Extreme Reading!

anamardoll · 08-09-2011, 02:13 PM

Time for an unutterably silly thread!

What would be the challenges on an Extreme Reader program (as opposed to the Food Network Extreme Chef and similar programs)?

5thWiggle · 08-09-2011, 03:10 PM

First thing that popped into my head was Monty Python's All-England Summarize Proust Competition......

How about 3am in the morning, pacing, while trying to quiet colicky twins (but only if "Goodnight Moon" counts).

kacir · 08-09-2011, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

What would be the challenges on an Extreme Reader program (as opposed to the Food Network Extreme Chef and similar programs)?

Install an RSVP program and crank it up to 1000 words per minute. Let's see how long you can follow the story without loosing the place in a book. You blink and pffffft ... ;-)

RSVP stands for Rapid Serial Visual Presentation.
It quickly flashes fragments of text (a long word or a group of words) on screen. This way you can read really, really quickly. Just start a program and slowly crank up the length of the text fragment and frequency.
There is even plugin for Firefox.
The system was originally developed for small screens, like mobile phones.

Giggleton · 08-11-2011, 04:26 PM

Interesting thread,

I would say present each reader with a mountain of text and then have them try to filter it down to a presentable amount, after which they are required to set up some kind of ebook storefront and are given a set amount of time to sell a set number of copies, it goes a bit beyond reading, but I doubt a straight up reading experience would be interesting to anyone else besides the reader, no matter how "extreme" you might think that experience to be.

VydorScope · 08-11-2011, 05:58 PM

Make non-blind readers read in braille

anamardoll · 08-11-2011, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Make non-blind readers read in braille

Seriously! I was thinking the other day about how cool it will be when someone comes out with a braille eReader -- something that could maybe arrange the dots under the screen. It will be so cool when someone develops that.

charleski · 08-11-2011, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Seriously! I was thinking the other day about how cool it will be when someone comes out with a braille eReader -- something that could maybe arrange the dots under the screen. It will be so cool when someone develops that.

http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/12-m...dly-pleasures/

HomeInMyShoes · 08-11-2011, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

First thing that popped into my head was Monty Python's All-England Summarize Proust Competition......

How about 3am in the morning, pacing, while trying to quiet colicky twins (but only if "Goodnight Moon" counts).

I've got Goodnight Moon memorized, plus the Gruffalo's Child, How to Catch a Star, Lost & Found, The Runaway Bunny.

I was thinking of something like reading while parachuting. Maybe just don't get so caught up in the plot that you forget to pull the chute.

RDaneel54 · 08-11-2011, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I was thinking of something like reading while parachuting. Maybe just don't get so caught up in the plot that you forget to pull the chute.

A whole new definition for "smashwords."

5thWiggle · 08-12-2011, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I've got Goodnight Moon memorized, plus the Gruffalo's Child, How to Catch a Star, Lost & Found, The Runaway Bunny.

I was thinking of something like reading while parachuting. Maybe just don't get so caught up in the plot that you forget to pull the chute.

Definitely! Extreme reading needs to put life and limb (and/or sanity) in peril, just like base jumping.

Maybe take a page from "The Pit and the Pendulum", except passing a comprehension test (not the French Army) is your savior. No wussy "Wipeout" style games (...and he jumped the dreaded "Stack 'o Encyclopedias" but fumbled the landing as the OED caught him square in chest, dropping him into the "Pit of Omnibus Editions"!)

jbcohen · 08-12-2011, 09:30 AM

Off the subject but in the vain of humor - I was in a neighborhood grocery store last week when I picked up a package of chicken leggs with five legs in it and thought to myself:

"Isn't there something unsettling about a chicken with five leggs."

pdurrant · 08-12-2011, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Time for an unutterably silly thread!

What would be the challenges on an Extreme Reader program (as opposed to the Food Network Extreme Chef and similar programs)?

Reading which hanging upside down?
Reading while pedalling to power a reader with no battery?
Reading with glasses that give tunnel vision?

HomeInMyShoes · 08-12-2011, 10:30 AM

Reading while in a pit of venomous snakes?

VydorScope · 08-12-2011, 10:47 AM

Force feed back reading of a kung fu novel

RainingLemur · 08-12-2011, 11:42 AM

There was a segment I saw on one of those "Dumbest people" shows they had on Fox some years ago. At a rodeo, they set up a poker table in the middle of the ring, and had 4 volunteers go sit and play cards while a ticked off bull ran around. If you got freaked out, you left, and you lost. The last person who stayed at the table won some cash, or something. Unfortunately, I think the video had the guy who lasted the longest get mauled by the bull, and part of his scalp wound up hanging over his face.

I'd propose something like this, except with books and without the scalp hanging.

08-09-2011, 02:13 PM	#1
anamardoll Chasing Butterflies Posts: 3,132 Karma: 5074169 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: American Southwest Device: Uses batteries.	Extreme Reading! Time for an unutterably silly thread! What would be the challenges on an Extreme Reader program (as opposed to the Food Network Extreme Chef and similar programs)?

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Where's the Most Extreme Place You've Done It?	foreverjuly	General Discussions	191	09-07-2010 10:27 PM
Extreme Editing	ASparrow	Writers' Corner	30	06-02-2010 09:58 PM
Unutterably Silly Rick'Rolling extreme :)	Slite	Lounge	5	11-09-2009 09:26 AM
The Extreme eBook, PRS505	TedPark	News	2	08-10-2008 09:23 AM

08-09-2011, 03:10 PM	#2
5thWiggle Benevolent Evil Lord Posts: 1,704 Karma: 48339466 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Evil Canada (We all have goatees!) Device: Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note, iPad Mini, PocketEdge(retired)	First thing that popped into my head was Monty Python's All-England Summarize Proust Competition...... How about 3am in the morning, pacing, while trying to quiet colicky twins (but only if "Goodnight Moon" counts).

08-11-2011, 04:26 PM	#4
Giggleton Banned Posts: 1,687 Karma: 4368191 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Oregon Device: Kindle3	Interesting thread, I would say present each reader with a mountain of text and then have them try to filter it down to a presentable amount, after which they are required to set up some kind of ebook storefront and are given a set amount of time to sell a set number of copies, it goes a bit beyond reading, but I doubt a straight up reading experience would be interesting to anyone else besides the reader, no matter how "extreme" you might think that experience to be.

08-11-2011, 05:58 PM	#5
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Make non-blind readers read in braille

08-12-2011, 09:30 AM	#11
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,033 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	Off the subject but in the vain of humor - I was in a neighborhood grocery store last week when I picked up a package of chicken leggs with five legs in it and thought to myself: "Isn't there something unsettling about a chicken with five leggs."

08-12-2011, 10:30 AM	#13
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	Reading while in a pit of venomous snakes?

08-12-2011, 10:47 AM	#14
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Force feed back reading of a kung fu novel

08-12-2011, 11:42 AM	#15
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	There was a segment I saw on one of those "Dumbest people" shows they had on Fox some years ago. At a rodeo, they set up a poker table in the middle of the ring, and had 4 volunteers go sit and play cards while a ticked off bull ran around. If you got freaked out, you left, and you lost. The last person who stayed at the table won some cash, or something. Unfortunately, I think the video had the guy who lasted the longest get mauled by the bull, and part of his scalp wound up hanging over his face. I'd propose something like this, except with books and without the scalp hanging.