Before-and-after pics: Guess which one has the steno machine [Setups]

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Note the stenography machine in the foreground of this
Note the stenography machine in the foreground of this "after" photo.
Photo: yyzgal@Reddit

In the before-and-after pics of Reddit user yyzgal’s dual-monitor/MacBook Pro setup, guess which one has the stenography machine? Trick question. They both have it.

And it’s what most Redditors admiring the new-and-improved setup wanted to talk about in the comments section of yyzgal’s setup post. Well, that and the Sonnet eGPU Breakaway Puck hidden behind the laptop in the setup’s “after” photo (above).

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Steno machine for writing, data input

Yyzgal recently moved into a new apartment with her boyfriend. Previously only he had a big desk, she said. But now, as you can see in the photos, she has the space for two monitors and more.

She mounts the steno machine on a tripod in front of the desk. Though she’s a software engineer, she considers herself an amateur stenographer.

“I’m just casually learning it to use it for writing on a computer, both text and code,” she wrote in reply to a question.

A steno machine, normally associated with court reporters recording in writing everything said in a legal proceeding, is essentially a device for writing. Its keys are customizable to touch and keystroke depth.

Steno machine and mechanical keyboard

This isn’t even yyzgal’s first steno device.

“I started with a SOFT/HRUF Splitography, as well as a Stentura Protégé, but I eventually decided I’d get this Luminex II once I knew I’d be using it full-time,” she said.

In the pics you can see she uses a Varmilo VA68M Sakura Mechanical Keyboard. At the “splitography” link above you can see how it played into her first foray into stenographic data entry.

In the "before" photo, you can see how cramped things were.
In the “before” photo, you can see how cramped things were. The steno machine is on the left.
Photo: yyzgal@Reddit

An iOS developer expressed amazement at her use of a steno machine and asked how it could be used for coding.

“I’m using Plover to input text into my computer from the steno machine, and its translation engine supports several casing modes (including camelCase, snake_case and even kebab-case), so you can easily write variable names and what not,” she replied. “In addition, someone made a symbols dictionary that lets me type all sorts of punctuation and operators.”

She added it’s great for all kinds of computer use, not just coding. She mentioned she actually uses it mostly for chats and email.

Breakaway puck for dual-monitor use, gaming

Yyzgal runs a 1-year-old 13-inch MacBook Pro i5 with two 27-inch Samsung QHD monitors running at 2540 x 1440 pixel resolution.

She said she got the Sonnet eGPU Breakaway Puck with a Radeon RX 5700 graphics card to help ensure her laptop, with its Intel chip, would play well with the two monitors at high resolution – especially while gaming.

She ran into problems before, though that involved her MBP and her boyfriend’s two 5K monitors.

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If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to info+setups@cultofmac.com. Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches or challenges.

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