From the website:

“Freestyle vocabulary cataloger and flashcards trainer for Mac OS X.
Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to memorize a long list of medical terms? Do you need to review your collection of flash cards while going to the office?”

Pros of Keep Your Word vocabulary trainer

Installation was of course nice and straight forward, and downloading and installing on the iPod Touch was equally simple. The sign of an intuitive app to me, is one that does not require a manual to learn. KYW is one of those apps. Right from the get go it was simple and intuitive to use and learn. Within 2 minutes I had entered in a handful of words and their Japanese phonetic equivalents, and, did a couple of flash card quizzes.

KYW also works seemlessly with the new Words Parade website. WordsParade is a repository where users of Keep Your Word can share their dictionaries. This is pretty cool, as you can already download and start learning from such cool categories as Law Enforcement terms, Derm Pathology terms, to the more mundane languages of our world. If you create a wicked dictionary and want to share your creation, Wordsparade is free and easy to use.

KYW supports importing of csv files which makes getting going really easy with lots of words. I had a list of about 100 words and their Japanese phonetic equivalents in an Excel file, which I dumped out in CSV format, and imported into KYW. Your words can be grouped easily into Adjectives, verbs or substantives, you can add images to your words, and using smart groups, key your words just how you want them.

Cons of Keep Your Word vocabulary trainer

About the only thing I can say, and it is not a bad thing, is that KYW is still young on features. After my first couple of rounds with KYW I fired off an email to the developer with my short wish list:

• The ability to pick out duplicate entries and offer a solution Not a big deal for my little dictionaries, but larger dictionaries could benefit from this feature.
• Make adding tags more like adding keywords in iPhoto. Currently adding tags is a bit confusing, mostly because adding a tag to a group of words, the old tags disappear.
• Be able to randomize the printing of the flash cards and print by tag/category. Shuffle it up a bit so you can use the printouts to quiz yourself when no computer is around.
• Stats make a good incentive, there should be some, showing my progress in learning the words. I love stats. No more needs to be said.

That’s it. Nothing that is a show stopper and just my personal wish list.

Final thoughts

I love this little app, and having it sync on both m mac and my iPod touch, means I can quiz myself on my words anytime and anywhere. For the price I would recommend this to anyone with a desire to learn.

Of those three, my biggest hurdle by far has been the acquisition of a quality keyboard. I don’t feel that I am particularly hard on my keyboard, and I am not a super typist either, though I can do in excess of 60 words a minute touch typing on a typical day. There are days when my fingers are spastic and can’t find the keys, but we won’t cover that here. Worth mentioning is that I am a coder and not a writer as such. My style of typing will vary from those who do more writing. Here is a list of keyboards I have owned or used extensively, oldest to newest:

• MUSIC/SP terminal
• IBM XT clone keyboards (many)
• True IBM keyboard
• Mac Apple Extended keyboard II
• Apple G4 graphite keyboard
• Apple G5 white keyboard (2 of em)
• Macally iKey
• Apple iMac chiclet keyboard
• Logitech S 530 keyboard
• Tactile Pro II

One would think with all the fancy technology today, and judging by how much we use a keyboard, today’s keyboards would be far superior when compared to older ones.

Wow, have we got that theory backwards!

It appears keyboards are travelling along their own time-line. A time-line that is running at roughly 180 degrees to our own. The following keyboard list is in order of quality and usability from best to worst:

1. Mac Apple Extended keyboard II
2. Macally iKey
3. True IBM keyboard
4. MUSIC/SP terminal
5. Logitech S 530 keyboard
6. IBM XT clone keyboards (many)
7. Tactile Pro II
8. Apple iMac chiclet keyboard
9. Apple G4 graphite keyboard
10. Apple G5 white keyboard (2 of em)

Here is a review on each of these keyboards starting with the best:

Mac Apple Extended keyboard II

This was the first keyboard that came with my first Mac. At that point, it seemed that the keyboard time-line was running correctly, as the few keyboards before this one, were pitiful in comparison.

