|
Newstips Electronic Editorial Bulletin Issue # 2010-07b
Scattered thunderstorms of news
In this issue:
Antec back-to-school trick: Dark Fleet transplant... Mythos STS
5.1 speakers rule roosts... Fixmo Silencer stops distractions
during meetings, drives... Spellbinding SpellEvent in NYC in
August... Iconosys texting cures - downloads are not enough...
Boogie Board's clever clip in 2 weeks... Reminder from Tiffen: UV
& summer photos... Special Report: Spam tug of war... Reviews:
Wi-Fire, Mark-My-Time bookmark, Amprobe 5XP-A multimeter, Annie
Chun's Go-Chu-Jang, Dripless Pourer Stopper... plus our
commentary on Apple & Wham-O
Antec back-to-school trick: Dark Fleet transplant
Here's a money-saving way to trick schoolmates into thinking a
student has a powerful & sexy new PC: transplant it to any of the
new Antec Dark Fleet cases. Check out their look on the Web site
to grok the passion & pride that owners get, not to mention one
of the easiest cases to build with ever. Ask Veronica. Contact:
Veronica Feldmeier, Antec Inc. (Fremont, CA) 510-770-2150
vfeldmeier@antec.com http://antec.com
Mythos STS 5.1 speakers rule roosts
Beyond great speakers; Definitive offers some awesome systems.
Audiophiliac reviewers love the Mythos STS Super Tower System
($4,355), combining 2 STS Super Towers featuring built-in 300W
subwoofers with the remarkable new Mythos Nine as a center
speaker plus a pair of Mythos Gem surround speakers. If you have
the ear & the gear to evaluate & review any Definitive system,
Paul can arrange a loan. Contact: Paul DiComo, Definitive
Technology (Owings Mills, MD) 410-363-7148
paul.dicomo@definitivetech.com http://DefinitiveTech.com
Fixmo Silencer stops distractions during meetings, drives
People may be rude enough to bring their handsets into meetings,
but they'd rather not be caught interrupting everything with a
ring tone or signal. Fixmo Tools for BlackBerry ($20 with a year
of updates) offers Silencer, a sweet utility that can hush your
handset automatically during meeting times on the handset's
calendar or any time you trigger its Quick Silence mode (helps
prevent handset distractions when driving). Ask Rick. Contact:
Rick Segal, Fixmo (Toronto, ON) 416-414-9726 rick@Fixmo.com
http://Fixmo.com
Spellbinding SpellEvent in NYC in August
Franklin is sponsoring its second annual SpellEvent next month in
New York where 24 student finalists from across the globe will
compete for a $10,000 prize. This year's event is at the Jumeirah
Essex House Hotel on August 20. Ask Aline for details or
attendance arrangements. Contact: Aline Boutin, Franklin
Electronic Publishers (Burlington, NJ) 609-386-2500x4434
aline_boutin@franklin.com http://franklin.com
Texting cures - downloads are not enough
We're deliberately not yet naming names on the several texting
distraction retraction tools from Iconosys (specifics start next
issue; in the meantime, Google for details) because that ground
is about to shift. In a world where only about 30% of end users
are willing to buy a product they don't first touch, there was a
strategic need to develop a product for brick & mortar retail.
That's done now & the store chain commitments are starting to
come in. It was also important to lock down BlackBerry support
(in addition to Android & WinMo); also now done. Next issue,
we'll name names & offer some sleek sneak peeks. Contact: Wayne
Irving II, Iconosys Inc. (Laguna Hills, CA) 949-322-3540
wi@iconosys.com http://iconosys.com
Boogie Board's clever clip in 2 weeks
The original Boogie Board ($35) design couldn't anticipate all
the ingenious ways that people would use it or the challenges
that would follow, from being separated from tis stylus to
getting accidental hits on its erase button. Kent's designers
came up with a very clever clip that fits the top of the Boogie
Board frame, holds the stylus & can slide back & forth to cover
the erase button. (Back to school note: you can also write "in" &
"out" up there so the clip can show that status if your collegian
uses this instead of a white board on the dorm room door).
Samples should be here in about 2 weeks; ask Kevin for one (plus
a Boogie Board if you don't yet have one). Contact: Kevin Oswald,
Kent Displays (Kent, OH) 330-673-8784x161
koswald@kentdisplays.com http://KentDisplays.com
Tiffen promo drops Cool fx price from $2.99 to 99 cents
The Apple App Store has a cool price promo running on Tiffen Cool
fx software (normally $2.99) that drops its price to 99 cents.
Any photo in an iPhone or iPod touch (even those it didn't take)
can get enhanced with a choice of 172 preset effects (motion
picture or black & white or diffusion or grain or color shift or
other effects). Ask to get info & sample images or a download
code, or if you really want to go full hands-on, Hilary has a
limited number of loaner iPod Touch units with both Cool fx &
Photo fx software already loaded. Contact: Hilary Araujo, Tiffen
Company (Hauppauge, NY) 631-273-2500x1216 haraujo@tiffen.com
http:/.tiffen.com
Special Report: Spam tug of war
Do you ever buy from Amazon? We've seen order-related e-mail
messages come from addresses there like order-update,
auto-confirm & ship-confirm (all legitimate). Lately, we're
seeing a lot of messages from digital-no-reply (all phishing). We
know they're phishing messages because we check out where the
links really point (unmistakably not Amazon). We found a way to
write Outlook rules to auto-delete most of those, but we're not
seeing anything automatic that can machine-eyeball bogus links;
if we're able to do it, software should be. The most effective
spam policing in recent memory was when a concerted effort
suddenly shut down access to the Internet for IP pools associated
with specific worst-offender spam source servers; spam volume
dropped 80% in hours & remained low for months. More than half of
all current incoming spam here has the V-word (brand name of a
blue pill taken by males for improving their presence during
intimacy) in the body, message or from-address. A recently
increasing amount of spam is dropping payloads (to those gullible
enough to open attached files or links) to slave a user's
computer as a spam-caster; even phishing efforts are putting more
attention on compromising e-mail logins. The attackers are
becoming more nimble; the defenses don't seem to be. We have
never seen a spam filter with any degree of efficacy, even mild,
that didn't flag false positives, meaning legitimate messages
don't get through. At the moment, users (including their
employers) are losing the spam tug of war to the bad guys.
