geekhack Community > Keyboards
300+ wpm Stenotype (Chording) Machine? Why not a standard?
Playtrumpet:
Yeah. My biggest concern besides the shape of a normal keyboard to do certain chords is the fact that the dictionary is not an unedited dictionary. I know I've read on a steno forum this same concern for beginners. If we could get a bare Plover dictionary with an untouched StenEd or Phoenix or even Magnum Steno theory, that would be ideal.
The libraries for python are the reason I can't get it to run natively on mac. I'm not a programmer, but I'm sure there's a way around it.
graywolf:
Yes, a basic student dictionary would be nice. But, I think the thing to do is when you find something you do not want is to go in and change it. Looks like it is usr/local/lib/pyhon2.7/dist-packages/plover/assets/dict.json
Also, I think it is based on the eclipse dictionary. Her briefs may all be at the beginning of the file, as it is pretty random, then turns alphabetical. I guess that makes sense as you would want the system to use your personal brief rather than the standard one, so it gets placed at the top of the list.
Playtrumpet:
I was looking through that the other day actually and found that there are a bunch of sections throughout the file where her personal briefs seem to be located. Some are situated right in the middle of long strings of the standard dictionary so I don't think it'd be completely possible to find them all. I do wonder if Ms. Knight has a way of resurrecting the untouched software. =|
staniel:
--- Quote from: Playtrumpet;417975 ---Plover is readily available to me, but I'm just giving myself excuses not to seriously start teaching myself (ex. It's best taught from professionals, with proper texts and dedication, I don't know anyone in real life who knows steno (and few who even know OF it), it takes months to learn it and I'd be an amateur, all alone trying to teach myself a professional language, etc.). I've got plenty of excuses, but I PRETEND that accessibility and convenience are my actual excuses.
Soon, though.. I'll get up the courage to begin for real. Learning multiple disciplines is an intimidating prospect and it just stresses me out a bit is all..
But for anyone NOT being classically/intensely trained in a discipline (it should be relatively apparent that I am saying I'm a musician in the toughest year(s) of my training right now) I strongly encourage trying to learn steno. I'm certain that so FEW people actually learn the standard language on their own and it would be exciting to hear from the earliest self-taught, proficient stenographers as I hope there will be many more in the future.
--- End quote ---
Hey guys,
I heard about this thread over at the Plover forum and would like to introduce myself and maybe answer questions you may have. I'm Stan and I am a self-taught realtime stenographer who quite literally started on Plover as my first ever CAT software. I started about a year ago (Spring quarter of my junior year in college, I think) and my speed in steno is currently in the mid 200s (like 200-220 WPM). I'm planning to take the official NCRA realtime skills test this November.
I guess I would be exactly the type of rare person Playtrumpet was referring to as I actually never used any textbooks of any kind to learn steno until fairly late in the game (after I had already bought a professional machine, etc.). But I just wanted to assure you that it is entirely possible to achieve professional speeds in machine shorthand by yourself.
In my early stages, I basically used that exact online book you linked on here to learn the alphabet. Then I learned the chords by experimenting with Plover and basically learning the outlines word-by-word by searching through Mirabai's dictionary. Once I got a professional machine and software, I continued this study tactic by downloading a stock dictionary for my theory and both learning from it and editing the **** out of it (yes, a lot of work!).
I practiced all summer long before my senior year and went into my classes (with my steno machine!) with a solid 100 or so wpm under my belt. You can imagine how helpful it was for taking notes. After like 2.5 quarters of using my steno machine in all my classes, writing essays with it, chatting on Facebook with it, and basically just chucking QWERTY (and Dvorak!) out the window in favor of using steno for everything, in my last few classes of college I was basically captioning lectures word-for-word at blistering speeds, sometimes 200+ wpm. Couple kids bought notes off of me or bartered them off me via coffee or lunch. Some even bribed me to transcribe their classes for them (because they didn't wanna go themselves, lol).