Pros:
The EKII had a great touch to it. Albeit a touch softer than the IBM keyboard I used, it is quiet and the tactile feel offers just enough resistance to let my fingers know what they are doing. The keyboard itself is solidly made and lends well to a feeling of quality and solidity.

Cons:
The only con I found in the EKII keyboard is that the top of the keyboard is rather large compared to current keyboards and uses up a bit more desk space than one would hope for. The overall height of the keyboard is a bit too high for my liking and demands a gel wrist support.

Conclusion:
Price is great on these keyboards if you can find one. A quick search of eBay shows a price range of $35-$50 for a used one. You will need to purchase the Griffin ADB-USB adapter which works out of the box with no additional software.

Macally iKey

This keyboard came into my life shortly after I got my G4 with the graphite Apple keyboard (See graphite keyboard review below).

Pros:
The touch and feel on this now unavailable keyboard were very similar to the Apple EKII. The case was solidly built and the tactile response was excellent. If this keyboard was still being made I would put it at the top of my list.

Cons:
Unfortunately Macally appears to have succumbed to selling keyboards of poor quality, though I have not tested the latest iKey 5 personally.

Conclusion:
I could not find the old iKey on eBay and therefore cannot suggest this keyboard as a viable alternative.

True IBM extended keyboard

My IBM keyboard with a PS/2 plug on it is sitting in the basement now collecting dust in my little keyboard graveyard.

Pros:
The keys are a bit nosier than on the EKII, but tactile response is very good. Like the EKII, this keyboard is solidly built, and has a feel of quality.

Cons:
Not sure if this keyboard would work well on a Mac. The height of the keyboard requires the use of a gel wrist support. No option key on the original models.

Conclusion:
There were very few of these available on eBay, but a price range of $5 – $15 seemed to be the flavour of the day. You would of course need a PS/2 to USB adapter.

MUSIC/SP terminal

Now, I am not sure how fair it is putting this keyboard into my review, but I have excellent memories of it. In the long narrow lab at Champlain College, it made for a noisy keyboard with exceptional response. When I was in the lab I frequently got looks and comments from lab partners (Hi Paul and Jean!) asking if I was playing around or really coding. For the record I was really coding. As the keyboard was built into the whole terminal, it definitely had a solid feel. By today’s standards it was a monster and would take a whole desk top from front to back, leaving no room for my gel wrist support.

Logitech S 530 keyboard

This is a wireless keyboard from Logitech that has a few nifty Mac features on it. In order to take advantage of all the features you must install a small preference pane, which is pretty straight forward.

Pros:
Most noticeable are the wrist support built into the keyboard, and the very low profile. The keys are extremely quiet, and the tactile response is not exceptional, but somehow, Logitech has made the touch good enough that after a few days of use, my fingers knew what they were doing. The Logitech keyboard has a few extra buttons which are programmable from the included software. With dedicated buttons for iPhoto, email and iTunes, including a volume up and down button. I really liked the volume controls, which made adjusting the volume of my music when the phone rang a simple one finger task, without the need for the mouse. The set comes with its own USB wireless fob that you can use on any Mac desktop or laptop. Both the mouse and keyboard have a fair amount of customizability to them through the included software.

Cons:
On the down side, this keyboard can only be bought with the matching mouse–quite an excellent mouse, and my personal favourite so far. Being wireless you need to power the keyboard with two AAA batteries which do of course run out once in awhile. In my experience, two rechargable NiMH batteries would last for about 2-4 months on one charge, which I found quite acceptable. As the batteries begin to get weak, the keyboard would slowly start to drop key strokes, so that coding became pretty much impossible. The over all feel of the keyboard is flimsy and lightweight, making the keyboard feel like a bit of a toy. The most annoying thing is that Logitech has decided across its entire keyboard line, to compress the keys slightly on the right handside of the main keyboard. The arrow keys are tucked into where the right hand control key usually is, and the home/end/pageup/pagedown keys are moved into a vertical stack instead of running horizontally above the arrow keys. Myself, I could never get used to this. The software you must install to take full advantage of the mouse and keyboard is somewhat buggy and causes tons of errors and warnings in console. The end users won’t see these errors, but will experience oddities in behaviour at times.