Special Report Bonus Review: Wi-Fire
Every now & then we come across a gizmo that can qualify in our
"secret weapon" category & the Wi-Fire Long-Range WiFi Adapter is
one of those. Those of you familiar with antennas know that a
directional antenna (in the Wi-Fire, a Yagi) increases the send &
receive gain (ergo range) along its axis, trading off for less
sensitivity off-axis. Wi-Fire software (for Windows, Mac or
Linux) installs before you plug it into a USB port to show
available networks plus one of the highest-resolution signal
strength displays we've seen. Its mount has swiveling rubber
paddles to straddle a notebook or monitor screen or sit on a
table; the antenna blade swivels to snag the best signal (with
real-time tweaking on that signal strength display). The emphasis
is on range, so this is an 802.11b/g device. We were able to snag
enough signal to get online from our basement ("bunker") WiFi
router to a notebook 200 feet down the driveway. Bottom line: the
crafty Wi-Fire Long-Range WiFi Adapter adds a ton of reach to
WiFi.
Special Report Bonus Review 2: Mark-My-Time bookmark
Our back-to-school call netted the Mark-My-Time digital clock &
count-up/count-down timer on a thin bookmark slat. Its packaging
makes a good point: reading 20 minutes a day can mean exposure to
a million words a year (our math: at an average reading rate of
140 words per minute). The slats come in a choice of bright pink,
blue or green & in terms of a reading timer you already get what
it's about. We should also note it can be pretty useful as a
grilling timer, a segment recording timer, a medication timer or
a cumulative timer for anything from exercise to tanning. Bottom
line: the Mark-My-Time Bookmark & Digital Clock/Timer is a handy
gizmo for encouraging reading, but chances are that;s not the
only way you'll use it.
Special Report Bonus Review 3: Amprobe 5XP-A multimeter
When we did our phone slam, we recognized that our aging digital
multimeter isn't up to the task of measuring signal Voltage
levels; it doesn't go that low. Our search for alternatives led
us to the Amprobe 5XP-A Compact Digital Multimeter. It's a honey.
Its most sensitive signal level range is 0-200mV, exactly what we
need for most audio signal level tracing or troubleshooting. AC &
DC Voltage & current measurements & resistance measurements cover
a very broad range, beyond what we tend to encounter; hold &
min/max modes make that extra handy. There's also a non-contact
AC Voltage measurement mode, a continuity (also diode & logic)
checker & under-load battery testers for 1.5V or 9V batteries.
The rugged case even has molded areas on the back to snap in &
hold the test leads. Bottom line: the Amprobe 5XP-A Compact
Digital Multimeter sassily outperforms our expectations for a
digital multimeter & does it at an unassuming price.
Special Report Bonus Review 4: Annie Chun's Go-Chu-Jang
One response to our editorial call for grilling gadgets was Annie
Chun's Go-Chu-Jang Korean Sweet & Spicy Sauce; we figured what
the heck. A check of the label showed no MSG or HFCS. We tried a
toothpick taste test & Yow! This sauce has a kick! It's an
interesting flavor spectrum stretcher with sweetness not unlike a
Carolina BBQ sauce plus some exotic spice tones (like sesame,
garlic & onion) plus that hot peppery punch. We tried it on
grilled salmon (very nice) & used it to make attention-getting
coleslaw (great complement to grilled strip steaks). Our latter
days stretch in Korea introduced us to many flavors, but none
like we found in this bottle. Bottom line: Annie Chun's
Go-Chu-Jang Korean Sweet & Spicy Sauce on otherwise more timid
meats & vegetables adds unmistakably assertive accents.
Special Report Bonus Review 5: Dripless Pourer Stopper
Our first-apartment tech editorial call brought in The Pampered
Chef Dripless Pourer Stopper. The business end is a
jack-in-the-pulpit design (but for the tip-top lip heading out)
that proved very effective at controlling drips. The center of
that is a slide-up/down stopper that opens easily for pouring &
just as easily seals the bottle against evaporation or flavor
fades. Bottom line: The Pampered Chef Dripless Pourer Stopper is
a nice first-apartment gizmo that looks like it's there for style
but behaves like it's there to cut the cleaning bills.
Apple & Wham-O
In an era when the toy industry was dominated by Ideal, Mattel &
Remco, that category found itself repeatedly disrupted by Wham-O
with offerings like the Pluto Platter (later known as Frisbee),
Hula Hoop, Slip 'N Slide, SuperBall & more. Its founders became
known as founts of blockbuster fads. The more we thought about
how they brought those toys to market & always played the fad
card, the more we're reminded of how Apple does its marketing.
What do you think? Contact: Martin Winston, Newstips (Novelty,
OH) 440-338-8400; marty@Newstips.com http://Newstips.com
# # #
Newstips Bulletin [Novelty, OH] +1.440.338.8400 http://Newstips.com
|
