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Newstips Electronic Editorial Bulletin Issue # 2010-04b
Paul Revere was not a Teabagger & other news
In this issue:
Strong & silent types: cool Antec duo... Fixmo replaces regrets
with recycling... Franklin fixes diction friction... Breathalyzer
talking points... Tiffen launches filter kits... Special Report:
Noise... Reviews: MiBook, Belkin PCIe USB2 card, Hoover FloorMate
SpinScrub, Look2Skype version 1.5, Skype Toolbar for Outlook...
plus our commentary on vacuums
Strong & silent types: cool Antec duo
For folks who build their own PCs or aren't afraid to migrate one
to a new case, Antec has a case & PSU combo that competitors just
can't touch: the "strong & silent" P-183 case with the CP850
power supply. The case has noise-dampening layers bonded to its
side walls, a separate chamber for its power supply &
vibration-dampening drive mounts. The power supply chamber is big
enough to hold standard ATX models as well as Antec's cooler,
higher-capacity CPX models, like the 850Watt CP-850 or 100Watt
CP-1000. Contact: Veronica Feldmeier, Antec Inc. (Fremont, CA)
510-770-2150 vfeldmeier@antec.com http://antec.com
Fixmo replaces regrets with recycling
In a BlackBerry handset, messages or events or tasks or memos you
delete are just plain gone unless the new Fixmo Tools BlackBerry
Edition ($20 including a year of updates) is in place, providing
a recycling bin that lets you undelete them. That's just one of
the 6 tools already on the menu; Bonus Tools (no additional
charge) are coming soon. Send Rick your BB PIN to get a copy to
review. Contact: Rick Segal, Fixmo (Toronto, ON) 416-414-9726
rick@Fixmo.com http://Fixmo.com
Franklin fixes diction friction
We probably know how to pronounce words we hear, but it's a whole
different story for words we've only read. Students have it a
little worse because of decades less exposure to advanced spoken
vocabularies (ask one you know to say: pronunciation, quixotic or
even phlegm). Franklin has a pocket-size antidote in the
SCD-2100S Speaking Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary,
Eleventh Edition; more than a dictionary, it has a thesaurus,
quotations, punctuation & style guidance, explanations of
confusable words (like affect & effect) & more. Aline can get you
one to review. Contact: Aline Boutin, Franklin Electronic
Publishers (Burlington, NJ) 609-386-2500x4434
aline_boutin@franklin.com http://franklin.com
Breathalyzer talking points
BACtrack breathalyzers aren't built to be DUI cheats. People use
them in alcohol therapy programs. Police use them as field
testers to establish cause for doing in-station testing. Loved
ones use them to keep tabs on kids, spouses or parents (replacing
suspicion with certainty). Employers & schools use them to
enforce zero-tolerance policies. You may want to use one after a
social drink or three to see if a taxi might be a better way
home. None of these uses is irresponsible (quite the contrary) &
demand is widespread enough that increasing numbers of retail
chains carry these products. Technology made personal
breathalyzers accurate, reliable & affordable, but their uses
make them a story worth covering. Keith can get you info &
reviewables. Contact: Keith Nothacker, KHN SOLUTIONS (San
Francisco CA) 415-693-9756x113
mailto:keith.nothacker@bactrack.com http://bactrack.com
Tiffen launches filter kits
Tiffen is launching a new line of Image Maker filter kits, each
with a selected trio of 4x4 filters (plus a nice nylon pouch)
chosen for some specific kind of shooting, like portraits or
outdoors. The line is launching with 5 such kits; the emphasis is
on the modern DSLR user who may be shooting both stills & HD
video. Ask Hilary. Contact: Hilary Araujo, Tiffen Company
(Hauppauge, NY) 631-609-3216 haraujo@tiffen.com
http:/.tiffen.com
Special Report: Noise
Workplace regulatory enforcement makes the sale of sound meters a
very lucrative category; cheaper meters help set up & balance
home & auto audio systems. Those are relatively high noise
levels; for most of us & those we reach, the aggregate noise of
multiple low-level sources is an annoying fact of life. One
fast-growing special interest category for people who build or
modify gear is in silencing it. For now, there's more art than
science to that, in part because you can't find a low-cost sound
level meter that can measure below 40dBA (give or take) & many of
the small noise sources of interest are in the 17-27dBA range. In
a set-top box, a TV set or a PC, the moving parts that make noise
are primarily rotating media (like hard drives) & cooling fans.
Hard drive noise specs are trustworthy (because they sell high
volumes to OEMs who won't let them get away with fibbing) but fan
specs are a crapshoot. Hard drives can be somewhat silenced
through vibration-absorbing mounts (as can fans); fans can be
somewhat silenced by slow-down measures (resistor cables or
variable Voltage or pulse width modulated power). Fan blade
designs can help reduce turbulence & bearing choices can help
mitigate a major source of noise. Equipment housings can also be
sound-deadened through foam linings or layered panels; squishy
feet can keep vibration from involving turning floors or shelves.
Such silencing tweaks, alas, will remain an art & lore until
low-cost small-noise metering gives us all a way to make noise
scores part of our routine evaluations.
Special Report Bonus Review: MiBook
MiBook has identity issues; its name doesn't really say what it
does nor does its packaging do a good job of communicating that.