Conclusion:
The cost is $99US with the mouse, and for those looking for an okay wireless keyboard and mouse, this would be a good purchase. The strange key layout can be overlooked. If this keyboard came in a wired model, I would probably still be using it.

IBM XT clone keyboard

These old IBM XT clone keyboards are perhaps a bit unfair to put into the review as there are so many different makes. The ones I had over the years all fall into roughly the same category, which is mediocre.

Pros:
No real pro’s to these keyboards today.

Cons:
These keyboards, in an effort to offer affordable computers for people to buy, were normally not of a very good quality, and the tactile feel and response was so so.

Conclusion:
They are mostly cheaply made and offer no real reason for any one to want to use one. You would have to purchase an adapter which would probably cost more than a new Macally keyboard.

Tactile Pro II

When I first saw this keyboard advertised I thought it was too good to be true. I decided to research on the internet to see what others thought of the Tactile Pro II keyboard. Overall people seemed happy. Only a few complained about minor problems.

Pros:
This keyboard looks very much like an Apple Graphite keyboard from the old G4′s. The size is small, and there is a power button right on the keyboard. The quality of the case is sufficient enough to let you feel like you are using a top notch product. The tactile response on this keyboard is incredible. Possibly the best I have used. There is an optimizer button built into the keyboard when combined with other keys offers special keystrokes. The height is comparible to the Apple EKII keyboard and will make you feel at home. The layout is standard and offers the chance for you to type very quickly.

Cons:
Unfortunately this keyboards cons far outweigh the pros. Where to begin! First the caps lock key is replaced by the optimized button, which is not wholly bad, but takes some getting used to. The case although is solidly built is poorly finished. On the keyboard I received, there is what looks like paper stuck to parts of the interior around the edge which shows through the transparent case. The company claims that the keyboard has a built in extra USB port, but you can only use it if you plug in the extra USB cable, thereby using up two USB ports on your computer. The absolute worst thing on this keyboard are the ghost keys. This keyboard is filled with all sorts of ghost keys. For example, if you are typing really quickly, and press the letters K, I (eye) and L in a row, chances are a ghost O (oh) will appear. Basically any three keys in a triangle when typed quickly will include the fourth key that makes up a square of letters: DEF and R, FRE and D and so on. When I spoke with the company, they wanted me to pay for shipping to replace the defective keyboard. Unfortunately they appeared to know about the problem, and offered no guarantee that the problem would be resolved with a new keyboard. After researching this specific problem on the internet, I found a few people who said the ghosting continued with the replacement keyboard. Customer support at Matias is pretty poor. They did not answer a single support email. I was only able to get a response by calling them. They offered to take the keyboard back and refund my money if I paid for shipping.

Conclusion:
This is a very expensive keyboard at $150US plus shipping. Then having to pay for shipping to get a defective keyboard replaced really irked me. It is sad, as this would have most likely been my top pick had it not been for the absurd ghosting issues and then poor customer support. I can not recommend this keyboard based on my experience.

Apple iMac chiclet keyboard

Apples new chiclet style keyboard is a radical change in form and function of a keyboard. It is super slim and very small which make this keyboard stand out on its own.

Pros:
As mentioned already, this small keyboard is great for those with limited space on their desktop. The feel of the keyboard offers enough feedback that you can type fairly fast. The keyboard is well designed and well built. There are two USB ports built in which you will always find useful.

Cons:
For me the cons are the slimness and a lack of tactile response. The USB cable is also quite short, coming it at roughly 3 feet in length.

Conclusion:
For the price–free with the purchase of an iMac–this keyboard can’t be beat. If you spend a lot of time typing though, you will probably find yourself looking for a replacement keyboard soon.

Apple G4 graphite keyboard / Apple G5 white keyboard

The graphite and following white keyboard from Apple were very popular and offered a clean and functional keyboard to suit a Mac. I still have two of these keyboards kicking around in my spare parts box, and occasionally I pull one out to use on a laptop.

