Thai Steno!

Parnikkapore on the Plover Discord is working on implementing a steno layout for Thai!

More-or-less-full specs for my 1st gen Thai steno layout.

The layout is phonetically arranged (to an extent) and heavily depends on multi-key letters, so it's not very brief friendly. Also: Someone's gonna nickname this the "อีแมว layout" because that phrase means something like "you/that [expletive] cat", but very socially unacceptable (though if you actually stroke อีแมว you'll get เอ็บ, which is not a word). The 5 tones are encoded on the vowel bar, and the 40-or-so vowels are on the U key and the third quarter from the left.

Seriously, how freaking cool is that?! I hope this is the start of a thriving open source Thai steno community!

Typey-Type adds Irreversible Binomials!

There are several new lessons on irreversible binomials on Typey Type!

irreversible binomials with alliteration
Irreversible binomials with opposites and antonyms
Irreversible binomials with related words and synonyms
Irreversible binomials with rhymes and similar-sounding words

Di writes:

I've added new lessons to Typey Type for "irreversible binomials": a group of words used together in fixed order as an expression. They're irreversible because if you flip them, they sound funny! Imagine "fro and to"! "Foe or friend"!

Just another quick photo of another nice semi-DIY steno setup. Dharmalar from the Discord writes:

Not sure if this would be helpful to anyone! I wanted to 3D print key toppers, but don't have a printer. I had Jason Cemra's toppers printed up at superherodiy.com for about $26 shipped. REALLY happy with how they came out, very clean. I had to file the key attachment posts a bit, since this keyboard isn't strictly Cherry MX switches, but that was my mistake. Excited to finally get going on this!

This looks lovely, and I hadn't heard of such a reasonable rate for 3D printed keytoppers, so I'm really glad for this tip!

Art of Chording on Hacker News

This is a bit late, but did y'all see that Art of Chording, the WIP textbook of our illustrious leader Ted, made Hacker News? Pretty good discussion over there! Proud as ever of Ted and his ambassadorship.

Pretty New Hardware

Just some pretty pictures to look at today! First up, Ted's newly hand-soldered Planck Lite with the keytoppers off for maximal rainbow effect:

Next, Bill's Cougar Attack-X3 RGB with 3D printed steno keytoppers:

And finally, a cool but complex low profile system from crides:

Not sure what exactly is going on here, but I like it!

Cool Capacitative Prototype

Check out this image gallery for a new capacitative Plover board that evils is currently cooking up! I think this is such a cool idea, and I really hope it comes to fruition soon!

How Steno Works

How Steno Works, a new essay for people who are curious about the nuts and bolts of steno, is now live on Art of Chording! It's a fantastic introductory resource for people who have no frame of reference for stenographic technology. If you've ever tried to explain steno to someone and given up in frustration, this is the resource for you! It's even got an interactive animation showing steno chords in action. Great stuff from the amazing Ted, as always.