bank that was mine. That I am putting into a box for Andy for when they get older and maybe have kids of their own.

BenSpark Family Adventures

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