FHAMPEL  I should have included the most obvious use--for people who have to do a lot of touch typing into the computer from another source.  
(Version 3.2)

FHAMPEL  I've searched far and wide for a similar app. Short of an expensive program intended for sight-impaired people, I haven't found anything like it on the Mac. (The program from the 2004 comment is long gone). I probably won't purchase this unless it turns up in a Bundle or Promo someplace. It's over-priced for those like me who would use it only infrequently. I don't know how it works in Snow Leopard, but it's fine in 10.5.8

Why would you want to use it? It's perfect for entering bank account or other long numbers when cut and paste is not available. It's also OK for light data entry--it is a substitute for 100% read back or double-entry verification. And, for sight-impaired people, it can aid touch typing, without having to look at the screen as much. However, it can be tiring to use for along time. One looks at the source material and listens to it at the same time--result: sensory overload.

If you type too fast, you hear gibberish, so slow down or set the Speaking Rate to "Fast" in the "Text to Speech" pane of the Speech Preferences Pane. Some voices work better than others, so experiment.

What's annoying is having to turn the app on and off when you want to pause it temporarily. But it was easy to write a script to this and assign it a hot key (with FastScripts or iKey). Here's a script below to do it. Be sure to zap gremlins in a text editor before using.

(*

Toggle Keystrokes Pronouncer

*)

tell application "System Events"

if exists application process "Keystrokes Pronouncer" then

tell application "Keystrokes Pronouncer" to quit

else

tell application "Keystrokes Pronouncer" to activate

end if

end tell

  
(Version 3.2)

FHAMPEL  I've noticed a couple of enhancements in 2.5 so far, more informative process icons for the indices and the ability to share archives over a local network. According to email sent to users there are also fixes for a few Snow Leopard issues

  
(Version 2.5b6)

FHAMPEL  OS X 10.5.8: FTP will fail to index mail unless you have selected the Mail Folder AND checked the "Mail Messages" box in the Index Contents pane on the right.

I suspect that writing to the little-used forum would also get you some response from a user. Since this is the app I use most, I'm reluctant to switch to Snow Leopard until I hear some reports that it works there.  
(Version 2.0.4)

FHAMPEL  I agree with the previous viewer, but I'd give the PTHPB 5 stars. I think that its "problem" is also its major virtue: there are so many configuration choices to set in preferences, it takes time to set up. And, the documentation about how some of the options about Window behavior fit together could be clearer. Other apps don't have as many options or features, and so are somewhat simpler to use. So this is an App for those of us who want a lot of control, and in this category, I think that it's the best.   
(Version 4.5.2)

FHAMPEL  1PW is good, though not perfect as a form filler--I agree with other posters about this. This is primarily a review of the 1PassWord Palm App, which is one reason I bought the Mac program. I consider the Palm application a sloppy afterthought, almost a joke. It is currently impossible to enter information on the Palm and sync to the Mac. Worse notes contained in the Mac 1PW entries can be seen only 2-3 lines at a time on the Palm, making it practically impossible to read them.

The Mac application is a very poor place to keep reference information about confidential items. One must classify each item (e.g. password,identity, and it is not possible to convert one kind of item to another. So, for example, I cannot keep all the information about a credit card in one place (online account, summary data, wallet information). I have to look at two entries. 1PW can get confused if you register for a web site one one screen, but must log in on another. 1PW will take you to the sign-up screen, not the log in screen.

  
(Version 2.9.29)

FHAMPEL  I haven't tried FastScripts, but I suggest Launchbar instead. FS requires that you memorize a hotkey for each script. I regularly call on 10 or so scripts, but I don't have a hotkey for any of them. LB uses pattern recognition and will learn any number of abbreviations , but it's not ordinarily necessary to write one in advance. So, I named one script "Pipe Mail to Devonthink 7". When I started using it, I hit the LB hotkey and typed "pipe devon 7", and Journler found the script; now I just type "pd7"; "dts" will start "dragthing show background processes'; "tbl" will start the script "Turn BlueTooth on and off"; and so on. The only abbreviation that I had to link up in advance was "Onepassword" ( for "1Password", because if you type a number, Launchbar will start its calculator. However, starting from that, now it's enough to type "op", though I usually type "onep".

The same technology works to launch any application or open any document or folder without a password, but LB does much much more. It may be the single best app I own.  
(Version 2.4)

FHAMPEL  TR indeed is not a Mac app--it is cross-platform; however I find it very maclike. This is great, because I can open the TR file on my mac with my networked Dell and keep TR visible at all times. If you like it, donate to the devs, so that they can keep on improving it.  
(Version 2.2.1)

FHAMPEL  $800.00 is the price for a 50-user site license for MailSteward Pro, the industrial-weight version of MailSteward that works with a MySQL database server. That's the price of eight single copies and seems reasonable, even a bargain.

However, there is also a 50-user site license for MailSteward itself and that is only $400.00.   
(Version 8.1.2)

FHAMPEL  I agree with the last review, but the reviewer didn't mention two features that I have found useful. First, you can export mbox files that can be imported into Apple Mail. Be warned, that to import a mbox file into Mail, you must select a folder that contains the file.

The reviewer also didn't mention Mail Steward's superior SQL search capabilities. They beat anything that Mail itself can do. Although Devonthink and a search engine like Foxtrot can do searches, they are not specialized to email. So you cannot as easily set up search criteria such as recipient, date, subject, original mailbox, and so on.

The search set up is a little awkward. There are two screens with the same criteria, the second is the Advanced Screen. If you want to search for recipient A OR recipient B, for example, you set A up on the 1st screen and B up on the 2nd with an OR connector. The way I do it is to set up as much of the search as possible on the search screens, then edit the resulting SQL statement if necessary. If you set up a tentative SQL statement, be sure to save the search first, so that you can reedit it if necessary.  
(Version 8.1)

FHAMPEL  Instead of "whole document" I should have said "from insertion point to end". This is the option triggered by unchecking "wrap around".  
(Version 9.1)

FHAMPEL  I agree that the new find window is illogical: "find all" means something different, depending on whether the search target is a selection or the whole document.

However you can recover some of the missing functionality by selecting to the start (end) of the document with shift-cmd-up arrow (-down arrow). Then search in the selection.   
(Version 9.1)