Steno! by Emile Swarts
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0:03 - 0:04DREW: You ready?
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0:04 - 0:05Okay.
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0:05 - 0:07EMILE: So hi, everyone.
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0:07 - 0:09I just wanted to know --
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0:09 - 0:12has anyone used steno?
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0:12 - 0:13Steno keyboarding?
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0:13 - 0:14No one?
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0:14 - 0:15By show of hands?
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0:15 - 0:16Except for Drew?
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0:16 - 0:17No one?
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0:17 - 0:19Okay, well, that's awesome, because...
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0:19 - 0:21Prepare to be amazed.
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0:21 - 0:24Maybe the best thing that you never tried.
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0:24 - 0:26Could be.
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0:26 - 0:27So what is steno?
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0:27 - 0:30It's a specialized,
non-alphanumeric, -
0:30 - 0:31chorded keyboard layout.
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0:31 - 0:36Non-alphanumeric
meaning that not all the letters of the alphabet -
0:36 - 0:37can be found on the keyboard,
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0:37 - 0:41and you actually get them
by pressing different chords. -
0:41 - 0:43It also works with phonetics,
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0:43 - 0:46so as opposed to
typing out individual letters, -
0:46 - 0:48like you do with a typewriter-style keyboard,
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0:48 - 0:50you do words.
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0:50 - 0:53So you can see how this already benefits things.
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0:53 - 0:57It's almost like object-oriented programming
to procedural programming, -
0:57 - 0:59is one way you can think of it.
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0:59 - 1:02It's typed using a stenotype,
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1:02 - 1:05and back in the day,
they used to look like that thing, -
1:05 - 1:08where you put your code
on a piece of paper, -
1:08 - 1:10so not very good for us.
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1:10 - 1:12This machine must be about...
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1:12 - 1:14More than 100 years old.
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1:14 - 1:17Nowadays, they look like that.
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1:17 - 1:20So if you wanted to plug it into USB,
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1:20 - 1:22you would need something like that.
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1:22 - 1:25And then why should you care about this?
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1:25 - 1:28Us all being developers,
and especially liking Vim, -
1:28 - 1:30we do a lot of typing,
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1:30 - 1:35and the thing about qwerty,
or even Colemak or Dvorak, -
1:35 - 1:37is that you'll get RSI.
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1:37 - 1:39If you work for eight hours straight,
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1:39 - 1:42just constantly typing,
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1:42 - 1:43you will get RSI.
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1:43 - 1:46And this is one of the things
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1:46 - 1:48that is solved.
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1:48 - 1:52So that's a huge win,
and I'm sure we all always look out for that. -
1:52 - 1:56Significantly faster than qwerty.
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1:56 - 2:00So we speak at about 180 words per minute,
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2:00 - 2:05and the top speed for qwerty
is about 160, without, you know, -
2:05 - 2:08Guinness Book of World Record exceptions.
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2:08 - 2:11So it's much faster.
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2:11 - 2:16And I think the record for steno
is at about 360 right now. -
2:16 - 2:18People reach 300 words per minute,
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2:18 - 2:22and they say in six months,
you'll be on 160 words per minute. -
2:22 - 2:25So it's way faster than qwerty.
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2:25 - 2:28Fluency and efficiency of text entry,
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2:28 - 2:31which is something we all know about,
using Vim. -
2:31 - 2:35It's just that --
the rhythm that you have while working. -
2:35 - 2:39And you'll get more of this
when you focus on words, -
2:39 - 2:42and not just letters,
typing in individual letters. -
2:42 - 2:46It's an emergent technology,
even though it's been around for hundreds of years. -
2:46 - 2:51In the context of us using it,
us developers using it, -
2:51 - 2:55it's quite an emergent technology,
so that's quite exciting. -
2:55 - 3:01If you wanted to use this,
obviously you need a modern stenotype -
3:01 - 3:05with a USB cable,
that would plug in, like we saw previously. -
3:05 - 3:08So there are a few problems with that.
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3:08 - 3:09They're really expensive.
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3:09 - 3:11Bloated proprietary software.
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3:11 - 3:14And highly monopolized market.
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3:14 - 3:17So that's the problem, right?
