A bookmarklet is a piece of code saved as a bookmark. When you click it, instead of just taking you to a bookmarked website, it performs an action (which may include taking you to another website, but does not have to do that). Here are 5 recommended bookmarklets to boost your productivity by helping you instantly subscribe to, read, tweet, share and translate webpages.

This is an excerpt of a post I wrote on MakeUseOf. To read the full post visit 5 Recommended Bookmarklets To Simplify Tedious Tasks.

Bit.ly, the great URL shortening services, has just released an upgrade to its Bookmarklet.

Features of the new version

• Tweet without leaving the page – Tweet directly from the bit.ly sidebar without leaving the page you are 
• Easily share on other platforms – use the direct links to share the page via email, Gmail, or Facebook.
• Clicks Summary - see a summary of the clicks the page has received (both created by you and the total number of clicks).
• Real time conversations report - see what people are Tweeting and Friendfeeding (?) about the page (updates in real time).

‎

…Read the rest of New Bit.ly Bookmarklet Released » ‎ ‎

Ever read a post or article and wanted to email it to others? Use The following bookmarklet to ease things up.

How to use it

To use the bookmarklet (which is a piece of code saved as a bookmark), simply add it to your bookmarks bar. Right click the button below and choose “Bookmark This Link” or just drag and drop it to the bookmarks bar:

Right click the button and choose “Bookmark This Link”

What it does

Whenever you click the bookmarklet, it’ll do the following actions:

1. Create a new email message (in a new window).

2. Set the title of the webpage as the subject.

3. Add a link to the webpage in the body of the message.

4. Copy all the text that was selected when you clicked the bookmarklet into the body of the message (see images below).

While you’re at it, you might also want to configure an new-email keyboard shortcut.

ZAP Reader is a web program that enables you to practice speed reading while reading online text. It is easy to use and does not requires registration or any payment.

How it works

Any text pasted into the zap reader box is read at a predefined pace (300 words per minute as default), a predefined number of words at a time (one word as default).  (See the example picture.) You can paste any text you like, word documents, internet pages, and so on.

Why is it good

When practicing speed reading, three technical issues are to be considered:

1. “Block of words” size - the number of words you read with every eye movement.
2. Fixation - the time spent on each block. 
3. Skip-backs - the number of times you move back to read things you’ve already read.

(See more about Increasing Your Reading Speed at Mind Tools).
ZAP reader practice all three of these technical issues. ‎

…Read the rest of Speed Reading – Enhance Your Reading Abilities with ZAP Reader » ‎ ‎