Pros:
These are fairly well built keyboards, with a new clean look to them. The tactile response is fairly decent, and of course all the keys you would expect for a Mac are there and in the right place. The height is good but a gel wrist pad is required for extensive work.

Cons:
As with most current Apple keyboards, the cable is a bit short. A major caveat to these models is their inability to function well for more than a few months. I found, at least on the keyboards I had, that after a few months the keys would stick ever so slightly if you didn’t have your finger land squarely in the middle of the key. Most annoying for me was the command and control keys. I tend to use either my thumb or pinky on the left command and control key, respectively. This meant my thumb normally landed on the right edge of the key, causing it to tip a bit and then stick. I found that I could pop off the keys and apply a bit of lubricant to the area where the plastic of they key and keyboard touched. Though I had to repeat this every month. After about a year I noticed that a lot of my keys started to stick ever so slightly. This meant coding could be quite frustrating. Of note, these keyboards also appeared to attract more dirt under the keys than all my other keyboards. Which might explain the sticking key issue above. To properly clean out the keyboard, I would have to remove all the keys and shake out the keyboard. So much for my computer hygiene!

Conclusion:
These were decent keyboards and I can’t say I would not recommend them. If you find one second hand for a good price, try it out first, and if it works well, get it. I have seen these keyboards on eBay for between $12 and $30.

My current keyboard of choice is an Apple Extended Keyboard II. Apart from the space bar occasionally dropping out–most likely something to do with the ADB-USB converter, I find the tactile reponse excellent and the overall solidity of this keyboard is preferable to anything on the market today. Most importantly is that this keyboard has proven itself to have longevity.

Logitech was offering to send me a demo of their Logitech DiNovo Edge for Mac keyboard, but after the offer they never followed up. I see that MacWorld has already done a review on the DiNovo keyboard, so hopefully Logitech will see fit to honour their commitment and send me a keyboard. Juding from my experience with the other Logitech keyboard I used, it looks like it could be promising.

One of my biggest issues in running my own small business, is tracking my time without spending a lot doing so. I am sure we have all been there when the door bell rings and you just know it’s UPS bringing you that long awaited eBay purchase. Chances are you would forget to make a note of the time you step away from your computer, or forget to manually stop the timer. This brings us to a few pro’s about OfficeTime.

Pros

OfficeTime knows when you stop using your computer and will automatically make a note of your time of departure. When you return a few minutes later, a friendly note will ask if you wish to subtract the time away from your computer from the current project, keep the time away from your computer on the current project, or add the time away from your computer to another project. This can be especially useful if you wish to keep track of your interruptions. Each time segment also has a place to enter concise notes, or lengthy documentation of what was done during that time span.

To start a new timer for the currently selected project, simply click the space bar.

Projects can be grouped by category, with each category having its own pay scale. One category can have $100 an hour, another can have $0 an hour.

On some projects you may need to share your times with iCal, which you can then share through the use of webdav or me.com. OfficeTime makes it easy to have certain projects automatically sync up with iCal. OfficeTime also lets you import your times from iCal.

OfficeTime includes a simple but effective and powerful invoicing system. From the report settings, you choose the projects, employees and categories you want in an invoice and click on ‘Make Invoice’. That’s it. The invoices are templated, and easily modified using just TextEdit. The default template will produce a second page with all the details of the work that you have done. This has been a huge hit with my clients, and has greatly reduced the amount of time I spend explaining to the client what I worked on.

If you are an Excel buff, no worries there either. You can export your times directly into Excel, complete with notes.

The built in reports complete with a nice colourful pie chart will let you quickly see how much time you wasted this week on playing video games, or talking on the phone. A click of a button will let you display daily, weekly or monthly sub-totals, with percentage of time spent by project, category or employee.

The only area I have not tested extensively is the Employee time tracking. You can have employees and import their times from their copy of OfficeTime into your OfficeTime. This would be great to make sure your billing is accurate on projects that require more than just one person.

