Newstips Electronic Editorial Bulletin             Issue # 2010-10b

                Seasonably colorful leaves of news

In this issue:
  Antec has wares to prevent "toasted skin syndrome"... Franklin
  aids can help fix grades... Iconosys Battery-Alert Android app is
  $1.99... Japan complicating life for Boogie Board... StroboFrame
  shoes the shoeless pocket vidcam... Zoom into CES... Special
  Report: Trash on plasma (not TV)... Reviews: Aegis leather iPad
  stand, Hitachi Travelstar 7K500, Freehands gloves... plus our
  commentary on scrambling our focus

Antec has wares to prevent "toasted skin syndrome"
  AP reporter Lindsey Tanner's report on "toasted skin syndrome"
  (skin discoloration or mottling from long-term heat exposure,
  seen as a result of extended laptop use of notebook PCs or game
  consoles) raised a response from Antec VP Scott Richards: "It's
  easily avoidable." If you plan to cover this, let Veronica get
  you an Antec Classic or Designer model notebook cooler; either
  can work when directly on your lap or on a pillow over your lap.
  Contact: Veronica Feldmeier, Antec Inc. (Fremont, CA)
  510-770-2150 vfeldmeier@antec.com http://antec.com

Franklin aids can help fix grades
  It's almost time for the school year's first report cards,
  followed by anxiety when some grades on them bring
  disappointment. Parental involvement, after-hours teacher help or
  private tutors offer good answers; so do many Franklin electronic
  products. Math, spelling, languages, grammar, usage & visual
  literacy improvements are among their targets. Ask Aline to talk
  with you about all the grades & all the skills their products can
  help; she can also get you info, pix or reviewables. Contact:
  Aline Boutin, Franklin Electronic Publishers (Burlington, NJ)
  609-386-2500x4434 aline_boutin@franklin.com http://franklin.com

Iconosys Battery-Alert Android app is $1.99
  Some Android apps can drain its battery & some Android handsets
  make it hard to tell when they're charging, so Iconosys came up
  with Battery-Alert ($1.99) to signal users when battery drain
  drops the charge below the user-selected threshold. The alert can
  come as any of more than a dozen provided audio clips or silently
  vibrate. Ask Wayne. Contact: Wayne Irving II, Iconosys Inc.
  (Laguna Hills, CA) 949-335-5350 wi@iconosys.com
  http://iconosys.com

Japan complicating life for Boogie Board
  The strain of meeting ever-mounting Brookstone orders for the
  paperless Boogie Board ($35) passive LCD tablet already kicked
  Kent into running 3 shifts; now orders from Japan-based retailers
  are adding another 50,000 units to the challenge. Ask Kevin how
  they're doing in their battle to uncap capacity. Contact: Kevin
  Oswald, Kent Displays (Kent, OH) 330-673-8784x161
  koswald@kentdisplays.com http://KentDisplays.com

StroboFrame shoes the shoeless pocket vidcam
  Pocket camcorders may not come with external lights or other
  delights, but most of them have a tripod screw at the bottom;
  that makes them compatible with Tiffen StroboFrame grips with a
  handle on the side & 2 accessory shoes up top. The handle &
  bracket helps these pocket gizmos shoot more like a bigger
  camera; the shoe is a handy place to mount a camera light to help
  improve the video that gets shot in dimly lit areas. Ask Hilary.
  Contact: Hilary Araujo, Tiffen Company (Hauppauge, NY)
  631-609-3216 haraujo@tiffen.com http:/.tiffen.com

Zoom into CES
  Make a note on your CES planner now to find Zoom on the upper
  floor of LVCC South Hall. Three reasons to stop by: the ZDTV
  keyboard, the 3G router & modem products & the little USB analog
  modem. Of course, you can also get info or reviewables of any of
  those now. Contact: Terry Manning, Zoom Telephonics Inc. (Boston,
  MA) 617-753-0087 terrym@zoom.com http://zoom.com

