Each Friday, we share a handful of links we found interesting, provocative, funny — or just plain cool. We call it In Our Feeds. Have a great weekend!
Could smartphones actually help our reading skills? Software developer Spritz thinks so. The app, which is being released on Samsung devices, is looking to redesign the way we read by enhancing our reading speed while improving focus and comprehension. To put it in perspective: Spritz would allow us to read an entire Harry Potter book in a little over an hour if we read at 1,000 words per minute! Emma sent this Elite Daily piece about Spritz, but similar stories popped up on Fast Co. Design, PCMag.com, and Time.
And speaking of cool apps for readers and writers, I just learned about HemingwayApp.com. It analyzes and edits your writing by pointing out how many sentences are hard to read, how many adverbs you should replace with more active verbs, and how many times you use passive voice. It's kind of brilliant, but selfishly I hope it doesn't render copyeditors totally futile!
Meanwhile, Kyle, Scholastic's Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, sent over an interesting piece on what's changing in the SAT and how those changes highlight the importance of word choice—a great read for my fellow word nerds out there! Also great: 19 T-shirts that celebrate good grammar.
Unfortunately I missed out on the National Grammar Day celebrations this year, but March is full of interesting holidays; as you probably know, it's also Women's History Month. In that vein, Morgan shared a wonderful piece from The New Yorker. "It's about all sorts of things, including how Harriet the Spy and Scout Finch teach young girls what to be," she explained.
And last but not least, I love the link that showed up in Mike's feed this week: problems that only book nerds understand. Word.
Have a great weekend, all!