As far as learning how to use the application goes, there really is no learning curve. Once installed, you can have your first project running within a few minutes. Adding additional projects is just as easy, and getting reports of all the projects is again, fast and easy.

OfficeTime has two nice visual aids to assist in time tracking. The dock icon will show the current time spent on a project in a nice little red badge. OfficeTime also includes a menu item at the top of your screen which will show the current time spent on a project. Clicking on the drop down in the menu bar will allow you to select different projects to start recording time for, without the need to go to the application.

Cons

As much as I like OfficeTime, there is one thing that drive me quite mad. Most aggravating to me is the quirky Start Stop button in the timer window. Clicking on it sometimes starts the timer, and sometimes it starts and stops it right away. There have been occasions when I thought I was safely timing my work, only to discover the timer was blank.

If you live in Canada and use the invoices in OfficeTime, you will see a distinct lack of dual compound taxes. Which is a bit strange, since the developer is in Canada.

The interface over all is very nice, but a bit rough around the edges in some places, and is less than perfectly Mac like. This takes a little bit of getting used to.

Strangely enough, OfficeTime cannot see you when you are working in a Terminal window. As I sometimes spend hours at a time in a terminal window, I must continually tell the timer, that yes, I am really working, and add the time away from my machine to the current project.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a small application to help you accurately track the time you spend on projects, then look no further. OfficeTime is rich on features and has a clean interface that is remarkably easy to use. For months I searched for and tried various time tracking software packages. Nothing compares to OfficeTime.

In case you are wondering, I paid full price for my version of OfficeTime, and have written this review entirely on my own without the developers asking me write it.

Importing your Data

Information can be added from within Address Book, Email, most Internet browsers, any application that supports the Services menu, or by using the DevonThink Pro Import features. Files and folders can be added by using Apples drag-and-drop or through the Import menu. If you own a TWAIN enabled scanner, you can scan and run Optical Character Recognition on your paper from within DevonThink Pro. The OCR feature is also available for pre-scanned images. Need to capture information from a website? No worries, DevonThink Pro can import an entire websites with just a couple of key strokes. Of course, you can always use the built-in text editor which offers just enough features to keep it simple yet powerful.

DevonThink Pro has a number of intelligent parsers that will quickly and accurately import, index and categorize the most common file types while retaining their format. The built-in data converter, lets you convert PDFs, web pages or Word documents to plain text or rich text and vise-versa.

Handling Data

The main interface for DevonThink Pro has six familiar formats. From the plain Finder window look with large folders, to a multi column finder feel to an Apple Email feel with a vertical column for your storage folders and a split screen for data files and content.

What is the point of importing your data if you can’t find it again? DevonThink Pro’s Artificial Intelligence engine can help you get organized, fast. With a single click, view a clear list of file groups visually weighted to match the currently selected document. Then choose from this list where you want to store the document. This one feature alone will save you a lot of time, and keep all your data expertly filed away.

Getting Data out

Using the same Artificial Intelligence engine, DevonThink Pro quickly produces visually weighted search results, with one click data access and a clear view to the location of the original document. This powerful search is also available from any application that supports the Services menu, or the built in web server on your network.

Once you find the right document, export it to a myriad of other formats, including Outline Processor Markup Language (OPML), Rich Text and MS Word. The information can also be sent to your iPod or Email application or you can create a web page with it.

If like me, you work on more than one computer, DevonThink Pro lets you share your information using a built-in web server, your iPhone or the internet.

Pros

• Well thought out Apple interface
• Unobtrusive and well thought out interface
• Applescript ready
• Leopard ready

Cons

• When password protecting your database, DevonThink Pro automatically inserts your Mac username each time.
• You cannot link different databases together
• I had issues with acquiring my Epson scanner from within DevonThink Pro

Final Thoughts

Overall DevonThink Pro is a sound, well thought out application with a clean and clutter free interface. Support has been excellent when needed. If you have the cash for it, and you need to organize your life, I would recommend DevonThink Pro.