Special Report: Trash on plasma (not TV)
  Plasma is (by definition) a rarified, highly energized gas
  containing ionized particles; in everyday practical terms, it's
  what glows inside neon tubes & many flat screen TVs. When exposed
  to a high-temperature event (like an electrical arc), plasmas
  become intensely hot; you may have heard of plasma torches. On a
  larger scale, that technology is in use today at a small number
  of facilities (more are proposed) for separating metals & other
  elements out of trash. It works because the melting points of
  metals vary, different metals will separate themselves from
  masses of trash at different temperatures, as will other
  materials (like glass). Many other waste materials gasify into a
  useful fuel (called syngas, with characteristics much like
  natural gas). Trash processing facilities using plasma separators
  theoretically produce much less landfill output than other
  methods, but such facilities consume extremely high levels of
  electrical power. That high power consumption means they work
  best (most economically & efficiently (in operations scaled to
  deal with large quantities of metals. Theoretically, plasma
  separation could also be performed in orbit on space junk; up
  there, solar power is plentifully available & reclaiming raw
  materials can be dramatically less expensive than launching them
  from the ground, though at a cost of up to $100 million to get
  such an orbital plasma separation facility built.

Special Report Bonus Review: Aegis leather iPad stand
  We don't & won't own an iPad, but a friend of ours does, so when
  we were offered a chance to review the Aegis premium leather iPad
  stand, we gave it to him to try. In brief: "The Aegis iPad cover
  has an elegant look & more importantly a velour-like soft inside
  that delivers scratch-free kindness along with enough gripping
  friction to hold the iPad in its angled-stand positions. It would
  take an act of Congress to convince me there's one better than
  this Aegis." Our bottom line: the Aegis deluxe leather iPad case
  seems to bring pleasure to iPad users.

Special Report Bonus Review 2: Hitachi Travelstar 7K500
  Where the 2.5" Hitachi drive we reviewed last time is all about
  optimizing quiet, the Hitachi 2.5" Travelstar 7K500 drives we're
  looking at now are more about performance. These are 7200rpm SATA
  II drives with resultantly faster throughput; the model they sent
  us is their highest-capacity 500GB drive. We'll be putting this
  into a Mini-ITX server, small enough & quiet enough to sit on a
  bookshelf without distracting you from your work. Bottom line:
  the 7200rpm Hitachi Travelstar 7K500 SATA II drive brings
  bigger-drive speed & capacity to 2.5".

Special Report Bonus Review 3: Freehands gloves
  The trouble with touch screens is that you have to touch them, a
  somewhat daunting prospect when outdoors in frigid temperatures.
  When we heard that Freehands gloves got made when a guy found
  himself using his nose on the touch screen in winter, we asked to
  get in two pair for review; one pair has 2 conductive fingertips
  on each hand for most handheld gear or dashboard navigators & the
  other has all fingers conductive for the iPad crowd. The gloves
  are made from a stretchy Polartec material that's comfy & warm.
  Bottom line: fingertip-conductive Freehands gloves are a warm,
  comfy choice for winter weather touch screen users.

Scrambling our focus
  You've always been patient with us when our adventures in
  learning take us in pursuit of topics that don't seem to belong
  here; for once we can give you a little advance warning & let you
  tell us whether you want to hear more or not so much about these
  things. For starters, you can see our fascination with the idea
  of being able to tap the sun from orbit at levels that mean fewer
  atomic or fossil fuel power plants, reduced carbon footprint,
  reduced dependency on oil, etc. Then there's the appeal of fuels
  we've seen created from trash; we'll bet you a nickel there will
  be a tremendous boom in this getting implemented. Carbon
  nanotubes & graphene are also intellectually seductive. In this
  issue, you also get a hint of our interest in plasmas. From a
  more visceral perspective, something in our gut says we're on the
  cusp of a new era of major technological (not just scientific)
  advances. So, from your perspective, should our reporting embrace
  or ignore them? 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