ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
A new site in Norway is asking its commenters to take a chill pill in the form of a quiz.
MARIUS ARNESEN: You have to answer three pretty easy questions from the article to prove that you've actually read and understood what the article states.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
That's Marius Arnesen, editor of NRKbeta, which is the tech side of the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. And Arnesen, whom we reached via Skype, says that quiz is to prevent what he calls rage typing.
ARNESEN: You know the feeling, right? I think we all know that feeling. It's not a good feeling. It's not a good thing to do. But it's a very natural thing.
SIEGEL: The quiz, which Arnesen admits is pretty easy to get past if you want, is supposed to do two things. One, see if you actually read the story past the headline.
SHAPIRO: And two...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STRIPES")
WARREN OATES: (As Sgt. Hulka) Lighten, up Francis.
SHAPIRO: ...To get you to relax a little.
ARNESEN: You know when you write a really angry email, you should always like take a break, take a cup of coffee and then go back to that email, and maybe just think before you post it. This is our try to make the comments work in the same way.
SHAPIRO: Nothing to calm you down like a little pop quiz.
SIEGEL: Now, Marius Arnesen says it's too early to say if the new comments system is really having an effect. But they plan to stand by the notion that if you're going to test someone's patience, maybe you should get tested first.
(SOUNDBITE OF IKEBE SHAKEDOWN SONG, "BY HOOK OR BY CROOK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
