Jarne Blade!!!

Look at this incredible video from Tharelia of Javelin and Jarne fame! I literally gasped when I saw it! AMAZING!!

Novel Writing With Steno Next Month

I've written two 50,000-word novels in a month each using my steno machine, and I'm gonna try to do it again this November for the first time since 2015. A few other people on the Plover Discord are gonna be doing it as well. Care to join us? Ping me on the Plover Discord and hopefully we can get a mutually supportive writing group going!

Starboard Saxophone!!!

Check out this AMAZING video from Plover Discord member Lucy Goose, who wrote firmware for the Starboard that allows anyone to play music on it using saxophone fingerings. I love it SO MUCH! I don't play saxophone, but I do play electronic recorder (if you DM me on Discord, I'll link you to my secret electronic recorder music video channel, haha), and I would desperately love to be able to play music on one of my hobbyist steno machines using recorder fingerings! This is so freaking cool!!!

Ploverdemo: Blast from the Past

I saw something really cool on the Plover Discord that I want to post here, but the person who made it hasn't gotten back to me with permission yet (in fairness, they posted it in July and I just found out about it today), so hopefully I'll post that next week, but on another thread of the Discord, I was reminded of this cool little post from 2011 that links to the Ploverdemo, originally coded by John and still hosted by the Open Steno Project. It's a trim little thing without much in the way of bells and whistles, but I think it still has charm and a certain usefulness.

StenoJump!

A new steno learning game is in the works by Cheerio from the Plover Discord. Still early days, but it looks absolutely amazing!! I've wanted a retro pixel-style 2D steno learning game to exist since before the Steno Arcade days!! I'm so excited to play it and to see how it develops. Check out these fantastic screenshots!!

Harri's Autobriefer!

Harri's Autobriefer is a big new hit in the Plover Discord.

Harri says:

What it is:

Someone has a rule, like "`*D` can be used instead of `/KWREU`". You can choose to turn that rule on, then run the autobriefer

If you have `SEUL/KWREU` -> `silly` in your dictionary, you will now have `S*EULD` -> `silly` in autobriefed.json

To run it:

You stick the python file in the same folder as your other dictionaries, write each dictionary you want it to read, then select which rules you want to try out

Apply rules/briefs/rewrites to a set of dictionaries, and an Autobriefed.json is generated, that you stick at the bottom of your dictionary stack.

Maybe you want STKPW instead of S* but only when "z" is in the spelling

Maybe you want -FB instead of -F when "v" is in the spelling

Maybe you have just added a `^` key to your layout, and would like to use `^SK` instead of your `EBGS` stroke

Seriously cool idea! Check it out!

Using Open Steno Hardware and Software with NCRA Tests

The ever-amazing Jen has written up a fantastic guide to using Plover, Javelin, n-key rollover keyboards, and hobbyist machines when taking NCRA tests! My own NCRA testing years are far behind me, thank goodness, but if you've ever thought about dipping your toe into official certification, this guide is invaluable.