[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Anyone highlight text as they read?
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Ask HN: Anyone highlight text as they read?
I don't know what it is but when I read things on a screen I tend
to click and drag, highlighting the text that I'm reading, or
double clicking the paragraph to select all of it. Anyone else do
this?
Author : ch33zer
Score : 35 points
Date : 2022-04-12 18:15 UTC (4 hours ago)
| Pyrodogg wrote:
| Yep, very much.
|
| I think it's a fidget of sorts, to generate stimulation. I guess
| in order to help stay focused reading blocks of text. If I'm not
| randomly selecting bits as I read I might be reading it aloud.
| Otherwise I might loose my focus, resulting in rereading bits
| more than I need to, or just falling off finishing it.
| labarilem wrote:
| I do it, usually when I'm focused and really trying to understand
| the text. Don't know when I started, feels like it's always been
| like this.
| Someone1234 wrote:
| I do.
|
| Except on sites like Medium where if you click anything it
| highjacks the selection and gives you a bunch of nonsense. For
| example this article on the front page right now:
|
| https://medium.com/enzymit-log/why-enzymit-decided-to-build-...
|
| Try selecting text.
| gunfighthacksaw wrote:
| Hate hate hate that pattern so much.
|
| If it's a hyperlink, make it look like one.
|
| If it doesn't behave like hypertext, GTFO MAH HTTPZZ
| poyu wrote:
| Yes!! And I use it with three finger drag on the Mac trackpad
| betterburnout wrote:
| I regularly underline in the books I read, with ruler and pencil.
| When it comes to instructions and rules, I underline and
| highlight.
|
| Sorry for this question. Is it possible to highlight a part of a
| text somewhere in a web page, copy it, paste it somewhere else in
| a word processor as a quote/hyperlink and when you click on it
| you end up exactly where the quote is on the web page ?
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| This feature is built into Chrome.
|
| Search Google for 'chrome copy link to highlight'.
| ldenoue wrote:
| Yea and I use my tool Yawas Highlighter to highlight web pages on
| my browser or iOS https://www.appblit.com/yawas
| The_rationalist wrote:
| usr1106 wrote:
| I don't. But I find reading longer, complicated texts on a
| vertical screen tiring and not good for understanding it. Reading
| books or somewhat surprisingly also on my small mobile phone
| feels just better.
| huydotnet wrote:
| I have the same habit too and went as far as making a highlighter
| for myself to use [1]. (Sorry for the shameless plug)
|
| [1]: https://github.com/huytd/highl.it
| emersauce wrote:
| I will highlight once in a while, but only a particular sentence
| or phrase that I want to sit back and focus on for a moment.
|
| Another quirk I've noticed is that I always scroll more than
| necessary while reading. It feels odd to have the text I've just
| read sitting at the top of the screen, so I scroll down to get it
| out of my view. Maybe it's an ergonomic preference; it feels
| better to look at the top of the screen rather of the lower half
| (I work on a laptop with no stand). Whenever I am sharing focus
| on a screen with someone and I notice they are reading all of the
| visible text on the screen before scrolling, I realize how
| particular my habit is.
| wara23arish wrote:
| I do the same thing. It annoys the hell out of people if they're
| reading with me.
|
| Funny enough tho, I hate highlighting actual paper text, i never
| understood the point of that
| gozzoo wrote:
| Can someone recomend a good Chrome plugin for highlighting web
| content?
| nmonsey wrote:
| Sometimes when I use multiple monitors and have several windows
| open, I select text so I don't lose my place when reading. I wish
| the colors of the letters would not change color when selected.
| MiddleEndian wrote:
| Yes. I usually triple click to select the line/paragraph I'm on.
| If some site fucks with that setting, I try to disable most of
| their javascript with the "Absolute Enable Right Click And Copy"
| add-on's "Absolute Mode" and if that doesn't work I close the
| site.
| dont__panic wrote:
| Thanks for the add-on recommendation. I tend to select
| paragraphs and sentences as I read articles just like OP, so
| this should do nicely to neuter sites that try to override
| selection behavior.
| mostertoaster wrote:
| Yes. All the time. My co workers probably find me maddening in a
| collaborative google doc.
| bell-cot wrote:
| _Definitely._ Especially if the text has too low of contrast in
| the browser, and highlighting makes it easier on my old eyeballs.
|
| (Or, as xkcd suggests, sometimes as an idle sort of finger-
| twiddling.)
| throw_away wrote:
| I am a highlight reader. Going through this thread, I thought it
| would be nice to automate it, as it's a triple-click to highlight
| a paragraph in safari.
|
| What if instead, it was just on hover? I'd like to opt into this
| for just pages with long text, and so I created a bookmarklet.
|
| Using this page:
|
| https://mcdlr.com/css-inject/
|
| I added this naive css: p:hover {
| background-color: Highlight; }
|
| It works ok, if any fellow highlight readers want to give it a
| try, but does anyone with any sort of css-fu know how to make it
| more robust? I tried adding other tag:hovers, but nesting quickly
| makes this weird. Is there a way to select parents of text nodes?
| jarenmf wrote:
| I do it all the time or just move the page slightly if I'm
| reading a PDF. Don't know why but some who it helps makes reading
| quicker
| mattl wrote:
| I don't but I know plenty of people who do.
| sebmellen wrote:
| Triple click.
| cc101 wrote:
| I made a mac tool to do this for both web pages and files. Every
| time I mention it's name on HN, my account gets deleted. Sigh!
| leach wrote:
| I've never actually thought to do this but its kind of genius.
| joshstrange wrote:
| I don't highlight in real time what I'm reading but I use it as a
| bookmark if I need to take my eyes away from the screen or step
| away from my computer. I also sometimes highlight as I go in a
| long article proactively so if I need to look away I've "saved my
| spot". I hate when sites pop up a share UI or similar when I
| highlight, I never want to do that and if I do want to share I'll
| just copy/paste it, not use your "tools".
| saperyton wrote:
| Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1271/
| visox wrote:
| I do often select text to not to lose my progres
| sc00ty wrote:
| Yup, all the time. Recently I've been using reader mode in Edge
| and it has a "line focus" which highlights 1, 3, or 5 lines as
| you scroll. I'm finding works just as well for me, but I still
| highlight outside of that.
| topher200 wrote:
| Constantly
| tveyben wrote:
| Yep - a visual guide makes one read faster.
|
| I learned to use a piece of paper to cover up what I have
| already read to avoid the eyes to 'backtrack'. For reading on
| paper that is. I find highlighting on screen a little similar
| ...
|
| This was on a speed reading class I attended in the 90'ies
| tomazio wrote:
| I do it all the time and have been doing it as long as I can
| remember. I couldn't tell you why, but as others have pointed out
| it annoys the crap out of people when they're trying to read with
| me.
| sddat wrote:
| Out of context but reminds me of the painfully missing feature in
| outlook to highlight key information . How can this feature be
| not there ?
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(page generated 2022-04-12 23:02 UTC)