The Internet is full of information, and therein lies the problem. There is so much information we would like to read, but not enough time to read it. The upshot of this is we may miss out on interesting and useful information simply because we do not have the time to keep up with it all.

This is why Eyercize has been invented. It is available at http://www.eyercize.com/, and aims to introduce you to effective speed reading. According to the site you will be able to “learn and absorb reading material faster than you can now.”

Eyercize is currently in free beta mode, supported by donations, and a paid product will be released in due course with a number of additional features. But you can take advantage of their reading pacer, which will help to increase your reading speed – this is provided free of charge, and gives an insight into how you should speed read.

The way it works is groups of three or four words at a time are displayed bolded for you to read, enabling you to get through a lot of text far quicker than you would otherwise. The best thing about this reading pacer is the degree of control you have over it. You can start at a pace which suits you, and increase it as you become familiar with how the tool works. The number of points you fix your gaze on in a sentence can also be changed, along with several other factors. This enables you to personalise the pacer to suit you.

Some of the sliders you can change include the number of words displayed per minute, the number of eye fixation points, the type size, the amount of white space between lines and the number of lines displayed at one time.

A bookmarklet is also available, as a plug-in for your browser. Once this bookmarklet is installed you can highlight suitable text in your browser window, click on the bookmarklet and utilise the services of the reading pacer.

Here are just some of the benefits which come with Eyercize:

• You will be able to read several times faster than you can now
• Useful bookmarklet included to enable easy access to the reading pacer
• The techniques can be used with the printed page as well as online content
• Less eyestrain thanks to using the technique of reading blocks of words
• Change the number of words per minute you are speed reading, and learn how to read even faster

Eyercize is currently an online application though mobile and desktop versions of the application are planned. A more detailed tachistoscope section will follow in future versions of the application.

I like the simplicity and flexibility of Eyercize, and the fact that it helps me absorb more information, faster, makes it a site well worth visiting.

To find out more about Eyercize and to sign up for the beta, visit http://www.eyercize.com/ and you can also visit the useful frequently asked questions section at http://www.eyercize.com/faqs.