This is a work in progress, but I’ve developped a small speed reading application in JavaScript. It’s definitely not the first of its kind, but I wanted web version with more options. I’m also planning to open source it, and I’ve yet to see an open source web app of this kind.

The app: http://www.fsavard.com/code/speedread/

We often hear about how important it is to understand, to not just memorize information blindly. But there are situations when long term memorization is an essential part of the study process, for example if you’re trying to learn a new language. A common tool to help in this is flashcards, ie. cards each with a precise question on one side, its answer on the other.

When digging deeper on how to maximize the efficiency of flashcard review, the “when to review such or such card?” question naturally comes to mind. It turns out some people have been researching that very question and have come up with interesting tools and theories on how to best use your time when reviewing.

I always find it interesting to understand the phenomenons that affects me and discover their root causes, be that in politics or information overload (IO). About IO, one path to explore is the motivation behind the production of information.

As you may know, on the Web there are clear incentives to get good search engine ranks to drive traffic to your site, in some cases generating revenue from ads. I just recently realized some of the specifics of this sometimes involve generating massive amounts of content, details of which I found rather startling.

In the following I explain why some people generate whole websites very quickly without adding any real value to existing information to profit from advertising.

This is about a year old, but very relevant here. Timothy Ferriss, author of “The 4-hour workweek”, interviewed Robert Scoble and filmed his RSS reading process (he’s suscribed to more than 600 feeds!).

Read on for the video.

In my introductory post on personal wikis, I briefly explained their use to organize personal knowledge. I also said I use WikidPad, personally. Here’s the rationale behind my choice. I cover main WikidPad features and efficiency considerations.