In reading your discussion regarding the steno vs. keyboard shorthand debate, for someone who is not thinking about stenoing as their career, I think it would be more beneficial to learn steno over a keyboard-based abbreviation system depending on what goals you have in mind for its use. For instance, steno doesn't really help me write formal compositions like essays or articles because I can't think at 250+ wpm to write an essay. So even armed with my steno machine, I'll still be sitting there next to my friend on QWERTY writing her essay until the crack of dawn because I'm thinking about word selection, connotation, tone, grammar, fluidity, etc. and I'm constantly changing stuff and moving things around. In this case, the keyboard system would be the way to go since you wouldn't have to reach up from the steno machine to the keyboard and mouse for copying/pasting/deleting and you probably are going to be using a somewhat restricted lexicon since you're writing on a certain topic. I would imagine keyboard shortcuts working very well here since you will probably be typing certain cumbersome key words and phrases over and over again so the added efficiency would be a benefit. But in careful writing, simply being able to write all words faster may not be one.
However, on the other hand, I love writing steno when chatting on Facebook because you're thinking at conversational speeds and you can bang out a response to someone's message as quickly AND efficiently you could have spoken it. If I have a lot of emails to respond to, I use steno because again, I am writing as fast as if I were speaking and as an added bonus, software takes care of all the capitalization and spacing.
The only glaring drawback I see to the keyboard system is the amount of time it would require to build a usable dictionary (and remember it). In this sense, steno is obviously at an advantage because there are stock dictionaries which come prepackaged with thousands of entries, most of which can be predicted easily using the rules of the system. Don't get me wrong, I do end up spending a great deal of time editing my dictionary and perfecting it. But I'm a careerist writer who needs to do that constantly in order to achieve the ridiculously high performance levels expected of certified realtime stenographers. For most people though, forgetting the brief for 'interrogate' and just relying on the phonetic entry IN/TER/GAIT is still a total of three phonetic key strokes vs 11 and thus quicker than typing it (or with the keyboard shortcut method, unless you can come up with something that's only three strokes long for 'interrogate' and had already defined a short for it in advance).
Plus there's no getting over the fact that steno is written in chords and keyboards can only register one letter at a time. With the keyboard shortcut method, the only way to reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to type something is to shorten it in length. But, the more you shorten, the more arbitrary it becomes and the more you have to memorize. Steno is sometimes also just as arbitrary; I can have the entire word "guidelines" or "in order to be able to" up on the screen in one stroke by hitting chords that are probably just as arbitrary as 'fnu' or 'ftu' (they're GLAINZ and NORBLT, respectively). But either way, you vastly reduce the number of strokes even while adhering to phonetic principles simply by virtue of the fact that one can compress more data per unit of time in steno, period.
Ex:
Keyboard system (parens indicate number of strokes):
became: bca (3)
become bco (3)
because: Ctrl + B (1)
Steno:
became: PWAEUPL [baim] (1) / phonetically: PWE/KAEUPL (2)
become: PW-PL [b-m] (1) / phonetically: PWE/KOPL (2)
because: PWAUZ [bauz] (1) / phonetically: PWE/KAUZ (2)
So if you don't mind having to bring a steno keyboard with you everywhere, it would be worth it if you're someone who has to take notes, type up minutes, or send lots of emails. The key is that the time it takes to physically input text has to be the limiting factor for steno to be worthwhile. If you're just lazy and hate writing "the voiced labiodental fricative" a gazillion times on a paper, but don't necessarily feel frustrated that your fingers can't keep up with your thoughts, then just stick with a keyboard-based system.
Anyway, I just wanted to put myself out there since I already feel like an ambassador of steno for the younger/future generation and I love spreading the word. I just don't understand why so many people either don't know about it or consider it an old lady's profession, an arcane and/or outdated technology. I feel like if this style of data input were harnessed elsewhere like in mobile phones and tablets, for example, that HIDs would be ****in revolutionized. Steno-Swype?!?! But alas, people are lazy, un/misinformed, or all the above. I guess that's why we stenographers have jobs (and make bank!).
Again, feel free to ask any one of us over at Plover if you have any questions. :)
And for those who have not seen steno in action before, here is a screencast I recently posted of me transcribing a certification practice test at 180 WPM. It should hopefully illustrate how the machine shorthand code corresponds to the translated output. Behold the power: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey7VuAGmS8A.
Playtrumpet:
No way! I've seen your videos. You are a rare breed. ^_^ Ever get asked weird questions about bringing in your machine to a class?
Your input is so valuable to me and I share your opinions about abbreviation systems vs chording and their different applications and usefulnesses. Finally someone else who can justify my seemingly weird and off-beat obsession.
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