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3:17 - 3:20But then, luckily for us,
along comes Plover. -
3:20 - 3:23And they solve this problem
by producing -
3:23 - 3:27free, Open Source stenographic software.
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3:27 - 3:31So in your face, big companies!
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3:31 - 3:32You know?
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3:32 - 3:39This means that the cost goes down
from about £3,000 to about £40. -
3:39 - 3:41So that's what they give us.
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3:41 - 3:43You can use a keyboard like that.
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3:43 - 3:48That's the Microsoft SideWinder X4,
which is the cheapest keyboard -
3:48 - 3:51that you can buy to use steno.
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3:51 - 3:56You can get these laser-cut keys
to make it even more like a steno machine, -
3:56 - 3:59which you actually put on your keyboard,
and it looks like that. -
3:59 - 4:01You get the 22 keys.
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4:01 - 4:04And as you can see,
it's not the weird qwerty matrix. -
4:04 - 4:09It actually has the keys above each other,
the way it should be. -
4:09 - 4:12So which keyboards can you use?
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4:12 - 4:15You need n-key rollover,
which means you have to press -
4:15 - 4:19at least 10 keys at the same time,
to produce these words. -
4:19 - 4:23And there's a list of the keyboards that you can use,
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4:23 - 4:25if you wanted to do steno.
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4:25 - 4:30So you can look at this afterwards,
and even have prices. -
4:30 - 4:32You can see it's pretty cheap.
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4:32 - 4:36So then I felt like I had to say
something about steno in Vim. -
4:36 - 4:40These go together really well,
and anything you can do -
4:40 - 4:42on a qwerty keyboard,
you can do on a steno keyboard. -
4:42 - 4:46That's really important to keep in mind
when you're learning it, -
4:46 - 4:48so there's nothing you can't do with steno.
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4:48 - 4:51It's a perfect match.
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4:51 - 4:53And thanks.
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4:53 - 4:56I'm Emile,
and that was it about steno. -
4:56 - 5:03(applause)
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5:03 - 5:04>> Yeah?
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5:04 - 5:07>> Like, aren't chorded keys
worse for RSI? -
5:07 - 5:09>> Sorry?
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5:09 - 5:13>> Aren't chorded keys
worse for RSI? -
5:13 - 5:14>> Well, yeah,
if we think about emacs, -
5:14 - 5:18then I know that is a popular argument with emacs.
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5:18 - 5:22But this is a non-typewriter-style keyboard,
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5:22 - 5:25so it's more like a piano,
if you look at the keys. -
5:25 - 5:28And the way it's been engineered is --
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5:28 - 5:34mainly people with disabilities,
who really can't type that fast. -
5:34 - 5:40So it's definitely with, like,
trying to prevent RSI. -
5:40 - 5:43But I know that
that is a popular argument in emacs. -
5:43 - 5:47And I'm not, like --
I haven't used steno that much, -
5:47 - 5:51but I know that people say
that it's way less RSI -
5:51 - 5:54than typewriter-style keyboards.
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5:54 - 5:56>> Thank you.
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5:56 - 5:57>> Can I ask another question?
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5:57 - 6:00Do you switch between steno and qwerty?
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6:00 - 6:03>> So this is quite a beautiful thing,
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6:03 - 6:05that I use Colemak,
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6:05 - 6:10and when I switched to Colemak from qwerty,
I lost qwerty, -
6:10 - 6:13and that really sucked,
because I couldn't use anyone else's keyboard. -
6:13 - 6:18But steno is so different,
that it wouldn't interfere -
6:18 - 6:21with your Colemak or qwerty or whatever you use,
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6:21 - 6:24and you can still maintain both,
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6:24 - 6:27because they're just such different machines.
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6:27 - 6:28Yeah.
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6:28 - 6:34DREW: I actually have a Filco Majestouch keyboard.
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6:34 - 6:38So if anyone wants to try it out,
I've got it set up here.
- Title:
- Steno! by Emile Swarts
- Description:
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This lightning talk was presented at VimLondon, October 2013. More details on Lanyrd: http://lanyrd.com/2013/vim-london-october-meetup/schedule/
A chorded keyboard layout that you can use in Vim. Plover makes this accessible to the world with an open source adaptation.
- Video Language:
- English
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Mirabai Knight edited English subtitles for Steno! by Emile Swarts |