I found this thread interesting until I saw your post. This tool actually works accurately when you are not quoting anyone or when you are creating a new thread. It might be helpful for newbies who want to see how many characters they wrote. I think I myself checked a few of my posts on an online character counter to make sure I am following the signature campaign rules. But over the time, I realized that I follow the rules all the time and all my most the minimum character limit. Even though I don't need this tool, I would still appreciate the creator. I use a Chrome extension named Blaze Text for some of my work. It helps a lot. I hope someone will come up with similar tools for the desktop.