MySpeed is a small, lightweight application that allows you to speed up or slow down videos.

So, why would you want to change the speed of videos? Well, as the people over at MySpeed point out, you might want to speed up a video to get to the central point more quickly, or simply to be done with the advertising. On the other hand, you might want to slow down when complicated concepts are being discussed, or to help you understand a foreign language you are learning.

The MySpeed application is a discrete slider box that appears when it detects flash videos, either online or saved to your computer. You use the slider to make the video faster or slower, without any loss of quality. This speeding up and slowing down is very smooth – you’ll barely notice MySpeed in action. Unfortunately, sliders are notoriously difficult to use accurately, so you might find using one a little irritating.

MySpeed also has basic preferences available, such as maximum and minimum speeds. It also has a full range of hotkeys, which make controlling the app much easier than when you use the slider. Unfortunately, the test version of MySpeed took several attempts to activate the trial version – it was a small problem and eventually resolved itself, but didn’t make a good first impression.

In all, MySpeed is an excellent app, especially if you watch a lot of videos. By speeding media up, you can listen to long videos quickly – brains are impressive machines and can absorb information much more quickly than we think. Likewise, slowed videos are perfect for language learning, allowing learners to watch entertainment or lessons in their language of choice – slowing them down just a fraction makes them considerably easier to understand and follow.

MySpeed is an excellent tool for speeding up and slowing down flash videos.