As a small battery-powered wide-screen display with a folding
easel back, a top-side SD card slot & a thin, small remote; it
sounds like a digital photo frame or media player (2 secondary
functions that help confuse its true strength). What this really
is: a hybrid of TV & teaching. A library of available content
comes from cable TV how-to sources like DIY, HGTV, Food, Travel
Channel & Parent-TV, but with a special added value. It's all
organized in baby steps with built-in pauses so the video never
gets ahead of you. Recipes, for example, first have you gather
ingredients & wait for you, then have you gather the needed
kitchen gear & wait for you, etc. Titles already cover lots of
cooking styles, home repair, decorating, pregnancy, infants & a
lot more. The sad part is that you could be looking for a product
that does exactly what this one does, stand in front of it & not
recognize it as that product. Bottom line: MiBook takes a very
interesting approach to repurposing excellent cable channel
how-to content into a convenient format that TV or DVDs can't
quite equal.
Special Report Bonus Review 2: Belkin PCIe USB2 card
At last count, we have 20-some USB2 things plugged into our PC
(plus 20-some charger-only plug-ins across the room to powered
hubs that aren't connected to the PC). All of our USB2 slot cards
are for PCI, not PCIe; our new workstation-class Asus motherboard
has only PCIe slots. Belkin is one of a very few vendors to offer
a solution, so we jumped at a chance to review it. The Belkin USB
2.0 5-Port PCI Express (PCIe X1, one-lane) card puts 4 USB
connectors on the back bracket & a fifth on the front edge of the
card, inside the case; we're thinking about plugging a Bluetooth
dongle into that. It supports PCIe 1.1, which keeps it compatible
with many older systems; even so, the 2.5Gbps available bandwidth
fully handles the 2.4Gbps demand of 5 USB2 ports all at their
peak, so there's no bottleneck here. Bottom line: the Belkin USB
2.0 5-Port PCI Express card solves the perennial need for full
speed over more USB ports on systems with (or with only) a PCIe
slot available.
Special Report Bonus Review 3: Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub
Our spring cleaning theme continues with a device that adds
mopping & scrubbing to vacuuming, the Hoover FloorMate Spin Scrub
for hard flooring, like wood or tile. It's about the size & shape
of an upright vacuum with an over/under dual tank & 3 working
modes: vacuum, wash & dry. The lower tank is for collecting dirt
in the vacuum mode or dirty water in the wash or dry mode; the
top cup holds clean warm water & a cleaning solution that you
release with a squirt trigger while cleaning; dirty water never
goes back to the floor. The bottom has a wide suction nozzle just
ahead of a row of small rotating brushes (both of which can
remove for cleaning). For those of us who are our own office
cleaning crew, in about as little time as it would take you to do
a once-over with a wet Swiffer, this thing does that level of
cleaning & scrubbing that's always before meant a backache.
Bottom line: a Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub hard floor cleaner
pulls amazing amounts of dirt out of floors you thought were
clean, doing the deed quickly & sans elbow grease.
Special Report Bonus Review 4: Look2Skype version 1.5
Look2Skype is an Outlook toolbar that can add Skype addresses to
Outlook contacts & place Skype-to-Skype or Skype-to-phone calls
or send Skype IM messages. It lets you launch many Skype
activities from that toolbar, generally saving manual steps or
simplifying transitions. The new version 1.5 adds Windows 7
compatibility & fixes some bugs. Bottom line: Look2Skype is an
interesting & useful utility for people who use both Skype &
Outlook.
Special Report Bonus Review 5: Skype Toolbar for Outlook
The Skype Toolbar for Outlook can automatically update Outlook
contacts with Skype names, search the Skype directory against
Outlook e-mail addresses, find telephone numbers inside messages,
start simple or conference calls or chats, send messages or
files, make PayPal payments & more. Its simple toolbar in main
windows becomes a wide full-length panel within individual
messages (where it also adds the option to create an Outlook
contact) & contact records, where it's a bit of a
real-estate-waster. Bottom line: the Skype Toolbar for Outlook
adds a lot of Skype functionality to Outlook.
Vacuums
The next time somebody spouts off about some state-of-the-art
technology or another, think about vacuum cleaners. What's their
job? Yes, that's a trick question, made trickier by ads that
refocus your attention. Cyclonic action may keep dirt from
clogging airflow, but dirt cups capture less dirt than bags
(which are more expensive & more wasteful); in one model we
tested, dirt would clog in its hose. Most vacuums focus on
mobility across carpets or hard floors (where often a mop would
be a better answer), which may be less than useful if you're just
trying to keep your workspace clean. Handheld vacuums may be OK
for a car seat or furniture but useless on a keyboard or inside a
PC. The essential questions are how much they pick up, where they
pick it up, how hard or easy they are to use & to clean, what
compromises come with their power source (cord issues versus
battery power & runtime issues) & whether they're priced at a
point that lets them earn their keep. We know you understand that
this is as much about cameras, camcorders, computers, cell phones
& other products as it is about vacuums. What tricks do you use
to distill snake oil? Contact: Martin Winston, Newstips (Novelty,
OH) 440-338-8400; marty@Newstips.com http://Newstips.com
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Newstips Bulletin [Novelty, OH] +1.440.338.8400 http://Newstips.com
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